Morris Qualifies 17th in New Zealand
1/5/2004 6:15 (Press Release) -
Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore driver Paul Morris has qualified 17th for tomorrow's opening race in the third round of the V8 Supercar Championship in New Zealand.
Morris, who is seventh in the championship, clocked a best lap time of 57.254-secs in today's qualifying session on the 2.82km Pukekohe circuit south of Auckland. He set the time on his eighth of 10 laps in the session.
The 36-year-old from Queensland's Gold Coast finished 0.889-secs behind the pole position-winning PWR Holden Commodore of Jason Bright. Marcos Ambrose qualified second in a Pirtek Ford Falcon.
Earlier in the day, Morris had been 15th fastest in the two practice sessions in his VY Commodore, fitted with a Holden Motorsport engine. He clocked a quickest lap time of 57.689-secs in the first session, and 57.525-secs in the second session.
Tomorrow's first race of the round will be contested over 100km. The two races on Sunday will both be over 150km.
PAUL MORRIS QUOTES: "My best (qualifying) lap was pretty good. It's the quickest time I've ever done around this track. We were here (Pukekohe) with the same car for the championship races in November – the track seems almost the same as then even though it's a different time of year.
Today we've been trying to dial understeer out of the car. We will make a few more changes to get the best possible set-up. We're starting further back than we'd like to be, so the aim in the first race is to stay out of early trouble and keep moving forward. If you get caught up in someone else's accident on the first lap it can put you to the back of the grid for the next race and ruin the weekend."
RESULTS – QUALIFYING:
POS DRIVERS CAR TIME
1. Jason Bright PWR Holden Commodore 56.365
2. Marcos Ambrose Pirtek Ford Falcon 56.606
3. Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Commodore 56.620
4. Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Commodore 56.716
5. Greg Murphy Kmart Holden Commodore 56.718
6. Steven Richards Castrol Perkins Holden Commodore 56.820
7. Max Wilson Betta Electrical Ford Falcon 56.878
8. Paul Radisich Betta Electrical Ford Falcon 56.905
9. John Bowe OzEmail Ford Falcon 56.942
10. Jason Bargwanna Orrcon Ford Falcon 56.942
OTHER:
17. Paul Morris Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore 57.254
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: 30/04/2004
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