Peter perfect makes it ten
By Gavin McGrath
November 24, 2003
PETER Brock's perfect luck returned to Mt Panorama yesterday.
The famed King of the Mountain won the Bathurst 24 Hour race in his Holden Monaro, alongside teammates Greg Murphy, Todd Kelly and Jason Bright in a dream form finish for Holden.
Brock was granted the lead and a remarkable 10th endurance race win at the legendary track when his team's sister car and race leader developed differential troubles with just over an hour remaining.
Murphy took over the red Brock 05 Monaro for the final stint, taking the checkered flag just in front of last year's winning Monaro, after 527 laps.
Brock said he ranked the win up there with his famous Bathurst 1000 victories.
"It feels incredible," he said. "To win at Bathurst in a Monaro.
"It doesn't get much better than that.
"This type of race is an absolute team effort and to have two cars drive non-stop for 24 hours without a major mechanical problem, it shows what a fantastic job the team has done."
Murphy's share in the win means the New Zealand driver has won both endurance races at Bathurst this year, after he won the Bathurst 1000 in October with Todd Kelly's younger brother Rick.
"Eight drivers deserved to win that race. The way I see it there were eight winners, not four," Murphy said.
"To have two cars racing that way after 527 laps is an unbelievably tough way to finish the race."
The yellow Monaro, driven by Nathan Pretty, Garth Tander, Cameron McConville and Steven Richards, had led for most of the race before the mechanical problems forced a pit stop with less than an hour remaining.
Tander closed the gap on Murphy as the two Holdens battled until the last lap.
"There was more carnage on the track in that last three laps than in the rest of the 24 hours," Tander said.
"I had a couple of looks (to get past Murphy), but it wasn't worth the risk that late in the race.
"We had to come in because the diff oil cooler pump failed. The guys did an amazing job to fix it without dropping a lap (on Murphy).
"But I'm not too disappointed."
The two Monaros had dominated the race, trading first position throughout the 24 hours.
Both finished 12 laps ahead of the third-placed Porsche driven by V8 Supercar regular Paul Morris, along with Peter Fitzgerald, Scott Shearman and John Teulan.
