Sarah
Franklin

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Bio
Background
2006 Schedule
Newsletter
Contact: 
www.sarahfranklinracing.co.uk or E-Mail
Related Issue:
Women Racers Directory, Women in Racing, Women Racers, More Women in Racing, Race Schedules, Notable Women

Bio


Born: Thurmaston, Leicestershire UK
Age 35
Occupation Solicitor
Lives: Kettering, Northamptonshire
Racing debut: 10.03.04 Formula Ford
Qualifications: Law Degree, Qualified Solicitor
Type of Motorsport Circuit Racing
First Year of Competition First race was October 2004 but 2005 was my first full year of racing
Why did you start? After my better half was quite seriously ill, I decided that life was too short not to have a go! After that, I was well and truly bitten by the bug.
Previous Championships/ Competitions 2005 - AVO Ginetta Championship
Organising Club BARC
Best Race / Drive and why? Rockingham 2005 - despite the fact that I didn't finish it! I went from 22nd to 7th in one lap and had a fantastic race until, after being caught up in an incident, I had to retire with less than a lap to go.
Worst Race / Drive and why? Also Rockingham 2005 because I was literally ¼ of a lap from my best finish of the year and had to stop due to an oil leak.
Favourite Circuit/Venue Castle Coombe, Brands Hatch & Snetterton
Types of cars competed / owned Ginetta G20, Ford Puma, Fiat 500
Best car driven / owned Lotus Exige & my Ginetta
Future/Current Championships AVO Ginetta Championship
Current Car Ginetta G20
Current Sponsors Various!
Other plans for this year/next year To continue with AVO Ginetta Championship & also move into competing in some endurance racing. Ultimate goal is to race in the 24 Hour Le Mans race.
Trains: Gladiator Gym, Kettering
Hobbies: Archery, learning Italian, South American History
Likes: Going to the cinema and anything Italian!
Favourite racetrack: Castle Coombe, Brands Hatch & Snetterton
Racing hero: Richard Burns, Colin Chapman, Ayrton Senna
Race car owned: Ginetta G20
Cars owned: Ford Puma, Ford Focus ST170, 1967 Fiat 500
Ambition: To race at Le Mans and complete the Inca Trail
Dream car: Ferrari 575m Maranello, McLaren F1, Original Mercedes SLR
Food: Anything Italian! Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food.
Colour: Purple
Films: The Game, The Matrix, Bed of Roses, The Thomas Crown Affair
Music: Evanescence, Linkin Park, Simple Plan
Books: The Life of Pi (Yann Martel), Duncton Wood (William Horwood), His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman)
TV: Top Gear, How I met your Mother, Overhaulin’
Go to www.sarahfranklinracing.co.uk/register.asp for her newsletter.

Background


The AVO Ginetta Championship is promoted by the British Automobile Racing Club and 2006 will be its eleventh year. This is arguably one of the most competitive one make series in the UK.

This year, the Ginetta’s will support both the Formula 3/British GT Championships and also be part of Dunlops new ‘Great & British’ Festivals which have been designed to bring motorsport to a wide audience and give everyone a fun-packed and enjoyable weekend. With full grids guaranteed, there’s never a shortage of action with Ginetta racing!

Unfortunatey, due to the sudden and unexpected withdrawal of one of her major sponsors for the year, Sarah will not currently be competing in all the rounds of the Ginetta Championship.

Sarah Franklin has contested the whole of the 2005 AVO Ginetta Championship with Reflex Racing after her successful debut in the series at the end of 2004. Inevitably the Kettering lawyer would like additional backing and those in the queue should contact either Sarah direct E-Mail or her Manager, Roger Phillips' E-Mail. Seriously interested backers may request a copy of Sarah's promotional brochure.

Britain's Sarah Franklin becomes the first woman to sign with Action Resources Ltd for the provision of driver management services and made a terrific debut in the final races of the 2004 AVO Ginetta Championship at Brands Hatch with Reflex Racing in early October - definitely a racing star of the future, irrespective of gender.

