Kiwi motor racing legend Greg Murphy and son Ronan will be competing in this year’s Skope Classic in two equally iconic pieces of machinery.
Murphy Snr, a four-time Bathurst 1000 victor, will be behind the wheel of a genuine Dick Johnson Racing Ford Sierra RS500.
DJR chassis number six is the last Sierra built by the Dick Johnson Racing team in 1990. It ran as the No.17 for Johnson in the following two Bathurst 1000s and the full 1992 Australian Touring Car Championship.
Johnson only scored one podium that season, with the Sierra’s largely outclassed by the Nissan Skyline GT-Rs of Mark Skaife and Jim Richards.
Though Johnson’s teammate for the 1992 season, John Bowe, did manage to claim three race wins and finish fourth in the overall standings.
Australia didn’t take too kindly to Nissan being so good, and for the 1993 season, the all-wheel-drive and turbocharged technology was banned.
Consequently, the RS500 became ineligible to compete any longer and thus spent time sitting in various car museums and running at historical events in Australia before finding a new home in New Zealand.
Trying to keep up with his father, Ronan Murphy will be driving Murray Sinclair’s 1996 Nissan Primera Super Tourer.
After conquering most of the touring car world with their turbocharged skylines, Nissan developed the Primera for the dawn of the Super Touring age.
This particular P10 Primera was run in the Spanish Touring Car Championship and the Central European Championship.
Under the bonnet, the car doesn’t resemble much of an original P10 Primera. The actual engine has been shoved further back and is set lower, and the eight injectors and reversed head help contribute to a punch of 295bhp.
The car is fitted with dual-calliper front brakes to help slow it down, which are water-cooled by a small radiator positioned underneath.
For the Murphy clan, the first few months of 2021 are set to be very busy.
Greg will be racing in the New Zealand Grand Prix in a little over two weeks at Hampton Downs. Meanwhile, Ronan will contest a full season of this year’s Toyota 86 championship.
The 2021 Skope Classic will be held over February 5-7 at Ruapuna Raceway in Christchurch.
The Murphys will be a part of a 25-strong Archibalds Historic Touring Car Series grid, with other classes running at the event including the NZ Formula 5000 championship, NZ Sports Cars and the Historic Racing Saloons.
Awesome cars . good luck team