Morris releagted to 17th in wet Winton qualifying
14/8/2004 14:58 (Press Release) -
Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore driver Paul Morris was relegated from ninth to 17th position during a rain-affected qualifying session at Winton Raceway today ahead of tomorrow's seventh round of the V8 Supercar Championship.
Morris' best qualifying lap in the closing stages of the session would have secured him ninth place and a start in the following Top 10 Shoot Out. However, his lap was deemed to have been set under Red Flag conditions.
The 36-year-old Gold Coast driver was then relegated to 17th position with a lap time of 1-min 39.967-secs around the 3km circuit. He missed the Top 10 Shoot Out and will start tomorrow's 300km race from the ninth row of the grid.
Castrol Perkins Commodore driver Paul Dumbrell was also relegated out of the top 10 for the same reason as Morris. Their positions in the Top 10 Shoot Out were taken by Cameron McConville in a Repco Valvoline Commodore and Russell Ingall in a Caltex Havoline Ford Falcon.
Pole position was secured by New Zealand's Craig Baird in a Team Kiwi VY Commodore built by Morris' team at their workshop at the Holden Performance Driving Centre. Both practice sessions today, plus qualifying and the Top 10 Shoot Out were held in wet weather.
PAUL MORRIS QUOTES: "The car was brilliant in the wet so I won't mind if the conditions stay the same for tomorrow. Our car has good grip everywhere in the rain. It would be better to start the race closer to the front, but this is a long race (300km) so there's plenty of time to come through. Qualifying was a big disappointment. The (Red) flag came out just as I was coming down the straight to finish the lap. I thought I was in the top 10, but then the officials put (Paul) Dumbrell and I further back. There were plenty of Red Flags during qualifying – they always seemed to come out when I was on a quick lap so I didn't get a the chance to do a time the car was capable of doing."
QUALIFYING – TOP 10 SHOOT OUT:
POS DRIVERS CAR TIME
1. Craig Baird Team Kiwi Holden Commodore 1:39.754
2. Garth Tander Repco Valvoline Holden Commodore 1:40.149
3. Steven Johnson Shell Helix Ford Falcon 1:40.809
4. Marcos Ambrose Pirtek Ford Falcon 1:40.923
5. Russell Ingall Caltex Havoline Ford Falcon 1:41.072
6. Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Commodore 1:41.228
7. Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Falcon 1:41.260
8. Jason Bright PWR Holden Commodore 1:41.528
9. Jason Bargwanna Orrcon Ford Falcon 1:41.528
10. Cameron McConville Repco Valvoline Holden Commodore 1:42.007
OTHER:
17. Paul Morris Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore 1:39.967
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after round 6): Ambrose 1,064, S. Richards 1,006, Bright 951, R. Kelly 930, Murphy 811, Ingall 808, Tander 780, T. Kelly 741, Bowe 638, Johnson 597. Other: Morris 454
|
|
