Danica Patrick Criticizes new IRL Weight Rule

An Indy Racing League rule change has Danica Patrick feeling as if she’ll be penalized for being petite — which the popular driver said wouldn’t happen in other sports.

Starting this season, the minimum weight for IRL cars will include the driver, and Patrick is the series’ lightest at 100 pounds according to the 2007 media guide (which lists other female drivers Milka Duno and Sarah Fisher at 120 pounds apiece; Ed Carpenter is the heaviest at 165).

“If someone’s going to take the hit it’s going to be me,” Patrick said Thursday. “It’s disappointing the league decided to do that. In so many other sports, athletes don’t get penalized for being too strong, or too tall or too fast.

[Read more]

Tiffany Daniels Honored By Lyn St. James With Kara Hendrick Memorial Award

Completion of Phase Two in Driver Development Program Puts Daniels on Fast Track to Success

 

SMITHFIELD, VA (March 17th, 2008) – Driving a race car in the current motorsports industry takes more than just skill behind the wheel and good equipment under the driver’s seat. It also takes confidence and mental preparation to handle the pressures of the industry. That is why former IndyCar racer Lyn St. James, known as the American Woman Racing Icon of the Century, founded the Women in the Winners Circle Foundation.

To continue her climb up the racing ladder, Tiffany Daniels participated in and completed Phase Two of the foundation’s 2007-2008 Driver Development Program and along the way was presented with a prestigious honor, the Kara Hendrick Memorial Award.

The first phase of the four-phase program was held in November 2007, which focused on fitness and mental preparation.The second phase continued the learning process by training drivers on how to work with the media as well as other business aspects of the sport.

[Read more]

NO LONGER A ROOKIE - ASHLEY’S A CONTENDER

March 11, 2008

Event: 39th annual ACDelco Gatornationals, third of 24 events in the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

Site: Gainesville Raceway, Gainesville, Fla.

NO LONGER A ROOKIE, ASHLEY A CONTENDER

Force’s Daughter Looking for a Win at Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Despite the disappointment of not qualifying last month at Phoenix, Ariz., 2007 NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year Ashley Force remains upbeat about her chances this week in a race certain to create an emotional drain not only on her, but on her John Force Racing teammates.

It was at Gainesville Raceway just one day after the conclusion of last year’s ACDelco Gatornationals that rising star Eric Medlen suffered injuries that four days later would claim his life.

The 25-year-old daughter of drag racing champion John Force, Ashley had known Medlen since 1996 when he had begun working as a mechanic on her father’s Funny Cars.

[Read more]

Racing against the Mullahs

By Maik Grossekathöfer

Women are second-class citizens in Iran, barred from singing or dancing in public, unable to travel without a permit. Car racing is another no-no for Iranian females, but that hasn’t stopped two women from finding emancipation behind the wheel.

Zohreh Vatankhah steps into the elevator on the fifth floor, takes it down to the ground floor, turns right and walks through a heavy steel door into the garage where her 2006 Toyota Corolla is parked. But this isn’t your ordinary Toyota. It’s a dented affair in pink, complete with a roll bar and bucket seats. She snaps on the seat belt, turns the ignition key and the engine roars to life, causing the hood to tremble like the membrane on a bass speaker. Not exactly the kind of car that would pass inspection for driving on the roads in most Western countries.

Then she puts the pedal to the metal and her pink car shoots out of the garage, tires screeching. The janitor sweeping the courtyard stares after her, his mouth agape. Vatankhah inserts Christina Aguilera’s latest album into the cassette player and drums her fingers to the beat on the steering wheel. She drives toward the bazaar in downtown Tehran, crosses a bridge and passes graffiti instructing passersby to “Destroy Israel” and a poster of a burning American flag.

Five minutes later Vatankhah is stuck in a traffic jam — nothing short of torture for a person who loves driving as much as she does. Speed is her profession. Vatankhah is a professional racecar driver. In Iran, of all places — where the profession is not only dominated by men, but also practically owned by them.