Sarah is well used to driving rapid motor-cars on road and track and, having already established herself as a Partner in her own legal practice in Kettering (the firm of Terence Bailey - Solicitors - 01536 485 398), she is now about to become one of the new breed of women determined to compete against men in this sport on equal terms.

Sarah Franklin's enthusiasm for racing was generated over the past year by Graeme Glew's Formula Woman initiative but this irrepressible competitor sees no great future in competing solely against those of her own gender and is now stepping out and investigating other opportunities.

After a winter exploring the single-seater ERA and Zip Formula routes, Sarah has considered a range of options and has become the first woman to be managed by Roger Phillips's Action Resources organisation - who launched their own "Women in Motor-sport" feature on this website in 2003.

The intention now is that Sarah will build upon her experience on track in non-single seater disciplines and she has been testing during the summer with Reflex Racing in their AVO Ginetta Championship cars - the test pictured within our own "Action Gallery" (accessed at the foot of each page) at Brands Hatch in June saw Sarah drive the car raced this year by ex-BTCC and ex-ETCC hot-shoe, Tom Ferrier.

Sarah is now to race a Reflex Ginetta - a newly built machine - for the first time in the final three races of the 2004 AVO Ginetta Championship (which accompanies the British F3/GT Finals) at Brands Hatch on 2/3 October and she has created quite a stir in her local Northamptonshire media as a result, with a full-page piece in the Kettering "Evening Telegraph" on 3 August and a terrific article on "the legal racy lady" in the County's "Business Times" for September 2004.

You can be sure that the lawyer from Northamptonshire will take an intelligent approach to the whole process - she is a Member of Mensa. That is the international organisation founded in England in 1945 whose Members achieve the very highest scores in IQ tests.

The men might just get outfumbled altogether. This is one determined and committed woman.

For more on Sarah Franklin visit her website at www.sarahfranklinracing.co.uk

Sarah Franklin: Legally Racing


Being a partner in a law firm by 34 might seem fast paced enough, but not so Sarah Franklin. The Kettering solicitor is getting into gear to hit the fast lane in more ways than one - as a racing driver.

Sarah Franklin has always had a love of cars. "Even as a child I loved road cars" Sarah told me. "I even liked the smell of petrol!" The fascination stayed with her so it is little surprise that as an adult the luxury she saved for was a dream car, a Lotus.

"I had a Lotus Elise and then an Exige" Sarah said, "which I loved. There were beautiful cars to drive and I wanted to get the best driving experience possible so looked into track days. Over the years I took part in track days at famous circuits such as Silverstone and Donington Park. It was a wonderful opportunity to enjoy my road car and at that time I was more than content with that."

Passion

Law of the road: Sarah Franklin

Her passion for cars was matched by her husband, Adrian. Four years ago Adrian took his driving ambition one step further and sat for his race licence test. Sarah and Adrian looked forward to getting him out onto the track for some amateur racing but fate took a drastic turn

"Adrian was taken ill not long afterwards" said Sarah. "Initially, it was thought that Adrian was suffering from a type of lymphoma and that he may not make it." It was an astonishing blow to the young couple.

Thankfully, Adrian's condition was curable but it has taken over two years to fight the illness and only now is he regaining full health. For both Sarah and Adrian it was a life changing time.

"We realised if you are going to do something you have to do it now." Sarah said with clarity. "You have to grab life and live it."

It was with this new realisation that Sarah was buoyed to follow Adrian's steps, or rather tyre marks, and take her driving hobby to a new level - to competitive racing.

"I'm not sure why I didn't think of it before" Sarah told me. "I'd enjoyed leisure karting, loved taking part in track days and was all for Adrian getting his race licence. Then I thought why not get a race licence myself?"

