Morris ninth fastest in practice
2/7/2004 19:11 (Press Release) -
Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore driver Paul Morris overcame brake problems to emerge ninth fastest in today's opening practice session for the sixth round of the V8 Supercar Championship at Queensland Raceway.
The 36-year-old Gold Coast driver clocked a best lap time of 1-min 11.429-secs around the 3.1km circuit in his VY Commodore. He finished 0.440-secs behind championship leader Marcos Ambrose, who was fastest with 1-min 10.989-secs in a Pirtek Ford Falcon.
Morris recorded his quickest time on his 20th of 21 laps in the session after fresh tyres were fitted to his car. He was disrupted by brake problems during practice.
There will be a second practice session tomorrow, followed by qualifying and the Top 10 Shoot Out. Sunday's race will be contested over 280km. Morris qualified third and finished fourth in the championship round at Queensland Raceway in 2003.
PAUL MORRIS QUOTES: "It's good to be in the top 10, but this is our test track and I'd hoped to be further up than we are. I'm disappointed with my (lap) time, because when we tested here last week my best lap was a second quicker than I did today. We're running new brakes and we had some problems, especially at Turn Three. It was also hard to get a clear lap because cars were spearing off and the track was dirty and slippery.
There's nothing wrong with the car apart from the brakes, so once we fix things up we should go quicker tomorrow.
RESULTS – PRACTICE:
POS DRIVERS CAR TIME
1. Marcos Ambrose Pirtek Ford Falcon 1:10.989
2. Russell Ingall Caltex Havoline Ford Falcon 1:11.016
3. Jason Bright PWR Holden Commodore 1:11.114
4. Steven Richards Castrol Perkins Holden Commodore 1:11.142
5. Warren Luff Shell Helix Ford Falcon 1:11.243
6. John Bowe OzEmail Ford Falcon 1:11.350
7. Steven Johnson Shell Helix Ford Falcon 1:11.391
8. Jason Bargwanna Orrcon Ford Falcon 1:11.409
9. Paul Morris Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore 1:11.429
10. Greg Murphy Kmart Holden Commodore 1:11.460
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after round 5): Ambrose 872, R. Kelly 822, S.
Richards 820, Murphy 811, Bright 783, Bowe 638, Ingall 634, Tander 600, T. Kelly 597, Weel 569. Other: Morris 394
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