Mirdamad Boulevard is normally a three-lane street, but by two in the afternoon it becomes a parking lot with cars jammed in six abreast. Nothing is moving in Tehran today, including the elevated roads, tunnels, downtown highways and beltways. It’s total gridlock, and Vatankhah is desperate to get out of the city so she can train in the mountains. She’s 29 and wears Gucci sunglasses and Max Mara perfume. Her hair is coffee-brown with blonde streaks and she wears a bold lipstick. She expects no less from life than to be able to navigate her way through it at a breakneck pace.

t’s dusk by the time she’s driving her Toyota through a puddle on a track in the Elbur Mountains. Today she is practicing negotiating tight curves at high speeds. Her co-pilot is standing on a hill, her hands buried in the pockets of her red-and-white overalls. She squints, observing her friend’s maneuvers with a critical eye. The Corolla pulls to the left, Vatankhah yanks the car to the right, hurling gravel into the air, and then she slams on the brakes and rolls down the window.”How was I?”

“The radius is still too wide.”

She nods, glances in the side-view mirror and reapplies her lipstick.

Iran is a country in which women have been considered second-class citizens since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979. In a court of law, a woman’s testimony is worth only half as much as that of a man, and sons inherit twice as much as daughters. Women are not permitted to sing or dance in public, or even ride a bicycle. They cannot travel without a man’s permission. A man can forbid his wife from working, and if he catches her with another man, he can kill her without fear of punishment. Wearing a headscarf is mandatory, while the chador, or full-body veil, is preferred.

Vatankhah is the embodiment of sin for Iran’s religious fundamentalists and radical mullahs, but for the country’s urban youth she is a vision. She reflects the kind of country the children of Iran’s upper and middle classes want to be living in: modern and self-confident, embracing life and cosmopolitan.

In Iran, a country where women and men sit in separate sections on buses, trains and subways, how has a woman like Vatankhah managed to pull off this feat — competing against men in rallies? “Ask Laleh,” she says.

Securing an appointment with Laleh Seddigh is no easy feat. She doesn’t respond to e-mails, sometimes doesn’t answer her phone for days and doesn’t return calls.

Nevertheless, she does appear promptly, as agreed, at 11 a.m. at the Hotel Esteklal, which she has suggested as a place to meet. Seddigh, 30, is an icon of feminism and without a doubt the country’s most controversial female athlete. When she walks into the lobby, conversations stop for a moment. She is surprisingly short. Her skin looks artificially stretched, her nose almost too perfectly straight and her cheekbones unusually high. Other than the hands, the face is the only part of the body that women are not required to keep covered, and having cosmetic surgery is a form of silent protest. She wears a leopard skin-patterned silk scarf draped loosely over the back of her head, a blue turtleneck sweater under a brown coat and a Rolex watch. She extends her hand in greeting, a taboo in a country where women are only permitted to shake hands with men who are members of their family. But Seddigh isn’t interested in taboos. She has a strong handshake.

She is a pioneer in Iran, the first female athlete to have competed against a man in the 25 years since Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini established the theocracy. It was in 2004, during a long-distance race in Tehran. “I broke a taboo. I’m proud of it. Why should Iranian women be weak? I don’t know,” she says in fluent English. “Our Prophet Mohammed never claimed that women should be locked up at home and doomed to watch the children while the man enjoys himself outside. On the contrary: He wanted men to encourage their wives and daughters to develop their personalities to the fullest. To be a successful country, we need strong women.”

A wrong sentence can mean prison or a whipping in Iran, and yet Seddigh is not afraid to speak her mind. She is clearly fond of pushing the envelope.

She is the oldest of four children. Her father, who studied in Switzerland, owns four companies that produce furnaces and engine parts. Seddigh drives a black Mercedes S 350 with leather seats and lives in Tehran’s Niawaran district, where the air is better and the price of real estate astronomical.

She learned to drive at 13, secretly took her father’s Buick for a spin at 14 and totaled her first car at 17, when she drove into a tree and broke her left leg in four places. Her father calls her “Laleh Agha,” or “Mr. Laleh.”

Four years ago she applied for a racing license with Mafiri, the Iranian racing association. Mohammed Khatami, a moderate intellectual, was Iran’s president at the time. Internet cafés sprang up in the cities, the reformers in the government tolerated Western pop music and women were still wearing brightly colored headscarves.

Seddigh says: “I explained to the board of Mafiri that separating the sexes was not in keeping with the president’s ideas, and that it was high time for a change. I told them that they would go down in history if they allowed me to race with the men. Officials are vain people.”

Three months later, Zohreh Vatankhah applied for a license to race in rallies.

