PMM to debut new car at Darwin

[GTRMagic]

From the www.paulmorris.com.au website....

SIRROMET WINES V8 SUPERCAR TEAM WORKS LONG HOURS TO BUILD CAR FOR DARWIN

A marathon car building program on the Gold Coast after a high-speed crash will have Paul Morris driving with a much-revised Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore in round four of the V8 Supercar Championship in the Northern Territory from May 21-23.

Morris and his team have worked 12-hour days over the past week fitting out a new VY Commodore body shell with a mix of new and old components in preparation for the round at the Hidden Valley circuit near Darwin.

"Our team has been working incredibly hard putting the car together and at this stage it appears the transporter will be heading to Darwin this Sunday (May 16) as planned," he said. "Fortunately we had enough 'spares' and equipment to deal with this type of situation without any extra load on our machining or fabricating departments."

The 36-year-old dropped from seventh to 11th in the championship when he hit a wall at 200-km/h in the previous round at Pukekohe in New Zealand on May 2, and his VY Commodore was badly damaged.

The car Morris crashed on the final lap of the third race of the New Zealand round is scheduled to arrive back in Australia by ship later this week, which would not have allowed the team enough time to repair the damage before Hidden Valley.

In the circumstances the team removed as many components as possible from the damaged car in New Zealand, then transported them across the Tasman Sea last week by air, and fitted out a recently-completed body-shell at their workshop at the Holden Performance Driving Centre.

"The new body shell was going to be a 'spare' and we were lucky it was finished just in time," said Morris. "We had enough bits, either in the workshop, or from the car in New Zealand, to build up a complete car for Darwin."

Parts removed from the Commodore Morris raced in New Zealand which will be used on his car at Hidden Valley include the fuel and oil systems, wiring loom, dashboard instruments and electrics, and the air-conditioner.

Team Technical Manager Paul Ceprnich said the gearbox, differential, and engine had been damaged on the car raced in New Zealand, and replacement units would be used in Darwin. He said the new body shell was essentially unchanged from his previous design.

Morris, who received minor neck and leg injuries from the crash in New Zealand, said he aimed to regain a championship top 10 position in the Hidden Valley round, which comprises a 20-minute race on May 22, and two 100km races the following day.

"The crash in New Zealand dropped us out of the top 10, so we are keen to get things back on track," said Morris. "Heat is always a factor in Darwin, and I think the air-conditioner we're using could be a big bonus."

"Hidden Valley has a slow corner coming onto the long front straight so you need plenty of horsepower. Around the back section there's some tight corners where you change direction quickly so you've got to get the balance of the car right."

Morris qualified 12th in the championship round at Hidden Valley in 2003. However, he was forced out of the first race by broken steering after contact with another car. In race two he finished 23rd after being slowed by an overheating engine, and in race three he was 30th after struggling with clutch and power steering problems.

"In terms of car speed we've made some gains since last year, and I think we can be very competitive this time," said Morris.

Now thats not a half bad effort, to build aup a new shell with the wiring systems, fuel cell & systems, suspension, interior fittings etc etc. in such a short space of time A good team seems to be in place

Here's hoping Paul has recovered, and can take his place in Darwin.. a 27G hit, accompanied by significant bruising as a result of the accident would likely impact (negatively) the driver's training program...

Here's hoping the team can continue its consistency in the series...

[gomick]

hope he dont ding it - he always seems to have costly/unlucky ($$$$$ wise) accidents paul morris.....

[GTRMagic]

They all need to be christened, but a couple of hundred kays an hour into a wall isnt my idea of fun...

If the team manages to get some upstepped engine development happening, the cars will be among the best Blueprint VY's out there..

[Also a Believer]

It probably is the best currently, and whilsy I rate paul as a driver he just seems to make that little mistake each lap that costs him time. Hope all goes well in Darwin, will be visiting there for the first time this year myself.

[Gudgeon]

Be interesting to see if the airconditioning system provides any advantage for the Dude.
I agree that he has more than his fair share of bad luck. Or is he just in the wrong place at the wrong time like when Dumbrell caused that huge shunt at the A.G.P in 2003 and When Larry stalled on the Grid at Oran Park and Larkham coming from the back of the grid sandwiched the Dude big time cuasing that horrific fire and destroying the car.
Or when Tony Longhurst lost his cool and attacked him by punching his helmet after a big shunt at Winton that looked like it was caused by Longhurst
One thing you can say is that he has the guts to keep coming back.

[mountainstar]

It seems like everytime I turn around Paul Morris is having a big smash.

[Onlooker]

And debuting another "new car"

[FatBoy]

Good luck to him, he deserves some !!

[Timu]

It didnt look like 200km/h when I saw the hit, but having hung round with the crew throughout the Pukekohe weekend, I feel so sorry for them!

They seem to have some of the quickest VYs around so watch Morris and his 15 kilo air con system back in the thick of thing at the very hot Hidden Valley.

GO PMM!!!!

[GTRMagic]

This is the 4th chassis the PMM team has constructed, this one nicknamed "Daisy"

I wouldnt call the accident in the Big Kev car when most of the Mitre 10 Falcon ended up in the back seat as being Mr Morris' fault, nor the major major sausage from last year's AGP when Mr Dumbrell had a bit of brain fade either....

One of the cars is in the top 10 in the current series, another was written off in Adelaide by a Konica pilot, Mr Morris smacked the wall in Pukekohe in car #3, while the new shell is the 4th.

Hardly a new car each weekend, considering the PMM team has been in the series since 2000.. its like a car a season... just like HRT, SBR, 888 etc etc

[Timu]

"Daisy" seems a bit of a soft nckname for a firebreathing 620hp V8!

[GTRMagic]

Nah, its named after someone inside the team.... and her contribution is every bit as important as anyone else on their crew!

[Gudgeon]

Interesting concept to name the car after one of the team members is this official or just a nickname. I could not find any rule in the CAMS manual saying serial numbers had to be all numbers so I suppose it could be possible to officially designate the car as Daisy or Fred if you wanted to. I wonder what Craig Lowndes or Mark Skaife would call their cars.

[aj_308]

i think brock used to name the cars also.

[vortexo]

Bairdo is talking with PMM and other Holden teams about the Endro's if the sponsors can be worked out.

[GTRMagic]

In both Craig and Mark's case, the word ****box springs to mind!

The cars are named alphabetically... this is the 4th car, therefore starting with "D"....