Sheffield petrol head mum to take part in Formula Woman racing competition

A Sheffield woman has entered a televised competition to find the next female motor racing champion.
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Kate Gawron, a 37-year-old, who describes herself as a big ‘petrol head’, is a go karting fan and a track day instructor, but she’s never had the chance to race.

When she heard of the Formula Woman competition, she decided she would give it a go.

Formula Woman is a McLaren partnered competition for women who have never raced a car or go karted professionally.

Kate GawronKate Gawron
Kate Gawron

Kate, an IT consultant from Aston, said: “I’ve been into cars pretty much all my life – grew up on a petrol station so my parents were massive petrol heads.

“I saw this opportunity and I thought why not go for it, I've got nothing to lose, I've always fancied trying track racing.

“I’ve been accepted onto the programme which involves driving assessment days and media training like brand awareness which is really important for any sports professional.

“It restarts in a couple of weeks with online tests and assessments. If I get through the initial stages it’s going to be televised.

“Ultimately if I end up winning or coming in the top three I get a free professional drive in an McLaren in the British GT4 Championships.

“For me it’s the opportunity of a lifetime.”

The aim is the find the best 12 drivers from the group who then go on to compete in a race against each other to decide the top six.

The top six win a professional race contract with a GT4 racing team, driving a McLaren sports car.

Kate is married to wife Marlena and has a five-year-old daughter.

“My daughter keeps asking me if she can come in a car with me and Marlena is begrudgingly supporting,” she said.

“She’s a bit concerned she’s going to become a racing driving widow with me off to the race track every weekend.

“She knows it’s been my dream and in my blood for years.”

Formula Woman is being partnered by McLaren racing team so the drive is with the McLaren Team in the British GT4 championships.

For the top three it will be a fully paid professional drive and the winners will get a salary for the year and they will be competing on equal terms against anyone who is competing that day male or female.

“You just look at the top levels of racing driving and just how few women there are whether that’s mechanics or just driving the cars there are very few female role models,” said Kate.

"Jamie Chadwick who is a development driver for the Williams Formula One team, and Sabine Schmitz from Top Gear, spring to mind.”

“To me it’s really important that women get things on merit. We need more of a hand to progress because there hasn’t been that representation in the past.

“For a very short while I held the track record at Sheffield Go Karting off Rutland Road. It was on a works night out and I not only beat all the guys I drove against I managed to get the track record. If you can drive something on the edge of the limit that’s where the excitement is.”

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