Murphy: We drove the cr*p out of it!

The Firepower/Tasman Motorsport Holden pairing of Greg Murphy and Jason Richards came within 1.1secs of winning Sunday's Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, keeping the Commodore on the road while others were going off it.

A thrilling fight to the finish in damp and greasy conditions brought about by light rain - and aided by a late-race safety car to cover the recovery of crashed cars - restricted the pair to fourth at the finish, the best Holden entry home.

"It was a pretty amazing race at the finish, but it's disappointing for all of our team," Murphy said, "To have put in such an effort, they deserved a break and a result. Fourth's not a great number - it's pretty gutting actually - but we'll get over it."

The multiple Bathurst winner was full of praise for the Tasman Motorsport team, admitting that, without them, he and Richards would not have been a part of the intense final few laps.

"I think the team did a great job, as we had a good car at the finish, having made some running changes through the day which worked," he said, having missed the podium by just 0.3secs, Jason and I drove the absolute cr*p out of it to keep it where it was, and we deserved to be fighting at the finish.

"You had to attack, you had to push the limits and hold your breath, otherwise you were going to get passed. Unfortunately, we weren't quick enough off the corners for the drag races, something the car had been lacking all weekend. We lost ground there, but made it back under brakes. We just weren't able to make the passing move."

Team-mate Richards reckoned that the team's chances improved overnight, after a number of changes were made to the #51 Commodore.

"Saturday, the car wasn't that good, but our engineers tuned it perfectly and it was a beautiful race car to drive, the fastest Holden for most of the race and exceptionally good on full tanks," he said, "We probably only had the speed for fourth and it was a nail-biting finish. It's disappointing to come so close, but the team did a tremendous job, 'Murph' and I drove well and we did our best. You can't ask for any more."