Joanna in the Clio
Joanna
Clarke is one of a select group of female racers who have competed in the
modern British Touring Car Championship.
Her
first senior races were in 1998, at the wheel of a Peugeot 306, in a club meet
at Silverstone. This followed several years of karting, with multiple race
wins, partly achieved through a school team.
Early
in her career, she w as a promising single-seater driver. During her first
season, she tried her hand at Formula Ford and Formula Vauxhall Junior, coming
third in a Vauxhall series. She won her class in a British Formula Ford race at
Donington in 1999. This, and some other strong finishes, gave her third place
overall in the First Division class. At the end of the year, she was awarded
the BWRDC’s Monoposto Award, for the most successful single-seater driver.
She
later ran well in the 2000 Ford Fiesta Zetec championship, with a best finish
of fourth. She was racing against her fellow future BTCC drivers, Gordon
Shedden and Gareth Howell. As she had been awarded a Ladies’ Cup, she received
a prize drive consisting of a test in a Ford Mondeo.
The
Ford test did not lead to a BTCC drive, but part-way through the season, she
was signed up by eccentric millionaire, John B&Q’s team. She was deputising
for John B&Q (John Batchelor) himself, driving a Honda Integra Type-R in
the Production class. Her first races, at Knockhill, gave her a fourteenth and
sixteenth place, from the back of the grid, and one tenth place in class. She
was 18th at Snetterton, but did not finish the second race, and her
final meeting, Croft, was a bit of a disaster, with a blown engine on lap one
of the first race, which meant she was unable to start the next second. Her
team-mate, Mark Beaumont, suffered the same fate. She was 25th in
the Production drivers’ championship.
In
September, Joanna also drove in the Renault Clio Cup for the Mardi Gras team,
as one of their usual drivers, Duncan Vercoe, was unavailable. She was 16th
in one race, at Silverstone, from 23rd on the grid.
A lack
of finances kept Joanna away from motorsport for quite a long time. In 2004,
she did some Legends racing, but was not really competitive.
She has
not been active in motorsport since then.
(Image
from http://www.redshoes-racing.com/)
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