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| Manufacturer | Ford BMW Holden |
|---|---|
| Team Principal | Paul Morris |
| Race Drivers | Paul Morris (1995–2014) Charlie O'Brien (1995–96) Geoff Brabham (1995–97) Craig Baird (1997) Matt Neal (2000, 2008) Kevin Schwantz (2000) Owen Kelly (2000, 2007, 2009) Aaron McGill (2000) Ashley Stichbury (2001) Wayne Wakefield (2002) John Faulkner (2003) Alan Gurr (2004, 2006) Paul Radisich (2005) Fabian Coulthard (2006–07) Steve Ellery (2006–07) Russell Ingall (2008–11) Boris Said (2008, 2011, 2012) Tim Slade (2009) Greg Murphy 2010 Tim Blanchard (2010) Allan Simonsen (2010) Yvan Muller (2010) Jack Perkins (2010–11) Steve Owen (2011–12) Jan Magnussen (2011) |
| Chassis | BMW 320i Holden Commodore VS Holden Commodore VT Holden Commodore VX Holden Commodore VY Holden Commodore VZ Holden Commodore VE Ford Falcon FG |
| Debut | 2000 |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Round wins | 1 |
| Race wins | 2 |
| 2012 position | 15th |
Paul Morris Motorsport, also known as its business name ofNemo Racing,[1] is an Australian motor racing team that competed inV8 Supercars between2000 and2012. The team also won the1997 AMP Bathurst 1000 and fourAustralian Super Touring Championships. The team is based at theNorwell Motorplex inNorwell,Queensland and currently competes in theSuper3 Series.[2]
The team was born out of a split ofLoGaMo Racing, owned byTony Longhurst,Frank Gardner and Terry Morris. After the1994 Australian Touring Car season, Longhurst wished to continue in theAustralian Touring Car Championship while Gardner and Morris wanted to stick with theAustralian Super Touring Championship. At the end of 1994, Gardner and Morris bought Longhurst out, with the latter formingLonghurst Racing to race aFord Falcon EF in the1995 Australian Touring Car Championship.[3]
In the LoGaMo days, the team had a long association withtobacco sponsorship. After 1994, this was not able to be renewed due to theTobacco Advertising Prohibition Act 1992 and theBenson & Hedges sponsorship concluded at the end of 1994. For the next three years, the team competed in theAustralian Super Touring Championship withGeoff Brabham and Paul Morris driving BMW 320is. Morris won the series in1995 and1997, while Brabham teamed with brotherDavid to win the1997 Bathurst 1000, after the Morris andCraig Baird entry had been disqualified.[4] A third car was entered at some events in 1995 and1996 forCharlie O'Brien and in 1997 for Baird.
At the end of 1997, BMW withdrew their support and the team closed. Gardner retired and sold the Performance Driving Centre in Norwell to Morris. After racing forPacWest Racing in theIndy Lights Championship in 1998, Morris reformed the team withTim Neff, racing a BMW 320i to victory in the1999 Australian Super Touring Championship, which he repeated in2000.
Morris entered theV8 Supercar series in2000 with an ex-Holden Racing TeamCommodore VS. The car was destroyed at theOran Park round in 2000 when Morris was involved in a fiery crash withMark Larkham at the start of one of the races.[5] Later in the year the team upgraded to aCommodore VT purchased fromJames Rosenberg Racing.[6][7]
In2001, the team completed its first in-house builtCommodore VX, not before winning theCalder Park round in the older VT model.[7][8] It proved to be the only race and round victories for the team. The team generally raced one car until2005, when it began preparing theTeam Kiwi Racing car under a customer deal.
In2006, after purchasing a Level 1 licence from Tony Longhurst, it expanded to two cars withFabian Coulthard,Alan Gurr,Steven Ellery,Jack Perkins andShane Price sharing the No. 39 car.[9] In2007, Coulthard, Ellery andOwen Kelly drove the second car.[10]
In2008,Russell Ingall joined as the driver of the second car bringing title sponsorship fromSupercheap Auto. At the end of the year, Morris retired and was replaced byTim Slade in a deal brokered by former V8 Supercar team ownerJames Rosenberg, who also took on ownership of Slade's car.[7]
In2010,Greg Murphy replaced Tim Slade with backing fromCastrol.[11][12] The team moved away from self-built cars, buying twoTriple Eight Race EngineeringCommodore VEs.[13]
In2011, Murphy was replaced bySteve Owen.[14]
With Ingall and Supercheap Auto departing at the end of 2011, one REC was leased toTekno Autosports while preparation of the remaining car was contracted toDick Johnson Racing. The team's two Commodore VEs also passed to Tekno in exchange for aFord Falcon FG.[7] In2013, the remaining REC was sold toLucas Dumbrell Motorsport.[15] At the end of the year, the leased REC was returned fromTekno Autosports and sold toDick Johnson Racing.[7] This signalled the end of the team after 13 years in the championship.
After Morris' full-time V8 Supercars career ended at the end of the 2008 season, his team entered theDevelopment Series, later known as Super2, in every season up until2018. Morris himself entered selected rounds from 2009 to 2015, while at its peak the team entered four cars in the2015 season.[16] The team won its only two championship rounds in2017 withAnton De Pasquale at the wheel.
In 2019, the team withdrew from Super2 and instead entered in the newly renamedSuper3 Series.[17]
Paul Morris Motorsport manages trucks for theStadium Super Trucks, with the Norwell Motorplex serving as the corporate headquarters for the series' Australian operations under the Boost Mobile Super Trucks name.[18][19]
The following is a list of drivers who have driven for the team in the Supercars Championship, in order of first appearance. Drivers who only drove for the team on a part-time basis are listed in italics
Paul Morris (2000–2012)
Kevin Schwantz (2000)
Matt Neal (2000–2001, 2008)Owen Kelly (2000, 2007, 2009)Aaron McGill (2000)
Ashley Stichbury (2001)Wayne Wakefield (2002–2003)Alan Gurr (2003–2004, 2006)Andy McElrea (2003)John Faulkner (2003)Paul Radisich (2005)Fabian Coulthard (2006–2007)Steven Ellery (2006–2007)Shane Price (2006)Jack Perkins (2006, 2010–2011)Kayne Scott (2006)Chris Pither (2007)Russell Ingall (2008–2011)Boris Said (2008, 2011–2012)Tim Slade (2009)Greg Murphy (2010)Tim Blanchard (2010)
Allan Simonsen (2010)
Yvan Muller (2010)Steve Owen (2011–2012)Jan Magnussen (2011)The following is a list of drivers who have driven for the team in the Super2 Series, in order of first appearance. Drivers who only drove for the team on a part-time basis are listed in italics.
Colin Corkery (2009)Paul Morris (2009–2015)Phil Foster (2010)Amber Anderson (2010)Jack Perkins (2010)Bryce Fullwood (2015)Renee Gracie (2015–2016)Aaren Russell (2015)Drew Russell (2015)Anton De Pasquale (2016–2017)Jack Smith (2016)Shae Davies (2018)Nash Morris (2022-present)The following is a list of drivers who have driven for the team in the Super3 Series, in order of first appearance. Drivers who only drove for the team on a part-time basis are listed in italics.
Broc Feeney (2019)Nash Morris (2021)