NEWS

ALICE SET TO CHALLENGE FOR 2010 FORMULA RENAULT TITLE

5th October 2009

16 year old schoolgirl and racing driver Alice Powell has completed her first season in the Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship finishing 18th overall out of 32 competitors – an outstanding achievement for the only female and youngest driver in the Championship.

Her season included two top ten finishes and two driver of the day awards in the 150mph single-seater race series, which provides a stepping stone to Formula One.

Alice says: “The plan this season was to learn the circuits ready to challenge for the title in 2010. I hope to stay with Championship winning team Manor Competition next season, which has run current F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen.”

Alice was cheered on this weekend by one of the first women to compete in F1 in the 1970s – Divina Galicia who is presenting a film following Alice’s progress in her debut season in Formula Renault for the BBC1 current affairs series “Inside Out” to be broadcast later this year.

There have been a few pioneering attempts by women to compete at the top level in motor racing one of the first was British former ski racer Divina Galica who took part in the F1 World Championships in 1976 and 1978.

Alice plans to follow in Divina’s steps - her driving ambition is to become the first successful female in Formula 1.

Alice added: “I feel that to get more females into the sport, the sport needs a role model. And if I get to F1 I feel that more women/girls will watch the sport and follow my lead.”

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