17-Year-Old Girl to Race a Mazda MX-5 at Silverstone

Instead of going shopping at the mall, like most 17-year-old girls do, Jade Paveley will join the Mazda endurance race team at Britcar 24-hour race. The youngest driver in the race, Paveley will be lining up on the starting grid at Silverstone on October 2-3, 2010, at the wheel of a Mazda MX-5.

Paveley began racing karts at the age of 14 and passed her driving test in July this year. Now she is trying to secure a seat in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) and become the first female winner in that series.

The Mazda MX-5 that Jade will be racing is a standard road going car with a roll cage fitted for safety, the passenger seat removed to reduce weight and a race seat replacing the driver’s seat. Other additional race items are external ignition cut off, larger fuel tank, fire extinguisher and slick racing tires.

“The 24-hour race is a big challenge and completely different to anything I have done before,” stated Paveley. “The car is capable of winning its class at Silverstone as it does not eat its tires like some of the competition, the fuel consumption is frugal and it handles extremely well on the limit. At Snetterton we could hold and, in some cases, beat the faster more powerful cars through the corners which was simply down to the MX-5’s excellent handling and poise."

“I have been doing a lot of night driving to get used to the limited visibility at speed and some invaluable coaching from Matt Neal. I certainly feel confident that we can produce a good result for Mazda at Silverstone. I have been getting fit for the challenge and believe I am now fitter than I have ever been and am really looking forward to the race,” added Jade.