Janey Swanson discovers a motorsport team with a difference
Janey Swanson discovers a motorsport team with a difference.
IN the highly competitive Porsche Carrera Cup GB, injured veterans turned mechanics, engineers and logisticians work alongside racing drivers in the Eighty-one Racing Heroes team.
Nathalie Mcgloin, who is paralysed from the chest down, is one of the drivers.
“Eighty-one Racing Heroes is a real opportunity to show not only what people with disabilities can do, but also to show that disability is completely irrelevant in every aspect of motorsport,” Nathalie, the world’s only female tetraplegic racing driver, says.
“When I’m racing, I leave my wheelchair in the pits.”
Nathalie’s been in a wheelchair since she was sixteen, when she was in a car accident.
“I don’t know what I would have done with my life if my neck hadn’t been broken in the crash,” she says.
“I’ve always refused to allow my spinal injury stand in the way of being the person I want to be.”
After graduating from university, Nathalie was a member of Team GB’S wheelchair rugby team – then she discovered motorsport.
“I went to a track day with one of my rugby team mates and fell in love with driving a car as fast as I dared round a race track,” Nathalie recalls.
“I’m really excited about being part of Eighty-one Racing Heroes.
“I’m confident we can lead the way for disabled people in motorsport by having real success with our all-disabled team.”
Eighty-one Racing Heroes was set up in 2020 by Swiss racing driver Peter Knoflach.
“The overall goal is to give injured ex-servicemen and women a long-term career in motorsport,” Peter says.
“We want to create as many opportunities for people with disabilities – especially injured veterans – as we can.”
The team consists of five men and three women, but there are plans to add many more to the team.
“There’s already a family feel to the team, which the veterans really appreciate,” Nathalie says.
“Being part of Eighty-one Racing Heroes gives them an exciting new career, but it also gives them back the feelings of belonging and of purpose that so many veterans lose when they leave the Armed Forces.”
Peter explains that exciting plans are currently being hatched.
“Our aim is to take on the Le Mans 24 Hours, which is a gruelling endurance race requiring excellent driving skills, endless stamina and unbeatable team work.”
Nathalie currently races a Porsche Cayman GT4, which is run by Redline Racing in partnership with Eighty-one Racing Heroes.
“This car’s been adapted to meet my needs, including specially designed hand controls,” she says.
Nathalie is President of the FIA Disability and Accessibility Commission and with her partner, fellow racing driver Andrew Bayliss, runs Spinal Track, a charity giving people with disabilities the chance to participate in track days and rally driving.
“Motorsport is for everyone,” she says. “Of course, being a disabled racing driver can be challenging.
“However, when you take on something difficult, the successes, such as my podium finishes and my first race win, are all the sweeter.”
Nathalie, Peter and the other members are quietly confident about the future.
“With such a strong, talented team, sponsorship from Eighty-one Powerdrink and Peter’s determination to create amazing opportunities for injured veterans and disabled racers, I believe we have a very real chance of achieving our goals,” Nathalie says.
“My motto is ‘anything is possible’ and, all going well, the team will prove me right!” ■