Photo: V8SC Media

David Russell replaces Greg Murphy in Tasmania

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David Russell is going to replace the injured Greg Murphy in the #51 Kelly Racing Holden Commodore at Symmons Plains Raceway this weekend.
“After seeing my surgeon last week and then with the way my body has reacted on the weekend after not really doing anything I knew something wasn’t right,” said Murphy.

The 39-year-old injured his back in qualifying for the Clipsal 500 in 2010 and Murphy is going to undergo surgery today.
“It’s attributed to the accident that happened in Adelaide. It’s put too much pressure on the disc and a tear has formed and finally its ruptured open on Friday or Saturday and so after an MRI on Tuesday afternoon the surgeons are getting me into surgery on Wednesday afternoon to repair it before it gets worse. My surgeon is under no doubt that it was caused by the impact at Adelaide. I’m very disappointed,” said Murphy.

Murphy expects to be back for the next V8 Supercars race in Hamilton, New Zealand.
“I’ve got no doubt about that at all. The doctor is very confident that once we take care of this issue, it will fall back into place nicely and we can carry on,” said Murphy.

Russell, who races in the 2012 Dunlop V8 Supercars Series for Dreamtime Racing, is pleased to get to stand in for Murphy.
“I feel sorry for Murph and I obviously wish him a speedy recovery. It’s a great opportunity to join the main series. It’s all happened very quickly so I will have to work hard over the next few days with Todd, Rick, Karl and all the engineers to come up to speed. I’ll be doing my best to get the Pepsi Max car in a strong position this weekend, as I’d love to reward the team with some fantastic results,” said Russell.