Morad Savoring Every Moment Of Career Revival At Home In Canada - Speedway Digest

Daniel Morad thought he was on the fast track to Formula One in 2008.

He was 18 and had just won a prominent North American junior open-wheel championship in 2007. He was headed to Europe and around the world to race in the A1GP and GP3 international open-wheel series, both breeding grounds for future F1 drivers.

He was a member of the Red Bull Junior Team, which has groomed 12 drivers who reached F1 in the last decade. He won a karting World Championship in 2010 in Italy.

Then his F1 dream ended in 2011. Commercial pressures and realities forced Morad from GP3 and Indy Lights, and he spent the next three years working as a driver coach with Audi and Volkswagen in Canada.

Morad, from the Toronto suburb of Thornhill, Ontario, enjoyed teaching performance driving. But something gnawed at his competitive soul.

“I learned a lot and matured as a person and as a driver,” Morad said of his teaching role. “But is it ultimately what I want to do in my 20s? No. I just turned 25. I’m at the peak of my career.

“I think I would be wasting my abilities and all of the support I’ve had since I was 8 years old to go racing. Teaching people is fun; I’ll continue to do that. But I just felt like I was rotting away not being in a race car.”

Morad started making phone calls in April 2015 and found an ideal stage for his second act as a race driver – the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin.

He contacted Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports team manager Andy Greene on a cold call, and Morad and the team clicked. Morad and Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports owner Carlos de Quesada quickly came to an agreement for the 2015 season, and Morad’s racing career was reignited, this time as a GT sports car driver.

Morad wasted little time showing his skill. He finished third overall in Rounds 1 and 2 of the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin on May 16-17 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

They were the first two races of his life in a vehicle with fenders. He had turned just 25 laps in testing of Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville’s Platinum Cup car since signing with the team.

“The Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin series is a really good foundation series for learning all the fundamentals of GT racing, what it takes to be successful and quick,” Morad said. “Surrounding myself with a great team like Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports has been pretty crucial for me. I wanted to make sure that when I came into my sports car career that it was with the right team and the right atmosphere. I couldn’t be happier.”

There is one other big difference to this new phase of Morad’s career besides driving a sports car. Time finally is on his side.

When climbing the open-wheel ladder, Morad was an impetuous teenager, wanting to reach the top yesterday. The European junior open-wheel scene is notoriously cutthroat on and off the track, with talented drivers who hit age 20 without reaching F1 often spit out as surplus goods.

Morad was on that hyper-accelerated path. Now he wants to slow down, savor these moments racing in his native country and ensure he advances his sports car career at a more methodical pace.

“This is definitely a second chance for me,” Morad said. “I was trying to run some endurance stuff, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Le Mans, the European Le Mans Series, but I’d like to take it slow. You have a little bit more time in sports car racing.

“Look at the super-quick guys, Tom Kristensen or Allan McNish. They were in their 40s and winning Le Mans.

“I don’t think there’s any rush, and I want to take the right steps. I want to learn at the right speed. I don’t want to rush into things. In the past, I went from Formula BMW to A1 GP. That’s a big jump. It was a lot to learn when I was 17, especially with all the pressure. So this time around, I’m going to take all the necessary steps.”

Don’t let that more measured approach deceive. Morad hasn’t lost his competitive edge and is more eager to win than ever during his second chance at elite-level motorsports.

“You’d have to check my pulse if I said I want to finish second,” Morad said. “I’d like to win the championship. That’s my goal. That’s why I’m here. Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports brought me in to win the Platinum class championship.”

Rounds 3 and 4 of the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin will take place June 12-14 during the Honda Indy Toronto on the streets of Toronto. Both races are 45 minutes.

For more information about Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin, visit www.imsa.com, follow hashtag #GT3CAN @IMSA on Twitter or IMSA on Facebook.

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.