Ashton Harrison

Ashton Harrison is the winner of the 2022 Fanatec GT World Challenge Pro-Am title in an Acura NSX GT3. She has raced sportscars in the USA for several seasons.

Early on, she raced in the Mazda MX-5 Cup in the USA. She was twelfth in the 2017 championship. This was her second attempt at the series, after a part-season in 2016. In 2018, her third season, she was 15th, with three top-ten finishes. The best of these were two ninth places. Her Mazdas were always noticeable by their pink roll cages, something she began when she did her first club races two years earlier.

In a change of direction and increase in power, she was second in the LB class in the 2019 US Lamborghini Super Trofeo, with six second places and one third. She was sharing the car with Stephanie Cemo. 

Her second season in the Super Trofeo featured her first Pro-Am win at Sebring, plus two second places and four thirds. She was third in the championship alongside her team-mate Andrea Amici. 

Another third came her way in 2021, with wins at COTA and Road America. Additionally, she won a round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Pro-Am Cup at Indianapolis in an Acura NSX, with Mario Farnbacher and Matt McMurry. This was her first race in the category and the first win for a female driver.

Following her Indianapolis win, in 2022 she was named as a Honda junior factory driver after taking part in their academy programme, with Farnbacher as her coach. This earned her a seat with the Racer’s Edge team. She and Mario Farnbacher won the Pro-Am Cup, winning four times in the Acura. They also entered the Sebring 12 Hours. 

The Super Trofeo had not been forgotten either. She and Thomas Long were third in Pro-Am with one win and ten podium finishes.

Staying with the Fanatec GT World Challenge and Racer’s Edge, she entered the Pro Cup in 2023, still sharing the GTD-spec NSX with Mario Farnbacher. The pair earned two class wins and four further podiums and were second in the Pro Cup.

She only did one IMSA race in 2024, driving a Lamborghini Huracan. Instead, she concentrated on the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America. Her final championship position was eighth in the Am class, partnered by Graham Doyle. Their season highlight was a second place at Watkins Glen. The pair were tenth in the World Final at Jerez, with an eighth and a tenth-place finish.

(Image from dailysportscar.com)

Sheena Monk

 

Sheena Monk races sportscars in the USA. 

At first she raced in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo. She picked up her first podium at the end of 2017 at Imola, in her second-ever race in the Huracan. The Trofeo was her first experience of motorsport, having undergone a fast-track racing license course with Lamborghini when she was 28. She had never raced anything before that.

Her first full racing season was the 2018 Lamborghini Super Trofeo, competing in the LB Cup. She scored her first class win at Virginia International Raceway. 

Sheena made the headlines for the wrong reasons in September 2018 when she crashed her Huracan heavily at Laguna Seca. This was the last meeting of the season and she missed the final race, although this was the last of her worries at the time. Her car may have suffered a brake failure going into the Corkscrew and she hit a tyre wall, leaving her with nine separate fractures.

In 2019, still in pain and healing from her injuries, she returned to the Super Trofeo in the States. Despite her setbacks, she ended the season fourth in the championship with five thirds and one second place. She travelled to Europe for the World Final and was fifth at Jerez. This came after she had tried out for the all-female W Series in Austria. She did not progress beyond the first selection event, but it did not harm her career.

2020 was a great year for her; she raced a McLaren 570S in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and won the Grand Sport class at Road America. She and Corey Lewis were ninth in the championship. 

A second season in the car gave her sixth in the championship, with one podium position at Watkins Glen, a third. She and Spencer Pigot were more consistent this year and only out of the top ten twice, which included the Lime Rock round which they did not finish.

Pairing up with Kyle Marcelli, she tackled the Pilot Challenge again in 2022, initially driving a Toyota Supra GT4. They were twelfth in the Grand Sport class at Daytona, but Kyle had a big accident at Sebring, necessitating a change of car for the rest of the season. It took them some time to get to grips with the Ford Mustang, but by the end of the year they were up to speed, finishing third at Lime Rock and second at Virginia. They were eighth overall.

