Morris To Race V8 Supercar With Air Conditioning
20/2/2004 0:52 (Press Release) -
Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore driver Paul Morris is about to create V8 Supercar history as the first competitor to race with air conditioning in his car since the category began in 1993.
Morris has evaluated a new in-car air-conditioning unit during pre-season testing, and announced today it would have its race debut in the V8 Supercar support events at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne from March 5-7.
The 36-year-old Gold Coast team owner believes air-conditioning will provide dual benefits of increasing driver comfort in extreme heat, and also improve safety by combating problems for competitors inadvertently breathing in fumes during races.
"This is a big breakthrough, not only for our team, but for the category because no one had raced with air conditioning before since the V8s started," said Morris.
"We've designed and built this new system ourselves and the results from testing are excellent."
"Under normal conditions the cockpit temperatures are around 45-degrees, and higher in some places, but the air coming out of the new system is about 15-degrees."
"It operates with either 'fresh' or recycled air inside the car. We've found it works best with recycled air with the windows closed – this way you don't get fumes from cars in front."
Morris, who tested the air-conditioning unit at Queensland Raceway on Tuesday, said he expected to race with it in his VY Commodore for most of the 13-round V8 Supercar Championship, which starts with the Clipsal 500 on the Adelaide street circuit from March 18-21.
"Adelaide is one place where air conditioning should make a big difference because it's always hot and the fumes tend to hang around between the concrete walls," said Morris.
"In the past we've seen some drivers badly affected by the combination of heat and fumes in longer races like Adelaide. Darwin is another track where it's usually very hot."
Morris said the new air conditioning unit, which is positioned on the floor next to the driver's seat, operated with a high-powered electrical fan and ducting could be fitted from outlets to blow cool air inside his race helmet.
The air conditioning unit was the brainchild of Paul Morris Motorsports Technical Manager Paul Ceprnich, who began designing it in November.
Ceprnich said the unit weighed 15kg and the dimensions were approximately 60cm by 40cm, and 20cm high. Most components were built at the team's headquarters at the Holden Performance Driving Centre, apart from the compressor, condenser, and evaporator, which were outsourced.
"This is an idea I've had for a long time," said Ceprnich. "We talked about it for when I was working with the BMW Schnitzer team (1998-99), but we were always busy with racing and it was put off."
"As far as I know there are cars in the World Rally Championship with air conditioning, but I haven't heard of many others using it."
Morris said his test at Queensland Raceway this week also allowed his team to undertake a thorough systems check on his Commodore, which is fitted with a Holden Motorsport engine.
"It's the same car we finished the 2003 season with, and the test was a good chance to give everything a 'shakedown' for Melbourne," he said. "I'm happy to be going into the season with a settled package and a fully-sorted car."
Morris drove a total of 76 laps at this week's test and clocked a best lap time of 1-min 11.207-secs.
Release Date: 19/02/2004
Paul Morris Motorsport (Sirromet Wines)
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