Viki is ‘buzzing’ to fly the flag for Fife

An East Neuk businesswoman has roared into the finals of a Ukbased international contest to find the next female motor racing champion.

Viki Wright, who runs Crail Raceway in Fife, has made the final 50 of Formula Woman.

The 53-year-old, who lives in Bedfordshire with her husband, competed against 800 other female drivers from 26 countries across the world.

Having carried out her official assessment at Knockhill on November 1, she’s now had it confirmed she’s into the finals of the televised competition, with the next stage at a yet to be determined track in the UK on March 2 and 3.

Viki told The Courier she is “incredibly proud” to have made it through to the finals.

Having originally entered thinking she would “love to be part of this being a petrolhead”, she’s now determined to progress as far as she can, not only for herself, but also in memory of her late father David and her late brother Willie, who used to race themselves.

“I’m incredibly proud because I’ve worked so hard,” she said.

“I feel really positive. I was just going to be happy if I got through, but now I won’t be happy I don’t think unless I get to the very end.”

With assessments taking place at race tracks around the UK and world during the autumn, Viki explained the Knockhill assessment featured a number of stages.

Competitors were split into groups and each did three laps in a Vauxhall e-corsa.

After some fun gokarting and a mini bootcamp to test fitness, they were assessed on camera with three-minute media interviews.

They also had to complete a theory test, which would have been used in the event of a tie-break.

After scores from competitors worldwide had been collated, Viki received confirmation she was through to the next round alongside finalists from as far afield as Brazil, Chile, Australia, Jamaica, Kuwait, Mexico, Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Italy and the US.

As she concentrates on building up her physical fitness ahead of the next round, the next stage will feature a “variety of tests and challenges”.

On the second day, 15 of the 50 finalists will be selected for the “shoot out”, which will take place the following week, and from there 10 will be selected to go to an unknown as yet destination in Europe.

Four winners and two reserves will then be selected as the winners.

Having secured Manchester-based

Awesome GTI as a second sponsor last week, alongside her existing sponsor Laird Performance, it’s “all about the PR/ media” as well, she says, and raising the profile of the whole competition.

She’s contacting Anglia TV in her area and is also looking to get more coverage in Scotland, including radio coverage.

She added: “The ultimate aim is about raising the profile of women in motorsport because there’s not that many high-profile drivers out there.”

No stranger to being competitive, Viki played lacrosse for Scotland while at school and toured the US with the Scottish lacrosse team.

She also rode horses for the Working Hunter Scotland championships at Scone.

She added: “I’ve always been competitive. The fact that I have a real chance now is just spurring me on. I’m absolutely buzzing.”

RACE ACE: East Neuk businesswoman Viki Wright has qualified for the final 50 of the Formula Women competition.