An all-female partnership with Katherine Legge followed in 2023, driving an Acura for Gradient Racing in the IMSA GTD class. They were eighth in a hotly-contested class, including a class fourth at the Daytona 24 Hours with two other co-drivers. This was their best result; their highest finish in a shorter race was fifth, at Watkins Glen.

The GTD campaign for Gradient continued in 2024. Sheena was the principal driver this time, doing all eleven rounds. Her usual team-mate was Stevan McAleer, with Tatiana Calderon joining them for five races, and Katherine Legge for two, Daytona and Sebring. They were 19th and 17th in these two races, despite not finishing at Daytona. Sheena's personal best finish was a class third at Elkhart Lake and she was twelfth in the championship.

(Image copyright Sheena Monk)

Fiona James

Fiona James is a British sportscar driver who mostly races on the Continent. She also the founder and owner of Walero racewear, which manufactures body-temperature regulating fireproof underwear.

Her introduction to motorsport came when she was already an adult, in the form of a track day in 2006. Her sporting background was equestrian rather than automotive; she trained dressage horses for Team GB. “Walero” was the name of one of her notable ones.

She actually began racing in 2007, driving a Radical SR4 to some class wins in Britsports.

After that, she switched from a prototype to a GT car: a Ginetta G40. She competed for the next two seasons in both the British GT Cup and the Dutch Supercar Challenge, running part-time campaigns in each with In2Racing. Her best UK result in 2008 was a 13th place at Brands Hatch and she was 27th in the championship, having driven in four rounds. She and her team-mates also won their class at Spa.

She was thirteenth in the Supersport 2 category of Dutch Supercars in 2009, driving a Ginetta G50. Her results in the Britcar GT were improving and she scored her first top-ten at Snetterton, finishing eighth and winning her class. This was augmented by another class win at Silverstone.  

It was back to the UK in 2010, when she and the In2Racing team entered Britcar in the Ginetta. This included the season-ending Britcar 24 Hours, although they did not manage to finish. The team struggled to get on to the grid much that year, for reasons not clear.

he drove a Lamborghini Gallardo on her return to Britsports in 2011, first with Backdraft Motorsport. Her best result was an eighth at Donington. Later, she came back in the same car as part of the Panic team. She only managed to drive in the Spa round, when the car suffered a fire.

Later in the season, she drove the Gallardo in the Barcelona 24 Hours, and was 41st overall, second in class, with a four-person Backdraft Motorsport team.  

She moved back to the Netherlands for the Dutch Supercar series in 2012, still in the Gallardo, but had to cut her season short due to a skiing injury. She was ninth overall. Her team-mate Simon Atkinson was sixth.

She was meant to return in 2013, but does not appear to have raced.

In 2014, she took part in the world's longest race, the Maxi Endurance 32h, at Algarve. She was second in the Sport class, driving a BMW M3 with four other British drivers.

She did more 24-hour racing in 2015, taking part in the Barcelona 24 Hours in a BMW Z4, but she did not finish. The Backdraft Racing Lamborghini was also in evidence, at the Spa round of the Supercar Challenge. She was fourteenth in one race, and did not finish the other.

She raced a BMW for Intersport at the 2016 Silverstone 24 Hours, as part of a four-driver team. They were 25th overall, after a radiator problem and a broken propshaft.

For the first time since the start of her career, Fiona drove a prototype during 2017. She signed up with Blueberry Racing, a Dutch team, alongside Cor Euser and Dick van Elk, driving a Praga R1.

Her first race was the opening round of the Supercar Challenge at Assen, and she was eleventh and thirteenth. After the car’s debut, the team switched focus to the GT & Prototype Challenge for most of the season. Fiona  was second in class, with four wins, two seconds and a third. Her best overall finish was a fifth place at Assen, which coincided with one of her class wins.

In 2018, she took another step up in her racing career, sharing an Academy Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage in the GT4 European Series with Matt Nicoll-Jones. Part of her programme involved a run in the Aston Martin Race Festival that supported the Le Mans 24 Hours.   

