Morris qualifies third for V8 Supercar endurance race
11/9/2004 18:30 (Press Release) -
Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore driver Paul Morris today produced his best qualifying result in more than 12 months and will start third in tomorrow's Betta Electrical Sandown 500 V8 Supercar Championship endurance race in Melbourne.
The 36-year-old from the Gold Coast secured the inside position on the second row of the grid by emerging third fastest in today's rain-affected Top 10 Shoot Out. He clocked a time of 1-min 22.885-secs around the 3.1km circuit in the VY Commodore he is sharing in the 500km endurance race with 22-year-old Alan Gurr.
Morris' qualifying result was his best in the championship since he started third in the rounds at Queensland Raceway near Ipswich and Oran Park in Sydney in the 2003 series. His best qualifying performances in the previous eight rounds of this year's championship were finishing seventh at Eastern Creek in Sydney in April, and again at Oran Park in August.
The only teams to head Morris in the Top 10 Shoot Out at Sandown were the Kmart Holden Commodore of Rick Kelly and Greg Murphy, who claimed pole position with a time of 1-min 22.142-secs, and the Pirtek Ford Falcon of Marcos Ambrose and Greg Ritter. They will start on the front-row, with Morris sharing the second row with fourth-fastest Mark Skaife in a Holden Racing Team Commodore.
Earlier today, Morris earned a start in the Top 10 Shoot Out by dominating the qualifying session for all teams. Qualifying was also held in wet weather and Morris was fastest with 1-min 22.843-secs, finishing 1.243-secs clear of Skaife, who was followed by Kelly and Ambrose.
Gurr, who is making his first championship appearance of 2004, drove 10 laps in the practice session before qualifying. Morris drove 16 laps in practice, also held on a wet track, and was third fastest.
Morris goes into tomorrow's race 13th in the championship points standings, and is fresh from top 10 finishes in the past two rounds at Winton in Victoria and Oran Park.
PAUL MORRIS QUOTES: "I thought I had a shot at pole position today, but I locked a brake at Turn Two in the (Top 10) Shoot Out and nearly ran off onto the grass. It cost me some time, but apart from that it was a good lap. I can't complain with third, and these endurance races aren't won on the first lap. Our car has been quick in the wet and dry here – I've been in the front group every session so I think we can be competitive regardless of conditions tomorrow.
"We ran a full wet-weather set-up today and the car had good traction just about everywhere. It was wetter in qualifying before the Shoot Out and we had quite a gap on the others. It won't worry me if it rains tomorrow. I will start the race and the plan is for Alan (Gurr) to do the middle second and I will finish off. We've now been building our own cars for three years, and the development and hard work by our team is now starting to pay off."
ALAN GURR QUOTES: "The track was wetter than yesterday when I got in the car (in practice), especially between Turn One and Turn Two, and off the back straight. Paul (Morris) started the session and then I got in and did about 10 laps. There were a lot of cars on the circuit at that time and it was difficult to get a clear lap. I was speaking to Paul (Ceprnich) over the radio and we worked on finding the best braking points in this type of weather.
"Despite the conditions, the car is putting the power down quite well. There's not as much understeer getting into the corners as you would expect in the wet. The lap times Paul (Morris) has been doing here show the car is very competitive in the wet and dry."
QUALIFYING – TOP 10 SHOOT OUT:
POS DRIVERS CAR TIME
1. R. Kelly-G. Murphy Kmart Holden Commodore 1:22.142
2. M. Ambrose-G. Ritter Pirtek Ford Falcon 1:22.745
3. P. Morris-A. Gurr Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore 1:22.885
4. M. Skaife-T. Kelly Holden Racing Team Commodore 1:23.220
5. C. Lowndes-G. Seton Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon 1:23.314
6. S. Johnson-W. Luff Shell Helix Ford Falcon 1:23.878
7. J. Bright-P. Weel PWR Holden Commodore 1:24.709
8. P. Dumbrell-T. Longhurst Castrol Perkins Holden Commodore 1:25.148
9. J. Bargwanna-M. Winterbottom Orrcon Ford Falcon 1:25.339
10. O. Kelly-D. Brabham Shell Helix Ford Falcon 1:25.962
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after round 8): Bright 1,308; Ambrose 1,295; S. Richards 1,261; R. Kelly 1,197; Ingall 1,159, Murphy 1,108; T. Kelly 1,059; Tander 975; Bowe 836; Bargwanna 790. Other: Morris 733
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