Seddigh and Vatankhah have a lot in common. They even look like sisters. Both are from affluent families and they made the pilgrimage to Mecca together. Both are still single in a country where girls can be married off at 13. They are strong women, but without being hard-edged. Vatankhah studied electrical engineering, while Sadigh holds a doctorate in industrial engineering and teaches at the university two days a week. More than 60 percent of the students at Iranian universities are women, but the unemployment rate among women is even higher.

Continue to Part Two…

[Source]

Randy Meyer Racing Signs New ‘Young Gun’ Driver for ‘08 Season

OLATHE, Kan. –

Diana Harker

Three time Division Five Champion and 2007 Brute Essence of Racing Award Winner, Randy Meyer has announced that he will be foregoing the driving duties of his A/Fuel Dragster for the 2008 season to focus on improving the teams performance and will instead hand the driver responsibilities over to new ‘young gun’ and rookie driver, Diana Harker. A highly respected member of the NHRA Drag Racing family, Randy Meyer has had a successful career spanning over 30 years of racing as Driver, Team Owner and Crew Chief from AHRA Pro-Comp to IHRA Top Fuel and NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster. A highlight for Meyer and team came in 2003 as Team Owner and Crew Chief, Randy Meyer tuned current Top Fuel Driver, Alan Bradshaw to an NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster Championship cementing the Meyer Racing Team as force in the Alcohol Dragster ranks.

Meyer’s decision to sign Harker as driver for the team came after a successful debut in late 2007 where the Harker-Meyer team campaigned across four events at both the National and Divisional levels of the NHRA Lucas Oil Series. The 2008 season will see Harker and Meyer competing at a scheduled 12 races comprising of 7 National and 5 Divisional events on the Lucas Oil Series and the team will proudly represent Headman Hedders, ARP, Aeroquip, Taylor Cables, Solder Seal Gunk, Aeromotive, and Meyer Truck Center.

Diana Harker

“After a disappointing 2007 season, I’ve decided to forego the driving duties and focus solidly on improving the performance of this new car and to make sure it is once again up to our standards. I did not have to look very far for a replacement driver, Diana has proven that she can do the job very well and represent my team professionally. There is a new attitude and exciting times ahead for Randy Meyer Racing and I am proud to have Diana be apart of it.” said Meyer

Second generation Alcohol driver, Diana Harker is no slouch when it comes to racing. Having already had an extensive 11year drag racing career in Australia, the 24 year old rookie is looking to follow her twin sister, Kate’s example and gain much needed seat time in the A/Fuel Dragster ranks. Having made the transition to the United States in early 2007, Harker spent the year learning the ropes crewing on her father, Steve’s Alcohol Funny Car along with Sister, Kate’s A/Fuel Dragster ride owned by Tom Conway.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am to finally have the opportunity to be competing this season on the NHRA Circuit and to be working with such a great professional team is a dream come true. Randy Meyer is a fantastic teacher and I have already learned a great deal from working with him and his team and I can’t thank them all enough for this opportunity.” said Harker

The Harker-Meyer Team will make their first debut race at the GatorNationals, March 13-16 in Gainesville FL but will first make a stop at the Eastern Spring Test Nationals in Valdosta GA March 6-8th in preparation for their debut.

[ Source ]

Thanks again to Erica Ortiz for sending us this article..

Troxel’s experience in Funny Car opens a new chapter of experience

Melanie Troxel entered the volatile world of nitro Funny Cars with few preconceived notions. The Avon, Indiana-based Top Fuel veteran knew converting from her 300-inch wheelbase dragster to the shorter confines of a nitro-burning Funny Car would provide the challenge of a lifetime.

Those who know the six-time (two in Top Alcohol Dragster) national event winning Troxel admit she’s up to any challenge. Funny Car will prove no different.

Add into the mix an off-season of uncertainty with Funny Car chassis design specs and sponsorship issues, Troxel’s first days behind the wheel were anything but a walk in the park.

“We did a lot of testing in the pre-season, I had only two full passes to get my license,” Troxel admitted.

Add into the mix a broken chassis on the team’s primary test car, a vehicle updated to the 2008 S.F.I. specs, and Troxel was forced into the team’s back-up car not only for the balance of the Phoenix test but also at the season-opening NHRA CARQUEST Winternationals in Pomona, Ca.

