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My name is TINA SMITH, I am
25 years old and I live in Ipswich, Suffolk. I am a
full-time Vehicle Technician and part-time racing
driver, my aim is to become a full-time racer and
mechanic in my spare time! I am currently working
at a BMW dealership where I have achieved
Technician status and am studying for my Senior
Technician assessment.
I have been selected to be
one of the 100 finalists in the Formula Woman (FW)
search for women racing drivers, and competed in my
first race at Pembrey circuit in November of last
year.
Formula Woman is a unique
concept aimed at getting more women into what up
until recently has been a male-dominated sport. The
first FW competition began in 2003, with over
10,000 women applying to be one of the 16 women
chosen to race in the first all female Formula
Woman Championship. Formula Woman selected 16
novice drivers and after extensive training they
raced in an exciting one make Championship, which
was televised on ITV 1. The viewing figures for the
FW championship exceeded all expectations with
ratings in excess of 1 million viewers on
occasions, greater than for the British Touring
Cars shown on the same afternoon, with three and a
half hours of television coverage in total. The
total combined press, television and radio coverage
was in excess of 120 million people, giving plenty
of opportunity for sponsor exposure.
The 2006 FW Championship
attracted over 4000 applicants, from which 2500
(including me!) were chosen to attend an assessment
day in October. I found out that I had been chosen
in March 2005 and so I began preparing for my
assessment by joining Club Formula Woman, with whom
I did a total of seven track days with instruction.
I had novice training at Dunsfold Park (the home of
Top Gear), five intermediate days driving a
Caterham at Bedford Autodrome, Snetterton, Oulton
Park, Mallory Park and Cadwell Park, and an
advanced day at Dunsfold. I also decided it was
time to get fit, so I gave up smoking and took up
circuit training and cycling instead!
The assessment consisted
of a karting test, a fitness test, a written exam,
a filmed interview and a track test in a Caterham.
The assessment went very well, and I secured a
place in the final 100. The next stage was to get a
racing licence, and so a week later I was at
Thruxton taking my ARDS test. I passed this with no
problems and am now the proud owner of a race
national B licence!
FW staged the FW Novice
Challenge at Pembrey in November 2005 for 64 of the
100 finalists, on a first-come-first-served basis.
There were four races held over the weekend, with
the winner of each race securing a place in the
2006 Championship.
The next stage in the
selection process is an elimination camp that will
take place in June 2006, at a location yet to be
disclosed. Over the three days the remaining 96
finalists will be put through various tests, and 12
women will be chosen to join the four winners from
Pembrey to race in the 2006 FW Novice Championship.
I am intent on being one of those 12 and I have
stepped up my training program this year to ensure
I have the best possible chance of being
selected.
The final 16 women will
compete in a Championship that will consist of
eight rounds held over four weekends in August and
September 2006. 'The Championship will be shown on
terrestrial television, which will provide national
exposure for sponsors.
I am hoping to compete in
two non-championship events that FW are planning in
March and April 2006. This will provide invaluable
experience for the elimination camp and will help
me to hone my race craft, and will hopefully result
in my first race win!
If you would like to know
more or would like to find out the benefits of
becoming a partner then please e-mail me, I would
love to hear from you!
Name: Tina Smith
DOB: 08/05/80
Nationality: British
Lives: Ipswich, Suffolk
Occupation: Technician at Lind BMW of Ipswich
Race Debut: Pembrey 20/11/05
Qualifications: HND Motorsports Engineering ND
Motor Vehicle Studies
Ambition:- To be selected for the Formula Woman
Novice Championship and to become a professional
Racing Driver.
Hobbies:- Motor Racing, Circuit Training, Cycling,
Swimming, Music,Films, and Reading
Results
Formula Woman
Eliminations Camp - 6/29/06
The eliminations camp was held at
Bruntingthorpe Proving Grounds near Leicester. Day
one of the eliminations camp consisted of eight
tests held over the course of the day. Driving
tests would carry a maximum of 100 points each, and
other tests would carry 50 points each. Points were
also awarded for the amount of PR and sponsorship
achieved prior to the camp. I think I started day 1
with about 130 points for PR and sponsorship, but
some girls had in excess of 1000 points so I knew I
would have to do really well in the driving tests
to make up the deficit. The 86 finalists (10 girls
had not turned up) were split into eight groups and
after a briefing from Graeme and Tim, off we went
to the circuit.
