Nash Morris fightback highlights STM’s Townsville weekend
7th July, 2024Scott Taylor Motorsport has fought the highs and lows of motorsport in Far North Queensland following a mixed set of results on the streets of Townsville.
With team-owner Scott Taylor contesting the Battery World Aussie Racing Cars Super Series for the second time this year and young gun Nash Morris entered in the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia, both drivers faced their fair share of challenges throughout the three days of action.
Of the two, it was Morris who had the more memorable weekend, finishing the round in eighth place among the Pro drivers, while Taylor showed plenty of pace when he wasn’t dealing with mechanical woes throughout the four-race round.
Morris was the first of the two to be thrown a curve ball after steering issues forced him to the pits towards the end of the opening race.
It was a blow for the Queenslander’s return to the category after what had been a promising start to the weekend, where Morris had topped the timesheets in Practice 1 and posted the second fastest time in Practice 2, before qualifying in fifth on Saturday morning.
A solid start saw him as high as fourth place in Race 1 before the steering issues on lap nine undid his good work, giving him just his second DNF in the category since the start of 2023.
Morris was forced to play catch-up for the rest of the weekend, but produced a brilliant response in Sunday morning’s endurance race – charging through the field to reach the chequered flag in sixth place before eventually concluding the weekend with his best result of fourth in the final race.
As for Taylor, his best results came on Friday where the veteran managed to make up a position in the category’s first race to finish seventh in the Gold Cup after starting from eighth place.
That’s as good as it got for Taylor as he was unable to start Saturday’s sole race before finishing the third race of the round in eighth place in the Gold Cup.
Unfortunately, Taylor’s weekend in Townsville ended on a sour note when he was the innocent party in a multi-car crash on the opening lap of Race 4.
Both drivers will regroup ahead of their next rounds behind the wheel, with Morris in action for the Porsche Painter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia at Sydney Motorsport Park on July 19-21, while Taylor’s next race will be in Fanatec GT Australia, competing in a Porsche alongside Paul Morris.
QUOTES
Scott Taylor
#222 Scott Taylor Motorsport Ford Mustang
“It was not the weekend we wanted in Townsville. We had gremlins that snuck in for both Nash and me,” said Taylor.
“I went through a gearbox early, so I didn’t have top gear, then I lost second gear and then all gears, so we had to do an engine change for Saturday.
“We got back out on the circuit on Sunday, and in the last race, someone ran into the back of me and sent me into the wall, which was the end of that race. So, we’ve had better weekends, although it was still nice to be in Townsville.
“As for Nash, he had been chasing a steering problem all weekend, and Townsville is not for the faint-hearted at the best of times, so you don’t want your steering to be notchy, and that’s what we’ve been struggling with.
“We fixed it up a fair bit for the two races on Sunday, but it’s still not right. We’re not playing for world championships, so it was important for him not to go and get on the bleeding edge, and Nash was just responsible.
“We’re here to do some extra training for Nash and some extra experience in some of the attributes that he’ll take through to the Carrera Cup.”
Nash Morris
#222 Scott Taylor Motorsport Porsche GT3 Gen II
“We started off our weekend in Townsville pretty well where we were pretty quick in practice, but some steering dramas put our weekend on the back foot,” said Morris.
“We had to pit in race one and then drove through the field up to 6th in race two, which was awesome fun, before finishing fifth in the final race.
“I just want to say thanks to Scotty for having me back and looking forward to getting to Sydney in two weeks in the Carrera Cup car.”
