Morris lands late Daytona 24 Hours drive

Paul Morris will pilot the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes AMG GT3

Experienced Australian driver Paul Morris has received a late call up to contest this weekend’s prestigious Daytona 24 Hours.

The 49-year-old has been drafted into the SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 squad for what will be his third start at the famous American endurance event.

Morris will form part of a quintet of drivers including former IndyCar turned GT driver Tristan Vautier, factory Mercedes AMG GT ace Maro Engel and NASCAR pilots Boris Said and Australian Kenny Habul.

The #75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes is one of three entered in the GTD class which also features reigning Supercars champion Shane Van Gisbergen, who will pilot the Riley Motorsports – WeatherTech Racing AMG GT3.

Morris has experienced the event twice before in 2005 and 2009 where he drove a Porsche GT3 Cup car and a Ford Mustang Cobra GT respectively. On both occasions he failed to finish the race.

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“We have definitely got the right guys in the car and especially with Tristan (Vautier) and Maro (Engel) we have a shot (at the GTD class),” Morris told Speedcafe.com.

“The squad needed another driver on the roster they can rely on an be a nightwatchman if needed.

“We will just go over and it and enjoy it for what it is.

“I think we can win the class and that is the goal. We will have a pretty serious tilt at it.”

Australia will also be represented in the event by Ryan Briscoe, who will pilot a factory GTLM class Ford GT entry alongside Richard Westbrook and Kiwi IndyCar star Scott Dixon.

Dixon’s countryman Brendon Hartley, who won the recent Dubai 24 Hours, also returns to race behind the wheel of an Extreme Speed Motorsport Nissan Prototype.

Daytona 24 Hours Entry List


PROTOTYPE (P) (P) ENTRIES – 12 CAR NO. DRIVERS & NATIONALITY TEAM SPONSOR CAR TYPE TIRE ENGINE FUEL
2	Scott Sharp USA Brendon Hartley NZL Ryan Dalziel GBR Luis Felipe Derani BRA	Tequila Patron ESM	Tequila Patron	Nissan DPi	Continental	E-20C
5	Joao Barbosa PRT Christian Fittipaldi BRA Filipe Albuquerque PRT	Mustang Sampling Racing	Mustang Sampling	Cadillac DPi	Continental	E-20C
10	Ricky Taylor USA Jeff Gordon USA Jordan Taylor USA Max Angelelli MCO	Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R	Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA	Cadillac DPi	Continental	E-20C
13	Sebastien Buemi CHE Stephane Sarrazin FRA Nick Heidfeld DEU Neel Jani CHE	Rebellion Racing	Rebellion Timepieces / LEMO Connectors / Northwire Inc.	ORECA	Continental	E-20C
22	Ed Brown USA Brendon Hartley NZL Johannes van Overbeek USA Bruno Senna BRA	Tequila Patron ESM	Tequila Patron	Nissan DPi	Continental	E-20C
31	Dane Cameron USA Seb Morris GBR Eric Curran USA Michael Conway GBR	Whelen Engineering Racing	Whelen Engineering	Cadillac DPi	Continental	E-20C
52	Michael Guasch USA Tom Kimber-Smith GBR Jose Gutierrez MEX RC Enerson USA	PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports	MY VON ERL / Prisma	Ligier	Continental	E-20C
55	Tristan Nunez USA Jonathan Bomarito USA Spencer Pigot USA	Mazda Motorsports	Mazda / Modspace / Castrol	Mazda DPi	Continental	E-20C
70	Tom Long USA Joel Miller USA James Hinchcliffe CAN	Mazda Motorsports	Mazda / Modspace / Castrol	Mazda DPi	Continental	E-20C
81	Henrik Hedman USA Loic Duval CHE Nicolas Lapierre CHE Ben Hanley GBR	DragonSpeed		ORECA	Continental	E-20C
85	Chris Miller USA Mathias Beche FRA Stephen Simpson ZAF Misha Goikhberg CAN	JDC-Miller Motorsports	Hi-Tide Boat Lifts / Justice Brothers / Red Line Oil	ORECA	Continental	E-20C
90	Marc Goossens BEL Renger Van Der Zande NLD Rene Rast AUT	VisitFlorida Racing	VisitFlorida.com	Multimatic/Riley	Continental	E-20C

