26/03/2026
๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ๐: ๐๐ง๐ฐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ต๐ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ป๐ด.
: After a quiet racing year in 2025, Gerry Murphy is back in business in 2026, returning to the national stage for the first time since 2022, alongside his son, Jed, in a category in which theyโll both be considered debutants!
Based on the Sunshine Coast these days, but working with the Victorian-based Team Soutar Motorsport, this year will see the Murphy Racing drivers team up, for the ultimate Father-Son bonding experience, as they embark on a full campaign in Monochrome GT4 Australia.
Neither Murphy is a stranger to national competition. Gerry has previously competed in both the Bathurst 12 Hour, and Bathurst 6 Hour events, as well as a couple of cameo appearances in Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia Series, as part of the 2022 Shannons SpeedSeries.
Jed, meanwhile, competed in the 2025 Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia Scholarship Series, and will now embark on his second year of national-level competition, and all while juggling a busy work and study schedule, which includes placement right now.
Both drivers have raced on the national stage before, individually, but this will be the first time theyโve done so together, and theyโll do so all year long.
Among the many familiar and returning faces, from the 2025 campaign, the Murphy pair are two of several new competitors joining the expanded grid, of the SRO-promoted category, for the new season, and theirs is just one of FOUR entries lining up for the Team Soutar Motorsport stable, which is shifting its focus towards being, largely, a customer racing team these days.
This partnership itself, between Team Soutar Motorsport, and Murphy Racing, is also brand new for 2026. Gerry discussed prospective options with no less than three different teams during the off-season, but settled on TSM, as they, in his words, โdemonstrated a deep knowledge of what it takes to run a successful programโ.
Murphy also highlighted that he resonated with their stable being a family outfit, the immediate connection theyโve forged with their new outfit, and just how happy he is with the working relationship theyโve had thus far.
One of the other major points of difference, for both drivers, in 2026, is that itโs very much a โhands offโ approach, given that theyโre based in Queensland, and the car, which was already in the Soutar stable, is in Victoria.
When asked about how he felt about the โfly in, fly outโ way of racing, and even testing, Jed said โit feels weird, how Iโm not in a rush to get anything done, before Round 1. Itโs all, kind of, just happening in the backgroundโ.
Off-track, the TSM stable has engaged the services of former Supercars Engineer, Ludo Lacroix, as their competition director for 2026, which is a magnificent acquisition for the team, but itโs also resulted in the Murphy pair having to scrub up on their French!
More broadly, thereโs no disputing the success of this category, still in its infancy, but at capacity for the opening round of the 2026 season, which will be staged at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, in Victoria, this weekend.
For Gerry, this move into GT4 comes after a brief period of competing in the QLD Production Sports Car Championship, behind the wheel of an Audi GT3, but highlighted endurance racing โ a format which he has long been a fan of โ as the primary reason as to why GT4 appealed to him the most, when working out what he and Jed wanted to do, from a racing standpoint, for this season.
Prior to the opening round, the boys have tested the Mercedes GT4 at both Winton Motor Raceway, and Phillip Island.
Both men acknowledged Winton to be the more difficult of the two assignments, mainly due to its technical nature.
Wet weather played a part in their outing at Phillip Island, with Gerry enjoying his first hit-out at the venue in 15 YEARS.
Old wet weather tyres compromised their progress in that test, but both drivers were unphased by that, and left happy with their early progress, and fully aware that thereโs still plenty of work to do, and great potential for the year ahead.
Gerry stated that he has slightly struggled getting to grips with the Mercedes during the pre-season, mainly because itโs a front-engine car, and thatโs something heโs not used to, having driven mid, and rear-engine cars over the last few years.
Heโs also indicated that this Fridayโs TWO 40-minute practice sessions are key for him, in order to nail the small things that โyou have to get right at a track like Phillip Islandโ.
With limited opportunities to jump behind the wheel of the real car to this point, Jed has taken full advantage of modern-day technology, to aid his preparation, utilising the iRacing platform to maximise seat time, and familiarise himself with the Mercedes GT4, and was surprised, but also impressed with just how close the iRacing version of the car was, compared to the real-world equivalent, the Team Soutar Motorsport vehicle, that heโll be behind the wheel of this weekend.
Jed was also able to utilise the iRacing platform, and the associated software, to create, and design the livery youโll see him and Gerry running throughout the season.
After the aforementioned pre-season test at Winton Motor Raceway, in Benalla, Jed stayed down south, to assist with the wrapping of the new car, to ensure the new livery was ready to be revealed, when the GT4 cohort of 2026 gathered at Phillip Island, for the recent category media day, which followed their second pre-season test, at the same venue, just last week.
