Bob Morris (motor racing)

Robert Morris (born October 4, 1948) is an Australian former racing driver. Morris was one of the leading touring car drivers during the 1970’s and continued racing until 1984. Morris won Australia’s premier Touring car race, the Bathurst 1000 in 1976. He also won the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1979.

Early years

Morris got his early start in racing through his father Ray Morris who was racing at the time in early sports sedan racing with a modified Ford Falcon. Bob Morris made his Bathurst 1000 debut in 1968 driving a Toyota Corolla with Bruce Hindhaugh in the team backed by Australian Toyota importers AMI that his father Ray also drove for. Morris and Hindhaugh won their class. Morris again registered a class win the following year with Brian Sampson, again in an AMI Corolla.

In 1970, spotted by team boss Harry Firth, Morris was picked up by the Holden Dealer Team. He was paired with the HDT's other young charger, Peter Brock in a Torana GTR XU-1 but a troubled race saw them finish well back in the field. 1971 saw Morris paired with father Ray, taking out fastest lap at Bathurst in a Ford Falcon GTHO but the family team retired early, the big Ford overheating.

In 1973 Morris received backing from Sydney car dealer Ron Hodgson Motors and the Seven TV Network for his Torana GTR XU-1 campaign. In the 1973 and 1974 seasons Morris was very competitive in the Sun-7 Chesterfield Series at Amaroo Park driving against the Holden Dealer Team’s Colin Bond and other top Sydney drivers.

1976 Bathurst victory

In 1975 Morris finished second at Bathurst in the Ron Hodgson Torana SL/R5000 L34 with co-driver Frank Gardner. The following year Bob Morris, with British touring car ace John Fitzpatrick as co-driver, went one better – winning in a dramatic finish at Bathurst. In the final laps of the 1976 race John Fitzpatrick nursed home the ailing Morris Torana which was trailing smoke. Rival Torana driver Colin Bond was within striking distance of the lead if Fitzpatrick had to pit and there were emotional scenes as chief Ron Hodgson team mechanic, Bruce Richardson, slumped disconsolately in the pits seemingly resigned to seeing victory snatched from the team’s grasp. Meanwhile, a nervous Bob Morris paced up and down the pits with fingers crossed but the slowing Ron Hodgson Torana managed to make it to the finish line first with Bond in 2nd place on the same lap.

Touring Car Champion

In 1979 Bob Morris, in an A9X Torana, won a hard-fought Australian Touring Car Championship title ahead of Holden Dealer Team driver Peter Brock. Morris also won the AMSCAR Series, run at Amaroo Park. At the Bathurst 1000 that year Morris was 2nd fastest qualifier but Brock, in his new A9X Torana, ran away from the field at the start of the race, leading every lap of the event. Hodgson, having seen his team beat the HDT to the Touring Car title, withdrew from racing, having achieved all he had set out to do. Morris was re-united with Frank Gardner, who was team manager of Allan Grice's team. Morris developed a new Commodore during the Touring Car Championship, but by the enduros he had left the team and raced Bill O'Brien's Falcon during the 1980 endurance season.

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 winning the Oran Park ATCC round Morris had his final start at Bathurst with Barry Jones co-driving. That year Morris retired from competitive driving, at the comparatively young age of 36, to live on his property at Kangaroo Valley.

References

*Australia's Greatest Motor Race 1960-1999 (Chevron) © 2000
*"Racing Car News" October 1976
*http://www.bowdensown.com.au/cars/hodgsonxu1.html

Career results