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Motorsport

26 Feb 2020

Like father like son

As Porsche Club Motorsport revs up for the new season, Paul Jurd meets the drivers who are keeping it in the family

Pete and Ross Morris

The Morrises are unique in the history of the Petro-Canada Lubricants Porsche Club Championship with Pirelli. They’re the only father and son combination to have both won the overall championship, Pete taking the title twice while son Ross is the reigning champ.
 
“I was going to watch Dad race from the age of five or six,” says Ross, who races a Class 2 Boxster, “and I was working on the cars in my teens. It’s easier now as I can focus on the driving! I’m aware of Dad in the races. Once I saw him leading and closing on me so I eased off to let him past then somehow took the apex on the next two corners to give him a bit of a gap over the two cars behind.
 
“Racing a Porsche is a dream come true. The championship is really competitive and I’m looking forward to getting out there again this season.”
 
Having come into motorsport via trackdays and the Porsche Club Speed Championship, 997 driver Pete is a staunch Porsche supporter and sponsor of the championship. “The Porsche Club Championship is a superb series to bring Ross into,” he says. “It puts a smile on my face every weekend I race in it.
 
“It’s great to have us racing together and I’m always aware of Ross in a race. Once at Croft, 
I was leading and came round and saw him off at the side of the track with another car. I was going past each lap trying to assess the damage to the car.
 
“Ross is quite laidback outside the car, and we’re not really competitive away from the track, but he wants a second championship and I’m after my third this year. I can’t have us on two each!”
 

Mark and Jake McAleer

The McAleer name is a long-standing fixture of the Porsche Club Championship. In 2017, Mark McAleer won Class 1 and the championship title, while son Jake won Class 2. Both now race in Class 1, each taking outright race wins in a highly competitive 2019 season.
 
“It was strange at first actually racing against Jake for position,” says Mark. “It all got very real at Brands Hatch when we were squabbling for the lead – as much as I want him to do well I still want to win myself.
 
“It makes sense to have us running in the same series. I enjoy racing in the Porsche Club Championship. It’s really competitive but also very friendly and well organised. We have some good drivers at the front and you have to be full on it from the first moment of the race.”
 
Jake adds: “I first went to a circuit where Dad was racing when I was six weeks old. Some people I race against have known me since I was three or four. It was great to race in Class 1 last year alongside Dad and show people what I could do. 
 
“He won the title in the 996 I now race, and that year was amazing as we both won our classes. But I don’t think anything will top us being on the podium together at Brands Hatch – it was a special moment. 
 
“I was following him at Brands Hatch when we were running one-two and maybe I didn’t go for a move I might have tried on anyone else. But in the next race I was leading and took the win. We are always competitive over anything and even in testing it matters who is quickest!”
 

James and Bill Caley

Newest of our trio of father and sons in the 2020 Porsche Club Championship are the Caleys. James made his race debut at the start of 2019, while the opening round of this season will be 21-year-old Bill’s first ever race.
 
“I’m looking forward to my second year – last season was a steep learning curve!” says James, who races a 997 in Class 1. “We all thoroughly enjoyed it, even though I blew up my engine at the final round.
 
“It is going to be great to bring Bill in this year. We are both quietly competitive and he has driven stuff on the farm from a young age but has a lot to learn. The series is very competitive but also friendly 
and so many people helped us out. There is a feeling of respect as people know that everyone
else is paying their own way and paying for their own repairs.”
 
Bill adds: “I was watching from the sidelines and that made me want to get out there. I’m going into Class 2 but maybe in the future can get into a position to race against Dad – and hopefully beat him.
 
“It was exciting for us all last year to watch him start racing, and it has to be even better to be out there in a car myself. We play tennis and hockey for the same team and are competitive whenever we’re playing sport. It’s a sort of low-key competitive – we both want to win but would never say that to each other!
 
“Everything will be new to me, but being involved in the series has been great. Lots of families come racing together. It’s competitive, but all the drivers really enjoy it and after a race everyone talks to each other about it.”