Women Drivers in the BTCC

Fiona Leggate as an MG driver, in 2007

The British Touring Car Championship’s present format began in 1987, as a renamed, streamlined version of the British Saloon Racing Championship. Although the previous championship (which will be covered in a future post) had attracted many female drivers over the years, the BTCC has been male-only for several seasons. The last female driver was Fiona Leggate, in 2007.

Below are the championship results of all female drivers in the BTCC.

1988

Barbara Cowell (Ford Escort RS1600/Toyota Corolla) – 19^th

1989

Louise Aitken-Walker (Vauxhall Astra GTE 16V) – 5^th

Nettan Lindgren (BMW M3) – 26^th

Barbara Cowell (Toyota Corolla) – unplaced

1990

Nettan Lindgren (BMW M3) – 10^th

1991

Nettan Lindgren (BMW M3) – 22^nd

1998

Paula Cook (Honda Accord) – unplaced

1999

Paula Cook (Honda Accord) – 19^th

2001 (Production Class)

Annie Templeton (Peugeot 306 GTi) – 19^th

Joanna Clarke (Honda Integra Type R) – 26^th

2002 (Production Class)

Annie Templeton (Peugeot 306 GTi) – 13^th

2005

Fiona Leggate (Vauxhall Astra Coupe) – 16^th

2006

Fiona Leggate (Vauxhall Astra Coupe) – 21^st

2007

Fiona Leggate (MG ZS) – unplaced

2020

Jade Edwards (Vauxhall Astra) - unplaced

Jess Hawkins (Vauxhall Astra) - unplaced

2021

Jade Edwards (Honda Civic Type R) - 26th

Jess Hawkins (Ford Focus ST) - 29th

2022 

Jade Edwards (Honda Civic Type R) - 27th

2023

Jade Edwards (Honda Civic Type R/Cupra Leon) - 31st

(Image copyright Simon Murphy)

Suzi Hart-Banks

In the late 1990s, Suzi Hart-Banks was one of the fastest women on the British national racing scene. She first came to prominence racing a V8 MGB GT at club level in 1995, in the BCV8 series. Her father, Warwick Banks, was also taking part. That year, she started from pole five times, won nine races, set nine fastest laps and four lap records, including one at Silverstone.

In 1996, she changed to more modern machinery and entered the Ginetta G27 championship. In this car she proved herself to be a talent to be reckoned with, coming fourth in the championship. In 1997 she really cemented her credentials as an expert driver by finishing second, with three wins, five seconds, four pole positions and four fastest laps.

Now a professional driver, Suzi returned to MG power in 1998, for the MGF Cup. She was driving for Moy Motorsport and did not disappoint ,finishing third in her first race, second at Croft and coming fourth overall out of twenty-eight drivers, including Piers Johnson and MGF specialist Jamie Hunter. This year, she also drove in one round of the British GT Championship, at Silverstone. She and Charlie Cox were eleventh in a Saleen Ford Mustang.

Funding troubles meant that Suzi was off the radar for the 1999 season, but she returned in 2000, driving for the Freightmaster team this time. Her team-mates were Charlotte Osbourn and Annie Templeton. Unfortunately, her season was dogged with problems this time and a couple of accidents prevented her from starting all of the twelve rounds. She could only manage eighth in the final standings.

After this, Suzi left the world of motorsport for the time being, to go travelling around the world. She does not appear to have raced since.

(Image source unknown)

Annie Templeton

Annie in the BTCC

As a car-mad teenager, Annie Templeton had to make do with Scalextric and bombing around fields with her sister in their £10 banger. It was only after her marriage to husband Jim that she began competing.

The pair's honeymoon was spent on a muddy hill in a trials car. From 1987 to 1998 Annie made her name as a skilled trials driver, with several prestigious outright wins to her name. A switch to classic trialling in an Allard J2, and then a 1933 MG KN Special, brought her into more high-speed competition. The MG was capable of more than 150mph, with no seatbelts, and Annie was hooked on the adrenalin. She and Jim attacked the classic racing circuit with style, and she made off with some impressive trophies. In 1995 she won the Kimber trophy for the best pre-war car of a meeting, and in 1997 she won the VSCC's coveted Brooklands Memorial Trophy after a win at one of their meetings. At a 2001 MGCC meeting she also won the Kimber race outright. She is justifiably proud of her performances in allcomers races, where she was able to get the better of modern machinery in the MG.

A couple of nasty accidents made her and Jim think hard about continuing in historic racing, and in 1998 Annie switched to the MGF Cup for the bulk of the season. She continued in the series until 2000 and showed herself to be a competent driver in a modern car, too. Her best finish in this well-supported championship was eighth. She was driving for Tech-Speed Motorsport/Freightmaster, and one of her team-mates was Suzi Hart-Banks.

In 2001, Tech-Speed transferred their operations to the British Touring Car Championship, and Annie secured enough sponsorship to go with them. She competed in the bright yellow Peugeot 306 GTI for two seasons, in the Production class. She had an excellent finishing record in the highly competitive series, which meant that she was able to pick up any stray points at the end of a race. This gave her a best result of fifth in class. If there was a scrap to be had for those points, she was there and up for it, but she lacked the pace to challenge for overall honours. In 2001, she was 19th overall in the Production class, and in 2002, thirteenth. Nevertheless, she enjoyed her racing, and being part of a big championship. At a Mondello Park BTCC round, she also got the chance to do some rallycross when local driver Dizzy Ryan offered her a drive. Of course, she took it.

For 2003, she was part of a well-publicised all-female team in the British GT Championship, with Amanda Stretton. The pair had a best finish of sixth at Silverstone, before the sponsorship money ran out halfway through the season. Their other results were a eleventh at Donington and a seventh at Snetterton. However, Annie had struggled with the Chamberlain-backed "Girlpower Racing" Chrysler Viper, and was off the pace set by her team-mate and the rest of the field.

A return to historics in the summer brought happy times, including another win in the MG.

Annie was off the motorsport scene for a while, but came back in 2005. She entered the Formula Woman Nations Cup, representing England in a Caterham 7 against other female drivers from around the world. Since then, she has been active in the MG in historic meetings, winning several trophies, including one in an MG race at the SeeRed Festival at Donington. She is now more commonly referred to as Anne Templeton.

In 2009, the MG KN was put up for sale, but the Templetons obviously had a change of heart, as Anne was seen racing the car at the 2010 Silverstone Historic Festival. She retired and moved to France shortly afterwards.

(Image from www.carpages.co.uk)