Her second season in the GT4 European Series with the Aston included two third places at Brands Hatch, in the Pro-Am class. She and co-driver Tom Wood were also fifth at Paul Ricard. Unfortunately, a crash at Zandvoort ended their season prematurely. Neither driver was seriously hurt but the car was badly damaged.

She has not been able to get back on track since then but hopes to recover fully in the future.

(Image from https://european.gt4series.com)

Carrie Schreiner

Carrie Schreiner started racing GT cars in 2017, after some years of single-seater racing. She won the Pro-Am class of the Middle East Lamborghini Super Trofeo in early 2018.

Carrie is a former karter with two German championships under her belt. She took her first steps in senior motorsport when she tested a Formula 4 car in the UK at the end of 2014, with a view to competing in the Winter Series. She did not take up the drive.

In 2015, she raced in the German ADAC Formula 4 championship. Her best results were two 15th places, at Hockenheim and Oschersleben. She was 44th in the championship, and was the best of the three female drivers taking part this year.

She managed to race in both British and German F4 in 2016, performing much better in the UK. She managed one fourth place, at Thruxton, and two other top-tens, leaving her 17th in the championship. Her team in the UK was Double R Racing.

She struggled in the German series. She only managed to get in the top twenty at Hockenheim, in the last meeting of the season, and was unplaced in the championship.

In 2017, she switched from small single-seaters to big sportscars, spending much of the year racing a Lamborghini Huracan in the European and Asian Super Trofeo. She was second in the Pro division of the Middle East championship, driving for the FFF Lamborghini Squadra Corse with Richard Goddard. Their best overall finishes were two fifth places at Chang.

In the European Trofeo, she drove for Konrad Motorsport, competing in both the Pro and Am classes at different times. Her Pro drives were at Silverstone and yielded a sixth and seventh place. Later, she drove as an amateur in the Nürburgring and Spa rounds, scoring a fifth place in each.

She drove for FFF in the World Finals, and finished ninth and eighth in the Am class, with one fastest lap.

Back home, she also tried out an Audi R8 LMS in the DMV Gran Turismo Touring Car Cup. She was third in her second race at Hockenheim.

For 2018, she switched to the Konrad team for the Middle East Lamborghini Trofeo, driving with Axcil Jeffries who had been her rival in 2017. It was a good partnership; Carrie ended the winter season as the Pro-Am champion, with three wins and two second places. Her best overall results were two second places, at Dubai and Yas Marina. Pro-Am is the biggest class in the championship.

She also returned the Audi R8 and the DMV Cup, racing in Class 1. The first two rounds at Hockenheim gave her a third and her first win in the series. The second races of the season were held at Dijon and she scored another win and a second place with co-driver Kevin Arnold. Her wins came from pole positions and she set fastest laps in the process.

In 2018, she was also announced as an official member of the Lamborghini junior racing squad. She contested the 2018 European Super Trofeo with Konrad, picking up a best finish of fourth at Vallelunga. Earlier in the year, she had entered the Middle East Trofeo, winning the Pro-Am class three times on the way to a class championship.

Despite her Lamborghini involvement, much of 2018 was spent in the DMV Gran Turismo Touring Car Cup, based in Germany. Carrie drove an Audi R8 with Fabian Plentz and won Class 1 outright, scoring victories in four races and only finishing off the podium once.

Carrie decided against qualifying for the 2019 W Series to concentrate on racing in the VLN with an all-female team, Girls Only. This endeavour included female mechanics, managers and media reps. The WS Racing Girls Only Volkswagen Golf did two rounds of the VLN, driven by Carrie, with either Jasmin Preisig and Ronja Assmann or Laura Kraihamer and Petra Baecker. They earned two second places in the SP3T class but did not finish the Nurburgring 24 Hours due to mechanical problems.

