Paul Morris (racing driver)

Paul "The Dude" Morris (born 22 December 1967) is an Australian motor racing driver and team owner. The owner of Paul Morris Motorsport, he competes in Queensland sprint car racing and the Stadium Super Trucks. The 2017 SST champion, he also races in the series' Australian Boost Mobile Super Trucks championship.

Paul Morris
Morris in 2008
Nationality Australian
Born (1967-12-22) 22 December 1967
Morwell, Victoria
Boost Mobile Super Trucks career
Debut season2020
Current teamTeam Norwell
Car number67
Starts3
Stadium Super Trucks career
Debut season2015
Car number67
Starts64
Championships1
Wins3
Podiums21
Poles5
Best finish1st in 2017
Finished last season14th (2019)
Previous series
1989–91
1991
1992–94
1995–01
1998
1999–2014
2009–16
Australian Formula Ford
Australian Drivers' Champ.
Australian Touring Cars
Australian Super Touring
Indy Lights
V8 Supercars
Development V8 Series
Championship titles
2017
1995
1996–97
1997
1998
1999
2000–01
Stadium Super Trucks
Australian Super Touring
TraNZam Series
Australian Super Touring
Queensland Gemini Series
Australian Super Touring
Australian Super Touring
Last updated on: 25 November 2020.

He is the only person to have won all three major car racing events at Mount Panorama; the Bathurst 1000, Bathurst 6 Hour and Bathurst 12 Hour.[1]

Early career

Morris started his motor racing career at the age of 19 in 1987, driving in the Queensland Gemini Series. He won Rookie of the Year in his debut season, and won the state championship the following year. He spent the next three years competing in Formula Ford.[2]

Morris made his Bathurst debut in 1991, driving a Toyota Corolla. He won the Class C title that year with Geoff Full.[2]

He joined the BMW Works team in 1992, and competed in the Australian Touring Car Championship for several years. Morris went on to compete in the Australian Super Touring Championship from 1994 to 2000 (excluding 1998), winning four championships. His notable sponsors during this time were Benson & Hedges and Diet Coke. He also competed in the V8 Touring Car Championship full-time in 1994, driving a Holden Commodore sponsored by Diet Coke. That same year, he would claim another class victory at the Bathurst 1000 with German driver Altfrid Heger in a BMW, having written off his Holden in testing prior to the race.

In 1998, Morris drove for PacWest Racing in the PPG Dayton Indy Lights Championship in the United States. His best result was sixth in the opening round at Homestead.[2]

V8 Supercars

Morris co-drove with the Holden Racing Team in the 1999 endurance events. He finished third with Mark Skaife at Bathurst in that year.[3]

From 2000, Morris again competed in the V8 Supercar Series full-time. Originally sponsored by Big Kev, he was involved in a major start-line accident at the Oran Park round in 2000. He suffered a number of fractured vertebrae in this accident, and narrowly escaped the flaming wreckage of his VS Commodore.[2]

Morris recovered without missing any V8 Supercar races, and he went on to achieve his first major success at Calder Park Raceway in 2001, where he won two of the three races and won the round overall.[3]

In the week leading up to the final V8 Supercar round of 2008 Morris announced he would no longer be driving full-time in 2009 and that the team were searching for a full-time replacement in the No. 67 Commodore.

In 2011, Morris competes in the second-tier Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series in one of the teams older Commodores.

In 2014, Morris won the Bathurst 1000 outright for the first time as co-driver to Chaz Mostert for Ford Performance Racing. Morris had previously 'won' the 1997 AMP Bathurst 1000 in a Super Touring BMW 320i with Craig Baird. However the Morris/Baird BMW was disqualified immediately after the race as the team had mistakenly left Baird in the car at its last pit stop, resulting in Baird breaching race regulations by driving for more than three continuous hours. The disqualification handed the win to team mates Geoff and David Brabham.

Speaking over the 2015 V8 Supercars Winton SuperSprint Morris announced his retirement from Bathurst after losing his co-driver seat to Cameron Waters.[4]

Morris continues to race in the V8 Development Series.

Sprintcars

Morris competes in Speedway Sprintcars in Australia in the KRE-engined No. 67 Supercheap Auto Sprintcar. Morris took his first Sprintcar pole position in Round 4 of the KRE Race Engines Track Championship at Brisbane International Speedway (Archerfield Speedway) in January 2011.[5] He has also had heat wins in World Series Sprintcars.

