Morris Leads And Finishes Sixth In Adelaide
20/3/2004 20:35 (Press Release) -
Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore driver Paul Morris led for seven laps before finishing sixth in today's first race in the opening round of the 2004 V8 Supercar Championship in Adelaide.
Morris completed the 78-lap event, the first of two races in the Clipsal 500, in 1-hr 58-mins 12.227-secs in a VY Commodore. He finished 33.512-secs behind the race-winning Pirtek Ford Falcon of Marcos Ambrose, who was followed by Steven Richards in a Castrol Perkins Commodore.
The result means Morris will start sixth on the third row of the grid in tomorrow's second 78-lap race. The 36-year-old Gold Coast driver secured 81 championship points for his result today.
Morris started today's race 17th and was 20th after the first lap. He was 15th on lap 20 when he opted to make the first of his two compulsory pit-stops for tyres and fuel under Safety Car conditions. Morris then made his second mandatory pit-stop on the next lap, still under Safety Car conditions.
The decision to make two pit-stops on successive laps meant Morris dropped to 22nd. However, as the cars in front of Morris made their pit-stops when racing resumed his position rapidly improved. Morris took the lead on lap 38 and held it until lap 45.
Morris was leading by 9-secs when there was another Safety Car period after Paul Radisich crashed his Betta Electrical Falcon. When racing resumed Morris was quickly overtaken by Ambrose, Richards, and Russell Ingall in a Caltex Havoline Falcon. In the closing stages Morris dropped from fourth to sixth after being overtaken by Greg Murphy in a Kmart Commodore and Paul Weel in a PWR Commodore.
PAUL MORRIS QUOTES: "It was a calculated gamble to do our two pits stops so close together. Since we were coming from a long way back we felt it was a gamble worth taking. It meant we quickly made up track positions, but from then on we had to 'short-shift' at around 7,000-rpm to save fuel and make sure the car finished. The second Safety Car meant Ambrose, Richards and some others caught up, but it also enabled us to save fuel so there were good and bad points. I was passed by three cars quickly after we started racing again because I picked up debris on the tyres. I was sliding everywhere for a couple of laps. On the last lap the engine started to 'cough' and I had to switch to the reserve fuel tank. I only just made it to the finish ahead of (Mark) Skaife. Our car speed was good today, but basically we had to drive a conservative race because of the fuel situation. Tomorrow we're starting in a good grid position and we should be able to race according to the performance of the car rather than the amount of fuel we're carrying. It's been a steady start to the season, and another top 10 result tomorrow would give us another kick along."
Release Date: 20/03/2004
Paul Morris Motorsports
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