The Victorian Formula Vee Championship saw an increase in women’s participation during its first round of the year last weekend at Sandown.

All three women are relatively new to the sport with the two drivers in Claudia Lennox and Kellie Egan having very little race experience between them and 17-year-old Danielle Taylor only recently joining up as a pit crew member for Lennox.

Of the two drivers, Lennox enjoyed the better results, steering her Beacham Racing prepared Sabre 2 to an outright top 15 finish in what was just her fourth race meeting to date.

“I normally drive for Akurra Motorsport but it was such a pleasure to drive with Beacham Racing over the weekend and having only raced at Sandown once before, I was very happy with my result,” Lennox said.

“With a little more seat time I am confident I will improve, and I hope to challenge those at the front in the future.”
 
As one of the members of Lennox’s pit crew, Taylor was also pleased to get out there and contribute to the team.

“I am actually training to be a hairdresser, but I really love working in the pits with the Formula Vees and I don’t mind getting in there to get my hands dirty,” Taylor said.

“There are not many girls I know that would be able to change a wheel, understand the importance of tyre pressure, know what a carburettor is or where to find a spark plug.
 
“I really enjoyed working on Claudia’s car over the weekend and it's great fun being part of the Beacham Racing team.”

As for Egan, it was her first ever race meeting having only completed two tests in the lead up to the state round. Despite the lack of seat time, she finished every single race and ended the weekend inside the top 20.

“I was all smiles after every session, this was my first race meeting driving for Akurra Motorsport in a Formula Vee and my goal was to just get the car home safe,” Egan said.

“Last weekend definitely gave me a good foundation to build from and improve, I just can’t wait for the next race meeting.”
 
Beacham Racing Team Principal Greg Beacham was thoroughly impressed by the trio saying all three have a bright future in motorsport.

“I think it’s great to see more young people getting involved with Formula Vee and when they happen to be young women, that is even better because it shows our class is diverse and popular with everyone,” Beacham added.

"I was very impressed with the racing over the weekend and these three young women all have a bright future in motorsport."