Morris suffered a major crash at Archerfield during round 6 of the 2012/13 World Series Sprintcars. After winning his earlier heat race, Morris started from position 5 in the B Main, but lasted less than a ¼ of a lap after clipping the wheels of another car on the front straight resulting in his car going end over end and finally coming to rest in the middle of turn 2. Morris escaped the crash without injury, but his Sprintcar was in need of major repair.

Stadium Super Trucks

In 2015, Morris made his Speed Energy Formula Off-Road (Stadium Super Trucks) debut at Surfers Paradise, where he finished third in the first race.[6] A doubleheader on 25 October saw Morris finish fifth and second to score the overall win.[7] A year later, he ran much of the 2016 schedule and finished fourth in points, the highest championship run for a winless driver that year.[8]

Morris contested the full 2017 schedule as he scored three wins at Adelaide and Darwin (twice). Entering the season finale at Lake Elsinore Diamond, Morris trailed Matthew Brabham by 15 points but did not participate due to a rib injury. In his place, he had off-road veteran Jerett Brooks drive his No. 67 truck, with all points scored by Brooks going to Morris; Brooks finished eighth and second in the weekend, enabling Morris to win the 2017 championship by one point over Brabham.[9][10]

In May 2018, the series formed an alliance with Boost Mobile to increase its presence in Australia. As part of the agreement, Paul Morris Motorsport became a logistics partner for the series' Australian operations.[11] However, SST was banned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) later that month for safety reasons.[12] When the trucks returned in 2019 under the Boost Mobile Super Trucks name, Paul Morris Motorsport's Norwell Motorplex became its headquarters.[13] In October 2019, Morris also ran his first SST race of the year at Gold Coast; he led much of the second race before colliding with Cole Potts on the final lap, surrendering the win to Brabham.[14]

When the series began an Australian championship in 2020 called the Boost Mobile Super Trucks, Morris and Paul Morris Racing Academy development driver Luke van Herwaarde partnered to race under the Team Norwell name.[15]

Personal life

Morris is nicknamed "The Dude". He received the moniker when he returned from a trip to the United States in the 1990s, where the word "dude" was frequently used.[16]

Career highlights

Career results

Morris placed 19th in the 2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series driving a Holden VZ Commodore
Season Series Position Car Team
1989 Motorcraft Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series 5th Van Diemen RF89 Ford Paul Morris
1990 Motorcraft Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series 3rd Van Diemen RF89 Ford Morgan Vault Racing
1991 Motorcraft Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series 5th Van Diemen RF91 Ford Speedtech
Australian Drivers' Championship 4th Shrike NB89H Holden
1992 Australian Touring Car Championship 9th BMW M3 Evolution II Tony Longhurst Racing
1993 Australian Touring Car Championship 16th BMW M3 Evolution II Tony Longhurst Racing
1994 Australian Touring Car Championship 13th Holden VP Commodore LoGaMo Racing
Australian Manufacturers' Championship 2nd BMW 318i LoGaMo Racing
1995 Australian Super Touring Championship 1st BMW 318i Paul Morris Motorsport
Australian GT Production Car Series 5th BMW M3R Paul Morris Motorsport
1996 Australian Super Touring Championship 2nd BMW 318i Paul Morris Motorsport
1996–97 TraNZam Championship 1st
1997 Australian Super Touring Championship 1st BMW 320i Paul Morris Motorsport
1998 Indy Lights Championship 21st Lola T97/20 Buick PacWest Racing
Queensland Gemini Championship 1st Holden Gemini Coupe Paul Morris Motorsport
1999 Australian Super Touring Championship 1st BMW 320i Paul Morris Motorsport
Shell Championship Series 37th Holden VT Commodore Holden Racing Team
2000 Shell Championship Series 19th Holden VS Commodore
Holden VT Commodore
Paul Morris Motorsport
2000–01 Australian Super Touring Championship 1st BMW 320i Paul Morris Motorsport
2001 Shell Championship Series 17th Holden VT Commodore Paul Morris Motorsport
2002 V8 Supercar Championship Series 35th Holden VX Commodore Paul Morris Motorsport
2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series 23rd Holden VY Commodore Paul Morris Motorsport
2004 V8 Supercar Championship Series 22nd Holden VY Commodore Paul Morris Motorsport
2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series 19th Holden VZ Commodore Paul Morris Motorsport
2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series 21st Holden VZ Commodore Paul Morris Motorsport
2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series 22nd Holden VZ Commodore
Holden VE Commodore
Paul Morris Motorsport
2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series 20th Holden VE Commodore Paul Morris Motorsport
2009 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series 35th Holden VZ Commodore Paul Morris Motorsport
V8 Supercar Championship Series 43rd Holden VE Commodore
2010 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series 16th Holden VZ Commodore Paul Morris Motorsport
V8 Supercar Championship Series 40th Holden VE Commodore
2011 International V8 Supercars Championship 41st Holden VE Commodore Paul Morris Motorsport
Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series 8th
2012 V8SuperTourer Championship 33rd Holden VE Commodore AV8 Motorsport
Dunlop V8 Supercar Series 24th Holden VE Commodore Paul Morris Motorsport
International V8 Supercars Championship 57th Ford FG Falcon
2013 V8SuperTourer Championship 23rd Holden VE Commodore MPC Motorsport
Dunlop V8 Supercar Series 12th Paul Morris Motorsport
International V8 Supercars Championship 48th Holden VF Commodore Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport
Pirtek Enduro Cup 20th
2014 International V8 Supercars Championship 27th Ford FG Falcon Ford Performance Racing
Pirtek Enduro Cup 2nd
2015 V8 Supercars Dunlop Series 14th Ford FG Falcon Paul Morris Motorsport
Kerrick Sports Sedan Series 14th MARC MARC Cars Australia
Stadium Super Trucks 11th Stadium Super Truck Supercheap Auto
2016 Australian Production Car Series 3rd BMW M135i Roadchill Freight Express
Stadium Super Trucks 4th Stadium Super Truck UFD Racing
2017 Stadium Super Trucks 1st Stadium Super Truck UFD Racing
2018 Stadium Super Trucks 8th Stadium Super Truck UFD Racing
2019 Stadium Super Trucks 14th Stadium Super Truck UFD Racing
2020 Boost Mobile Super Trucks N/A Stadium Super Truck Team Norwell

