Under-17 Racing Series

Jamie Chadwick

During the past ten years in the UK, several full-size championships for junior drivers aged fourteen to seventeen have emerged. Girls have been involved from the start, and have found varying degrees of success, up to and including championship wins.

This is a list of drivers who are most known for, or have only competed in, racing series designed for the under-17s. Due to space constraints, this only includes full-size car racing and not karting.
Junior Rallycross racers can be found here. Charlotte Birch, Abbi Pulling, Esmee Hawkey, Sarah Moore, Irina Sidorkova, Lydia Walmsley, Emily Linscott and Katie Milner have "graduated". Sophia Floersch now has her own post.

Flame Airikkala - began her career in cars at the start of 2023, when she was 16, racing in the Fiesta Junior championship. This followed a junior karting career. Her first races were at Snetterton and she was 18th and 15th. The Croft round gave her a 20th and 14th place. By the end of the year, she was a podium finisher. Flame is the granddaugher of Finnish WRC rally winner Pentti Airikkala and rally driver Kirsti Airikkala, who settled in the UK. She has also represented her school and county at chess and indoor rowing, alongside her brother Finn.

Nina-Jo Atkinson - raced a Saxmax Citroen Saxo in 2006 and 2007, starting at the age of fourteen. She scored a few top-ten finishes towards the end of her time in the series. In 2008, she moved up to the Mini Challenge, despite being still only sixteen years old. She is noted for having driven the Nürburgring at speed when only fourteen. As well as circuit racing, she has done some rally navigation.

Lydia Austen - one of the first girls to take part in Britain's then-leading junior car racing series, T-Cars, in 2001. She raced for two full seasons. Her results were not spectacular, but she proved herself capable of holding her own on the track. She suffered a couple of nasty on-track accidents but always kept going, holding out for a finish. For 2002 she was considered good enough for the new Zip Formula junior single-seater category, and managed to put together a sponsorship deal. Unfortunately, the deal fell through and Lydia has been absent from the national racing scene ever since.

Lexie Belk - raced in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship in 2022. She was fourth in the championship after a fairly consistent season with good reliability. Her best finish was fifth, which she achieved twice at Knockhill. In 2023, she did the Ginetta GT5 Challenge, before joining the GB4 grid for the final rounds of the year at Donington. Previously, she and her sister Freya were active in karting, with the younger Lexie winning some junior titles. In 2023, she will be racing in the Ginetta GT5 championship in the UK.

Sophie Byrne - raced in the Irish Ginetta Junior championship between 2011 and 2013. Her results improved every year, from eighth in 2011 to third in 2013. After moving up to senior competition, she acquired a Ford Fiesta XR2 which she raced in the Future Classics championship in 2014 and 2015. In 2014, as Sophie Austen-Byrne, she travelled to Silverstone for the BWRDC’s Race for a Record women’s handicap.

Megan Campbell - Northern Irish driver who raced in the Irish Ginetta Junior championship between 2015 and 2017. She was fifth in the 2017 series, having only been out of the top five when she did not finish twice at the start of the season. She made steady progress over her three seasons, with a tenth and a seventh in 2015 and 2016.

Pippa Coleman – did a season of Ginetta Junior racing in 2009. She was a competent, if not quite consistent driver, who did not compete for the full season. She managed six top-ten finishes, the best of these being two sixth places, at Thruxton and Rockingham. Her 2009 campaign followed a run in the 2008 Winter season. She does not appear to have raced since then.

