Vanessa Lilly
If you saw 21-year-old Vanessa Lilly getting out of her dented old Corolla daily-driver, you’d never pick that at the weekends she drives a blown seven-second altered! In her younger years, Vanessa did everything she could to avoid watching her dad race his Fairmont at the New Plymouth street drags. However, when he completed the ground-up build of his Ford Pop, she figured that she’d better show him the support he’d shown her in her passion for horses. It was while racing the Pop that the family met and became good friends with fellow racer Gerald Smith. As the families became more intertwined, Vanessa stepped up to the role of back-up girl, before becoming even more involved in the crew by also becoming the chute packer. Vanessa vividly remembers chatting to fellow drag racer Anton Foley when Gerald first purchased his current altered, joking about whether one day either of them would get to drive it. Little did Vanessa know that that would eventually become a reality. Vanessa’s first trip down the strip wasn’t so rapid, but a 12.8-second pass in a 327-cubic-inch-powered ’27 T-roadster on your 16th birthday is nothing to be sneezed at. From there, Vanessa stepped into her father’s Pop, running mid-11s in Super Street, where she had a wild ride when the driveshaft broke at the far end, throwing it across the track. The commotion saw the roof-mounted switch box sparking as it popped out during the car’s sudden stop. Her dad’s statement of “Just don’t break it” kept running through her mind as the car bounced to a stop. Thankfully, to date, things have been less dramatic behind the wheel of the blown 509ci altered. Vanessa’s been taking a very considered approach to the car, treating it with the respect it deserves as she slowly and steadily increases her PB, which is now at 7.96s at 169mph. Being involved in the horse world, Vanessa is often given an odd look when the horse fraternity discovers her love for higher horsepower. She laughs that often all some people can think of is the ‘bogan that rolls around in grease and drinks a heap of bourbon’ stereotype. She also mentions that it’s hard to explain going fast for 400m for no reason to the average 20-year-old, but, once she explains the speeds in kph, they soon see its appeal. While plucking up the courage to drive a car like the altered is an achievement on its own, it’s running her first seven-second pass that Vanessa is most proud of, and rightly so. That said, her goal now is to try to eclipse the PB of Pauline Lane, and move into the second-quickest-female spot. When asked if there are any other drag cars she’d like to drive, Vanessa suggests a funny car, although anything that’s not too boring works for her. “If it wasn’t a challenge, or making me super nervous, then I’d get bored pretty quick, I think,” she says. “However, beggars can’t be choosers so I’m not fussy, really.”