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Morris "barbecued" at Ipswich

31 Jul 2015
The Dude's #67 Falcon was engulfed in flames after the chequered flag in today's final practice, after a mechanical failure caused an oil fire.
2 mins by James Pavey
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2014 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 Champion Paul Morris was "barbecued" as the V8 Supercars Dunlop Series' final practice came to a fiery end at the Coates Hire Ipswich SuperSprint.

The Dude's #67 Falcon was up in smoke after the chequered flag when a drive shaft broke on the entry to the last turn, taking out the oil line and creating an oil fire in the car.

Morris was visibly shaken when he escaped from the car, telling v8supercars.com.au his face was slightly singed in the blaze.

"I'm a little bit burnt, a bit barbecued ... it wasn't nice," Morris told v8supercars.com.au.

"I had trouble because there was so much smoke in the cabin, I couldn't really see to get out of the car, and then Aaron McGill came [and helped me] right at the end."

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It's unclear whether Morris' Ford will return to Queensland Raceway for qualifying and race one tomorrow.

"We're still looking at what's damaged now," Morris said.

"If we can fix it, we will and if we can't, we can't."

Today's blaze has drawn parallels between Morris' fiery crash at Oran Park in 2000, where his stalled car was engulfed in flames after Mark Larkham speared into it at speed on the grid.

After today's fiery end to final practice, the Dunlop Series' assault of the Coates Hire Ipswich SuperSprint will resume tomorrow with qualifying at 10.30am.

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