Amanda Whitaker

 

Amanda Whitaker is a multiple champion in British and European club racing. She is one of the most successful women drivers in a single-seater.

She was a leading driver in the  Monoposto championship, having won the championship three times, between 1997 and 1999. She drove a 2000cc Formula Vauxhall car which she had previously used in the B class of the British championship.

Her first car was a single-seater, a 1979 Hawke Formula Ford which she raced in the Formula E class of the 1991 FF1600 championship. The car was her father’s; he raced for many years and introduced his teenage daughter to karting.

The Hawke was upgraded to a 1987 Swift which earned her three outright wins in regional series.

After a long break caused by a lack of sponsorship, she returned to historic competition in 2005, driving in European Historic Formula 2. She soon returned to winning ways, claiming the European Formula Atlantic title in 2006. This ran as a class within F2 and she won seven times in her Chevron B34.

In 2008, she raced Historic and Classic Formula Fords in the UK, using a 1971 Elden Mk8. She was third in the final Historic standings and won Class B four times in the Classic championship.

She combined historic and modern club Formula Ford competition in 2009 and added seven further wins to her tally. She was second in the Historic championship, driving the Elden, and was fifth in another in a 1993 Swift. This was all in spite of a frightening accident at Mallory, during a Historic race. Her view was impaired by previous crash damage and she did not see a red flag, causing her to collide with a slowing Westie Mitchell. 

At the end of the year she entered the Walter Hayes Trophy, driving a Swift.

2010 was not as successful, with only three wins, but she still managed to race three different cars effectively. One of these was a Tiga FF2000 car. 

In 2011, she took a break from motorsport to have a baby. Her daughter Scarlett and son Harrison now race karts. On her website, Amanda does not say she has retired.

(Image from femaleracingnews.com)