Emotional Morris talks of his death-defying crash
1/8/2000 2:10 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) - A scarred and shaken Paul Morris has talked for the first time about cheating death in a horrific, fiery crash at Sydney’s Oran Park Raceway on Sunday.
From his bed in Sydney’s Liverpool Hospital, Morris told the assembled media of his escape from one of the worst melees in the category’s short history – which saw himself and fellow Queenslander Mark Larkham rushed to hospital with serious injuries sustained in the fiery, mid-grid encounter.
A spectacular chain reaction of events resulted in the massive start line inferno involving Morris’ Commodore and Larkham’s Falcon – and had both fleeing their burning wrecks just moments before the unthinkable.
The force of the impact from behind sent the still attached to the floor fire extinguisher into the back of Morris' seat
Pic: Michael Shaw
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When the fire started I couldn’t make time go quick enough,” a still visibly-shaken Paul Morris said. “I just had to get out…and didn’t have much time to do it.”
Larry Perkins initiated the drama after stalling his car just seconds after the green light in the third sprint race of the day. Morris, from 12th position on the grid (Perkins was in 8th), had no time to react to the motionless Commodore before him, and ran into the back of the car.
From 26th on the grid, a rapidly-accelerating Mark Larkham was moving his way through the pack in the run to the first corner and did not see the yellow Big Kev VS Commodore – which had come to a halt in the middle of the track – until it was too late.
“I could hear the cars whizzing past…down each side, and I thought well they’ve probably all gone by now and I’ve come out of this ok. At the last minute a big whack came,” Morris explained.
Larkham ploughed into Morris’ now motionless car at over 170km/h, crumpling Morris’ stricken Commodore close to the start line.
The massive shunt sent a bolted-down fire extinguisher careering into Morris’ seat, buckling his back. It was feared Morris had sustained spinal damage from the extinguisher, however the Gold Coast resident was lucky to escape with severe bruising.
However, as Paul Morris’ father Terry recalled, the drama was far from over.
“When the impact with Mark was there I thought, this is not looking too good…(but) he still should be ok. When the flames went across the track (I got) a bit upset,” a clearly emotional Terry Morris told Channel 10 News yesterday.
The impact between the Ford and the Holden ruptured Larkham’s fuel tank which immediately burst into flames.
The massive crowd situated on the main straight then watched in horror as flames from the Falcon travelled along a river of dumped fuel to Morris’ machine. Within seconds, both cars were engulfed in flames.
“I thought it (the fire) was in Mark’s car, and obviously it came across to my car. Then the smoke started appearing in the cabin…as I was climbing out I could see the flames, twice the size of me,” Morris said.
Larkham, overcome by fumes, freed himself from his burning wreck and struggled clear of the inferno. With the aid of some quick-thinking fire marshals, a severely handicapped Morris escaped from his car moments later, before collapsing on the tarmac.
After preliminary examinations at the track-side medical centre, both were taken to Liverpool Hospital for further observation.
Suffering from neck, back and abdominal pain, Larkham was air-lifted to the hospital shortly after the incident. After an overnight stay, the father of four was released yesterday.
Morris’ injuries are more severe, with deep-tissue bruising and internal injuries expected to keep the Super Touring champ in hospital for the next couple of days.
Larkham returned to Queensland yesterday to the charred, crumpled remains of his Mitre 10 AU Falcon. Significant front-end damage makes a rebuild unlikely.
Morris’ older-model VS Commodore was completely destroyed in the incident. The team is expected to take delivery of the Young Lions VT Commodore shortly, but will campaign the team’s back-up car in the interim.
Spokesmen for both the Mitre 10 Racing operation and Morris’ Big Kev Racing outfit yesterday said they, miraculously, expected their wheelman would be back for the Calder Park event in under a fortnight’s time.
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