Brake parts being rushed to Melbourne for Morris
22/3/2005 19:25 (Press Release) -
Gold Coast driver Paul Morris is having brake parts rushed to Melbourne overnight in a bid to solve problems which have hampered his new VZ Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore in the Qantas V8 Supercar series at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix meeting.
Morris struggled with brake problems on the Albert Park circuit in practice and qualifying yesterday, and also in today's first of the three races in the series. He qualified 32nd on the grid yesterday, and finished 26th in today's 10-lap race.
The 37-year-old said the replacement brake parts would be transported from the Paul Morris Motorsports base at the Holden Performance Driving Centre to Melbourne. He expects they will be fitted to his Commodore for tomorrow's 19-lap race, which will be followed by another 10-lap event on Sunday before the Formula One grand prix.
Morris' new car was built 'in-house' by PMM in the off-season, along with an identical VZ Commodore for Team Kiwi Racing driver Paul Radisich. The New Zealander finished seventh at Albert Park today in the car's race debut. PMM and Team Kiwi Racing are now sharing a technical partnership.
The three races at Albert Park are not part of the V8 Supercar Championship, which starts with the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide on March 17-20.
PAUL MORRIS QUOTES: "We've struggled with the brakes, but apart from that the car is good. Paul (Radisich) has done a great job and it shows the potential of the new cars we've built. The brake problems started in practice yesterday and I went into a gravel trap. The car was left there so I didn't get many laps.
"In qualifying the problems came back, so we changed the front rotors to try and fix things. I made a good start today, but then I dropped some position mid-race because of the brakes. We're having some different size rotors brought down to Melbourne from the Gold Coast so that will hopefully make a difference.
"It's not easy starting so far back on the grid, but these races are a good testing for the car – the aim for the weekend is to keep getting more set-up data and preparing for Adelaide."
RESULTS – RACE 1 (10 laps):
POS DRIVERS CAR TIME
1. Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Commodore 20:03.306
2. Marcos Ambrose Pirtek Ford Falcon 20:06.615
3. Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Commodore 20:10.140
4. Russell Ingall Caltex Ford Falcon 20:12.876
5. Jason Bright Ford Performance Racing Falcon 20:15.103
6. Cameron McConville Repco Valvoline Holden Commodore 20:15.672
7. Paul Radisich Team Kiwi Holden Commodore 20:17.014
8. Steven Richards Team Perkins Holden Commodore 20:17.673
9. Greg Ritter Ford Performance Racing Falcon 20:20.168
10. Steven Johnson Westpoint Racing Ford Falcon 20:20.914
OTHER:
26. Paul Morris Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore 20:45.375
Release Date: 04/03/2005
Sirromet - Paul Morris Motorsport
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