While much of the attention will be focused on the latest rounds of the British
GT Championship at Knockhill this weekend, one Edinburgh woman is hoping to bag
home success in the Ginetta Championship.
And Emily Fletcher heads to the Fife circuit this weekend believing all her bad luck
was used in the opening double-header at Oulton Park a fortnight ago.
“It was a disaster,” the 23-year-old admitted. “In the first race, on the second lap,
someone barged into me and speared me off into the tyre wall badly damaging the car”.
“Then, after the guys had worked tirelessly to repair the damage so I could start
the second race, someone spun right in front of me and hit my car again. That was that. My first outing in the Ginetta Championship was over before I’d even completed a handful of laps.”
Fletcher, who competes in the Ginetta 20 series — in which the cars are powered by
Ford VTEC 1800cc engines — is no stranger to the thrills and spills of racing.
Last year she was one of the 16 lucky female racers, who were selected from more
than 1000 entries, to contest the Formula Women series. After a series of podium
finishes, she entered the final race at Silverstone knowing she could clinch third
place in the championship.
“Guess what? I got blatantly taken out by one of the other girls battling for third,” she explained.”
Hell, it would appear, certainly hath no fury like a women scorned. Furious with the treatment she’d received, she managed to get her Caterham 7 back on the track and fired up by the incident proceeded to set a new lap record on her way to eventually finishing sixth in the series.
This weekend though she’s on home turf. But for Fletcher —who, like so many Scots,
is searching for sponsorship —it will be the first time she’s raced in the demanding
1.3-mile Knockhill circuit.
“No, I’ve never raced at Knockhill,” she admitted. “I’ve had a wee bit of coaching over the past few weeks, and I’ve driven the track in my own road-going BMW, but really that’s about it.
“Like so many of the guys who will be racing in the Ginetta series this weekend, it’s all going to be a steep learning curve. Hopefully though I can get a decent result and get my championship bid underway.”