Kettering Solicitor and racing driver, Sarah Franklin took top honours at Silverstone on Sunday in a record breaking race.
The British Women Racing Drivers Club in association with the HSCC and Silverstone held the BWRDC ‘Race for Record’ during last weekend’s Walter Hayes meeting on Sunday 2nd November.
Despite awful conditions 29 ladies brought out their cars for the attempt to create a new British Record for the most females in a motor race. The race cars involved were very diverse! Everything from a Lamborghini Gallard GT3 car to a MGB and, in Sarah’s case, the Renault Clio 197 that she drove in the Michelin Clio Cup Road Championship in 2014.
All 29 racy ladies took to the start of this handicap race. The huge variety of different cars had been given credit or debit laps and were flagged off at the start in six groups by the MSA Handicapper.
The weather was atrocious and there was rain for almost the entire race. Whilst Sarah started on the front row of the grid, she was actually around 15th on handicap and had to lap several of the other cars twice to stand any chance of winning!
Sarah drove faultlessly and put in the second fastest lap of the race, second only to the Lamborghini and after 17 laps had taken the lead, which she then extended by over 20 seconds by the chequered flag was dropped on lap 20.
‘I’m delighted to have won the race, both overall and on handicap’, commented Sarah afterwards. ‘The conditions were very challenging. They always say that wet races are a great leveller and that was true today!’
‘It was fabulous to achieve a new British record too with 29 lady racing drivers on the grid, as well as 84 lady marshals dotted around the track and in the pit lane!’
Sarah is now looking for sponsors for her 2015 season.
