STOCK CARS
Blackridge ace Hannah Borthwick will soon be retiring from the ORCi Ministox formula and her future in the sport remains up in the air, heading into the 2021 season, writes Jim Turner.
Hannah is a pupil at Armadale Academy but on a Friday attends a Joinery and Carpentry course at West Lothian College in Livingston.
She was one of the first group of drivers to race a Micro F2, in fact she was the first ever driver to sit in a Micro F2 and used as a test driver for the tracks proposing to race them.
Once she reached 11-year-old, she took the natural progression and moved into the Ministox.
However she hadn’t been long in the Minis when she was involved in a big shunt which curtailed her racing.
She returned to the scene in 2019 after almost a season out but it was only towards the end of 2020 that she came to the fore.
After alterations to the car, she started to pick up strong results and often led the races until the closing stages before being caught by the star drivers.
However during a meeting in October, she finally made the breakthrough. After two top-10 finishes, she went on to show the field a clean pair of heels during the final.
She was off like a scalded cat when the race started and then held on to win the race by a fair margin. She almost repeated the feat in the Allcomers race where she led until the last bend before being shunted wide and had to settle for the runners-up spot.
Hannah commented: “My win was quite literally unbelievable. For a moment
I had to sit back and think. Then it came over me that I had actually won after years of pushing myself for it!”
But what does the 2021 season hold for the youngster?
“I am not sure,” she admitted. “I might take a year out to play rugby, a sport I love and just now I am in the Armadale Academy team.
“Depending on what happens the next time I race stock cars it will be in the Prostock Basic formula but it might not be next year. I haven’t made my mind up yet.”