Archived News

 

Anna signs with Alan Blencowe Racing for 2010 in VW Cup.

Anna will be supported by SCOPE charity, promoting awareness for cerebral palsy, and Nitron, Anna is pleased to be fully sponsored for 2010. 

 

Anna Racing team launches new workshop facilities offering race and rally car preparation, arrive and drive packages, race car hire and track day tuition.

 

Interview with a racing driver - Anna Walewska

 

      

Anna Walewska, aged 22 is a racing driver with an impressive CV and proud of her Polish - English roots. She became the youngest female to hold a full race licence at 14 years old and is now a top racing instructor at Thruxton. Exclusively for Opinia Anna provides an interesting insight to the world of motor racing.

Driving for BMW in 2007 she came third in the Britcar championships and is now seeking sponsorship for the 2009 series.

Anna started racing in karts aged 11 and then moved to the T-car saloon car race series at 14 before progressing to the Britcar championships.  She was awarded Driver of the Year for her outstanding performances in 2005 and nominated again in 2006. 

 

Your father was a racing enthusiast but what attracted you to motorsport and racing karts at such a young age? 

AW: I was brought up around fast cars and introduced to racing at a young age. I remember playing with toy cars instead of dolls when I was little. I have always been very competitive and loved all sports at school. When I started racing karts at 11 years old I took to it like a duck to water and was instantly quick. I have raced ever since and not looked back.

What inspired you to make the transition from karts to cars and become the youngest female car race licence holder in the UK at 14? 

AW: I knew from an early age that racing was what I was born to do and wanted to move up the ladder of motorsport as quickly and professionally as possible. My kart team also ran a team in T-cars (saloon car series designed for 14-17 year olds who want to make a career out of racing). The time manager, Andrew Crighton, offered me a drive in T-Cars in his team Advent Motorsport. I accepted and started racing at just 14 years old breaking the record.

How difficult was the transition from karting to car racing?  

AW: Having never driven a car properly before, besides driving my dad’s car up and down the driveway in first gear, it was a challenge. I did a few tests and learnt clutch control and changing gear and once I had mastered it I was off! The racing craft was easy enough to pick up, using mirrors was new to me as in karts you don’t have any and getting familiar with the width of the race car took a bit of time. However, I believe you’re either a racer or not, I certainly am so racing others wasn’t that difficult for me to learn all the techniques of defending and attacking.

What did you learn from coming third in the 2007 Britcar championships?

AW: I learnt how to maintain my position and the old saying of ‘to finish first, first you have to finish’ is so true! There were times when I wanted to make a do or die move for 2nd place but learnt to hold back if a 3rd position was all I needed to defend my place in the Championship, it’s a shame we didn’t win it but I am still learning as I driver and improving all the time.

 

How would you summarise your 2008 season?

AW: It’s been a challenging year. I have struggled with funding so had to pull out of the championship whilst lying in 3rd position, I was gutted but there was nothing I could do. The 24hour race at Silverstone was the highlight of my year as we finished and finished 2nd. I am looking forward to doing some tests in a Porsche GB Carrera Cup car and also Renault Clio Cup car for next year. I will be working hard on finding more sponsors to support me in this high profiled, media frenzy championship. 

Tell me about your work as an Association of Racing Driving Schools instructor and recently launched driver development business?

AW: I work as a Racing Instructor for Thruxton, instructing in Ferraris, Aston Martins and Porsches which is great fun. I recently set up my own driver development business using a Lotus Elise for one to one tuition. I felt there was a need for personal race tuition for up and coming drivers that want guidance and of course the general public that wants to have taste of what motorsport is all about. I currently look after two junior drivers who wanted my help in making the step up from kart racing to car racing and can proudly say they both are doing extremely well.

Can you describe what it’s like driving a racing car round a famous track? 

