12 Oct 2009

Murphy shattered after missing out on fifth Bathurst title

6:25 pm on 12 October 2009

Holden stalwart Greg Murphy says he shattered after seeing this year's Bathurst 1000 slip from his grasp.

Murphy and Mark Skaife, who came out of retirement for the race saw their hopes dashed with a stroke of bad luck inside the last hour of the race, to eventually finish fourth.

20 laps to go and they were on track to win a tenth Bathurst title between them.

They were in second spot, but with a pit stop strategy set to give them the lead.

But a crash brought out the safety car and dashing the pair's hopes.

It meant they had to pit under the safety car with a compacted field, which sent them back into the pack as Garth Tander and Will Davison leapfrogged them and hung on to win.

Skaife says they were on track for a quick pitstop which would have put them eight seconds in front of Tander.

Despite missing out on a podium finish Skaife indicated he was keen to return next year.