The rest of Carrie's year was spent racing an Audi R8 again. She did most of the ADAC GT Masters with Dennis Marschall, picking up a third place at Hockenheim during a somewhat difficult season. They were 24th overall. Driving solo in the same HCB Rutronik-run car, Carrie fared better in the DMV Dunlop 60 championship, finishing fifth from pole in her first race at Hockenheim, her first of four top-five finishes. Later in the season she switched to the GT Touring Car Cup which is part of the same championship with Marco Seefried. They were second at Hockenheim and fourth twice at Zolder.

Girls Only raced again in 2020 once the season finally got under way. The three-woman team entered four VLN races and had a best finish of second in class in the first round. They also teamed up for the Nurburgring 24 Hours. Carrie, Laura Kraihamer and Celia Martin faced many problems during the race, including a break for extremely heavy rain, but managed to finish third in class. 

Carrie's VLN season was a double-duty one; she also raced in Girls Only's parent team's Audi R8 with Henrik Bollerslev and Niklas Kry. The team won its class in all four races it entered.

She used an R8 for the ADAC GT Masters but had a frustrating time of it. Partnering Dennis Marschall again, the year started with a pair of non-finishes at Lausitz and the pair could not build up any momentum. Their best results were two eighth places at the Nurburgring and Sachsenring, which were their only top-ten finishes.

Moving into a different car completely, Carrie finished her year on a higher note in the Mugello 24H Series race. This was a double six-hour race and she was driving a Aston Martin Vantage GT4 for PROsport Racing. She and her two team-mates were second in class in both parts, finishing thirteenth overall both times.

The Girls Only R8 ran better in the 2021 Nurburgring 24 Hours, winning the SP8 class with Carrie as team leader. The other drivers were Pippa Mann, Celia Martin and Christina Nielsen. They were 45th overall. Carrie and Celia also won their class driving together in one round of the NLS. In a completely different team, Carrie drove a Ferrari 488 GT3 in another two NLS races. This was in the FIA Pro-Am class and she managed one third and one fourth place.

Italy featured heavily in the rest of her season; she was racing the Ferrari for AF Corse in the Italian GT championship. Her best finish in the Endurance series was a second place at Vallelunga and she was a consistent top-ten finisher. The Sprint series gave her three podiums: a third at Monza and a second and third at Imola. She was fifth in both championships. 

Carrie continued to run the Girls Only team but did not race in the GT Masters in 2022. That said, she was extremely successful. She spent most of the year in the Porsche Cup Germany, driving a 992 with Lars Joosten. They won their class and finished third overall in the championship. She also raced in the GTC Race series for GT cars, in the GT60 one-hour enduros. For some of the season, she was partnered by David Schumacher. Although she crashed during the last race, she still won the GT3 title.

The Girls Only team came out for the Nurburgring 24 Hours again, with Carrie leading a four-woman squad. They were 35th overall and won their class in their BMW. The race was a one-off; Carrie drove with Peter Terting in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the main NLS season. They had a best finish of fourth overall, third in the GT3 class. She joined the NLS again in a BMW for two of the 2023 races, sharing with Walkenhorst's Christian Bollrath and Charles Weerts.

In a surprise move, Carrie switched back to single-seaters for 2023. She was signed by ART Grand Prix for the all-female F1 Academy series, which uses F4 cars. Despite an indifferent start to the season, she won the second Zandvoort race at the year's midpoint, from frontrunners Marta Garcia and Lena Buhler. Although she did not get onto the podium again, she was stronger in the second half of the season and finished eleventh overall. She re-signed for 2024, this time for the Campos team, running as the Sauber F1 squad's supported driver. This will be her last year in F1 Academy as she is already 25, the maximum age allowed.

She also entered the UAE F4 championship at the beginning of 2024, driving for AGI Sport. It wasn't one of her best performances and she could only manage two 21st places at Yas Marina as a highlight. A short run in the Formula Winter Series in Spain yielded similar results, although she did get into the top twenty, taking 17th place once at Jerez. Later in the year, she had a little more success in British F4, finishing thirteenth at Zandvoort. She did six races overall.

