March 13th, 2003 Morris
races to repair wrecked Commodore QUEENSLAND driver Paul Morris is undertaking a
miracle repair operation on his wrecked Holden Commodore, to have it
race-ready for next week's opening round of the V8 Supercar Championship
in Adelaide. Morris said his team is determined to have the
Sirromet Wines VY Commodore rebuilt by the time the transporter departs
the Gold Coast on Monday (March 17) for the Clipsal 500, which comprises
250km races on March 22 and again the following day.
After the accident, Morris originally expected to
be forced to switch to a 2002-specification VX Commodore for Adelaide,
but he now believes the damaged VY model Holden can be repaired in time.
"We had a good look over the car (VY
Commodore) as soon as it got back to the workshop on Tuesday, and the
structural damage is less than we thought it might be," said
Morris. "That said, it was a big shunt at the grand
prix and we're going to have 10 people working around the clock for the
next few days to have it ready for Adelaide." "The VY was going really well at Albert Park
before the crash, and I'm worried if we go back to the VX then we will
fall behind in our development program with the new car. That's why
we're doing everything to have the car fixed up for Adelaide."
As a result of the crash in Melbourne, Morris' VY
Commodore will feature new front suspension and steering in Adelaide,
plus radiator, oil system plumbing, rear-axle, and driveline. Another
engine will also be fitted. The only external panels on the car from
Melbourne which will remain on the car for Adelaide are the roof and
boot-lid. "We'll be getting the car back from the
panel shop on Saturday morning and then everyone is putting in a couple
of 15-hour days, or as long as it takes, to get everything back together
again," said Morris. "Holden have sent us some extra panels very
quickly and these arrived at the workshop yesterday." "Crashes happen in racing, but you've got to
adapt to the situation and take on these types of challenges as they
come along." Team Technical Manager Paul Ceprnich said a
factor assisting rebuilding the damaged car was his team had many VY
components race-ready for the all-new (VY) Commodore he is scheduled to
debut in the second championship round at Phillip Island on April 13. "We've been able to take a lot of things off
the brand new car, which has speeded things up," he said. "Another aspect that's helped us is
investing in CAD-CAM (Computer Aided Design-Computer Aided
Manufacturing) technology which has made the turn-around time better in
getting various parts made. All the designs for these components are
online." Morris said a challenge for all drivers on the
3.2km Adelaide street circuit would be the demanding physical
conditions. "It's always tough going for the drivers in
the heat," he said. "This is also one place where a mistake
can be very costly because of all the concrete walls." ADELAIDE – FAST FACTS CIRCUIT LENGTH: 3.2km RACE LAP RECORD: Mark Skaife (Holden) 1-min
23.720-secs 2002 WINNER: Mark Skaife (Holden)
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The
car sustained $100,000 of damage in a 180-km/h crash last Sunday which
brought an early end to the third and final V8 Supercar event at the
Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne. 
Morris
said a thorough examination of the VY Commodore after it returned to the
team's Gold Coast premises revealed major damage to the left side of the
car, including the front chassis rail and guards. There was external
engine damage, the left-front wheel was ripped off on impact with the
wall, and many panels were damaged. 