Morris recovers from pit stop delays to improve championship position
16/8/2004 12:14 (Press Release) -
Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore driver Paul Morris today recovered from pit-stop delays caused by a damaged wheel nut to improve two positions in this year's V8 Supercar Championship.
The eighth round of the championship at Sydney's Oran Park circuit comprised two 54-lap races, and Morris finished 13th in the first race and was 11th in the second event.
The 36-year-old Gold Coast driver, who went into the round 15th in the championship, scored 126 points for his results on the 2.7km Oran Park, track and moved up to 13th in the series.
Morris started race one from seventh on the grid, and held eighth position in the opening laps. After a Safety Car from laps 14 to 16, the right-rear wheel of Morris' VY Commodore was damaged in contact with another car.
When Morris made his compulsory pit-stop on lap 23 he was in fourth place, but a delay in changing the damaged wheel meant he dropped to 26th when he resumed racing.
During the remainder of the race he charged through the field, improving to 15th by lap 40 before eventually finishing 13th. He completed the race in 1-hr 6-mins 29.093-secs, and finished 42.944-secs behind winner Mark Skaife in a Holden Racing Team Commodore.
In the second race Morris made his pit-stop on lap 21 when 13th, but another delay with changing the right-rear wheel resulted in him rejoining the event in 26th position.
Again he steadily moved forward and finished 11th in 1-hour 5-mins 38.778-secs, which was 59.188-secs behind the race winning Pirtek Ford Falcon of Marcos Ambrose.
Jason Bright retained the championship lead in his PWR Commodore with an improved tally of 1,308 points, with Ambrose second on 1,295. The ninth championship round is the Sandown 500 endurance race in Melbourne on September 12 where Morris will team up with Alan Gurr.
PAUL MORRIS QUOTES: "The car was good today, as it's been all weekend, but the pit-stops hurt us. Unfortunately the right-rear wheel was hit after the Safety Car re-start in the first race and the nut was damaged. The team had trouble getting the wheel off and that's what cost us the time in both races. We had a 'top 10' car today, which is why I was able to come back strongly and pass a lot of cars after the pit-stops. In the last couple of rounds, first at Winton (in Victoria) and then here, we've been pretty competitive and that gives us some good momentum going into the enduros at Sandown and Bathurst. At this stage we will probably test at Queensland Raceway before Sandown and give Alan (Gurr) some time in the car."
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