Susie Grayson is a dominant figure in British women's motorcycle racing.
Not only does she race bikes - and Susie is currently competing in not one, but two motorcycle championships - she also manages an all-girl motorcycle team called Feisty Racing.
And as if that wasn't enough, Susie also runs www.bikegirl.co.uk, the UK's leading website for women looking to get into the sport and for those who want stay up-to-date with upcoming events and race results.
For other women bikers, Susie's work is as refreshing in the male-dominated arena of British motorcycle racing as cheaper motor insurance is on the roads.
The racerSusie first became interested in motorcycles back in 1984 when girls and boys paid the same for motor insurance, women rode bicycles or scooters, and she was a 15-year-old with unusual tastes. Nevertheless, she saved up and bought her first bike at age 18.
By 25, she knew she wanted to get involved in racing, but, thanks a number of back operations over the next ten years, Susie was limited to spectating and riding non-competitively at track days.
Her debut on the starting grid had to wait until March 2005 when she kicked off the Minitwin Championship at the Snetterton Race Circuit in Norfolk. After a hard-fought season, Susie ended up the third best rookie out of 21 - and she's building on this success in 2006, winning her first race in June at Brands Hatch.
"What a high that was," she wrote in her race report, "the grin won't wipe off my face. You really do punch the air automatically when you win."
Susie has been managing Feisty Racing since its inception in 2004, when she and a group of female friends within the Bemsee motorcycle club decided to try putting an all-girl team together.
The result was a string of successes in the 2005 season, from Susie herself and across the team – most notably Deb Cartwright (who is Feisty Racing’s chief instructor this year) and Red Cartwright.
The Cartwright “sisters”, as they are known, though Deb and Red are unrelated and met through a mutual love of racing, are never long out of biking publications’ headlines for their achievements at tracks around the country.
Susie has a number of ambitious ideas for her Feisty Racers. Plans are afoot to organise a Formula Woman-style UK all-girl championship – but on bikes, of course – some time in the next few years.
And in 2007, Susie is hoping to take the Feisty Racers to Italy for a taste of female-only competition in the European Women’s Cup – providing the meetings don’t clash with British race days!
The 2006 season sees three new rookies in the Feisty Racing stable. Over the years, the team has been able to provide this springboard into motorsports for an expanding group of very determined women – most of whom had thought the perk of womanhood was cheap motor insurance.
Ladies’ motorcycling is now taking off in the UK, thanks in part to Feisty Racing, and Susie is poised to take advantage of the wave of new recruits in 2007.
The websiteOne of Susie’s new recruits at Feisty Racing is 33-year-old Kat Prosser.
Like Susie, Kat’s been obsessed with motorcycles from an early age – she remembers riding pillion on an uncle’s bike at age 12 and loving it – but it wasn’t until she saw www.bikegirl.co.uk that Kat got into racing.
Asked what inspired her, Kat said, “This website! As soon as I saw this site I realised other girls were doing it. I did my first track day in June 05 and haven’t looked back.”
This kind of response proves just how worthwhile a venture Susie’s website really is. For the past two years, www.bikegirl.co.uk has been the online hub of women’s motorcycle racing, dispensing race dates and results, and keeping fans up to date with Feisty Racing news.
Through its forum, the site brings the online community of women bikers together – to organise weekend ride-outs, discuss races and track days, and offer advice on everything from racing etiquette to women’s motor insurance.
The success storySusie’s involvement in motorsports takes elements from each of the three other women we’ve examined – and she excels at them all.
Like Janet Guthrie, she competes shoulder-to-shoulder with men in the sport she loves – and challenges the male establishment through her success.
Like Jackie Skelton and the organisers of Formula Woman, she has created a motorsports haven for women racers at Feisty Racing, and online at www.bikegirl.co.uk.
And like Camilla Palmertz, Susie has been the first in her field to actually listen to what women want – and to have the resourcefulness and determination to put it all together in a very attractive package.
Hats off girls!