THE DUDE’S SECOND COMING

Morris was famously punched in the head by his furious team boss, Tony Longhurst, after the pair crashed out of the lead

YOU EITHER LOVE him or hate him. Paul Morris is easily Australia’s most controversial racer, and his antics both on and off track have divided motorsport fans across the nation for more than two decades. His credentials are beyond dispute. The only man to have won all three endurance races at Mount Panorama (the 6 hour, 12 hour, and 1000) and a four-time Super Tourer champion, he’s a dab hand at anything he drives, from Indy Lights and touring cars to Stadium Super Trucks. This year marks 20 years since his last Super Tourer title, where he won all bar one of the season’s 17 races.

Despite these merits, Morris is probably best remembered by racing fans for his notorious reputation as ‘The Dirty, Dangerous Dude’. He was famously (and unfairly) punched in the head by furious team boss Tony Longhurst after the pair crashed out of the lead while racing at Winton in 1994 (see sidebar, p54). And following another on-track accident in 2008, this time with James Courtney, Morris remarked on live TV that Courtney had “picked the wrong bloke to mess with … when the opportunity arises