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Santa Pod falls silent

RACING WAS BROUGHT TO A HALT AT SANTA POD ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE

FIA EUROPEAN FINALS, after the death of Queen Elizabeth II was announced. At 11.30 the following morning, then again at 1.30 on Saturday afternoon, the Santa Pod crew and offi cials gathered at the startline to observe two minutes’ silence in Her Majesty’s honour, with the years of her life (1926-2022) displayed on the scoreboards at the end of the strip.

THE FORMER OWNER OF A CUSTOMISED MUSTANG is appealing for information on its whereabouts today. Geoff Schofield won the car at a show in Shipley, West Yorkshire, in 1978 – having paid just £1 for four tickets in a charity raffle which had seen it transported around a series of events around the country.

The sweet taste of victory was to turn sour when the car turned out to be more of an unfinished project than anything else. But Geoff decided to keep it because he loved Mustangs.

‘Somebody from the charity took me to one side,’ he says, ‘and explained to that due to the car being taken all round the country, the work had not been finished and they would rather offer me some money instead. I said I’d rather have the car I won – not knowing how much work had not been done on it!

‘I was given the keys and told the MOT would be posted to me. A few days later, I got the test certificate – showing a full 12 months’ MOT, even though the car was already in my garage by that time! I started to inspect it and there was a big hole under the driver’s carpet with a plate laying over it as opposed to having been cut out and welded in. I found lots of things that should have been done but hadn’t and was not pleased at all.’

In the 18 months that followed, Geoff sank a load of money into bringing the Mustang up to scratch – but, he says, it still didn’t come up to the standard it should have been at when he won it. He finally sold it on, seeing it on the road once more after that – and now here he is, 45 years later, wondering what came of it.

‘The Mustang was left-hand drive with the 6-cylinder engine and three on the floor, and as far as i remember was blue and gold buttoned dralon inside and metalflake gold on the body,’ he says. ‘I know it was a long time ago but I hope the builders see this and give me a ring so they can tell me more about it.’

Got any info? Geoff is on 07855 492559 – he’d love to hear from you.

Jon Morton

THE DRAG RACING FAMILY IS MOURNING THE LOSS OF ONE OF ITS MOST GREGARIOUS MEMBERS,

following the sudden death of Jon Morton on Thursday 8 Septembert, the fi rst day of the European Finals at Santa Pod. Jon suffered a heart attack in the pits shortly after completing a 9.8491-second Super Gas qualifying run in his famous yellow No Hair Camaro and passed away despite repeated attempts by the emergency crews to revive him.

The tragedy happened shortly before the passing of Queen Elizabeth II was announced, which added to the sombre note of what became a diffi cult event for everyone involved.

Jon suffered some major setbacks along his drag racing journey. But he always had a sense of fun and would go out of his way to help out others, both inside and outside of the sport.

He was a bike man at heart. A traumatic bike smash in his early years was overcome, and he encouraged and crewed for riders who would go on to become major names in the sport he loved – most notably Brian Johnson.

Jon then went racing himself, under the Mortsport banner, and achieved success in the competitive world of Pro Stock Bikes before trying his hand at Funny Bike racing. In what would have been a major step forward, he had a state of the art Top Fuel bike constructed – but before he was able to ride his new machine, he suffered his fi rst major heart attack.

Although Jon would forever be a bike man, he also had a passion for American motors and enjoyed owning several nice examples over the years. These, included the red 1940 Ford, sporting a Chevy V8, with which he’s pictured above.

With his health issues preventing him from competing any further in the Pro Bike arena, he would make his return a couple of years later – this time on four wheels. Driving a Camaro, he homed in on the Super Gas class – where he proved himself to be a top runner with many victories since 2003.

It was a wonderful sight on the morning following Jon’s passing, when his stepson Dan Page, who Jon always credited for so much of his success, staged a poignant fi nal qualifying ‘run’ against their good friend Mark ‘Chalky’ White. If you didn’t see it, this is one to watch on the Santa Pod TV stream. Dan will be campaigning Jon’s No Hair Camaro in 2023 in his name, which is a fi tting tribute to this popular character.

In July of this year, Jon was chuffed to bits when it was announced that he was to be inducted into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame. It’s so heartbreaking that he will not be able to be there in person to hear the cheers for him at November’s gala – but the drag racing family will raise the roof for him!

Jon Morton, died 8 September 2022 Rest in Peace

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