My first test was a track
test in a Honda Civic. The purpose of this test was
to gauge natural ability and ‘feel’.
Graeme took us round for one siting lap, and then I
had just two laps around the track to show what I
could do. I was quite pleased with my laps and only
really made one mistake; I accidentally selected
6th gear instead of 4th when braking for the fast
corner! Needless to say I was very annoyed with
myself!
The next test was a speech
about why I wanted to be a racing driver and what
it would mean to me to be in the final 16. Public
speaking is not one of my strong points and this
test was the one I had been the most worried about,
but I had prepared a good speech and it went fairly
well, with the only criticism being that I needed
to project my voice more.
The heel-and-toe test was
next. I am really good at this particular technique
as it is something that I practice every day in my
road car (I fitted competition pedals to it for
that purpose), and the feedback I got from the
assessor was very positive, so full marks for that
test!
Next came a written test,
with questions on such things as explaining
understeer and oversteer, what to do in various
racing situations and a question on sponsorship. It
was quite straightforward, with the most difficult
question being to describe in 40 words or less why
I should be chosen for the Championship.
After lunch came the race
starts test. We had two attempts at a race start,
with two of us lined up side-by-side in Caterhams.
I got off the line first for both of my starts and
controlled the wheel-spin to stay ahead until the
line. I scored highly in this test as
well.
The skid test involved
using special skid cars with hydraulic trolley
wheels fitted, to enable the ride height to be
altered front and rear to simulate
understeer, oversteer, driving on ice, aquaplaning
etc. We were just being tested on our ability to
control oversteer or rear-end sliding. I was
confident about the test since I have experience of
oversteer from the Caterham Motorsport Club days
that I have done, however I found the skid cars
were very unpredictable and difficult to control
and I didn’t do as well as I had hoped,
scoring 80 out of 100.
The fitness test was a
bleep test, just as it was at the assessments last
year. This was so that our fitness levels could be
compared with our results from the assessment days
to check our progress. I have been training hard
all year and stepped up my fitness program since
the assessment to improve my strength and
endurance. It paid off as I managed to go up almost
a whole level on the bleep test, making it to level
8-6 (I managed 7-7 at the assessment last October).
I was really pleased with my performance especially
since it was a very hot day - 27?C.
The last test of the day
was the braking test, which involved accelerating
up to the rev limiter in 2nd gear (about 60 mph)
and then braking to a stop in as short a distance
as possible, in a controlled manner without locking
up. We had two shots at it with the best one
counting; my first run wasn’t that good as I
didn’t brake hard enough to start with and
compensated for that by locking the wheels up at
the end! The second run was much better and I was
quite happy with it.
We then had to wait around
for a couple of hours before the eliminations were
announced. It seemed like much longer, and when it
finally got to the announcement, I was really
nervous. However, I made it through to the final 50
and I was over the moon!
Day two was another hot,
sunny day. The format was different this time. We
were split into three groups, with two tests to do
in the morning, and a karting knock-out in the
afternoon.
The first test was another
track test, this time in a Caterham. We had 6 laps
around a circuit, which was basically the same as
yesterday with two extra chicanes added. The first
two laps were with instruction, although this
wasn’t easy with no intercom system, and then
the final four laps were assessed. The aim was to
prove that we were race-ready and could handle a
car at speed on a track.
The circuit was great fun
in a Caterham; being an airfield it was very bumpy
with a lot of grit and gravel and not much grip, so
the car was fish-tailing around accelerating down
the straights and drifting though the corners. I
was going really well and getting faster and more
confident with every lap, until the last lap when
it all went a bit wrong. Coming out of the first
long right-hander I got into a four-wheel drift
which was great, but as I then went to change into
fourth exiting the corner I managed to hit the
ignition key with my knee and turn the engine off!
After realising this and getting going again, I
then went too fast into one of the chicanes and
drove over a cone on the exit. Unfortunately all
the laps counted and so I must have lost a few
points, and as this test carried the most points
for the day I was rather annoyed with myself.
The next test bizarrely
was wheel-changing. I think I had a bit of an
unfair advantage since most of the girls had never
changed a wheel in their lives! We had to work in
pairs, and we had two goes at it, with one girl in
charge of the gun for the first go and then
swapping over. I set the fastest time in my group,
and I managed to come first and second as one girl
had slipped a disc and so I had to take her
place!