 

AW: Spa is one of my favourite tracks. To be honest it feels like such a privilege to drive on a superb track like Spa where the corners are technical and require a lot of skill to master. I get a huge adrenaline rush from racing which I thrive on and also the hunger for winning is in my blood. It’s an incredibly satisfying feeling to win a race knowing your team have worked hard on preparing the car and you haven’t made any mistakes in the race to lose the lead. It’s difficult to describe in words how I feel when racing but all I can say is I have never been able to match the same feeling doing anything else. It’s certainly addictive.

 

What are your plans for the future? 

AW: My goal is to drive in World Touring Cars WTCC. But first I would like to race in British Touring Cars BTCC and gets some experience. Leading up to those two championship I am aiming to be in either Porsche Carrera GB Cup or the Renault Clio championship next year, it depends on sponsors but both championship get a lot of media attention and being the only female competitor at the front I hopefully will generate a lot of exposure for my sponsors.

 

What advice would you have for anyone interested in pursuing a career as a racing driver? 

AW: If you’re young I would certainly recommend karting to learn basic race craft and set up and then move onto either saloon car racing or single-seaters depending on what you want to do. If your older and want to get into racing as a hobby there are plenty of club championships around that are enjoyable to race in.  

Tell me about your Polish Roots? 

AW: My father is Polish and my mother is English. Unfortunately I speak very little Polish as my father didn’t speak to me in Polish when I was young which is a great shame. I love the country and always have half a Polish flag and half an English flag on my race car and suit.

Silverstone 22/03/08 Britcar PS1 Round 1

Anna fights back after challenging weekend

The 2008 Production S1 championship began at Silverstone last weekend – and even for those familiar with Silverstone’s changing weather the howling blizzards of snow mixed with sun and blue sky’s seemed extraordinary and challenging for both organisers and teams.

Anna is back racing another season with Geoff Steel, after being asked to take the wheel of one of Geoff’s BMW 3.2ltr 360 Bbhp machines. Anna started the weekend by revealing her BMW’s new eye catching colour scheme for the championship, raising a few eye brows and keeping the photographers snapping.

Pairing up with her for the season is VW Champion, Tony Gilham, who will also be racing in the Porsche Carrera Cup with Redesign Racing.

Anna comments:
“Tony and I make a good partnership - we both have the hunger to win this year and we work well together pushing each other on”.

The pair were quick at the official Britcar and PS1 press day the week before and had high expectations for the race weekend.

Friday Test:
Weather conditions were constantly changing, Anna went out first on wets to shake the car down.

“The car felt strong for the first few laps but I soon ran into problems and headed for the pits”

The diff was leaking oil and needed to be changed which put a stop to the pair’s morning test. However, it was sorted quickly and Tony got behind the wheel for the afternoon session. After setting some good lap times Tony didn’t appear on the 6th lap and the red flag was waved. The engine had let go leaving oil all over the track at Luffield.

The car was towed back to the garage, and Anna’s head engineer, Will Fields, took one look at the engine and knew it had to be changed.(well, the two inch hole in the cylinder head and another in the bottom of the engine block gave it away a little!). Undeterred, the team shot back to the Lincoln workshop, to collect a standard BMW engine and then worked solidly though the night replacing the damaged engine.

Friday ended with Anna and Tony knowing they had their work cut out for the next day. Only a few laps completed on test day and now the car was over 40bhp down on power.

Saturday Race:
The looming snow storms held off long enough for the pair to qualify 10th on the grid, but being hard racers they weren’t phased by this grid position.

“It’s all down to race craft now” said Anna.

First decision was what tyre to race with as black clouds could be seen to be coming nearer and snow was forecast. Anna and Geoff went with slicks deciding the wind would blow a lot of the snow off the track and leave a dry racing line. Anna started the race on the outside with the Seat Cupra of Jamie Stanley’s, the Honda Civic of Alan Blencowe’s and the Evo of Gary Furst around her. Two green flag laps were given and Anna worked hard weaving aggressively to get heat into the tyres as the first snow flurry hit.

Clipping the kerb at Woodcote the lights went out and Anna had dropped right back.

