Giggling

“She’s got what it takes. Natural ability!” That’s what Graeme Glew, the founder and CEO of Racing Women, said when he stepped out of the car after a coaching session with Kate Broadbent at Bedford Autodrome.

Kate’s getting some car racing practice in before the Racing Women driving-on-ice final in Sweden in March. And she was driving a BMW 2-litre twin-turbo M2 round Bedford Autodrome whilst Graeme shared his racing wisdom.

She was beaming when she came off the track. “The paddle shift is so cool” she said. Graeme took me aside and said he’d heard Kate giggle when she floored the throttle down the back straight. On the back straight, Kate stopped watching the speedo when it reached 130mph because she needed to focus on the fast-approaching turn.

A speedo that goes above 120mph is something my Transit van dreams of.

Kart started with sighting laps in a VW golf, and then she climbed in for her first ever session in a car on a racing track with Becky Frankland coaching. Again, she was beaming when she came off the track.

In Graeme and Becky’s summary report, it said Kate has “natural pace and determination”, and the “confidence and personality” that will go in her favour within motorsport.

Well, Kate already has more sessions booked at Bovingdon (in her dream car, a Nissan GTR), and at Donington with Racing Women again.

And, I’m hoping to book some drifting training to get her in the mood for driving on ice in Sweden for the Racing Women global final. She’ll definitely be giggling when she does that!