Morris Improves Nine Positions In First Race At Albert Park
5/3/2004 20:42 (Press Release) -
Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore driver Paul Morris improved nine places on his qualifying position to finish 15th in today's opening race in the Netspace V8 Supercar Challenge in Melbourne.
The 36-year-old Gold Coast driver, who qualified 24th yesterday, made a cautious start to the 10-lap race in his VY Commodore.
He kept clear of incidents involving other drivers in the opening phase of the race, and maintained consistent lap times around the 5.3km circuit.
Morris continued to improve his position through to the end, and clocked his fastest lap time of 2-mins 1.278-secs on the final lap.
He finished 24.755-secs behind the race-winning Kmart Commodore of Greg Murphy, who was followed by Jason Bright in a PWR Commodore, and Garth Tander in a Repco Valvoline Commodore.
Morris confirmed his new in-car air conditioning system was turned on during the race. It was the first time a driver has raced with air conditioning since the V8 Supercar category started in 1993.
The newly-developed unit was designed and built by Morris' team, which is based at the Holden Performance Driving Centre.
The second V8 Supercar race at Albert Park is over 19 laps tomorrow, with a third and final event over 10 laps on Sunday. The V8 Supercar races are part of the Foster's Australian Formula One Grand Prix world championship round.
PAUL MORRIS QUOTES:
"We struggled in qualifying yesterday with understeer, but the team made some changes to the front springs and shock-absorbers and the car was much better today. In the first couple of laps I stayed out of trouble and waited for things to settle down.
"Then I started working my way forward. I passed (Mark) Noske, (Max) Wilson and (Warren) Luff and then I was out by myself. This place is hard on brakes and they started to fade toward the end, but I think everyone was having similar problems.
"The air conditioning is creating a lot of interest, and today was the first time we've raced with it. The overall effect is very good, keeping the cabin cool and blowing cold air inside my helmet.
"We will probably make some small set-up changes to the car for tomorrow's race. The game plan will be to try to keep improving the car and hopefully finish in the top 10."
Release Date: 5/03/2004
Sirroment/Paul Morris Motorsports
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