This father-son combination is no stranger to multi-class racing. Gerry was the driving force behind the surge in popularity of the NSW Production Touring Car Championship in the 2010s, before launching the Queensland equivalent in 2017, and then serving as the category president of the QLD Production Sports Car Championship throughout the early part of this decade.
Fun Fact: Gerry, at the age of 67, may well be the oldest debutant GT4 Australia has ever seen, but he assures us that heโs not the oldest the category has seen around the world.
As for the weather this weekend, the current forecast predictions state that we could see rain on Friday, and Saturday, but the early indications are currently predicting a dry, albeit cloudy, Sunday, which should provide those watching on with some fast, action-packed, and exciting racing, which is typical of the entertainment Phillip Island regularly dishes up.
For their maiden voyage in Monochrome GT4 Australia, the Team Soutar Motorsport entry will compete in the Silver-Am class.
When it comes to the two races, without disclosing exact strategy plans, or revealing any secrets, Gerry did state that he would be aboard the Team Soutar Motorsport Mercedes for the shorter of the two driving stints, leaving his son to take control for the bulk of each race, and when asked about where the goal posts were for this opening round, both were adamant that the aim is to bring the car home straight, and in one piece, although, Jed was quick to add that โA podium would be lovelyโ.
Throughout the season, Gerry and Jed will travel to five different venues, across three states, and a territory, as the Shannons SpeedSeries visits Darwinโs Hidden Valley Raceway for the first time ever, at the back end of July. Theyโll also enjoy a round on home soil, when the tour stops by Queensland Raceway, on the second weekend of June.
On the subject of home, Gerry has paid tribute to the hard work that Jed has put in, during the off-season, in garnering support from the business sector, whoโve come on board as sponsors of Murphy Racing for 2026. The costs associated with Motorsport competition are no secret, and the Murphy family are very grateful for the support they have from within their local community.
๐๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ต๐ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฒ.
- ๐๐ฑ๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ
- ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ ๐
๐จ๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐
- ๐๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ฌ๐
- ๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ (๐๐๐)
- ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ง๐ฌ
- ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐
- ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ค
- ๐.๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐
- ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฌ
- ๐๐๐๐๐ซ ๐๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ
- ๐๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฌ๐
- ๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐๐ฑ
- ๐๐๐ โ ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐๐๐ก๐ข๐ง๐
- ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฉ ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ , ๐๐ง๐
- ๐๐จ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ.
If you canโt be trackside, viewers can stay across all the action, from the opening round of the 2026 Monochrome GT4 Australia Championship, and the Shannons SpeedSeries at large, via Natsoft LIVE Timing across all three days, and through weekend-long TV coverage, via FOX Motorsport & KAYO Sports, on what is the first weekend of a new broadcast rights agreement, for the Shannons SpeedSeries.
๐ข๐ป-๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐น๐ฒ (๐๐น๐น ๐ง๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐๐๐ง) | ๐ฅ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ญ โ ๐ฃ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ฝ ๐๐๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ | ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ณ-๐ฎ๐ต
๐
๐ซ๐ข๐๐๐ฒ
Practice 1 โ 40 Minutes | 11:15am
Practice 2 โ 40 Minutes | 2:55pm
๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐๐ฒ
Qualifying 1 โ 15 Minutes | 9:10am
Qualifying 2 โ 15 Minutes | 9:30am
Race 1 โ 60 Minutes* | 12:55pm
๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ฒ
Race 2 โ 60 Minutes* | 11:10am
TV Broadcast
Saturday: 9am-5pm AEDT on FOX Sports 507 & KAYO
Sunday: 9am-3:55pm AEDT on FOX Sports 507 & 9am-5pm AEDT on KAYO.
๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฒ ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฟ
Round 1: Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit | March 27-29
Round 2: Shell V-Power Motorsport Park | May 8-10
Round 3: Queensland Raceway | June 12-14
Round 4: Hidden Valley Raceway | July 24-26
Round 5: Sydney Motorsport Park | September 18-20
Round 6: Sandown Raceway | October 30-November 1
Updates will be posted across the weekend, via the Murphy Racing social media pages, while a full review of Round 1 will follow, on this page, next week.
Murphy Racing is proudly supported by the following: Axial Wealth Management, Massel Australia, Hinternoosa Real Estate, Team Soutar Motorsport (TSM), Laguna Signs Noosa, Edge Endurance, Brisk Australia, Project-Mu Australia, SP Tools, Racer Industries, Wrap Wise Brisbane, Reco Max, TAC โ Timmy Aviu Coaching, Apple Pip Catering Company, and MoComm - Racing Communications.
