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Bio
Background
2006
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Newsletter
Contact: www.sarahfranklinracing.co.uk
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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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