PROTOTYPE CHALLENGE (PC) (PC) ENTRIES – 5 CAR NO. DRIVERS & NATIONALITY TEAM SPONSOR CAR TYPE TIRE ENGINE FUEL
8	Ben Keating Robert Wickens Chris Cumming CAN USA John Falb USA CAN Remo Ruscitti CAN	Starworks Motorsport		ORECA FLM09	Continental	ORECA	E-10
20	Don Yount Buddy Rice Mark Kvamme USA USA Chapman Ducote USA USA Gustavo Yacaman COL	BAR1 Motorsports	Gas Monkey Energy Drink / Southwest Funding / Merchant Services LTD / Factgem / Avery’s Trail Distilling Company / Top1	ORECA FLM09	Continental	ORECA	E-10
26	Tom Papadopoulos Johnny Mowlem Adam Merzon USA USA Trent Hindman USA GBR David Cheng	BAR1 Motorsports	Autosport Designs Inc. / Case-It / Top1 Oil	ORECA FLM09	Continental	ORECA	E-10
38	James French USA Nicholas Boulle USA Patricio O’Ward MEX Kyle Masson USA	Performance Tech Motorsports	Ric-Man Construction / Neurospine Institute / Stand Up MRI / Cardio Access / AIG Technologies / Justice Brothers /	ORECA FLM09	Continental	ORECA	E-10
88	Scott Mayer USA Sebastian Saavedra COL James Dayson CAN Alex Popow VEN	Starworks Motorsport		ORECA FLM09	Continental	ORECA	E-10
GT LE MANS (GTLM) (GTLM) ENTRIES – 11 CAR NO. DRIVERS & NATIONALITY TEAM SPONSOR CAR TYPE TIRE ENGINE FUEL
3	Antonio Garcia ESP Jan Magnussen DNK Mike Rockenfeller DEU	Corvette Racing	Chevrolet	Corvette C7.R	Michelin	Chevrolet	E-20C
4	Oliver Gavin GBR Tommy Milner USA Marcel Fassler CHE	Corvette Racing	Chevrolet	Corvette C7.R	Michelin	Chevrolet	E-20C
19	Bill Auberlen USA Bruno Spengler CHE Alexander Sims GBR Augusto Farfus BRA	BMW Team RLL	BMW NA	BMW M6 GTLM	Michelin	BMW	E-20C
24	John Edwards USA Kuno Wittmer CAN Martin Tomczyk DEU Nicky Catsburg NLD	BMW Team RLL	BMW NA	BMW M6 GTLM	Michelin	BMW	E-20C
62	Giancarlo Fisichella ITA James Calado GBR Toni Vilander FIN	Risi Competizione		Ferrari 488 GTE	Michelin	Ferrari	E-20C
66	Dirk Mueller DEU Joey Hand USA Sebastien Bourdais USA	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Ford	Ford GT	Michelin	Ford	E-20C
67	Ryan Briscoe USA Richard Westbrook GBR Scott Dixon NZL	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Ford	Ford GT	Michelin	Ford	E-20C
68	Stefan Mucke DEU Olivier Pla FRA Billy Johnson USA	Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK	Ford	Ford GT	Michelin	Ford	E-20C

GT LE MANS (GTLM) (GTLM) ENTRIES – 11 CAR NO. DRIVERS & NATIONALITY TEAM SPONSOR CAR TYPE TIRE ENGINE FUEL
69	Harry Tincknell GBR Andy Priaulx GBR Tony Kanaan BRA	Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK	Ford	Ford GT	Michelin	Ford	E-20C
911	Patrick Pilet FRA Dirk Werner DEU Frederic Makowiecki FRA	Porsche GT Team		Porsche 911 RSR	Michelin	Porsche	E-20C
912	Kevin Estre FRA Laurens Vanthoor BGR Richard Lietz AUT	Porsche GT Team		Porsche 911 RSR	Michelin	Porsche	E-20C
GT DAYTONA (GTD) (GTD) ENTRIES – 27 CAR NO. DRIVERS & NATIONALITY TEAM SPONSOR CAR TYPE TIRE ENGINE FUEL
11	Christian Engelhart DEU Mirko Bortolotti ITA Rolf Ineichen CHE Ezequiel Perez Companc ARG	GRT Grasser Racing Team	BIOCIRCLE / Pertamina	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	Continental	Lamborghini	E-10
14	Scott Pruett USA Gustavo Menezes USA Sage Karam USA Ian James USA	3GT Racing	Lexus	Lexus RCF GT3	Continental	Lexus	E-10
15	Jack Hawksworth GBR Dominik Farnbacher DEU Robert Alon USA Austin Cindric USA	3GT Racing	Lexus	Lexus RCF GT3	Continental	Lexus	E-10
16	Corey Lewis USA Brett Sandberg USA Geert Jeroen Mul NLD Kaz Grala	Change Racing	X-Box Forza / Monster Energy / Orion Lighting / Pertamina	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	Continental	Lamborghini	E-10
18	Emmanuel Anassis CAN Zach Claman CAN Anthony Massari USA	DAC Motorsports	DAV Aviation / La Champagnerie / Squadra Corse	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	Continental	Lamborghini	E-10
21	Marco Mapelli Marc Basseng Luca Stolz DEU CHE Lance Willsey USA DEU Franz Konrad DEU	Konrad Motorsport		Lamborghini Huracan GT3	Continental	Lamborghini	E-10
23	Bill Sweedler USA Pierre Kaffer CHE Townsend Bell USA Frank Montecalvo USA	Alex Job Racing		Audi R8 LMS GT3	Continental	Audi	E-10
27	Lawrence DeGeorge Cedric Sbirrazzuoli Paolo Ruberti ITA USA Luca Persiani ITA MCO Raffaele Giammaria ITA	Dream Racing Motorsport	Dream Racing	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	Continental	Lamborghini	E-10
28	Carlos de Quesada Daniel Morad Jesse Lazare CAN USA Michael de Quesada USA CAN Michael Christensen DNK	Alegra Motorsports	Insync	Porsche 911 GT3 R	Continental	Porsche	E-10
29	Connor De Phillippi USA Jeffrey Schmidt SWZ Christopher Mies DEU Jules Gounon FRA	Montaplast by Land-Motorsport	Montaplast	Audi R8 LMS GT3	Continental	Audi	E-10

