Experience the thrill of women’s racing with IntoSpeed 2025

Following the success of its inaugural year, the British Women Racing Drivers’ Club (BWRDC) IntoSpeed initiative will return for 2025. In line with the club’s aim of promoting and supporting women in all forms of motorsport, IntoSpeed offers increased opportunities for women to try motorsport for the first time.

The IntoSpeed with the BWRDC programme is designed to introduce women to the thrills and rewards of motorsport competition, providing taster days, expert driver tuition and even the opportunity to compete at events.

The programme centres around Hillclimbing, the most accessible of motorsport disciplines, which is contested against the clock in a range of easily accessible and affordable road cars throughout the UK. As part of its ongoing commitment to increase female participation throughout the sport, Motorsport UK has contributed funding towards the programme.

There will be two taster days in 2025, one in the North and one in the South. 

The first taster day is taking place at Harewood Driving Academy, on the 27th of March. 

The second will be at Gurston Down Hillclimb Drivers School, on the 1st of April. 

The British Women Racing Drivers’ Club was set up in 1962, by a competitive lady called Mary Wheeler. She set it up because she was having difficulty moving into, what has traditionally been a mans world. She set up this group, and it has moved from strength to strength ever since.

Caroline Ryder, Vice chair of the BWRDC and IntoSpeed initiator, and Rebecca Crocombe, BWRDC Committee Member and IntoSpeed Supporter have been a part of the motorsport world for many years, and are working to get more women involved, particularly in hill climbing. 

“Hillclimbing is a motorsport discipline which is run against the clock, on tarmac roads, one at a time, and is a very accessible way for anybody to get into motorsport as almost any road car can be used. We recognised that this was a good place for women to start, and having had many conversations over the years, lots of women were saying that they really wanted to have a go but felt intimidated to try in front of men”.

“So we thought it would be a good idea to set up something where women and girls can have a go, on what we have called a ‘taster day.’ If they like it, we can support them with their integration into the sport. The taster days are all about building confidence.”

Hill Climbing is a particular focus for IntoSpeed 2025, and a great introduction to the sport. 

“The cars go up the hill one at a time, against the clock. They do a standing start against the start line, clocks starts and when they reach the top the clock stops. It is all in class categories, according to your car. You haven’t got any other cars around you that could potentially run into you, and you don’t need to feel intimidated by the other cars on the track at the same time.”

“It is very competitive, it is timed to a 100th of a second. It is perfectly okay to start doing the sport in your road car, and continue in your road car if you want to. You can move up through the categories but you don’t need to.”

When getting into hill climbing, participants can also share a car. There can only be one driver at a time, but competing in the same car. This means that the sport is accessible, in the sense that you don’t have to invest an awful lot of money to have a go. For the IntoSpeed taster days set up by the BWRDC, participants can borrow all the equipment needed. 

The numbers of female competitors are so low in motorsport, hillclimbing is probably higher. However, it is still such a low number. Something like this is a great way to introduce people who have perhaps never even thought about it, might be on their own and they can just come and have a go, see how they get on.

Rebecca attended the Harewood taster day in 2024, and absolutely loved it.

“It was brilliant, there were 15 of us. We all attended in the morning, had our briefing and walked the hill. We were then allowed to actually drive the hill with an instructor, and they advised us on what we should be doing in order to drive the hill properly. It was great to meet so many likeminded women who, a lot of them had never tried this sport before. It was a really good experience, and I am excited for this year.”

Caroline and Rebecca love this sport so much because of the community that surrounds it. 

“The fact that you get to meet so many likeminded people and you have all got that same interest in it. It’s the friendships you form within the community, also the fact that you can then compete (against the boys) and try and win!”

Caroline likes to see the joy that radiates from the ladies at the end of the day, after they have accomplished something that they perhaps never thought they would!

“From an organiser perspective, when we went to the taster days, it was lovely to see the ladies come in the morning, all slightly nervous, but full of anticipation and excitement also. They had a couple of goes up the hill and by the end of the afternoon the smiles were just getting wider and wider! They had such a good day.”

The motorsport community has changed over the last 50 years, and now there is absolutely no reason why you can’t take part in the sport on equal terms, no matter what gender you are.

“Going back to the sixties, it wasn’t like that, and it’s a slow move across. It takes generations for attitudes to change. The youngsters these days, they don’t have an issue. Previously, it was the men that didn’t want the women to come and join, it was definitely a man’s sport. Now, the men are very welcoming, in that regard. With Hill climbing especially, everybody wants everybody else to do well. It’s such a friendly sport. It doesn’t matter if you are male or female, they all want you to do well and all want you to improve.”

If you would like to give motorsport a go this year, try something new and join a community of likeminded women, get in touch with the British Women Racing Drivers Club or email [email protected]. 

“Come to a taster day, it gives you a chance to try something. It’s not timed and you can use your own car, so it’s a familiar environment. You get to meet people that are exactly the same as you, they are all a bit nervous about it. It gives you a chance to see if you enjoy it, if you want to take it further and having members of the BWRDC present, they are so encouraging and helpful. It makes you want to come back.”