Then we had some practice
in the karts in preparation for the knock-out
challenge in the afternoon. We were split into 10
heats for the first round of the karting test, five
per heat, with the winner of each heat going
through to two semi-finals. Then the first and
second-placed girls from the semis would race
against each other in the final. Points were
deducted for anyone making contact with another
kart, and points awarded for overtaking and
finishing places. I have only been karting four
times so I didn’t expect to do very well, but
I managed to finish third in my heat which
wasn’t too bad since some of the girls had a
lot of karting experience.
When the eliminations for
the day were announced I was very disappointed not
to have made it through to the final day. I came
41st out of the final 50. I think my performance in
the Caterham track test let me down the most,
although I’m sure my lack of karting
experience didn’t help either. However I know
that if I had had another 150 points for PR and
sponsorship I could have made it through to the
third day, so just because I didn’t get
through doesn’t mean I’m not a good or
quick driver; I’m sure had it been purely down
to driving I would have made it through.
I’m not going to give
up racing now that Formula Woman is over. It has
been a great way of getting into the sport; now I
just need to decide which Championship I want to
compete in next.
Eliminations camp results:
41st
Brands Hatch -
4/28/06
I had the opportunity to do a track day at Brands
Hatch with Minis-On-Track.com. I had never driven
this track before and since it is going to stage a
round of the Formula Woman championship I was keen
to learn the circuit. The track day was run on the
Indy circuit, and I was driving a BMW Mini Cooper
(fully race-prepared by Advent Motorsport). I found
the Mini handled extremely well, which made up for
the lack of power out of the corners, and was an
ideal car in which to learn the lines around the
twisty Indy circuit. The circuit itself is great
fun to drive, especially Paddock Hill Bend which is
an unforgettable experience and a real thrill at
high speed. My instructor for the day was Andrew
Crighton, an ARDS instructor and former race driver
himself. By the end of the day I was really getting
up to speed and was putting in some good fast laps.
I would definitely recommend Minis-On-Track.com as
a good value arrive-and-drive track day company.
Formula Woman Novice
Challenge, Pembrey - 4/15-16/06
My second race meeting was back at Pembrey again. I
was determined to make up for my bad luck last time
and if not win, at least finish in the top
ten.
Friday practice went very
well. I set the fastest time in the first session
with a time of 1:08.863, almost two seconds quicker
than my fastest lap here in November. The car was
understeering slightly especially out of the
hairpins, but after a few minor alterations it was
much better in the next sessions. I didn’t
manage to improve my time in the second and third
sessions, mainly because I was trying too hard in
the second session and I was held up by traffic in
the third. However, the car was handling really
well with an amazing amount of grip, and dealing
with the traffic in the third session was good
overtaking practice for the races on
Sunday.
Qualifying and the races
were on Sunday, and once again my shared car had
suffered a bad accident in the Group A race on
Saturday. The car had gone backwards into the tyre
wall at about 60mph. The driver was OK, walking
away with a few bruises but unfortunately the same
could not be said about the car! The impact had
damaged the chassis and it was not repairable at
the track, so I had to make do with a car which had
been repaired after crashing in Friday practice.
Qualifying was first thing
Sunday morning, and the weather was cool and
overcast. I had been hopeful of a good grid
position after my pace on Friday, however the car
was handling really badly and I was unable to do
any better than 10th place with a time of 1:09.938.
The car felt like it had no grip; it was difficult
to turn in and was understeering badly when exiting
the corners. I was extremely disappointed to say
the least!
After the session Andrew
my mechanic went round the car and checked the
wheel alignments, and found that the rear axle was
twisted causing the right rear wheel to toe-in by
18mm! The front right wishbone was also bent. I
felt slightly better knowing that my problems in
qualifying had been due to the car and not my
driving! As there was only 2 hours between
qualifying and race 1 there was not enough time for
Andrew to change the rear axle, and so he adjusted
the camber settings and tyre pressures to try and
compensate for the twisted axle and make the car
more driveable.
Race 1 I made a
dreadful start, but luckily for me the race was
red-flagged after an incident at the first corner
and so I got a second chance. The second start was
much better and I managed to make up a place before
the first corner. The car was better to drive, but
now it was oversteering through every corner and it
was so bad through the Esses that I had to
completely alter my turn point and line through the
corner to compensate. I think the skills I learnt
on the Caterham Slalom track day were invaluable in
enabling me to cope with the car sliding through
every corner without loosing it and spinning like
several other girls managed to do. I was unable to
catch up with the group of cars ahead, in fact I
was slowly loosing ground to them, but due to the
aforementioned spinners I eventually finished in
eighth place. A good result in the circumstances
and the excessive oversteer certainly made the car
entertaining to drive!