Troxel never flinched at the challenge. She headed into Pomona and responded in her unique competitive way by leading qualifying for one session on Saturday before settling into the third seeding for Sunday’s final eliminations. Her early successes was, in a manner, Troxel’s way of thumbing her nose at the bad fortunes which had beset the team before they even turned a tire under power in 2008.

“The two passes that we made in Pomona were literally my third and fourth passes to the finish line in a Funny Car,” Troxel said. “I’m still quite a rookie. It’s given me a lot of confidence just to have the car down there and to reassure myself that I’m keeping up with the car. I’m still making adjustments to the way I drive the car.”

“We try not to do competitive things around our house. No good would come from that.” – Melanie Troxel

Of course, it doesn’t hurt when your husband is competitive Funny Car driver Tommy Johnson, Jr., driver of Kenny Bernstein’s Monster Energy-sponsored entry.

“I’ve listened for years to Tommy talk about how much more aggressive you have to be with these cars,” Troxel said. “I know that but when you get in the car your instincts take over and after 10 years of driving dragsters it’s hard to break those habits. I’m literally having to, in the four seconds that the car is going down the track, you literally have to just react; you’re not thinking, ‘oh yeah I have to be more aggressive about this, you just do it.”

Troxel has previous experience in a Funny Car, but not of this caliber and certainly, not of the nitro-burning persuasion. She is, by her own admission, getting a serious dose of on-the-job training. She credits the Gotham City Racing crew led by veteran tuners Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald as an asset in the high-speed learning curve.

“Every pass I’m breaking habits and hopefully making new ones,” Troxel said. “I’ve got a great group of guys to work with that have been absolutely supportive and there’s no pressure over there. If we don’t qualify then we don’t qualify kind of thing. That’s made it very enjoyable for me.”

Is the Funny Car experience like driving a Cadillac? Not hardly, if you ask the freshman standout. Troxel said the demands of her time in the cockpit are greatly increased.

“You know what’s funny is that after I made a couple of passes — I think my first 2 passes — in this car after Vegas we were like a 4.82 and a 4.81, which were pretty good passes for the car. I was like ‘oh really is that good?’” Troxel said.

“I didn’t really know and you don’t get the sensation I think obviously for a couple of reasons,” Troxel pointed out. “The Funny Car is not as quick as the dragster, I’ve got 4.45 in the dragster and we’re not ever going to come close to that, at least not anytime soon in the Funny Car. It was less of a sensation of quickness and speed for me but you’ve got that body around you, you’re a lot busier.

“It’s not to say that it’s less exciting I mean you don’t get quite the sensation of speed but you’re a whole lot busier and working a whole lot harder to keep that car in the groove.

At this point, she cannot tell a good pass from apple butter. A good pass to her, at this point in the game, is not measured in elapsed time but whether or not her Dodge Charger Funny Car makes it to the finish line under power.

“I’ve got 4 passes to my name so far so I don’t know,” Troxel admitted. “The guys are like hey did you know you were on a good pass? I’m like, ‘no I knew it was going to the finish line and that was great. That’s how I judge passes right now. If we can get to the finish line in a groove then that’s a great pass. I don’t have a real good feel. I feel what the car is doing and I’m actually enjoying how much more feedback this car gives you than a dragster.

“You can hear what the engine is doing so much more clearly — and feel what the car’s doing. I’m still learning what I’m feeling in the car. All of these sensations are new to me. As far as knowing how hard it pulls to be on a really good run I haven’t quite got to that point yet.”

Troxel held a special press conference with the media on Saturday following her incredible No. 3 qualifying effort, and in the midst of that gathering the reporters tried their best to goad her into doing the one thing that used to irritate her as a Top Fuel driver – make a comment about how easy Top Fuel driving is when compared to the challenge of a Funny Car.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Troxel responded to the trademark questions while smiling to her publicist. “A lot of people have tried to get me by saying which do you like better? I don’t have enough passes yet to say which I like better. I’m having a great time right now and I knew that this would be quite a challenge, which is kind of part of the reason that I liked it. I’m having a good time right now and they’re two totally different things.

”I spent years listening to the Funny Car drivers talk about how easy the dragsters were and how hard the Funny Cars are to drive so I would not even go there now to my old dragster buddies and say anything about those cars. It’s much more of finesse; it’s still a skill to be able to finesse a dragster and not be able to drive it the way you drive one of these. It’s just a different skill set that you use for that car but like I said I’m having fun with this car right now so that’s all that matters.”

