Paul Morris

Paul Morris

Driver Profile

Paul Morris seems to have been around touring car racing forever.

One of the series’ most talked-about figures, the man they call “The Dude” is capable of bursts of blistering speed, interspersed with an uncanny ability to attract controversy.

Morris made his racing debut in unusual fashion in 1987 in the Queensland Gemini Championship, winning the rookie of the year award and the following season, the state title. Three years in Formula Ford then led to his Bathurst debut in 1991 in a Toyota Corolla, where he won Class C with Geoff Full.

In 1992 Morris joined the BMW Works team to make his Australian Touring Car Championship debut before graduating to the Australian Super Touring Championship in 1994, winning four championships (1995, ’97, ’99, ’00) over the following seven seasons. In 1994 he also drove a Commodore in the ATCC.

Morris was recruited by the Holden Racing Team to drive the enduro events in 1999, finishing 3^rd with Mark Skaife at Bathurst, forming his own team in the same year before making his V8 Supercar debut in 2000. His debut season in the Big Kev Commodore is still remembered for a fiery start-line crash at Oran Park with Mark Larkham in which he suffered several fractured vertebrae.

His team moved to its current 800-square metre premises at the Holden Performance Driving Centre at Norwell in 2001, the same year as one of his career highlights when Morris won his first and only V8 Supercar round, triumphing in two of three races at Calder.

Joined in 2008 by another of the series’ most polarising figures, 2005 V8 Supercar champion Russell Ingall, and with new backing from the Super Cheap Auto franchise, Morris has lost none of his enthusiasm or hunger for success and will enjoy the ability to share data with one of the series’ most prolific racers.

V8 Supercar Championship Series Statistics

Debut              1992                 Amaroo Park, BMW M3

Teams             1992-1994         BMW/Diet Coke Racing

                       1999                 Holden Racing Team (enduros)

                       2000-2008         Paul Morris Motorsports

Starts              130

Podiums          2

Wins               1

Top 10s           27

Best Qual         2nd

2007 Best Qual                            8th, Bahrain                                                       

2007 Best Result                         12th, Hidden Valley, Queensland Raceway

Championship Series Results

Year       Team                                               Car                                                  Result

1992       BMW Motorsport                               BMW M3                                          9th

1993       Diet Coke Racing                               BMW M3                                          16th

1994       Diet Coke Racing                               Holden Commodore VP                     13th

1999       Holden Racing Team                          Holden Commodore VT                     37th

2000       Big Kev Racing                                  Holden Commodore VS                     19th

2001       Big Kev Racing                                  Holden Commodore VT                     17th

2002       Sirromet Wines Racing                      Holden Commodore VX                     35th

2003       Sirromet Wines Racing                      Holden Commodore VY                     23rd

2004       Sirromet Wines Racing                      Holden Commodore VY                     22nd

2005       Sirromet Wines Racing                      Holden Commodore VZ                     19^th

2006       Team Sirromet Wines                        Holden Commodore VZ                     21^st

2007       Team Sirromet Wines                        Holden Commodore VE                     22^nd

Bathurst Results
Year     Car                                                    Co-Driver                               Qualifying    Race
1991     #78 Toyota Corolla      Geoff Full         39th (Full)                              12^th
1992     #20 Benson & Hedges BMW M3            Denny Hulme                          18th (Hulme)           DNF
1993     #23 Diet Coke BMW M3                       Joachim Winkelhock               11th (JW)    15^th
1994     #46 Diet Coke BMW 318i                     Altfrid Heger                          31st (Heger)            10^th
1997     #2 Diet Coke BMW 320i                       Craig Baird                             1st   DSQ
1998     #2 Orix BJR Audi A4 quattro                Paul Radisich                          6th  DNF
1999     #2 Mobil HRT Commodore VT              Mark Skaife                            2nd  3^rd
2000     #29 Big Kev Commodore VT                 Matt Neal                               18th 12^th
2001     #29 Big Kev Commodore VT                 Ashley Stichbury                     14th 12^th
2002     #29 Sirromet Commodore VX               Wayne Wakefield                    10th DNF
2003     #29 Sirromet Commodore VY               John Faulkner                         13th DNF
2004     #29 Sirromet Commodore VY               Alan Gurr                               7th  DNF
2005     #67 Sirromet Commodore VZ               Paul Radisich                          20th DNF
2006     #67 Sirromet Commodore VZ               Steve Ellery                            15th 6^th
2007     #67 Sirromet Commodore VE               Steve Ellery                            27^th  DNF

Other career highlights        
Winner, Bathurst 12 - 2007

Winner, Australian Super Touring Series - 1995,97,99,01
Winner, Macau Ghia Touring Car race – 1999
Winner, Bathurst 500 – 1999
Winner, New Zealand Trans-Am Series – 1997
Winner, Class B of Bathurst 1000 (10th outright) – 1994
Winner, Wellington 500 – 1992
Winner, Class C of Bathurst 1000 – 1991
2^nd, Sandown 500 – 1992
3rd^, Bathurst 24 Hour – 2003
3^rd, Bathurst 1000 – 1999
3^rd, Australian Formula Ford Championship – 1990
6^th, Homestead-Miami Indy Lights round – 1998