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Whitley Set To Take On The Boys |
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Friday, 01 June 2007 |
There aren't an abundance of young up and coming female motorsport drivers out there, however they all seem to have similar stand out traits: a fierce competitiveness and a willingness to show up their male counterparts!
Next weekend eighteen year old Victoria Whitley enters the National Formula Ford Category at Sydney's Eastern Creek Raceway as the only female in the field, taking over from Samy Reid who was only able to compete at the opening round at Adelaide's Clipsal 500.
As a second generation driver with a background in karting, Whitley is hoping for a consistent first up showing next weekend but isn't taking any expectations into the round.
"I'd definitely like to show up some of the guys and show them I can
race, in reality a lot of them have a lot more experience than I do and
I have only had three full days in the car but I am ready for the
challenge," explained Whitley.
A former weightlifter, Whitley was second place in the Queensland
weightlifting Championships in 2003 as well as some impressive results
on the race track with first place in the 2003, 2004, and 2005 Yamaha
Nationals and first place in the 2004 Australian Dirt Championships.
While Whitley has a tough competitive streak, she confesses to a few
nerves before the Eastern Creek round, a track she is yet to visit.
"I have only raced in my home state at Queensland Raceway so I am going
to learn a lot this weekend, but hopefully I can record some good
results.
Whitley will drive a Van Diemen RF06 at Eastern Creek, the car was
previously raced by retiring Formula Ford competitor Tony Lemessurier,
however Whitley is already familiar with the Van Diemen as she was part
of the crew at Winton last month.
"Winton was the first national meet that I have attended so it was
great to see how everything is run and to work on the car to get a
mechanical feel for it prior to Eastern Creek.
Hailing from Toowoomba, Whitley is currently studying a diploma of
Motorsport and also works on a voluntary basis for Safe Drive Training,
lecturing high school students on the importance of safe driving.
"It's great to offer some advice to high school kids, and they seem to
be responding well listening to someone relatively the same age so it's
a very positive thing," said Whitley.
Tim Blanchard is on top of the points table heading into the Eastern
Creek Round, holding a thirty point lead over team mate James Moffat
with CAMS Rising Star Kristian Lindbom in third position.
Round four kicks off with practice on Saturday 9 June, with three races
scheduled over the long weekend and race three to be broadcast live on
Channel 7, check local guides for broadcast details.
Eastern Creek Round 4 Formula Ford Schedule
Saturday 9 June
Practice One 10:10am- 10:30am
Practice Two 12:40pm- 1:00pm
Sunday 10 June
Qualifying 10:00am- 10:20am
Race One 1:35pm- 1:55pm (12 Laps)
Monday 11 June
Race Two 10:05am- 10:25am (12 Laps)
Race Three 2:35pm- 2:55pm (12 Laps)
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