Veloce Racing goes back to school with Girls On Track UK
Veloce Racing’s Dan Bailey, Jamie Chadwick and Mariella Bailey, along with W Series CEO Catherine Bond Muir, went back to school yesterday (21 September, 2021) to share their motorsport career advice with students at Epsom College as part of Girls on Track UK.
The day, which was hosted by the college where Dan was a former pupil, saw 100 girls aged 11 to 14 years take part in a host of fun challenges designed to open their eyes to future career opportunities within motorsport and other STEM-related industries.
Among the activities on offer was a pit stop challenge where the girls got to change a wheel on a race car, resuscitation lesson with Girls on Track UK’s official medic Dr Clare Morden, presenting to camera with F1’s Rosanna Tennant, laboratory experiments using race engine fuel and Lego coding challenges – all of which were designed to show the pupils the variety of potential future career options in this exciting sport.
Veloce Racing co-founder, Dan Bailey said: “It was really special for me to go back to my old school yesterday and talk to the girls there about the many exciting career opportunities that are available to them in motorsport.
“As a brand, Veloce encourages these opportunities as much as we can. This is evident in the two race series that we are involved in - W series and Extreme E - both of which are championing the message of increasing the number of females in motorsport, and that’s not just as racing drivers.
"Jamie [Chadwick] is an excellent ambassador for young women who want to race but there are also many other success stories of careers for females in this sport such as engineering, mechanics, marketing, media and team management.
“This industry has so much to offer but unfortunately has a stigma of being very male-centric, and I am proud to be part of a team at Veloce that is on a mission to change that rhetoric.”
Veloce W Series and Extreme E racing driver, Jamie Chadwick added: “It was great spending the day chatting to the girls at Epsom – it doesn’t feel that long ago that I was sitting where they are and wondering what to do with my future.
“Although I didn’t come from a racing background myself, I ended up in it largely thanks to sibling rivalry between me and my older brother who competed in karting and I was determined to beat him. I feel so lucky that what started as a fun teenage hobby ended up being my career. I took every opportunity that I could along the way, and I was also really fortunate to have the support of my family and my school on my journey.
“I think it’s great that initiatives like Girls on Track UK and championships such as W Series and Extreme E are promoting the progression of females in motorsport, and anything that brings more diversity into racing can only be a great thing. I’d say to any of the girls at Epsom, and anyone else who may be thinking about coming into the industry in the future, ‘if you get the chance, just go for it and jump on in!’”
Mariella Bailey, Team Principal, W Series Veloce Racing, said: “The Girls on Track UK initiative is very close to my heart as I began my professional life working with Susie Wolff when she brought its predecessor Dare To Be Different to life back in 2016.
"I’m a huge proponent of encouraging girls and women into motorsport and it was great to talk to the girls at Epsom about my experiences – we definitely want more females in all areas of this industry and if I can raise awareness of what’s possible for girls by showing them what I’m doing at Veloce, then that makes me very happy.”