There was four hours
between races 1 and 2 and so Andrew was able to
replace the rear axle and set the car up again.
Unfortunately there wasn’t a new rear axle
available, so Andrew had had to fit a less badly
damaged one instead. After rechecking the
alignment, the rear right wheel was now only
toeing-in by 7mm instead of 18mm. Still not
straight, but definitely an improvement.
Race 2 was much
better than race 1, as the car was now handling
much better. I had only qualified in 12th place for
race 2, but I got a reasonable start and made up a
place on the first lap. This time I was able to
keep up with the rest of the field and be
competitive; I had a race-long battle with three
other girls and we were swapping places right up to
the last corner. On lap 8 I overtook two cars going
into Brooklands hairpin to make it up into 9th
position, only to lose a place again on the next
lap. In the end I finished in 9th place which I was
happy with since I made up three places on my
starting position. I also got some good experience
of overtaking and defending and had a great time as
well!
Silverstone -
3/10/06
I decided to do a Slalom
track day at Silverstone with the Caterham
Motorsport Club in order to improve my car control
and precision driving skills. The day involved
driving around several different layouts of tight
coned courses set out in a carpark at Silverstone
circuit. The Caterhams were set up so that the rear
would slide easily, and combined with some very wet
weather this made for plenty of powersliding! I
found the day extremely beneficial since I had
never before experienced drifting and by the end of
the day I was as good at going sideways as in a
straight line! It was also good for me because all
the tracks days and races I have done were on fine,
dry days and so I had no experience of driving in
the wet or of controlling a sliding car. The Slalom
day has given me much more confidence in my own
ability to control the car if it starts to slide,
and I now look forward to a wet race rather than
dreading it. I didn’t win the prize for the
fastest time, but I got a mention for best drifter
of the day which for me was more important than
just going quickly. After all, I already know I can
do that!
Formula Woman Novice
Challenge, Pembrey - 11/18-20/05
This was my first-ever race
meeting and an amazing experience, although I was a
bit disappointed with the result.
Friday practice went
really well. I arrived to find my car had already
been crashed into the barriers, but after a short
delay I was provided with a spare car kindly lent
by Caterham Cars. I had three practice sessions
during the day and although I didn’t feel I
was driving as well as I could have done, I was
really pleased to find I had set the fourth fastest
time in my group (and 10th overall), a respectable
1:12.503.
My race was scheduled for
Sunday, but unfortunately my car had suffered a
large front-end crash on Saturday morning in the
Group A race and could not be repaired at the
circuit. My mechanic John and the rest of the pit
crew worked long into the night to make sure I had
a car to qualify and race, and they did a superb
job given the circumstances.
I lined up in the assembly
area for qualifying, but my car started to overheat
and I had to return to the pits for a few
last-minute repairs. By the time I made it on track
I had lost three laps so the pressure was on! I put
in some good times and I ended up 10th on the grid
with a best time of 1:10.623. Not the position I
was hoping for but I was two seconds quicker than
my best practice time and there was less than a
second between my time and the pole time, plus I
had never driven the car I was in before, so I was
pleased nonetheless.
On to the race, and lining
up on the grid for my first-ever race start was an
enormous buzz! I made a good start, but got held up
slightly when the car in front of me got too much
wheelspin and spun out. I managed to avoid this and
made it up into 6th place before the end of lap 1.
Then as I was exiting Honda curve onto the finish
straight the third place car had spun in the middle
of the track and I had to take avoiding action,
pitching myself into a spin and losing places in
the process. I quickly got going again and set
about trying to regain some places. Then a few laps
later as I was turning in for Hatchets hairpin a
car that had been following close behind made an
attempt to out-brake me but ran into my car,
damaging my nose-cone and causing me to spin. I got
going again but I had to slowly return to the pits
for repairs as the nose-cone was
sticking up in the air and
obscuring my vision. This put me a lap down and
although I made a charge and set my fastest lap of
the race, I was too far behind to catch up and
finished the race in last place. Not the result I
was looking for!
I may not have won the
race, but at least I finished and set some good,
consistent lap times, I learnt a lot and I had a
massive amount of fun in the process. I can’t
wait for my next race!
Schedule
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