Annabel Meade | Motorsport

“I am really committed to building my career as a racing driver. Many well-respected drivers and coaches telling me I have a natural talent for racing”

Annabel Meade is a person with a passion and a vision. Her passion is driving: very fast, and very competitively; her vision is a world where professional drivers compete on an equal basis regardless of gender, age or background; and her aim is to raise public awareness of professional female drivers by competing, and winning, at the highest levels of the sport.

It all started at school, with a Red Letter Day present of a day at Brands Hatch. After that Annabel was hooked, and throughout University, when other students were out partying and drinking, she would save her money and pay to go racing. Then, following a road accident as a pedestrian, Annabel used her dream of driving professionally as the motivation to keep her going through years of physical therapy. The rigorous fitness regime needed to stay in shape for driving aided her recovery from her injuries, and in 2000 she finally took the plunge into the chaotic, exciting, testosterone-fuelled world of professional motorsport.

“Whatever the road ahead throws at you, you need to fight and push for every second. And not just on the track. The dedication and commitment needed to raise the funding to race has stopped many a contender before me.”

In the 2000 Scottish Ford Fiesta Si Championships, Annabel won two of the six races and was voted best female racer in Scotland. Her career to date has been self-financed, borrowing from banks and even selling her flat to fund racing.

Few drivers truly master racing in the rain. Those who do have risen to the top of their profession: Hill, Hunt, Schumacher, Alonso, they have all built their success on a natural talent for driving in wet conditions. During her 2003 season, Annabel qualified 11th in a Renault Clio Cup race at Brands Hatch and set the eighth fastest lap time, driving an unfamiliar car in her first ‘wet’ race.

Her professional goals are simple, but stretching: to be the first female to win the Porsche SuperCup championship infront of the Formula 1 paddock. And Annabel is someone who always finishes what she starts: in seven years of professional racing, she has never finished all but one race.

But, racing comes at a price, not just the mental and the physical exertion, but also the financial cost, and Annabel is now seeking a commercial sponsor for the 2008. To find out how your organisation would benefit from becoming a sponsor, we invite you to read the rest of this pack, then contact Annabel to arrange a presentation.