The final round of the endurance component of the NZ SuperTourers at Pukekohe yesterday saw a changing of the guard.

One of New Zealand’s best exponents of V8 tin top racing, Greg Murphy, announced he has had his fill of racing in this country and won’t be contesting the rest of the sprint part of the series.

“It’s not the first time I’ve moved on to other things,” said Murphy. “It’s not like I’m moving to the Antarctic and never be seen again or anything, I’m just done with SuperTourers.

“I wanted to be part of a New Zealand championship and contribute, which I did and I’m happy that side of things is finished.” While the four-time Bathurst and former NZ SuperTourer champion will be missed, the new breed is well and truly establishing itself.

The Smeg Racing duo of Simon Evans and V8 Supercars pilot Shane van Gisbergen put the rest of the field to the sword, getting pole, winning all three races and setting the fastest race lap.

“The last race was pretty exciting with the rain arriving,” said van Gisbergen. “I was pushing pretty hard towards the end. We haven’t managed to lock out all three races on a weekend before so that’s pretty cool.”

Also on the weekend’s dance card were two more V8 categories including the TL cars, which are the designated category for the New Zealand MotorSport national championship. The new generation TLX were also racing and like Evans and van Gisbergen, Aussie Jason Bargwanna was in dominant form winning all three races.

Heading into the second round of the national championship expat Kiwi Craig Baird held a slender lead over Kevin Williams.

Baird crossed the line first in the opening two races only to be relegated to second both times after being hit with time penalties. Williams got the upper hand in the final race of the weekend, beating Baird fair and square.

“It’s fantastic to win all three and I’m absolutely rapt,” said Williams.