Christie Doran - had her first season of full-sized motorsport in 2011, aged fifteen, in the Ginetta Junior championship. Despite a fairly large-scale media campaign in her favour, she only managed to compete at the Knockhill meeting. She was thirteenth in her first race and did not finish her second. Despite her age, she occasionally carries out road tests for the Scottish Sun, under the tutelage of her father, Jon. In 2012, she had support from the Scottish Sun for another race season, but she does not appear to have secured the additional funding she needed. Instead, she moved into historic racing, in a Triumph TR8. She was quite effective in the Scottish Classic Sports and Saloon series, finishing tenth overall. The next two seasons were spent in the Scottish BMW Compact Cup, which was a mixed experience, and she had to miss some of 2014 after a big crash in the first round. In 2015, she raced in England, in the VAG Trophy. Her car was a VW Golf. After a steep learning curve, she finished the season with three third places. As well as racing, she was part of an initiative that offers training and racing opportunities to injured service personnel. In 2016, she did her second VAG season, and scored three wins, putting her in the running for the Class B title. She raced the Golf again in 2017, but only for a part-season. This was due to badly damaging her car in a crash at Rockingham. Her best finishes were a pair of seconds at Thruxton, and she was third in the Class B championship. In 2018, she did some rounds of Britcar in the Golf, but her season was restricted by budget issues.

Virsavia Goltsova - part of the Goltsova Racing team with her mother, Natalia Goltsova. She began racing in 2017. Her first race was the Kazan round of the Russian Junior Touring Car Championship. She was 16th then 13th in a Lada Kalina, as part of a three-car Goltsova Racing team. Her best overall results in the series were two eleventh places at Smolensk. In September, she was third in a two-hour endurance race at Kazan. She did a part-season in the Junior championship in 2018, driving a Kalina, and had a best finish of tenth at Kazan. 2019 was similar, with three races in the Junior championship. 2020 was something of a disaster; she was eleventh twice at Igora Drive then did not qualify for the two Kazan rounds.

Alicia Goundry - had her first season in cars in 2017, at the age of fourteen. She was competing in the Junior Saloon Car Championship for MMR Racing. Her season started steadily, but she found some speed at Croft and took the first of her two third places. Previously, she raced karts from 2013, as part of the “Goundry Girls” team with her two younger sisters, Tilly and Sienna. Alicia and Tilly competed in the 2016 National Super One series.

Ashley Gregory - junior saloon racer who moved up to senior competition in 2023. In three seasons of Junior Saloon Car Championship competition between 2019 and 2021, she won one race at Knockhill in 2021 and two further podiums at Mallory Park in 2020. Previously, she raced Ministox on short ovals from the age of ten, winning three championships. After ageing out of the JSCC, she returned to short ovals and won some F2 Stock Car races. She signed up to contest the Mini Challenge in 2023 and became a top-ten contender, but penalties dropped her to 22nd in the final standings.

Jamie-Lea Hawley - raced in the Renault Clio Cup Junior series in the UK in 2018, with the Finsport team. She did her first season in a car in 2017, in the Ford Fiesta Junior championship. With only a little karting experience, it was a steep learning curve for her, but by the end of the season she was almost finishing on the podium; she was fourth in the last race at Donington. This was enough for tenth overall in the championship.

Emma Laddiman - competed in some Saxmax races in 2008, after taking a year out from expected motorsport activities due to injuries. She now works for Barwell Motorsports.

Ella Lloyd - began her motorsport career in 2022, racing in Ginetta Juniors at the age of 16. She was a leading driver in the GT5P class and finished second. She got into motorsport through the FIA’s Girls on Track karting challenge in 2018. Her best results a the start of the season were three 16th places, achieved at Brands Hatch and Knockhill. Later, she improved, picking up an eleventh place at Thruxton. She is from a motorsport family - both parents and her older brother compete - and she has won junior championships in both downhill skiing and showjumping.

Abby Lock - began racing in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior championship in 2017, when she was 14. She had not had any prior competitive experience before that. She returned for a longer part-season in 2018, and had a best finish of sixth at Thruxton. She was ninth in the championship. She was named Driver of the Day at Rockingham in 2018. In 2019, she had another season in Fiesta Juniors, which was hampered by very small grids. She tried to move up to senior competition in 2020, but was hampered by the coronavirus crisis. She was meant to compete in the Lotus Elise Trophy in 2021, but only managed one round.

