Historic Driver to Tackle ‘Race to the Clouds’

Jim Morris has announced his intention to break the current front-wheel-drive record on Pikes Peak. The 57-year-old is the founder and Managing Director of Coventry-based Lifeline Fire & Safety Systems Ltd, as well as being behind several motorsport businesses, including Old Hall Performance, Trident Racing Supplies and GTS Motorsport.

Born into a motorsport family, his father, John Morris, competed in the British Saloon Car Championship during the 1980s with Volkswagen UK support. Continuing the family tradition, Jim began karting at 15 before progressing to Production Saloons, Formula Ford 1600, and historic sports cars.

Today, he competes regularly in international historic events, campaigning the very same Mk1 Volkswagen Golf GTI that his father raced to success in the early 1980s. After locating the original car in Spain in 2011, Jim brought it back to the UK and oversaw its full restoration and has since secured numerous class and outright victories at some of Europe’s most celebrated circuits.

Staying true to his family’s Volkswagen roots, Morris has spent the past four years designing and building the ultimate Volkswagen Golf to tackle the legendary 12.42-mile Pikes Peak course. It has been designed and built by Morris’s own preparation and restoration business, GTS Motorsport.

He will be competing in the 104th running of the world-famous event, featuring 156 corners and climbing to an altitude of more than 14,000 feet, on 21 June 2026, with a target to break the current front-wheel-drive record of 10 minutes 48 seconds, which has stood since 2018. “Having read about the mystique of Pikes Peak in Autosport magazine since I was a child, it has always been my ambition to compete,” said Morris.