Troxel’s last experience behind the wheel of a Funny car was a decade ago when she piloted an alcohol Funny Car. Her experience was limited to earning a license and performing in a match race. The second major difference that many dragster drivers turned flopper drivers point is the visibility factor. That level of vision is greatly decreased within the confines of a Funny Car.

“It’s a little bit to get used to,” said Troxel. “You don’t see near as much of the track but to be honest it’s better than I expected. I had experience in a Funny Car before this program, enough to know that when they lowered the body I was going to be ok and I wasn’t going to freak out in there. I’ve heard Tommy talk for a couple of years now about how much worse the visions getting, how much higher the dog house is getting in there and you can’t see much of the track.

“I had been in the car and hadn’t had the body down so I was expecting it to be really bad. We actually towed up to make my first pass still never had the body lowered and they were like hey you want us to put the body down? I was like yeah that would be good I’d like to see what I’m going to be seeing out there. I was pleasantly surprised but I don’t have a reference point to go off of but just to listen to Tommy talk it was better than I expected.”

There’s somewhat of a misnomer that mandates a Funny Car driver must be of above average upper body strength. Troxel has heard the talk and she doesn’t necessarily subscribe to the theory.

“I’d say when you’re actually driving and going down the track it’s not something that enters my mind,” Troxel said. “I can’t actually sit there and think, ‘Wow I can’t. This is hard to do.”

“I can tell you just towing the car around it is an enormous difference when you’re just towing around,” Troxel continued. “So you know that even going a little faster it’s going to be a little bit easier that it is definitely tougher to steer than the dragsters. Off and on all my life I’ve been into lifting weights and doing things so I kind of think that I’m better than the average as far as upper body strength so I wasn’t really concerned with it. It’s definitely harder but I don’t think it’s so much harder that somebody couldn’t overcome it if they wanted to do that you could pretty easily.”

But, there is an inherent difference as Troxel found out on one of her full runs.

“Coming off the end of the track — you know your coasting down your coming around, the first time I did that at this track they’ve got the end of the wall and some hay bales down there,” Troxel confided. “I started going down and I’m not going to make it. I’m like, ‘what do I do?”

“With one hand I couldn’t make it around the corner, it’s that hard to steer the car so it’s definitely a big difference.”

Troxel wouldn’t mind flexing her muscles following the impressive performance in Pomona, but her humble nature and consideration for her spouse keeps the emotions in check. Johnson failed to make the 16-car cut in Pomona.

“I was heartbroken for Tommy — that’s incredibly frustrating as a driver,” Troxel said. “They’ve got a new deal going on over there so it may take just a little longer to gel and everything. I’m sure they will come back at the next race and be just fine. This is kind of what we talked about people make a big deal about when you guys come up to race each other and you meet each other in the final round. Hey that’s great, if we both make it to the final round that’s a good day for everybody.

“It’s times like Pomona when one of us is doing well and the other isn’t that kind of rubs salt in the wound a little bit.”

All will be fine on the home-front for Troxel and Johnson on those weekends because of an unwritten rule.

“We try not to do competitive things around our house,” Troxel said. “No good would come from that.”

[Source: Torco Racing Fuels]

KATH STEVENS SETS WORLD DRAG RACING RECORD IN SYDNEY

” Queensland based Drag Racing star Kath Stevens from the Jack Daniel’s Racing team celebrated her 31st birthday in fine style by setting a World Record at the Western Sydney International Dragway tonight (16th February).

 

Kath is the only female in Australia that competes against the men in the professional Top Doorslammer bracket, and took it another step further by becoming the first female in history anywhere in the world to drive a ‘doored’ car down the quarter-mile strip in 5 seconds.

 

Lining up against team mate Steve Packman in his SP Racing Ford Falcon in the B quarter-finals, Kath surprised all by laying down an amazing 5.96 second pass to take the round win in her 3000 horsepower beast.

 

“This is amazing! We have been working and developing our Brett Stevens Racing built Ford Falcon Top Doorslammers now for around 18 months and it has all finally paid off,” Kath Stevens said.

 

“This is the ultimate birthday present as well; we will be celebrating hard tonight!”

 

“I would like to thank my husband Brett for giving me this chance, my friends and family, and to all of my sponsors that have supported and shown faith in me over the years.”

