Morris Improves To 7th In Championship
14/4/2004 22:10 (Press Release) -
Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore driver Paul Morris overcame wet conditions at Eastern Creek Raceway today to improve to seventh position in this year's V8 Supercar Championship.
Morris finished 11th in the rain-affected second round of the championship, scoring 132 points. The result boosted his overall series points tally to 264, and he jumped from eighth to seventh in the championship. Steven Richards leads the series with 360 points after finishing fourth at Eastern Creek.
The race was stopped after 67 of the scheduled 77 laps because the 3.9km circuit was waterlogged by heavy rain. Kmart Commodore driver Rick Kelly won the event, followed by Craig Lowndes in a Ford Performance Racing Falcon.
Morris, who qualified seventh, was rarely out of the top 10 for the first half of the race. He made his compulsory pit-stops for fuel and tyres on successive laps during a Safety Car period after Mark Skaife drove his Holden Racing Team Commodore off the track.
The 36-year-old Gold Coast driver resumed racing in 15th position after his pit-stops, and improved four places before the race was called off.
His fastest lap of the race was 1-min 47.473-secs. Round three of the championship will be held at Pukekohe in New Zealand from April 30-May 2.
PAUL MORRIS QUOTES: "These races are a lottery when the weather turns bad, especially after it was dry for practice and qualifying (the previous two days). It's all about survival in those conditions, and I was happy to finish and get some good points for the championship.
"I found a speed that I felt comfortable with and ran that pace all day, trying to stay out of trouble. The officials did the right thing stopping the race at the end. The spray made it hard to see, especially when you were in a line of cars coming down the main straight.
"We set the car up hoping it was going to dry out during the race, and that's the type of gamble you have to take when it starts to rain and you haven't had any practice in the wet. That's why we stayed out so long before making our pit-stops. If it weather had improved we could have come in and put 'slicks' on the car and we would have been in a strong position.
"Apart from the points we scored, the other good thing to come out of this weekend was being competitive in the dry. We've shown good car speed at Adelaide and Eastern Creek, and I we're capable of some better results in the races coming up."
RESULTS – RACE (67 laps):
POS DRIVERS CAR TIME
1. Rick Kelly Kmart Holden Commodore 2:17:31.275
2. Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon 2:17:32.001
3. Garth Tander Repco Valvoline Holden Commodore 2:17:32.679
4. Steven Richards Castrol Perkins Holden Commodore 2:17:33.377
5. Greg Murphy Kmart Holden Commodore 2:17:34.797
6. Steve Johnson Shell Helix Ford Falcon 2:17:35.691
7. Marcos Ambrose Pirtek Ford Falcon 2:17:36.912
8. Jason Bargwanna Orrcon Ford Falcon 2:17:37.669
9. Craig Baird Team Kiwi Holden Commodore 2:17:39.048
10. Max Wilson Betta Electrical Ford Falcon 2:17:39.515
OTHER:
11. Paul Morris Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore 2:17:43.651
FASTEST LAP: Ambrose 1-min 45.953-secs
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after round 2): S. Richards 360, Ambrose 348, R.
Kelly 336, Murphy 327, Bargwanna 270, Bright 267, Morris 264, Baird 258, Tander 222, Bowe 216.
Release Date: 04/04/2004
Sirromet - Life, Style, Wine
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