GT DAYTONA (GTD) (GTD) ENTRIES – 27 CAR NO. DRIVERS & NATIONALITY TEAM SPONSOR CAR TYPE TIRE ENGINE FUEL
33	Ben Keating USA Adam Christodoulou GBR Jeroen Bleekemolen NLD Mario Farnbacher DEU	Riley Motorsports – Team AMG		Mercedes AMG GT3	Continental	Mercedes	E-10
46	Emanuele Busnelli ITA TBD TBD Fabio Babini ITA Emmanuel Collard FRA	EBIMOTORS		Lamborghini Huracan GT3	Continental	Lamborghini	E-10
48	Bryan Sellers Madison Snow Bryce Miller USA USA Andrea Caldarelli ITA USA Dion von Moltke USA	Paul Miller Racing	TOTAL Lubricants / UIS / Paul Miller Group	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	Continental	Lamborghini	E-10
50	Cooper MacNeil USA Thomas Jaeger Gunnar Jeannette USA Shane Van Gisbergen NZL	Riley Motorsports – WeatherTech Racing	WeatherTech	Mercedes AMG GT3	Continental	Mercedes	E-10
51	Peter Mann Maurizio Mediani Alessandro Pier Guidi ITA CHE Davide Rigon ITA ITA TBD TBD	Spirit of Race	Hublot	Ferrari 488 GT3	Continental	Ferrari	E-10
54	Jonathan Bennett USA Nic Jonsson SWE Colin Braun USA Patrick Long USA	CORE autosport	Composite Resources	Porsche 911 GT3 R	Continental	Porsche	E-10
57	Lawson Aschenbach USA Robin Liddell GBR Andrew Davis USA Matt Bell USA	Stevenson Motorsports	Stevenson Automotive Group	Audi R8 LMS GT3	Continental	Audi	E-10
59	Steve Smith Reinhold Renger Harald Proczyk AUT CHE Sven Muller DEU DEU TBD TBD	Manthey Racing	Krauth in Motion Services	Porsche 911 GT3 R	Continental	Porsche	E-10
61	Christian Engelhart Rolf Ineichen Roberto Pampanini CHE DEU Christopher Lenz CHE CHE Milos Pavlovic CHE	GRT Grasser Racing Team	BIOCIRCLE / Pertamina	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	Continental	Lamborghini	E-10
63	Christina Nielsen USA Sam Bird GBR Alessandro Balzan ITA Matteo Cressoni ITA	Scuderia Corsa		Ferrari 488 GT3	Continental	Ferrari	E-10
73	Patrick Lindsey USA TBD TBD Jorg Bergmeister DEU Matthew McMurry USA	Park Place Motorsports	Park Place Porsche / Mira Vista Aviation	Porsche 911 GT3 R	Continental	Porsche	E-10
75	Kenny Habul AUS Boris Said USA Tristan Vautier FRA Maro Engel DEU Paul Morris AUS	SunEnergy1 Racing	SunEnergy1	Mercedes AMG GT3	Continental	Mercedes	E-10
86	Jeff Segal USA Ryan Hunter-Reay USA Oswaldo Negri Jr. BRA Tom Dyer USA	Michael Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian	Acura / Curb Records	Acura NSX GT3	Continental	Acura	E-10
93	Andy Lally USA Graham Rahal USA Katherine Legge GBR Mark Wilkins CAN	Michael Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian	Acura / Curb Records	Acura NSX GT3	Continental	Acura	E-10

GT DAYTONA (GTD) (GTD) ENTRIES – 27 CAR NO. DRIVERS & NATIONALITY TEAM SPONSOR CAR TYPE TIRE ENGINE FUEL
96	Justin Marks USA Jesse Krohn FIN Jens Klingmann DEU Maxime Martin BEL	Turner Motorsport	Turner Motorsport / Katerra	BMW M6 GT3	Continental	BMW	E-10
98	Paul Dalla Lana CAN Marco Sorensen DNK Pedro Lamy PRT Mathias Lauda ESP	Aston Martin Racing		Aston Martin Vantage	Continental	Aston Martin	E-10
991	Santiago Creel Mike Hedlund Wolf Henzler DEU MEX Jan Heylen USA USA Timothy Pappas USA	TRG	LaSalle Solutions / Cavall 7 / Adobe Road Wines	Porsche 911 GT3 R	Continental	Porsche	E-10