Motorsport is dominated by men but, of the few British women racing drivers, the First Lady has to be Lorina McLaughlin. She currently drives the ex Michael Schumacher, 1992 Benetton B192 Formula 1 car with great skill and turn of speed. Given her pace, there is no doubt Lorina would have been competitive in F1 had she been given the chance. First drawn to the sport when she was 13 after a trip to see a race at Goodwood in the 60s, Lorina dreamed of becoming a racing driver from that moment on. Before then she got her thrills from galloping horses and climbing trees. Lorina was so hooked on car racing that, being unable to afford trains or buses, she hiked across the country to see various race meetings. Her first track experience came when she joined the Brands Hatch Racing School in the 70s.
Lorina’s boyfriend bought a used Formula Ford and before long she was racing alongside future F1 legends James Hunt, Alan Jones and Emerson Fitipaldi. She went on to compete in F3 and F4 with her first season in F4 as the only women driver and winning a number of races. Lorina was also the first women to win the BP ‘Man Of The Meeting Award’ – afterwards the title was changed to ‘Driver of the Meeting Award’. She also led the Formula Junior Championship for a season, only losing it by a couple of points. Later on she met her husband David at Brands Hatch where he was racing his ex-Ronnie Peterson JPS Lotus 72, the famous black and gold liveried car. David founded the Bahamas Speed Week Revival and his love of owning historic F1 cars included the Marlboro McLaren driven by James Hunt; the car used in the movie ‘Rush’. Lorina’s first outing of 2016 was at the EFG Donnington Historic Festival where she was on track with a host of other F1 cars, followed by the Bournemouth Wheels Festival in June and the Silverstone Classic from July 29th to 31st.
We meet Lorina McLaughlin, the First Lady of British Motorsport
