Morris searches for more speed in Adelaide
7/4/2005 19:00 (Press Release) -
Gold Coast driver Paul Morris is searching for more speed from his new Sirromet Wines VZ Holden Commodore in tomorrow's first race in the 2005 V8 Supercar Championship in Adelaide.
Morris today finished 19th in today's qualifying session for the Clipsal 500, which comprises 250km races tomorrow and on Sunday.
The 37-year-old clocked a fastest qualifying lap time of 1-min 23.240-secs around the 3.2km street circuit. Earlier in the day the Paul Morris Motorsports team owner and driver had been 12th in the opening practice session, and 14th in the second practice session.
Morris spun in the first practice session, and temporarily drove off the track in qualifying, but did not sustain any damage to his car in either incident. New Zealand's Paul Radisich, driving an identical PMM-built Team Kiwi Racing VZ Commodore, finished second quickest in qualifying, and was ninth in the Top 10 Shoot Out.
In 2004 Morris finished sixth in the opening race in Adelaide, after leading for several laps.
PAUL MORRIS QUOTES: "We started here with a similar (car) set-up to last year, and made some changes to the springs and 'shocks' in practice. This is a new car, but so far it doesn't seem quite as quick or consistent as what we ran with the last time we were here. We've got some other things to try.
"I locked the brakes on the second set of (new) tyres in qualifying and the car went around, but I got going again without any problems. Paul (Radisich) has done a good job. We've looked at the telemetry and I'm carrying too much speed into some of the corners which means I'm not getting good exits. We didn't use the air-conditioning in practice or qualifying, but it's going into the car tonight for the races."
RESULTS – QUALIFYING:
POS DRIVER CAR TIME
1. Rick Kelly HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore 1:22.943
2. Marcos Ambrose Pirtek Ford Falcon 1:23.049
3. Steve Ellery Betta Electrical Ford Falcon 1:23.191
4. Russell Ingall Caltex Ford Falcon 1:23.242
5. Jason Bright Ford Performance Racing Falcon 1:23.442
6. Greg Murphy Super Cheap Auto Holden Commodore 1:23.495
7. Steven Richards Castrol Perkins Holden Commodore 1:23.588
8. Craig Lowndes Betta Electrical Ford Falcon 1:23.744
9. Paul Radisich Team Kiwi Holden Commodore 1:24.078
10. Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Commodore DNS
OTHER:
19. Paul Morris Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore 1:23.240
Release Date: 18/03/2005
Sirromet - Life, Style, Wine (PMM)
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