Molly Taylor has added another honour to her growing list of accolades, after she was named as the recipient of the 2022 Her Sport Her Way Award Trailblazers Award.
 
Taylor received the prize during the annual NSW Office of Sport’s Her Sport Her Way awards ceremony in Sydney, which recognises and celebrates the achievements of leaders in womens’ sport.
 
With nine winners across five awards being announced throughout the ceremony, Taylor was one of four individuals to receive the Trailblazer award.
 
The honour is awarded to those whose exceptional efforts over a long period of time have removed barriers for other women and girls in sport, and made it easier for them to participate and succeed, as well as creating a legacy.
 
While Taylor has produced the qualities of a trailblazer for her whole career, competing overseas in her younger years where she won the FIA European Ladies Rally Championship and winning the RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship in 2016, the past 12-months have been particularly busy for Taylor.
 
The 33-year-old enjoyed three rounds in the 2021 FIA World Rally Championship, but she also branched out into off road racing – where she contested the Baja Aragon in Spain, won the inaugural Extreme E Series for Rosberg X Racing before debuting and finishing the famous Dakar Rally.
 
In addition to her motorsport career behind the wheel, Taylor was a foundation ambassador for the FIA Girls on Track program and continues to do so, as well as embarking on a television career as pit reporter and presenter for the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships and Supercars.

In receiving the award, Taylor joined fellow Trailblazer recipients, Olympian Karen Dalton and Paralympians Sarah Stewart and Tyan Taylor and was extremely thrilled to win.
 
“It’s very special to do what you love and trying to do the best you can, so to recognize the bigger picture is pretty special,” Taylor said.
 
“It came as a great surprise and I wasn’t expecting it.
 
“To be recognised in that role and in the larger work with Motorsport Australia and Girls on Track and the progress its making and having a moment to sit back and think about what it all means and how it’s affecting the future and aspirations of young girls.
 
“It’s been really rewarding to go to Girls on Track events and speak with the girls, opening the doors of possibility.
 
“It’s not like they’ve been told what they can’t do, but it’s more that they can physically see, touch, witness and take in motorsport, something we love and why we have been involved with all this time.
 
“For someone that hasn’t been exposed, it’s difficult to convey, but to see them come and experience motorsport has a profound impact because you see their eyes light up and lightbulbs switch on.
 
“It broadens horizons, whether they pursue motorsport or not, hopefully the girls are exposed to an aspect that they love to do and that they can find a pathway or overcome any stereotypes.”
 
Click here for more information on the Her Sport Her Way Awards.

This feature is part of a series of stories celebrating International Women's Day, which took place on Tuesday 8 March.