Morris finishes season in impressive style
11/1/2005 16:07 (Press Release) -
Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore driver Paul Morris completed the 2004 V8 Supercar Championship in impressive style in the final round at Eastern Creek Raceway in Sydney today.
Morris drove his VY Commodore to seventh position in the third and final race of the 13th round. The result was his best since finishing sixth in the opening race of the season in the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide in March.
The Eastern Creek round comprised three races. Morris was 29th in yesterday's opening race over 26 laps, after a lengthy pit-stop for repairs to his car, and 23rd in the first of today's two 39-lap races after being delayed by a 'drive through' penalty.
The 36-year-old Gold Coast driver scored 80 championship points at Eastern Creek which left him with a season tally of 1,071 points. He finished 22nd in the championship, which was won by Marcos Ambrose with 2,174 points in a Pirtek Ford Falcon.
Morris began the first of today's two races 29th on the grid. He made his compulsory pit-stop on lap 15, and after fresh tyres were fitted to his car he improved to 12th position by lap 32.
However, his hopes of a top 10 finish evaporated when he was give a 'drive through' penalty after contact with the WPS Falcon of David Besnard. The incident left Morris 27th when he resumed racing.
In today's final race Morris made his compulsory pit-stop on lap six when in 21st place. He then charged forward, moving into the top 10 on lap 26, and improving another three positions before the finish. Morris set the fourth quickest lap time in the race with 1-min 34.173-secs around the 3.9km track.
PAUL MORRIS QUOTES: "The last race was a good way to finish the season. Our car is usually pretty good around Eastern Creek, and I'm confident we could have had two top 10 finishes today if I hadn't been given the 'drive through' penalty in the second race. It happened after I caught up to some slower cars who were blocking. I tried to pass (David) Besnard up the inside and he turned in – that's when we came together and then I got the penalty. In the last race we made our pit-stop early because we had a really good set of tyres for the car. I went hard after that and was able to pass quite a few cars. We also picked up some more positions because of our strategy. Speed-wise our car is now quite competitive, as we've shown in qualifying on many occasions. Unfortunately this hasn't always shown up in our race results. Next season we need to convert our speed from qualifying into better results."
RESULTS – RACE 2 (39 laps):
POS DRIVERS CAR TIME
1. Marcos Ambrose Pirtek Ford Falcon 1:03:10.438
2. Paul Radisich Betta Electrical Ford Falcon 1:03:29.689
3. Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Falcon 1:03:30.263
4. Steven Richards Castrol Perkins Holden Commodore 1:03:44.987
5. Jason Richards Tasman Motorsports Holden Commodore 1:03:45.740
6. Steven Johnson Shell Helix Ford Falcon 1:03:50.024
7. Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Commodore 1:03:50.859
8. Max Wilson Betta Electrical Ford Falcon 1:03:55.025
9. Russell Ingall Caltex Havoline Ford Falcon 1:03:55.360
10. Cameron McConville Repco Valvoline Holden Commodore 1:04:02.675
OTHER:
23. Paul Morris Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore 1:04:48.495
FASTEST LAP: Ambrose 1-min 35.030-secs
RESULTS – RACE 3 (39 laps):
POS DRIVERS CAR TIME
1. Marcos Ambrose Pirtek Ford Falcon 1:04:31.834
2. Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Commodore 1:04:58.323
3. Russell Ingall Caltex Havoline Ford Falcon 1:04:59.737
4. Paul Radisich Betta Electrical Ford Falcon 1:05:03.550
5. Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Commodore 1:05:08.107
6. Cameron McConville Repco Valvoline Holden Commodore 1:05:08.705
7. Paul Morris Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore 1:05:11.823
8. Steven Richards Castrol Perkins Holden Commodore 1:05:11.906
9. Jason Richards Tasman Motorsports Holden Commodore 1:05:12.321
10. Garth Tander Repco Valvoline Holden Commodore 1:05:12.981
FASTEST LAP: Ambrose 1-min 33.875-secs
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after round 13): Ambrose 2,174; Ingall 1,936; Bright 1,920; Murphy 1,913; S. Richards 1,819; R. Kelly 1,793; T. Kelly 1,623; Bargwanna 1,526; Bowe 1,502; Johnson 1,416. Other: Morris 1,071.
Release Date: 05/12/2004
Sirromet Wines - Paul Morris Motorsports
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