Morris & Radisich Finish 8Th After Engine Problem In Warm-Up

Sirromet Wines-Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore team-mates Paul Morris and Paul Radisich recovered from an engine failure in the pre-race warm-up to finish eighth in today's Betta Electrical Sandown 500 V8 Supercar Championship race in Melbourne.

The 161-lap race at Sandown, held in variable weather conditions, was the ninth round of the championship and the first of two successive endurance events, to be followed by the Super Cheap Auto 1000 at Bathurst on October 9.

In the warm-up at Sandown, Radisich was forced to stop driving the Paul Morris Motorsports-built VZ Commodore because of problems with a new-specification engine designed and built at PMM's Gold Coast headquarters.

The PMM crew at Sandown then spent two hours fitting a replacement engine built to the same specification as used by Morris and Radisich in their Commodores in previous championship races this year. The instalment process was completed just minutes before the race began.

Radisich started the Sandown race from 19th on the grid on a dry track surface. The New Zealander was 14th when he completed his stint on lap 57 for a pit-stop for fuel, four new tyres, and brake-pad and driver changes.

Morris began his stint in 19th position and improved to eighth by lap 94 when he made a pit-stop for fuel and wet-weather tyres after rain began to fall. He moved up to sixth, and then made another pit-stop on lap 139 for fuel and dry-weather 'slick' tyres. Morris resumed in 10th place, and in the closing stages passed the John Bowe-Brad Jones BOC Ford Falcon to claim eighth.

The other PMM-built car in the race stopped after 55 laps because of engine problems. Alan Gurr drove the entire stint, with John Faulkner not participating in the race.

Craig Lowndes and Yvan Muller won the event in a Betta Electrical Ford Falcon, followed by Todd Kelly and Mark Skaife in a Holden Racing Team Commodore. Marcos Ambrose remains championship leader with 1,486 points. Morris and Radisich each scored 164 points for their result at Sandown. Morris improved from 18th to 17th in the championship with an improved overall score of 839 points.

PAUL MORRIS QUOTES: "The weather was changing every few minutes so it was a lottery with tyre choice. Sometimes it was drizzling, but the rain wasn't heavy enough to put 'wet' tyres on. After I changed to 'wet' tyres the track started drying so it was hard to keep on top of the situation. My team made some good calls to improve our track position. I ended up doing a double stint, and physically it wasn't a problem. You just had to drive to the conditions. The day started out badly with the engine failure in the warm-up. The crew did a great job getting the engine changed in time for the race. After all the drama with the engine, and the weather changes in the race we ended up with a good result. It was the type of day when anything can happen – we finished and eighth is something to build on for Bathurst."

PAUL RADISICH QUOTES: "I got a reasonable start in the race and drove in a group of cars for the whole stint. There wasn't a lot of passing and everyone was consolidating their positions. It was a shame we lost our race engine in the warm-up. A piece broke off the air box and went into the engine. The 'new-spec' engine seems to accelerate better off the turns."

ALAN GURR QUOTES: "After racing the Porsche all year I've been struggling for car speed in the V8 Supercar. The balance of the car was okay, but I wasn't getting into the corners 'hot' enough. I first noticed something wrong with the engine when it started to misfire coming onto the straight. Then there was smoke and a flash of flame. I parked the car and the officials brought me back to the pits."

RESULTS – RACE (161 laps):
POS DRIVERS CAR TIME
1. C. Lowndes-Y. Muller Betta Electrical Ford Falcon 3:30:51.894
2. M. Skaife-T. Kelly Holden Racing Team Commodore 3:31:27.511
3. J. Richards-J. Whincup Tasman Motorsports Holden Commodore 3:31:42.783
4. G. Tander-R. Kelly HSV Racing Holden Commodore 3:31:48.135
5. S. Ellery-A. Macrow Betta Electrical Ford Falcon 3:31:53.384
6. J. Bright-D. Brabham Ford Performance Racing Falcon lap down
7. R. Ingall-L. Youlden Caltex Ford Falcon lap down
8. P. Morris-P. Radisich Sirromet Wines-TKR Holden Commodore lap down
9. J. Bowe-B. Jones BOC Ford Falcon lap down
10. C. McConville-A. Jones Repco Valvoline Holden Commodore lap down
OTHER:
DNF A. Gurr-J. Faulkner TKR-Sirromet Wines Holden Commodore 55 laps
FASTEST LAP: Lowndes 1-min 11.794-secs

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after round 9): Ambrose 1,486; Ingall 1,408; S. Richards 1,367; Lowndes 1,261; T. Kelly 1,253; Skaife 1,202; Tander 1,144; Bright 1,096; Johnson 1,042; Seton 1,038. Other: Morris 839

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