It’s time for a gear change
Emily’s in the driving seat of bid to get even more women into motor sport, writes Jenny Morrison
WHEN schoolgirl Emily Glanvill turned up for a day’s go-karting at her local race track, she couldn’t miss the sniggers of the older boys who were watching her as she climbed into her car. They didn’t laugh for long. By the end of the endurance race, Emily finished five laps ahead of the quickest of her male rivals.
Fast-forward six years and Emily, 20, is now one of a handful of female racing drivers in Scotland and the only woman competing in the Scottish C1 Cup.
By her own admission she “lives and breathes” motor racing.
When she is not racing or training, she is studying sports engineering at Strathclyde University.
And she is on a mission to inspire other women to get involved in the sport.
Emily, of Penicuik, Midlothian, said: “There are no barriers to women becoming racing drivers and it’s a unique sport in that women race in the same events as men.
“When I’m behind the wheel, the guys I’m racing against don’t treat me any differently to any other racer.
“If I can do anything to inspire other women to get involved then I’ll be delighted.”
Emily was just 12 and representing Scotland at lifesaving/swimming when her eyes were first opened to the fast pace of motor racing.
She was invited to watch the Edinburgh Monarchs’ speedway and was quickly hooked.
Emily said: “My friend Ellen’s dad used to go along regularly to the speedway and when he invited us to go with him we thought it was going to be horrendous, but ended up enjoying it.”
The girls began going every Friday night and then volunteered at the track. They then went in for a “fans versus riders” go-kart race but Emily “was terrible” and vowed to get better.
She and Ellen went to karting sessions at Newbridge and her love of racing took off.
“A lot of the time when we turned up we were racing against groups of guys who were on stag-dos and, even though Ellen and I were probably only 13 at the time, we used to beat them, which I don’t think they liked very much.
“One time, I remember this group of older boys scoffing and sniggering when we arrived and started putting on our helmets and race suits.
“They weren’t sniggering when we won the endurance race by five laps – in fact when they came off the track they were very quiet.”
From go-karting, Emily progressed to autograss and landed a scholarship that saw her spend a year competing at tracks across the country, including Silverstone. She went on to compete in the Scottish Motor Racing Club’s Mini Cooper Cup.
A lack of funding led to Emily temporarily putting her racing ambition on hold.
But she has now returned with help from sponsors, including House of Hearing, and this year is one of 20 drivers competing in the newly formed SMTA Citreon C1 Cup.
Emily said: “I’m not in any way an adrenaline junkie – I’m quite a scaredy-cat about a lot of things – but I do love racing.
“When I was racing in my Mini I was doing speeds of 115mph but part of the fun of the championship that I’m in now is that the C1 is not a particularly fast racing car.
“Instead, you might find yourself just two inches from the car in front of you, so you need to have your wits about you.”
Emily has also teamed up with the Scottish Motor Racing Club to promote its new Women on Track campaign, to drive up the number of not only female racing drivers, but marshals, coaches and even social SMRC members.
She said: “Motor racing has a lack of female role models, so we need to do more to show off the brilliant opportunities that are available.”
Emily is sponsored by House of Hearing, which offers free hearing assessments and a range of professional audiological services from clinics around Scotland or at customers’ homes. www.houseofhearing.co.uk