Paul Morris (racing driver)
| Paul Morris | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Born |
22 December 1967 Morwell, Victoria |
| ATCC / V8 Supercars | |
| Years active | 1992–94, 1999–2014 |
| Teams |
Tony Longhurst Racing Holden Racing Team Paul Morris Motorsport |
| Starts | 341 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Best finish | 17th in 2001 Shell Championship Series |
| Previous series | |
| 1989–91 1991 1995–97, 1999 2009–10 |
Australian Formula Ford Australian Drivers' Champ. Australian Super Touring Development V8 Series |
| Championship titles | |
| 1995 1997 1999 |
Australian Super Touring Australian Super Touring Australian Super Touring |
Paul Morris (born 22 December 1967 in Morwell, Victoria, Australia) is an Australian motor racing driver and team owner. Morris presently competes in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series and in Queensland Sprintcar racing while running the Paul Morris Motorsport team racing in the International V8 Supercars Championship.
Early career
Paul Morris started his motor racing career at the age of 19 in 1987, driving in the Queensland Gemini Series. He won Rookie of the Year in his debut season, and won the state championship the following year. He spent the next three years competing in Formula Ford.[1]
Morris made his Bathurst debut in 1991, driving a Toyota Corolla. He won the Class C title that year with Geoff Full.[1]
He joined the BMW Works team in 1992, and competed in the Australian Touring Car Championship for several years. Morris went on to compete in the Australian Super Touring Championship from 1994 to 2000 (excluding 1998), winning four championships. His notable sponsors during this time were Benson & Hedges and Diet Coke. He also competed in the V8 Touring Car Championship full-time in 1994, driving a Holden Commodore sponsored by Diet Coke. That same year, he would claim another class victory at the Bathurst 1000 with German driver Altfrid Heger in a BMW, having written off his Holden in testing prior to the race.
In 1998, Morris drove for PacWest Racing in the PPG Dayton Indy Lights Championship in the United States. His best result was sixth in the opening round at Homestead.[1]
V8 Supercars
Morris co-drove with the Holden Racing Team in the 1999 endurance events. He finished 3rd with Mark Skaife at Bathurst in that year.[2]
From 2000, Morris again competed in the V8 Supercar Series full-time. Originally sponsored by Big Kev, he was involved in a major start-line accident at Oran Park 2000. He suffered a number of fractured vertebrae in this accident, and narrowly escaped the flaming wreckage of his VS Commodore.[1]
Morris recovered without missing any V8 Supercar races, and he went on to achieve his first major success at Calder Park in 2001, where he won two of the three races and won the round overall.[2]
In the week leading up to the final V8 Supercar round of 2008 Morris announced he would no longer be driving full-time in 2009 and that the team were searching for a full-time replacement in the #67 Commodore.
In 2011, Morris competes in the second-tier Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series in one of the teams older Commodores.
In 2014, Morris won the Bathurst 1000 outright for the first time as co-driver to Chaz Mostert for Ford Performance Racing. Morris had previously 'won' the 1997 AMP Bathurst 1000 in a Super Touring BMW 320i with Craig Baird. Unfortunately however the Morris/Baird BMW was disqualified immediately after the race as the team had mistakenly left Baird in the car at its last pit stop, resulting in Baird breaching race regulations by driving for more than 3 continuous hours. The disqualification handed the win to team mates Geoff and David Brabham.
Speaking over the 2015 V8 Supercars Winton SuperSprint Morris announced his retirement from Bathurst after losing his co-driver seat to Cameron Waters.[3]
Morris continues to race in the V8 Development Series.
Sprintcars
Morris competes in Speedway Sprintcars in Australia in the KRE engined #67 Supercheap Auto Sprintcar. Morris took his first Sprintcar pole position in Round 4 of the KRE Race Engines Track Championship at Brisbane International Speedway (Archerfield Speedway) in January, 2011.[4] He has also had heat wins in World Series Sprintcars.
Morris suffered a major crash at Archerfield during round 6 of the 2012/13 World Series Sprintcars. After winning his earlier heat race, Morris started from position 5 in the B Main, but lasted less than a ¼ of a lap after clipping the wheels of another car on the front straight resulting in his car going end over end and finally coming to rest in the middle of turn 2. Morris escaped the crash without injury, but his Sprintcar was in need of major repair.
Career highlights
- Winner, Australian Super Touring Championship 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000[5]
- Winner, Bathurst 1000 (Australian Touring Car Championship) 1991 (Class C), 1994 (Class B)[5]
- Winner, Bathurst 500 (Super Touring) 1999[5]
- 3rd, Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 at Mount Panorama Circuit 1999[2]
- Winner, Calder Park V8 Supercar round 2001[2]
- Winner Bathurst 12 Hour 2007 (BMW)
- Winner 2014 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 with Chaz Mostert.
Career Results
Indy Lights results
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | PacWest Lights | MIA 6 |
LBH Ret |
NZR Ret |
STL 18 |
MIL Ret |
DET 13 |
POR 7 |
CLE Ret |
TOR 20 |
MIS WD |
TRS 9 |
VAN Ret |
LS | FON | 21st | 18 |
References
- 1 2 3 4 Paul Morris Motorsports – Russell Ingall makes the move back to Holden
- 1 2 3 4 VESRIX: Driver Profile: Paul Morris
- ↑ "Morris retires from Bathurst". Velocity Magazine. 2015-05-15.
- ↑ Speedcafe. "Paul Morris scores first Sprintcar podium". Speedcafe. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
- 1 2 3 Paul Morris
External links
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Mark Winterbottom Steven Richards |
Winner of the Bathurst 1000 2014 (with Chaz Mostert) |
Succeeded by Craig Lowndes Steven Richards |
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