Locally based British racer Steve Morris will wish to forget last Saturday’s (May 24) South African Production Car Championship races at the East London Grand Prix circuit in a hurry. Morris, who is contesting the tin-top title chase in one of the Kaye-Eddie team’s BMW 330i models, scored a fifth place and a retirement during Rounds 7 and 8 of the Championship. –
– His weekend started on a difficult note during the Friday morning’s free practice session, when his BMW proved extremely skittish through the circuit’s tight infield. –
– “The car handled beautifully through the ultra-fast, much-dreaded Potters Pass- and Rifle Range Sweeps, but it was a disaster through the slow infield corners. We changed some things and I started to find some of the lost time, but we were not really ready for Friday afternoon’s Official Qualifying session” Morris said. –
– As a consequence, Morris qualified seventh on the grid and at the back of the Class A pack for both of Saturday’s races. –
– In the opening race, both Leeroy Poulter (Mercedes-Benz C320) and Martin Steyn (Alfa Romeo 156 GTA) crashed out of contention, leaving Morris to finish fifth in class; just behind the similar BMW 330i of Kaye-Eddie team mate Reghardt Roets. In the second race Morris was running fourth, not far off the leaders’ pace, when his car was punted from behind coming into the pit straight. –
– “Leeroy Poulter’s Mercedes hit my car in the rear and then from the side while it was spinning. The result was a broken steering box in my car, and immediate retirement from the race. I was extremely upset – I believe that Poulter could at least have avoided hitting my car the second time,” Morris said. –
– “Just a lap before my incident, Reghardt’s car was banged into a spin at exactly the same spot – this time with Richard Sorensen the aggressor,” –
– “Afterwards, the stewards declared both crashes “racing incidents” and no action was taken against either Poulter or Sorensen.” –
– “I find it puzzling – earlier this year, I was penalised for overly robust driving after a similar coming-together with Etienne van der Linde’s BMW.” –
– “It seems that different rules apply at various circuits regarding robust driving – something that should be sorted out,” Morris added. –
– The youngster’s mother Trish, brother Pim and father Rick were all at the circuit, having flown in from Britain last week. –
– “It was great to race with them watching – and all the more reason to be unhappy about being punted out of contention,” Steve said. –
– The Morris family will spend the next two weeks in Johannesburg, with Steve showing them the local sights. In between, he will assist the Kaye-Eddie racing team in repairing his damaged BMW racer. –
– “That is part of the deal – I work on the car myself, learning a lot from the extremely professional Kaye-Eddie technicians.” –
– “We shall be back and ready for the next Vodacom Power Tour event at AA Kyalami on June 26” Morris concluded.
