Susie races home for birthday at Atlantis
Oban’s famous female racing driver Susie Wolff MBE is returning to her home town next week for a fundraising gala celebrating the 25th birthday of Atlantis Leisure.
An Evening with Susie Wolff and Friends also features paralympic champion in hand-cycling Karen Darke, Oban’s Scottish women’s rugby international Abi Evans, and motorcycle road racing driver Robert Wilson.
The three-course dinner, at the Argyllshire Gathering Halls in Oban on Friday September 28 at 7.30pm, also features a charity auction.
Lots include VIP access for the Formula E race in Monaco in May 2019, a fascinating tour of the Mercedes-AMG F1 Team headquarters in Brackley for six people, and a framed championship print signed by the two Mercedes racing drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Valteri Bottas, and the rest of the top team.
Oban-born Susie, whose maiden name is Stoddart, received the MBE last year for services to women in sport. Susie’s parents John and Sally own Stoddarts of Oban, a motorcycle dealership.
Susie, who now lives in Switzerland, has had a stunning career in motorsport, progressing from karting to Formula 3, before being signed by the Williams Formula 1 team as a development driver.
Following her retirement in 2015, she focused on a new project, Dare To Be Different, which aims to inspire and help women working in, or who want to launch a career in, motorsport.
This summer Susie was appointed team principal of Venturi Formula E team, in charge of Venturi’s preparations in the lead up to the ABB Formula E Championship, set to begin in December this year in Saudi Arabia. Formula E is the Formula 1 of electric powered racing.
Susie has thanked the town’s ‘inspiring’ 25-yearold community-run leisure centre, where she spent a lot time growing up learning many sports, saying she would not be where she is now without it, and wants other children to enjoy the same opportunities.