A V8 Supercars race more than a decade ago sparked a fire to drive fast for Merimbula racer Kelly Simpson.
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Simpson said she was watching the V8s tear up the track in 2004 when she told her dad of interest in getting into go karting and racing.
Her parents proved more than supportive, as she raced karts for three years before stepping up to Holden V8s.
Now the family is one tightly knit racing team, travelling together for race meets where Simpson now races a Toyota Celica under her mentor Steve, who races division three V8s.
“Dad helps with the mechanical stuff and Mum always makes sure I am fed and hydrated, we are a team and my parents have never missed a meet,.” she said.
Her most recent race meet at Sydney’s Motorsport Park, in Eastern Creek saw her take sixth in her division and 30th overall despite a spin out at 220km/h.
Simpson shrugged off the slide saying she “steadied the car, hit the next gear and put the throttle down”.
She said her mentor Steve was on the radio and helped keep her calm as she took control of the car to not slip any places.
“As a driver you just kind of go ‘oh, survived that one’ and keep going, I’ve had some bad crashes, but you just got to jump back in the car and move on,” Simpson said.
There is a huge cost involved in competing with travel, accommodation and insurance and entry totalling up to $6000 for a weekend so Simpson said she was glad to stay on track and finish the session in a good place.
“We never expected to get sixth or 30th outright [from whole event], we just wanted to finish the weekend, but the result was icing on the cake after the spin,” she said with a laugh.
Simpson had previous experience in older model Holden V8s, and still competes against them, but prefers the Celica as a more agile machine.
It’s a much lighter car and holds speed better through the corners, but she said the big V8s have a power-advantage down the straights.
To counter their straight-line speed, she said she needs to use all the track, hogging the ripple strip and bounding off the concrete siding to hold good speed through the corners.
Her mentor also owns a genuine hot-blooded V8 Supercar from the 2010 series and she hopes to have a shot at driving the topline racer.
“We’re hoping to have a test drive or a round in that next year and hoping to work our way up those categories,” she said.
Sponsorship spots are available and individuals can have their name on the car for $50. Anyone interested can contact Simpson directly on 0497 255 992.