15-year-old Sarah Moore driving to the top

Jun 14 2009 by Zoe Burn, Sunday Sun

SHE’S two years shy of being allowed a UK driving licence, but schoolgirl Sarah Moore is leaving the boys trailing in her wake as she makes history in a male-dominated sport.

The North Yorkshire teenager is the only female who has ever won a UK national level car race in the history of the sport . . . and she is only 15.

Today the youngster, from Tockwith near Wetherby will line-up in the Ginetta Junior race at Croft Circuit as the UK’s leading racing series - the TOCA package, home to the prestigious British Touring Car Championship - makes its annual visit to the North, and she has her eyes firmly on beating the boys again.

“They don’t like it at all,” she revealed to the Sunday Sun. “They don’t like to be beaten anyway, but for them to be beaten by a girl drives them mad.

“They tend to get really annoyed by it, I think it’s just a boy thing, but I have to admit I find it quite funny. They never resort to dirty tricks and none of them have ever bullied me, but I know I get under their skin.”

Not only did she become the first woman to win a national-level UK race, she followed it up with another two victories, and has now taken it a stage further by becoming the only woman to ever lead a UK mixed-sex championship, with a lead of 15 points over her nearest male rival.

But she is not the only Moore making history in the racing world. This weekend her older brother Nigel, 17 – himself a Ginetta Junior Champion – has become the youngest ever British racer to compete in the famous Le Mans 24-Hours event in France.

And her younger brother, David, 14, who is also competing in the Ginetta Junior series recently finished second while Sarah was third, making them the youngest ever siblings to stand on a national podium together.

The Ginetta Junior Championship was introduced in 2003 for racers aged 14 – 17 and is based on the hugely popular Ginetta G20 car.

Sarah took her first tentative steps towards racing at the tender age of four when she stepped into a kart at her family-owned Tockwith Airfield. “My dad Simon used to race karts, so racing was always in the family,” she explains.

“All three of us were given karts pretty much as soon as we could walk, and we all took to it straight away.”

But it isn’t an easy lifestyle, and Sarah is the first to admit that her’s is not the life of a normal teenage girl. Instead of shopping and hanging out with her friends at weekends travelling the country to various race meetings or getting in some track time at the Airfield.

And teachers at her school, King James in Knaresborough are understanding. “Some weekends after races I don’t get home until 2am on a Monday morning, but the school is very supportive.

“I eat, sleep and breathe racing . . . it’s in my blood.”

V Today’s round of the British Touring Car Championship plus support series’ gets underway at 10.20am at Croft, North Yorkshire with a pitlane walkabout, before the racing action starts at noon. Catch Sarah’s race live on ITV4 at 3.55pm.