Daniel Gaunt is firming as favourite to take Kiwi compatriot Greg Murphy’s place in the #51 Castrol EDGE Commodore at next week’s L&H 500 at Phillip Island if Murphy is ruled out of the race due to injury.
Murphy injured his back while on holidays in Fiji two weeks ago then collapsed on his return home, resulting in the four time Bathurst 1000 winner undergoing surgery last week.
While confident he will be ready for the year’s biggest race, the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 in six weeks, Murphy is only a 50/50 chance of lining up alongside fast rookie Tim Blanchard at the island.
Gaunt contested the season’s first seven events with Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport, finishing all 14 races before losing his ride. He currently sits 26th in series points.
Team owner Paul Morris said the 25 year old Gaunt will test the Castrol EDGE Holden at Queensland Raceway tomorrow (Tuesday).
“Daniel has raced V8s all year, he finished every race and he’s more than capable of doing a good job for the team in difficult circumstances, so he’d be hard to go past if he has a good test,” Morris said.
Morris has spoken to a number of drivers about filling Murphy’s seat, including American NASCAR cult hero Boris Said, who raced with Morris team at Phillip Island and Bathurst two seasons ago.
“I offered Boris the opportunity, but he had a commitment to race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in Montreal on the weekend. He won, so it looks like he made the right decision!
“He’s still very keen on coming over and there’s the possibility of running him in a driver evaluation day later this week, but tomorrow’s test is fairly crucial.
“We’ll wait and see how tomorrow goes and also give Murph every possible chance to recover in time.”
