A1 Team Lebanon has this season signed the talents of 18-year-old racer Daniel Morad
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The young Canadian-Lebanese can already boast several notable achievements in his young racing career and is aiming to create history for the Lebanese team by securing its first World Cup of Motorsport points. Morad has the necessary credentials to drive for A1 Team Lebanon.
He meets the A1GP criteria for national driver eligibility with a Lebanese grandfather. He has direct blood ancestry with his grandfather Shaol Morad, being born in Beirut in 1926. When Morad’s father was 18 the family moved to Canada and settled there.
Morad says of joining the team, "I am very proud to be returning to my roots as part of my racing career. Although I was a bit younger when my grandfather died I think that this happening actually makes you realise more just how important your ancestry is to your own character.
I’m interested in rediscovering my heritage and A1 Team Lebanon is now a big part of that. This is a once in a lifetime situation, and I have to grasp it with both hands. I would love to become closer to my roots and this is a way that I can do this. I’m very excited about the future ahead of me. Of racing he adds, "Of course my initial goal is to score the team’s first World Cup of Motorsport points.
How difficult will that be? I guess I just don’t know yet. It’s a brand new A1GP car which I haven’t driven yet and only a few teams have run so far, so it’s too early to assess our performance potential. I know how competitive A1GP has become, so I’m expecting this to be the biggest challenge of my career so far, but it’s one that I can’t wait for. Roll on Zandvoort!"
Morad’s race driving career began at the age of eight, when he began racing go-karts competitively. In his eight year career in Karts, Morad picked up a number of trophies, including the Canadian Formula Senior Championship and a Florida Winter Tour champion title, in the Pro-Shifter class, both of which were won in his final year in karting, 2005. He then moved up into Formula racing the following year in the form of Formula BMW, competing in the American series.
In his debut season, in which the Canadian participated in all fourteen rounds, he picked up a win in Mid-Ohio, a pole position, a fastest lap and a podium at the Lime Rock Park meeting. With a collection of 75 points, Morad finished 6th overall in the Drivers' Championship. He switched teams the following year, joining EuroInternational.
The Canadian-Lebanese driver won the title that year, taking six wins of a possible fourteen and scoring 523 points, nearly 100 points clear of the runner-up. Morad was also the most successful driver of the North American series in the Formula BMW World Final, finishing fourth in Valencia, Spain.
With his Formula BMW USA title on his CV, Morad managed to secure a drive at the EuroInternational Atlantic Championship team for the 2008 season. Morad now joins A1 Team Lebanon for its assault on the 2008-09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport Powered by Ferrari.
- Alison Hill - also photo
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