 

“There were a lot of them here tonight as well so it was great to be able to put on a show like this for them.”

 

As well as Kath setting the stunning World Record, she also had the honour of beating her Drag Racing legend husband and team owner Brett Stevens to the magical ‘5 second club’.

 

Despite this, Brett was equally excited about Kath’s achievement that even overshadowed his own sensational record setting weekend that included running the fastest Top Alcohol Funny Pass in the Southern Hemisphere at 263.15 mph (423.50 kph), as well as the second quickest Elapsed Time at 5.55 seconds.

 

“I couldn’t be happier for Kath, as hard as it may be to believe I think it is even better her running a 5 than me,” Brett Stevens said.

 

“She is really something else to achieve such a feat, she is just amazing.”

 

“It has topped off a fantastic weekend for the team and I would also like to pay a special mention to my fantastic crew for their efforts in helping make all this possible, we couldn’t have done it without you!”

 

 

[ Source ]

 

 

Special Thanks to Erica for submitting this article…

Young racer hopes to continue breaking records

“(CNN) — In real life, her first car was a Volkswagen bug when she was 16. In her racing life, Stephanie Mockler was driving Quarter Midgets, open-wheel race cars that children can drive, at the age of 6. Now at 20, she’s a record-setting driver.

Mockler became the first female to win a United States Auto Club Ford Focus Midget Series when she finished at the Indianapolis Speedrome. She’s also the eighth woman in history to win a USAC feature race. And she’s the youngest female to ever win a USAC main event.

“There are points where you do have to earn more respect from your competitors just because you are a female,” admitted Mockler. “It’s just all in proving yourself.”

She gets the whole “Danica Patrick” thing a lot. Patrick is a 25-year-old Indy Racing League driver who also has a modeling career. Mockler said she appreciates the comparison, but adds that she wants to focus solely on her racing career.

“I just want the image of a race car driver. I’m not here to model. I’m here to race. And I want to be compared to the guys as a race car driver.”

She’s also quick to point out that not all racing is the same and that she hopes to take to the NASCAR track. But one thing about them is the same: “When you put on the helmet, you’re just another racer.”

For Mockler, neither age nor gender stops her when it comes to following her dreams. With help from the Clorox/Ford Racing Female Driver Development Program, she hopes to become the first winning female in the NASCAR Sprint Series.

“It’s a really great sport, and the people you race with are like family,” she said. “It’s just like none other. I love it.”

[ Source ]

Hillary Will Is Fastest Female Driver In NHRA History

“Feb 12, 2008POMONA, Calif. – Yesterday at the season-opening event of the 2008 POWERade Drag Racing Series, the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona (Calif. ), Hillary Will, driver of the KB Racing, LLC Top Fuel dragster, started her quest for the 2008 POWERade points championship with a quarter-final appearance in final eliminations. In the opening round Sunday, Will, the No. 5 qualifier (4.521 seconds, 334.65 mph) rolled to the starting line to race against No. 12 qualifier J. R. Todd. Both 8,000-horspower race cars had problems with maintaining traction on the famed Pomona drag strip, but Will was able to get her rail to recover before Todd to get her first round-win of the new season, 5.992 sec., 168.89 mph to 7.014 sec., 175.73 mph. [Read more]

Speed ace Sarah aims to go Supersonic

A HAMPSHIRE powerboat racer could about to go supersonic - by travelling at 800mph in a bid to smash the world land speed record.Race ace Sarah Donohue has been shortlisted to drive the 48ft Fossett Land Speed Racer following the disappearance of millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett.

If the former European offshore and American national powerboat champion gets picked to drive the US-built, jet powered machine, she could find herself travelling at a top speed of 800mph - beating the 763mph record previously set by RAF pilot Andy Green driving Thrust SSC in 1997.

And the 35-year-old from Hamble has revealed to the Daily Echo that if she was asked to pilot the car, she would say yes.

“I think they are going to pick a fighter pilot because they are used to travelling at those speeds and the forces that go with it,” she said.

“But if for whatever reason I was asked to be the driver, I would say yes.

“I’d be a fool not to. But there would be a lot of questions I would have to ask and a lot of people to speak to before making the final decision.

“If it goes wrong at 800mph, it’s going to go very wrong.” [Read more]

« Previous Page — Next Page »