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year Team Car Co-driver Position Laps
1991 Speedtech Motorsport Toyota Sprinter Geoff Full 12th 140
1992 Benson & Hedges Racing BMW M3 Denny Hulme DNF 32
1993 LoGaMo Racing BMW M3 Joachim Winkelhock 15th 146
1994 LoGaMo Racing BMW 318i Altfrid Heger 10th 155
1997 Paul Morris Motorsport BMW 320i Craig Baird DSQ 161
1998 Brad Jones Racing Audi A4 Paul Radisich DNF 84
1999 Holden Racing Team Holden VT Commodore Mark Skaife 3rd 161
2000 Paul Morris Motorsport Holden VT Commodore Matt Neal 12th 158
2001 Paul Morris Motorsport Holden VT Commodore Ashley Stichbury 12th 159
2002 Paul Morris Motorsport Holden VX Commodore Wayne Wakefield DNF 135
2003 Paul Morris Motorsport Holden VY Commodore John Faulkner DNF 5
2004 Paul Morris Motorsport Holden VY Commodore Alan Gurr DNF 50
2005 Paul Morris Motorsport Holden VZ Commodore Paul Radisich DNF 26
2006 Paul Morris Motorsport Holden VZ Commodore Steve Ellery 6th 161
2007 Paul Morris Motorsport Holden VE Commodore Steve Ellery DNF 145
2008 Paul Morris Motorsport Holden VE Commodore Russell Ingall 18th 156
2009 Paul Morris Motorsport Holden VE Commodore Tim Slade 7th 161
2010 Paul Morris Motorsport Holden VE Commodore Russell Ingall 8th 161
2011 Paul Morris Motorsport Holden VE Commodore Steve Owen 11th 161
2012 Paul Morris Motorsport Ford FG Falcon Steve Owen DNF 53
2013 Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Holden VF Commodore Scott Pye 6th 161
2014 Ford Performance Racing Ford FG Falcon Chaz Mostert 1st 161

Indy Lights results

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rank Points
1998 PacWest Lights MIA
6
LBH
Ret
NZR
Ret
STL
18
MIL
Ret
DET
13
POR
7
CLE
Ret
TOR
20
MIS
WD
TRS
9
VAN
Ret
LS FON 21st 18

Complete Bathurst 24 Hour results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2002 Prancing Horse Racing Scuderia John Bowe
Brad Jones
John Teulan
Ferrari 360 N-GT 1 96 DNF DNF
2003 John Teulan Peter Fitzgerald
John Teulan
Scott Shearman
Porsche 996 GT3 RC A 515 3rd 3rd

NASCAR Camping World West Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

NASCAR Camping World West Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 NCWWSC Pts
2008 Dick Midgley 09 Chevy AAS PHO CTS IOW CNS SON
27
IRW DCS EVG MMP IRW AMP AAS 71st 82

Stadium Super Trucks

(key) (Bold – Pole position. Italics – Fastest qualifier. * – Most laps led.)