Reality TV twist

Sarah went to the 2003 Autosport International Show. Held each year at Birmingham NEC, Autosports is one of the world's leading motorsports shows with over 780 exhibitors. From Karting to Formula One, Rallying to Sportscars, the show covers every conceivable corner of car racing which attracts over 90,000 visitors who flock to see world famous names and those, like Sarah, who want to find out how to start in such a thrilling sport with so many different routes.

Sarah was initially attracted by the inaugural Formula Woman Championship. The country's first all female national championship was being organised with a reality TV twist. The championship was open to female, would-be racing drivers who had no previous race experience. Applicants would be put through a selection process, to be televised, until 16 finalists were chosen to take part in the Formula Woman Championship. Sarah applied and sailed through to last 50.

But, it was at this point that Sarah had reservations about taking part in an all female series. "I didn't want to just race against woman" said Sarah, "so I decided to withdraw from the show and look into taking a different route."

All consuming

"I would love to have driven a Bentley at Le Mans but quite frankly I'd race a shopping trolley there if I was given the chance!"

Sarah Franklin

Her new route saw her take part in Silverstone's famous intensive five-day driver's course and she achieved her dream, gaining her race licence in March 2004. After learning of Action Resources Limited by recommendation at Autosport International, Sarah contacted MD Roger Philips, whose company specialises in integrated race driver management. Under ARL's wing Sarah was introduced to Reflex Racing and Ginettas.

"I loved being in a Ginetta "Sarah said. "I knew this was the car for me and took part in my first national race in October 2004 at Brands Hatch, it was fantastic. I think I proved I can hold my own in what is a very competitive championship and so now all plans turn towards doing a full season in the AVO Ginetta Championship in 2005."

Sarah's 2005 Ginetta is currently being prepared by Reflex Racing, whilst Sarah prepares herself with trips to her local gym straight from work. "It is all consuming" said Sarah. "It has been incredibly hard work qualifying as a solicitor and now the majority of my weekends are taken up visiting the team and preparing for the season ahead. Luckily Adrian understands it totally, in fact we are hoping that when he is fully fit we can celebrate by taking part in some endurance style races together!"

And as Sarah prepares for the coming season she admits her ambition lies even further afield. "My dream would be to race at Le Mans. I would love to have driven a Bentley at Le Mans but quite frankly I'd race a shopping trolley there if I was given the chance!"

And I wouldn't bet against seeing Sarah go from the roads of Kettering to the track at Le Mans. With steely determination, this solicitor may just break the unwritten law that says motor racing is a man's game!

Source: By Rebecca Hobbs, www.bbc.co.uk/northamptonshire/content/articles/2005/01/14/sarah_franklin_legally_racing_feature.shtml

2005 Season off to flying start


For the five members whose season started at the Donnington Formula 3 meeting on April 2nd, the adrenaline rush started slightly early when they were featured on Anglia Television on Friday the 1st April. Anglia’s sports reporter Linda O’Brien received a tip off that three ladies from her television area were kicking off their motorsports season at Donnington Park. After a little quick research she featured all five girls, focusing on their BWRDC membership. The headliner was of course Susie Stoddart who was commencing her Formula 3 season with Alan Dockiing Racing., and based in Northampton the heart of the Anglia region. Other Anglia region members were Sarah Franklin racing in Ginetta’s.

2006 AVO Ginetta Championship Race Calendar (date venue result )


April 15-17 Oulton Park, Cheshire DNR
April 29-30 Brands Hatch, Kent 4th, 19th & 24th
Mau 20-21 Donington Park, Leicestershire DNR
June 24-25 Castle Combe, Wiltshire DNR
July 22-23 Silverstone, Northamptonshire 15th & 19th
August 5-6 Thruxton, Hampshire DNR
August 26-27 Brands Hatch Grand Prix, Kent cancelled
September 23-24 Silverstone, Northamptonshire
October 7-8 Spa Francorchamps, Belgium
October 21-22 Donington Park, Leicestershire

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