Since my foray into the exciting world of fast cars I often find myself being asked the question ‘where did my interest in racing come from?’ The short answer to this is that I’ve always had an insatiable need for speed and for as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to race cars or at least drive a car on a race track.

I didn’t have the opportunity to do this growing up but living in rural Australia did present me with the opportunity to break both the age and speeding limits when learning to drive cars. But despite always driving with a lead foot, the cars I drove were fairly old and slow. It wasn’t till I moved to the UK to forge a career in Investment Banking that I could finally afford something more exhilarating.

Mid 2010 I bought a Porsche 911 997 Turbo and before I picked it up I had my first track day booked at the Bedford Autodrome. I absolutely loved being out and track and immediately felt at home and craved more. So I followed this up with an evening at Brands on the Indy circuit before heading over to Spa Francorchamps for a track day.

My love affair with the track had blossomed and when I was off it all I could think about was when I could next be back out there. I recall driving back from Belgium and being at work the next day and re-playing each corner of Spa over in my mind. I felt depressed and all I could think about was going back (I did incidentally book another day at Spa before the tracking season ended but as I was alone I was car-jacked in Brussels on the way driving over but that’s another story!).

My real trouble at this point was that I loved being on the track but I felt frustrated by the constraints of track days. I wanted to be able to race the other drivers and overtake freely. Tracking was fun, but it wasn’t quite satisfying my need for speed the way I had hoped.

So I decided the only option was to actually have a go at racing cars and being the gung-ho person I am, I was adamant it had to be in 2011 since I felt a year of tracking would only serve to frustrate me. I started researching, talking to anyone I could with racing experience or knowledge and asking lots of questions and within a month I had made my decision to race in the Lotus Cup UK and Lotus on Track Elise Trophy series.

The fact that I’d only ever done a few track days in my life, had never driven a Lotus Elise before and knew none of the UK circuits I was about to race on really didn’t seem an issue for me. In fact I found it extremely exciting and couldn’t wait for the season to begin.

In the next few weeks I found a team to run me and assist in sourcing a car in preparation of the 2011 series which was due to start in only a few weeks. I had an amazing time in 2011. It was fantastic to finally experience the thrill of racing and I learned a great deal.

In 2012 however I’m following my ultimate dream of racing a Porsche GT3 Cup car. Racing in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB series is no doubt a huge step up for me but I’m really excited about the challenge. The cars are phenomenal, the competition is fantastic and I have not only a great team SIB Sport and Redline Racing but I’m fortunate to have Tim Harvey coaching me.

The rest is now history but I do often ask myself whether the desire to drive fast is something inherited given my Dad raced motorbikes.

Unfortunately it was before I was born so I missed the opportunity of hanging out at the track with him whilst he was racing. Nevertheless I guess one influence I could say my Dad had on me was the confidence he provided when teaching me to drive. Dad had no issues allowing my brother and I to drive on the road before the legal age and I recall with fondness him often telling me that if I felt I was coming unstuck on a bend that I had to apply more power. He would then have me practice this around some of the long sweeping and undulating country roads whilst he egged me on.

My Dad sadly passed away months before I commenced my first racing season in 2011 and it’s been hard not to have him support me at the track but I’m sure he would have enjoyed following my progress.

Anyway, if you’ve taken the time to read my biography I hope you’ve enjoyed the insight into my life growing up in Australia. The 2012 racing season is now underway and I’m excited to be a part of it. It’s going to be a huge learning curve this year coming to grips with such a powerful car and also some tracks I’ve never been to before but I’m up for the challenge.

If you see me out on track feel free to come and say hi. It’s always great to meet fellow petrol-heads.

Tania