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Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore driver Paul Morris aims to continue his impressive qualifying form of the past two years at Sydney's Oran Park circuit this weekend as a springboard to reclaim a position in the top 10 in the 2005 V8 Supercar Championship.
Morris was 10th in the championship after the opening three rounds, but has since slipped back to 18th after a series of problems, including a high-speed crash at Eastern Creek in Sydney in May and a 1-minute 'stop-go' penalty for a driving infringement in the previous race at Queensland Raceway in July.
Assessing prospects for round eight at Oran Park, the 37-year-old old Gold Coast driver and team owner believes qualifying in the Top 10 Shoot Out this Saturday will be critical in the outcome of the two 54-lap races on the 2.7km circuit on Sunday.
Morris said he was encouraged by the fact he qualified for the Top 10 Shoot Out in the championship rounds at Oran Park in the past two years, starting third on the grid in 2003 and seventh the following year.
"We've had good car speed at Oran Park the past couple of years and made the (Top 10) Shoot Out, and that's what we've got to do again," said Morris.
"If you qualify well and make a decent start off the line in the first race it sets you up the rest of the day. It makes a big difference."
"The important thing for a quick lap at Oran Park is to get a good run onto the main straight. There are several medium-speed corners so you need the balance of the car spot-on to change direction quickly."
"We scored good (championship) points in the first three rounds this season, but things haven't gone so well since then and now we need better results to get back into the top 10 which is where we want to be."
Morris said he was frustrated at not being able to convert his impressive qualifying results at Oran Park in the past two years into equal or better finishing positions in the races.
In 2004 he finished 13th and 10th in the two races at Oran Park after contact with another car damaged the right-rear wheel of his Commodore and slowed the wheel changes in his pit-stops in both events.
Morris was second in the opening stages of the 111-lap championship race at Oran Park in 2003. However, he later received a 'drive through' penalty for an illegal start and a puncture eventually put him out of the race.
"If we have a good, clean run this weekend there's no reason why we can't be very competitive," he said. "I've had some good results at Oran Park over the years in other categories."
Between 1994 and 2000, Morris had 13 race wins at Oran Park driving 2-litre BMWs on the way to claiming four Australian Super Touring Championship titles.
Morris said he had put the controversy of his July 24 incident with New Zealander Jason Richards in round seven at Queensland Raceway behind him. After contact between their cars, Richards' Tasman Motorsports Commodore was launched into mid-air when it hit a trackside kerb and was badly damaged.
"It's unfortunate the kerb was there because that's what caused all the drama – it had nothing to do with the contact between the cars," he said.
ORAN PARK – FAST FACTS
CIRCUIT LENGTH: 2.7km
RACE FORMAT: 2 x 54 lap races (Sunday)
RACE LAP RECORD: Craig Lowndes (Holden) 1-min 8.063-secs (1999)
2004 ROUND WINNER: Marcos Ambrose (Ford)
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after round 7): Ambrose 1,166, S. Richards 1,061, Ingall 1,051, T. Kelly 1,032, Skaife 954, Lowndes 910, Tander 859, Johnson 843, Murphy 828, Seton 785. Other: Morris 630
WEBSITE: http://www.paulmorris.com.au