Karting girl, 11, aiming for British championship

A GIRL from Sonning Common is bidding to qualify for the British indoor karting championships — just months after talking up the sport.

Lily-May Young, 11, enjoyed a taster day in February and now trains regularly with the Team Sports Advanced Race Academy in Reading.

To qualify for the national championships, she needs to set a certain average lap time between June and August.

Lily-May, who attends Sonning Common Primary School, lives in Lambourne Road with her parents Matt, 44, and Kat, 41, and brother Lucas, seven.

Her mother signed her and a friend up for an “F1 discover your drive day” for girls aged eight to 12 at the academy in Cradock Road. This was an initiative led by former professional racing driver Susie Wolff to encourage more girls into motorsport.

Mrs Young said: “It came up on my Facebook feed. You sign up for a day and it’s reasonably priced.

“Lily-May came back absolutely buzzing and I thought, ‘Oh no, this is going to be an expensive hobby’. She loved it. The next day we got an email saying that she had been selected for a group of girls they thought could have potential.

“I have never seen her as pumped up as she is when she is karting. She has always shown an interest in F1 and would join me and my husband, who watch every race.

“She seems really passionate about it and it’s nice to see your children find what they like to do.” Lily-May said she had enjoyed the taster day. They showed us how to nail the corners — you have to go out wide, touch the apex and go out wide again,” she said.

“They taught us a little about overtaking and where you should overtake from on the track. That’s the bit I find the hardest.

“I had karted before on holiday but I was very slow and didn’t really know how to do it. I realised how fun it can be and I get very competitive.”

She was invited to train for two-and-a-half hours on Tuesdays with 10 other girls.

Mrs Young said: “The coaches give the girls a personal development plan and they receive feedback from the girls on what they think they need to work on to improve their lap times.

“It’s like girls’ football — it’s really taking off. They are promoting it a lot more and with the F1 academy women have started competing in their own section.”

Following five sessions, Lily-May was offered a place at the academy where she trains on Sunday mornings with a group of boys and girls.

The young drivers are assigned a specific instructor to help them improve and are tasked with completing a booklet of skills.

For her birthday, Lily-May was given her own karting helmet and racing boots by her parents and she saved up to buy a full racing suit.

She also held her party at the academy so her friends could try karting.

Lily-May said: “It was really fun. I came first both times. Two of my friends had never done it before but they got quite into it.

“It’s one of my favourite things to do and probably the thing that’s on my mind the most.”