Stadium Super Trucks results
Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 SSTC Pts Ref
2015 ADE ADE ADE STP STP LBH DET DET DET AUS TOR TOR OCF OCF OCF SRF
3
SRF
5
SRF
5
SRF
2*
SYD
5
LVV LVV 11th 113 [19]
2016 ADE
2
ADE
7
ADE
9
STP
6
STP
4
LBH
4
LBH
10
DET
4
DET
C
DET
3
TOW
2
TOW
3
TOW
12
TOR TOR CLT
4
CLT
5
OCF
6
OCF
11
SRF
12
SRF
10
SRF
5
4th 386 [8]
2017 ADE
2
ADE
4
ADE
1
STP
3
STP
7
LBH
2
LBH
4
BAR
3
BAR
4
BAR
9
DET
4
DET
4
TEX
4
TEX
9
HID
1
HID
7
HID
1
BEI
5
GLN
2
GLN
3
ELS
Rpl
ELS
Rpl
1st 546 [9]
2018 ELS
Rpl
ADE
8
ADE
4
ADE
8
LBH
10
LBH
5
BAR
3
BAR
5
DET
9
DET
10
TEX
2
TEX
4
ROA ROA SMP
6
SMP
2
HLN HLN MXC MXC 8th 249 [20]
2019 COA COA TEX TEX LBH LBH TOR TOR MOH MOH MOH MOH ROA ROA ROA POR POR SRF
8
SRF
2*
14th 38 [21]
Jerett Brooks drove Morris' truck, points went to Morris

Boost Mobile Super Trucks

Boost Mobile Super Trucks results
Year 1 2 3 BMSTC Pts Ref
2020 ADE
6
ADE
3*
ADE
5
N/A [22]

References

  1. Paul Morris reflects on Bathurst triple crown Speedcafe 16 April 2017
  2. "Paul Morris Motorsports – Russell Ingall makes the move back to Holden". Archived from the original on 15 January 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2008.
  3. VESRIX: Driver Profile: Paul Morris
  4. "Morris retires from Bathurst". Velocity Magazine. 15 May 2015.
  5. Speedcafe. "Paul Morris scores first Sprintcar podium". Speedcafe. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  6. "Morris set for Stadium Super Trucks". Supercars Championship. 23 August 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  7. "Morris takes Super Truck meeting victory". Speedcafe. 25 October 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  8. "2016 Overall Point Standings". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  9. "2017 Overall Point Standings". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  10. Herrero, Dan (17 December 2017). "Paul Morris wins Stadium Super Trucks series". Speedcafe. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  11. "Rights deal signed for Super Trucks in Australia". Speedcafe. 6 May 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  12. Howard, Tom (20 September 2018). "CAMS suspends Super Trucks on safety grounds". Speedcafe. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  13. Howard, Tom; Herrero, Daniel (6 September 2019). "Super Trucks corporate experience to be run at Norwell". Speedcafe. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  14. Nguyen, Justin (27 October 2019). "Matt Brabham sneaks by final lap drama, wins SST Gold Coast Race 2". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  15. Murray, Brett (6 February 2020). "Morris and Van Herwaarde form Team Norwell Stadium Trucks squad". Speedcafe. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  16. Brudenell, Mike (1 June 2018). "Paul 'The Dude' Morris brings Australian flavor to Stadium Super Trucks". Autoweek. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  17. Paul Morris Archived 21 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  18. Mount Panorama - Bathurst 23/11/2003 Bathurst 24hr 2003 Archived 31 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine National Software retrieved on 4 April 2008
  19. "2015 Official Point Standings". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  20. "2018 Overall Point Standings". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  21. "2019 Overall Point Standings". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  22. "2020 Adelaide Results". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
John Bowe
Dick Johnson
Winner of the Bathurst 12 Hour
2007
(with Craig Baird & Garry Holt)
Succeeded by
Graham Alexander
Rod Salmon
Damien White
Preceded by
Tony Longhurst
Rod Salmon
Damien White
Winner of the Bathurst 12 Hour
2010
(with Garry Holt & John Bowe)
Succeeded by
Marc Basseng
Christopher Mies
Darryl O'Young
Preceded by
Mark Winterbottom
Steven Richards
Winner of the Bathurst 1000
2014
(with Chaz Mostert)
Succeeded by
Craig Lowndes
Steven Richards
Preceded by
Sheldon Creed
Stadium Super Trucks Champion
2017
Succeeded by
Matthew Brabham
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