Everyone is young in motor racing. It’s the nature of a sport requiring sharp focus, quick reflexes, and a particular kind of fitness. Next time there is an event at Hampton Downs, just south of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, look out for Breanna Morris. She has already been into motor racing for a decade, yet at 19 she is still a teenager.
Breanna started driving go-karts back in 2013 when she was just 10 years old.
How she got into it was not unusual. Various family members had been involved over the years; her father and grandfather built speedway engines and an uncle was into karting – but you don’t need family connections, she says. Anyone who wants to get into it can because go-karting is so accessible.
And everyone starts in go-karts, she says.
Breanna Morris clearly had the gift, though. At the age of 12 she was New Zealand champion in the Vortex Mini Rok, the premium karting event for junior drivers. In 2019 she stepped up to Formula First (entry level single seater road racing) and a year later competed, with podium finishes, in the Formula Ford Championship. This year has been busy with a season driving in Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship, adding to her trophy collection in the process.
19-year-old Breanna Morris is a successful race car driver. Photo by Mark Smith.
Racing runs over summer and into autumn and while she’s still weighing up options for her next move, the Aucklander recently started a job with sponsor Dayle ITM, a building supplies company. This works well because her employers accommodate her sport, supporting time off for test drives and races when the season demands.
And it is a demanding sport. Obviously, keeping fit and spending time in the car is essential. During the racing season she will train at least six days a week and tries to be on the track one or twice a fortnight.
“You make a lot of time sacrifices and it requires a real commitment, but that’s a good thing for me,” Bree says. “I enjoy being focused on something that I love.”
She’s tried other sports – netball, rugby, touch rugby and swimming – but racing became the most important to her and basically won her heart. “That’s the environment that I feel most comfortable in.”
Is she ever scared? “I don’t think I have ever been scared in a car… unless it’s not me driving.”
Breanna Morris loves the sport of motor racing and hopes to always be involved in it. Photo by Mark Smith.
There are not many women racers. Numbers are building, with more international troops including females, but rather than emphasising gender Breanna enthusiastically promotes motor racing broadly, encouraging anyone keen on the idea to give it a go. “You’re never too young to start!”
While developing a full-time driving career is the ultimate goal, whatever happens in her future she hopes to keep loving the sport and to always be involved in it.
She appreciates what motor racing has taught her, crediting the sport for life skills including independence, determination, and an ability to speak comfortably and confidently to whoever she is facing.
“I think it teaches you a lot. It makes you grow up faster because you’re driving for something you want in life instead of slowly puttering along. It’s made me sure of what I want.”
To anyone wanting to get into this or any other sport, Breanna’s advice is to give it your all.
“I think if you seriously want to do something, don’t make excuses. You have to have determination and you have to put the hard work in. You can’t do it half-arsed.”
Story by Kathryn Webster, photos by Mark Smith for the Winter 2023 issue of AA Directions magazine.
Explore more from AA Directions magazine while you're here:
- We investigate the history, psychology and safety of different car colours
- How does the creation of new roads improve safety outcomes for Kiwi drivers?
- A cruisy family road trip from Auckland to Cambridge in an EV
