March 30, 2013
Published on tags: Superleague

 

Ollie Woods reports on the first casualty of the season as Lee Morris and Nordsjoen Racing part ways.

"Lee Morris is also one of the quickest drivers in the league, having performed miracles in underpowered Draig cars over the last two years. He will undoubtedly be in the top five. The only problem with Lee is the tendency to explode if he underperforms; his hunger to win and self-belief is so great that only victory will do. If William Ponissi can keep Morris calm, he deserves every accolade coming to him (including the Nobel Peace Prize!); if not, we may see fireworks similar to Hamilton & Alonso in 2007."
(Ollie Woods, 2013 season preview)


The Morris/Nordsjoen partnership set tongues wagging from the very moment it was announced. As soon as a familiar helmet came into view on the Nordsjoen announcement video premiered at GPVWC Day the assembled throng of simracers gasped before shouting things like "HELP!" or suggesting that the upcoming season was pretty much worthless for everybody else already. It was collectively agreed that if the Nordsjoen lineup of Dave Carr-Smith and Lee Morris would either be a championship winning partnership or an accident waiting to happen, and with the termination of Morris' contract last night it would appear that the latter opinion was correct. Let's examine why the partnership was apparently so destined for failure and how it broke down.

First, a history lesson. Nordsjoen Racing have been a part of the GPVWC in some form for as long as even this league veteran can remember. Originally known as EIRE, the team rebranded after a 2007 season marred by driver reliability and went almost immediately from mid table mediocrity to the top of the league, finishing as runners up in 2008 and dominating in 2009 and 2010 on their way to successive Constructors championships. They were narrowly beaten into second place by Red Archer in 2011 before a well documented struggle in 2012. Success is now firmly implanted in the team's DNA and over the years they've signed both present and future champions as well as other great drivers. Joe Consiglio, Janne Tanskanen, Adam Rouse and Fernando Laaff are just some of the drivers to have raced for Nordsjoen, all with great reputations preceding them. After the chopping and changing of 2012 and the loss of Consiglio, their talisman for so many years, the team had to look for another driver with championship potential to signal in a new era of dominance.

Lee Morris has also been part of the league, albeit somewhat sporadically, for a few years. He shot to fame at the end of 2009 by winning five races in a row for the newly-formed CSG Racing team that would go on to become the current champions in Midnight Motorsport. He stayed with them in 2010, winning twice and featuring on the podium regularly, but left after eight races due to poor management on CSG's side. He joined Draig Racing for 2011 but the team overspent on engines and R&D, leaving Morris frustrated as development slowed to a crawl after five races of utter dominance. The situation got worse in 2012 with the team's manager disappearing, forcing Morris to leave once again after round eleven. After so many stop/start seasons where the championship seemed possible, Morris would need to find a team with pedigree to fulfill his expectations.

On paper the partnership looks perfect: a driver with fifteen race wins driving for a team with two Constructors and three Drivers championships under their belt. Nordsjoen would no doubt develop a quick car given their knowledge and experience; Lee would finally have the correct tools for the job and would be hungrier than ever. Add the team's other driver, Dave Carr-Smith, to the equation and the team looked like having a good chance at the championship. Indeed, it was at Carr-Smith's suggestion that the team sign Morris after other possibilities fell through, hoping to have a quick teammate to push him on and to share data with after pretty much carrying Green Stripes Racing throughout the 2012 season, and Morris signed the contract knowing who he'd be racing with.

Maybe this pairing was the first mistake. Morris has had his fair share of teammate disasters over his GPVWC career. It's no secret that he expects teammates to pull their weight with testing and setup work, and in 2012 his then-teammate Ryan Walker left Draig after only a few races due to disagreements over the amount of testing he could do. In Dave Carr-Smith he had a teammate he could rely on to do the legwork, but this also threw up a new issue. Since he joined the GPVWC it's fair to say that Lee hasn't had a teammate capable of challenging him - except maybe Nick Rowland - and this had led Lee to assume a lead driver position in every season as he carried his team up the championship standings. Carr-Smith was already the Masters and World GT champion when he came to Nordsjoen, having dominated those series, so it was clear that the Schumacher-esque arrangement that Morris had enjoyed until 2012 would not continue in 2013. When Carr-Smith won the first two races of the season by a country mile and Morris could only manage a first lap DNF (admittedly not his fault) and a 4th he was seething. Similarly to Alonso and Hamilton in 2007, it's fair to say that Morris was not happy at being beaten by his teammate.

At this point it's worth examining Morris' attitude to simracing. It is well known that he has 100% belief in his simracing ability, and his performances over the years both in GPVWC and elsewhere. He takes his place on the grid at every race expecting to win and when he doesn't he has to find the reason why. He spent much of 2012 not being able to understand how the Midnight cars were dominating the field, convinced that he was missing something. After the Malaysian Grand Prix this year he remarked in his post-race interview that he was unable to fathom how Carr-Smith was able to have a four second advantage over him in the wet when the two were evenly matched in the dry. This sense of almost paranoia has never done Morris any favours with his fellow racers, giving him the image of a sore loser. Carr-Smith's links to Lee's greatest rivals of last season, Midnight Motorsport, cannot have helped the sense of paranoia - especially after their dominance in Austria and comments made to Morris by the team's reserve driver in an attempt to wind him up.

In contrast Nordsjoen Racing are the ultimate PR dream - a perfect fit for team manager William Ponissi's career as a media officer for various sporting outfits including a current Formula One team. The team have never had any real controversies to speak of, save for Joe Consiglio's sudden retirement in 2012, and there has always been a professional, businesslike aura about the team. The same goes for Dave Carr-Smith, his "whispering" nickname denoting a man who speaks thoughtfully and maturely, only stepping in to put someone down when their behaviour deserves it. The calm demeanour of Carr-Smith against the volatile Morris was like chalk and cheese and ultimately Ponissi was unable to calm the Yorkshireman down.

And so the relationship ended against a backdrop of the Austrian countryside, with the hills alive to the sound of roaring engines rather than music. Unlike that famous film this story didn't have a happy ending. Morris, free of Carr-Smith after a first lap incident put him at the back, was caught behind Tom van der Voort's Nijo car for most of the race. Ever the racer, Morris tried and tried again to pass van der Voort but nothing seemed to work - a bad getaway from the pits meant that he couldn't capitalise on van der Voort waiting for his teammate to clear his box, and the powerful Trinity engine kept the Nijo ahead of Morris's downforce-heavy car despite the Nordsjoen being on the option tyre. Enough was enough and Morris pitted and retired from the race in anguish. It was enough for Nordsjoen to terminate his contract.

There is no winner from this sad tale. Nordsjoen spent almost £10 million on Morris' contract, the third highest salary possible in the league, and will have to write off money that could've been spent on development (or next year's drivers) in order to sign a replacement. At this stage of the season, with most drivers settled in a spot somewhere on the career ladder, this means that the team may well suffer a blow to their own championship hopes as drivers of Morris' calibre are not easily found; they may well wreck the hopes of a team further down the career ladder as well by taking their driver. At least this provides an opportunity for another driver to take on the best of the best and prove himself at the league's highest level. The Superleague loses one of its fastest drivers and biggest characters, though Morris has left before and other drivers will arrive. Most of all, Morris loses a chance to prove to himself and everybody that he can be the best.