Ceol Lynch - Irish driver competing in the Junior Saloon Car Championship in the UK. She began racing at 14 in 2021, although her part-season was not a success, with just one finish from six races. In 2022, she did record more finishes, the best of these being a pair of 18th places at Anglesey, but her year was affected again by a string of DNFs. Her record improved in 2023 and she was 24th in the championship. She is the daughter of B*Witched singer Edele Lynch and the niece of racer and Boyzone singer Shane Lynch.

Mia Morgan - started racing in Ginetta Juniors in 2007. She returned to the series for a part-season in 2008, improving slightly on her 2007 results.

Nadja Olbrisch - German driver who raced in the 2021 Tourenwagen Junior Cup. This was her second season in junior motorsport, having entered the NATC junior series in 2020, aged 15. She drove a Chevrolet Cruze and a BMW 318, winning two races in the Chevrolet at Lausitz and Oschersleben and finishing third in the championship. Her time in the Junior Cup, which uses the Ford Fiesta, was not as fruitful and she has a best finish of eighth. Her second season in 2022 was better, with a fifth place at Oschersleben her best rsult on the way to eighth overall. She previously competed in a Rotax kart in Germany between 2013 and 2015, with some success. 

Alisha Palmowski - began her racing career in Ginetta Juniors in 2022, aged 15. She was the winner of the Ginetta Junior Scholarship and her prize was a full season’s racing in the championship. Her scholarship follows six years of karting, during which she finished strongly in two junior categories. Her best result so far has been a ninth place at Donington, in April. In 2023, she was fifth in the championship, with ten podiums from 24 races.

Emma Pascall - raced in the UK's T-Car series in 2004 and 2005. A serious accident limited her participation in 2004 and she was a solid, rather than competitive, finisher. She does not appear to have continued in motorsport after 2005.

Amy Scarisbrick - has competed in both junior and senior categories. She ran a whole season of Saxmax in 2006, before using the same Citroen Saxo in the 750MC Stock Hatch championship in 2007. Her results were unspectacular, but she managed to hold her own against experienced drivers. In 2008, Amy concentrated on her education and did not race. She now works as a sports broadcaster on local radio.

Jasmine Shaw - raced in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior series in 2022, racing a Ford Fiesta against other teenagers. This was her first year of car racing. She was tenth in the championship after completing all of the rounds except for Croft, although this counted as her dropped score at the end of the year. Her best finish was a fifth place at Cadwell in the middle of the season. She was driving for the 20Ten team and continued to do so in 2023. Her results were stronger in 2023, with several top tens, and she was 18th in the championship.

Julia Strukova – Russian driver who made her circuit racing debut in 2015, in the RSKG Junior championship, a saloon series for 14-17 year olds. Her car was a VAZ, and she was second in the championship, winning two races at Kazan. For the rest of the season, she was rarely off the podium. As she turned 17 in 2015, she had to move up to senior motorsport in 2016. She joined the Russian National Touring Car Championship, driving a Kia Rio. At the end of the season, she was eleventh in the championship, with a best finish of sixth, at Kazan. She had another season in the Kia in 2017, recording a best finish of seventh, at Smolensk. 2018 was quite similar, with three top-ten finishes and a best of fifth at Grozny. Prior to 2015, she was involved in rally raids.

Liona Theobald - began circuit racing in 2021, entering the Ginetta Junior Winter Series before taking on the main 2022 championship with Assetto Motorsport. Her best overall result so far has been a 14th place at Croft. At the end of the season, she stepped up to the senior Ginetta GT5 Challenge at Donington, finishing tenth once and twelfth twice. She was sixth in the GTP class in 2023Before Ginettas, she took part in autosolo events in a Mini, having learned to drive at the age of 11 at Brands Hatch. 

Lilly Zug - former karter who switched to cars in 2021, aged 15. After testing a Formula 4 car in 2020, she chose to join the new Tourenwagen Junior Cup in her native Germany. Her car for this one-make series is a Volkswagen Up! She improved quickly over the season and had a best finish of fourth at Hockenheim. At the end of the season, she was sixth in the championship. Previously, she was one of the selected drivers for the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission’s Girls on Track training camps, but did not make the final group for an F4 drive, partly due to her age at the time.

(Image copyright Jakob Ebrey)