It’s nearly 20 years since the infamous moment between Greg Murphy and Marcos Ambrose came close to blows at The Cutting at what was the height of rivalries in Supercars.
The 2000s was an incredible time for Supercars thanks to the high budgets of Ford and Holden, considerable commercial support, while drivers just seemed a little more angry.
All these came to ahead when Murphy and Ambrose collided at on lap 145 of the 2005 Bathurst 1000.
“The one with Marcos was born purely from competition – the want to win and desire to be the best,” Murphy reflected.
“I know Marcos was just the same as me in that respect even though we’re different personalities, so we came across and reacted differently.
“The desire, want to win was the same and the competition we bought was the same, so we clashed.”
A clash between Murphy and Ambrose had been simmering for more than a year.
“It probably started to unravel the year before the significant issue that happened at the Mountain just with a few things that occurred in 2004,” explained Murphy.
“If it didn’t mean anything, we still wouldn’t be talking about it and it wouldn’t be getting shown on TV every 12 months as we roll around to Bathurst.”
The rivalry between the two wasn’t the only one in Supercars and highlighted a significant era for touring car racing across Australia and New Zealand.
“We were incredibly fortunate to be racing in the Supercars Championship through the period we did, in the 2000s,” Murphy said.
“The tribal battle between red vs blue, Holden vs Ford was at its peak. The money being spent was huge, the need to win was massive.
“The pressure to take victories was immense, so the battle between the two in addition and the fact us two personalities were on different sides was the perfect storm.
“It didn’t take much to create these types of things; you were supported heavily by the brand, your supporter base and it was just an amazing time to be part of sport.
“That culminated in a moment between the two of us that is steeped in history and is locked into Bathurst folklore.”