Miorton back on track

t all started 30 years

ago, with a British

racing-green MGA

flashing around tracks
from Gimley, Man. to
Westwood.

Now Brian Morton is
back in the driver’s seat,
hitting speeds approaching
150 kph in the Formula Car
series at Mission Raceways.

 

MORTON

“When I turned 50 last year I heard
about a local racing school. Soon I went
from ~wouldn’t that be neat’ to actually
doing it,” says Morton, a Learning
Specialist with Disabled Student Services.
“Using professional language, I guess it’s
a closure for me after I left racing 25 years
ago to devote more time to my family and
other things in life.”

Back on the track, the lure of speed
and the greasy joy of tinkering with gears
and engines remain the same, but a lot has
changed. The newer cars carry major
improvements in safety features, offers
Morton, and the view from his driver’s
seat is much different. The old MGA,
which he still drives on weekends, was a
street car modified for racing. The four-
speed Formula Car, also known as a three-
quarter Indy Car, is built for the track.

“Tt’s highest point is just 38 inches off
the ground. Sitting in the middle of the
car on the start-finish straight, all you can
see around you is wheels and concrete
walls,” says Morton, who purchased the
Forumla Car from an owner in Calgary.
“Tt’s also incredibly responsive and
accurate. Every lap you can literally put
the same wheel over the same crack on
the road.”

Handling that all responsiveness is
very demanding. Despite carrying the lean
fitness that comes from running
marathons, Morton’s heartbeat still
reaches 160-180 beats-per-minute during
a race. The rest of the body also gets a
work out. The head is buffeted and skin
becomes covered with bruises “all over”
following high-speed rides in a ramrod-
stiff suspension. Don’t even ask what

happens during a summer shower.

“Racing in the rain is totally different.
I was coming down the track with two or
three cars ahead of me and they were
throwing up water like a monsoon. I
asked one of the drivers what he does
with his car when it rains, and he said, “I
just don’t take it out.’”

Balancing the discomfort, risks,
“black-hole” expenses ($1,800 for a set of
rims and tires), Morton savors the track
time and the tight-knit local racing
community. There’s also the fact he can
still handle a racing car. Driving in just
his second event in the six-race season,
Morton grabbed second place in the 10-
car field.

“T’m realistic. I know I don’t have the
same reflexes as the other guys,” says
Morton. “T just try to stay in the race and
stay out of trouble.” I

 

Built for speed. In the proud Canadian racing tradition of Jacques Villeneuve,
Paul Tracy and Scott Goodyear, Brian Morton puts his Formula Car through its 150-

kph paces at Mission Raceways.