Collision At 1981 Bathurst
Bob Morris was involved in a dramatic collision during the 1981 Bathurst 1000. Morris' Falcon, when running in 2nd place, came together with the Falcon of Christine Gibson leading to a six car pile-up that blocked the track. The other cars involved were the Commodores of Garry Rogers and Tony Edmondson, the Gemini of David Seldon and the Chevrolet Camaro of Kevin Bartlett. The officials declared the race over 43 laps short of the full distance and so the Bob Morris/John Fitzpatrick car was awarded 2nd place. The crash though would have repercussions for Morris' racing career. Morris would have balance issues that affected his ability to race, but the talent was always there.
1982 would see a two car 'super team' with Alan Jones, but with the two drivers steering different cars, Morris a XE Falcon, Jones a Mazda RX-7. The partnership dissolved at the end of the 1982 season, in particular after a disappointing Bathurst which saw the very competitive Falcon badly damaged in a crash on Saturday afternoon, the car irreparable for the Sunday morning start.
Morris returned to full time touring car racing part way through the 1984 season in a Barry Jones prepared RX-7. After first winning Round 3 of the Amaroo Park based AMSCAR Series, he went on to qualify 2nd a week later at Oran Park for Round 5 of the 1984 ATCC. With his RX-7 fitted with a road standard gearbox, Morris pulled off a surprise win in his first ATCC start since 1982.
Morris had his final start at Bathurst in the 1984 James Hardie 1000 in what was the final Group C Bathurst 1000. Morris qualified the RX-7 in 9th place after "Hardies Heroes". Partnered with car owner Barry Jones, the pair failed to finish after suffering repeated gearbox problems throughout the race, including replacing the gearbox in the early laps. The Morris/Jones Mazda only completed 97 of the races 163 laps. That year Morris retired from competitive driving, at the comparatively young age of 36, to live on his property at Kangaroo Valley..
Read more about this topic: Bob Morris (racing Driver)
Famous quotes containing the word collision:
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—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)