This was to be her last year in F1 Academy, as she turned 25 that year and had also had her two permitted seasons. She drove for Campos, posting regular top-tens. The best of these were two sixth places at Zandvoort and Abu Dhabi and she was ninth in the championship. 

Girls Only had not been forgotten either: Carrie joined the four-woman team for the Nurburgring 24 Hours, sharing a BMW with Pippa Mann, Beitske Visser and Fabienne Wohlwend. They were classified third in class in the shortened race, 47th overall. 

(Image copyright Carrie Schreiner)

Ashley Freiberg

Ashley (centre) on the Sebring podium

Ashley Freiberg has competed in the prestigious Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hour races. She is a racewinner in the IMSA GT Challenge series and the Continental Sportscar Challenge.

Ashley began her senior racing career in 2008, after several successful seasons in karting.

Initially, she progressed through the Skip Barber racing school ranks, and in 2009, she was the first female winner of a Skip Barber National Series event, in New Jersey.

Initially she specialised in single-seaters. She did her first Formula Star Mazda races in 2009, before winning another National Series race in a Formula Mazda, and then winning the 2010 Skip Barber Summer Series outright. She added to her win tally with another Summer Series race victory in 2011.

In 2012, she competed in Formula Star Mazda full-time, and was eleventh in the championship. Her best finish was sixth, at Baltimore.

After this, she switched to sportscar racing, and contested the 2013 IMSA GT Challenge, in a Porsche 997. In her first season, she won once at Watkins Glen, a first for a female driver, and was second twice, at the Glen and Monterey. She was ninth in the championship, after missing the last round.

In 2014, she made history again by winning the Continental Sportscar Challenge race at Daytona, supporting the 24 Hours, in a BMW M3 Coupe. Funding was an issue, but she did secure enough sponsorship to race again and took part in another four Challenge races. Her best finish was seventh, at Laguna Seca.

In 2015, she was a BMW North America Scholarship driver, and raced an M3 in the Continental Sportscar Challenge again. She won one race at Road Atlanta. This was one of three podium finishes: the others were a second at Watkins Glen and a third at Road America. Her co-driver was Trent Hindman.

In 2016, she competed in the Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours for Turner Motorsport, in a BMW M6. She was second in class at Sebring, and 23rd overall. Later in the season, she drove for the team again at Road Atlanta, and was ninth in the GTD class. In between, she tried out a prototype for Starworks Motorsport and contested another three rounds of the Weathertech Sportscar Championship. The car was an LMP2 and she secured two class finishes, at Long Beach and Laguna Seca. She was a temporary team-mate to class winners, Alexander Popow and Renger van der Zande.

She stuck with sportscars for 2017 and entered the Lamborghini Super Trofeo, contesting the Pro class with DAC Motorsport. This resulted in five podium finishes from eight races, the best of these being second at Watkins Glen, her lucky track. She was third overall, just behind her earlier team-mate, Trent Hindman. She had taken a chance with her entry and was not sure how her season would go. Early on, she described her plans as “going race by race”.

In 2018, she only made one major race appearance: the Daytona 24 Hours. She raced in the IMSA Continental Tires Sportscar Challenge with Gosia Rdest, driving an Audi R8. They were 18th in their race.

After a long break, she raced in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, in the Grand Sport class. She and her M1 Racing team-mate Ryan Nash entered the second round at Road Atlanta in a McLaren 570S GT4, but they did not finish. They came out at the same track again in October but a testing crash by Ryan Nash destroyed the car. Fortunately, Volt Racing was in the process of replacing their Porsche 718 Cayman and M1 was able to use it. The unhurt Nash and Ashley were fourteenth overall. They raced the Porsche again at Sebring, finishing twelfth.

She continued to race Porsches in 2023 and was hugely successful in the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America. She won the 991 class from 17 other drivers and won seven races during the season.

She is also making a name for herself in cyclocross.

(Image from www.ashleyfreibergracing.com)