“I’ve lost power!” she shouted down the radio.

The standard engine had gone into safety mode!

Anna turned everything electrical off - wiper, lights and diff pump. It took half the circuit for the power had come back with Anna holding her position with a strong defence. With blue skies above and a dry racing line, the power returned and Anna did what she does best - she had a storming race with Alan Blencowe and Jamie Stanley, the cars being three abreast at one stage. By racing hard she made up 5 places overall.

Once Anna was through and had pulled a gap the team called her in to hand over to Tony. With the snow holding off, Tony drove a storming race putting in good times and chased down the 4th place Alpha of Donaghy and Clonis. They battled hard with each other with Tony passing it a couple laps into his stint. However, this didn’t last long with the lower bhp really telling and the Alpha got through. Undefeated, Tony fought hard and managed to catch the Alpha diving up the inside on the last lap.

The BMW crossed the line in 4th place. A strong result from what was one problematic weekend.

Sponsorship Opportunity
Anna has been offered a drive in British GTs driving a Dodge Viper and needs sponsors to compete in the championship, for more information about sponsorship packages email anna@annaracing.com

Top Drive for Walewska - Anna tests in British GT
Anna’s 3rd place finish in the first ever Britcar championship hasn’t gone unnoticed.

At the beginning of November Walewska was invited to test for Brookspeed International Motorsport at Silverstone in an awesome Dodge Viper V10 8.0ltr 750 bhp 200 + mph British GT race car.

Not forgetting the Dodge Viper won the 2007 British GT championship outright.

Walewska comments:
“I was excited to test the car which has triple the power of the BMW M3 I raced this year. British GT is a step up from Britcar and is championship I am seriously considering competing in next year”.

Testing alongside 2 exceptionally experienced GT drivers her professional conduct was admired and her speed on the track was more than impressive.

Martin, team principle commented:
“She handled the test exceptionally well considering the day was very cold and it was difficult to get any heat into the tyres, we were impressed with her times and focus on getting the best out of the test session. We would be delighted to have Anna drive for us next year”.

As a result Brookspeed Motorsport, based in Southampton, have offered Walewska a seat in 2008.

To date Anna has funded all her own racing; however, this exciting opportunity to advance her racing career will require sponsorship.

If you would like to brand your services or products by supporting a local, talented, marketable sports woman and benefit from the enjoyment and extensive exposure of sponsoring in Motorsport please contact Anna.

Anna finishes 3rd in Britcar Championship

Local race ace Anna Walewska claims a commendable championship 3rd place in the last championship round at Donington in her BMW M3.

After a challenging year Anna Walewska is delighted with her podium finish in the first ever 2007 Britcar championship.

All three cars prepared by Geoff Steel Racing managed to finish in the top 3 throughout the year with an outright championship victory for the stingray BMW showing the strength of the team. However it hasn’t been easy for Anna as she has struggled with funds compared to her team mates and has done no testing in the car before each race.

“It’s been one of those years where I have just had to turn up and race without any practice and development to the car which has made my championship hopes challenging”

“To Finish 3rd in the class 1 championship makes it extra special to me”.   

Qualifying at Donington Walewska and team mate Peter Heintzleman had only 20mins to test the rebuilt car from Spas incident in preparation for the 2 hour Britcar race.

They went out on second hand tyres but despite this the pair qualified in 5th place.

Anna comments: “I was happy with our 5th place as a 5th or higher finish in the race would secure my podium finish in the championship”.
 
Fighting for her championship 3rd position Anna put in consistent lap times and with her tenacity maintained position. She handed the car over to Heinzleman in 4th place with a comfortable cushion between her and the chasing car.

With a flawless pit stop the driver change over was quick and Heinzleman rejoined the race only 1 place down in 5th position. The team discovered that radio contact was lost so all communication had to be done on the pit board, Anna hoping nothing would go wrong with the car.

Walewska and her team celebrated on the pit wall as Heinzleman coasted over the finish line in 4th position having run out of fuel on the very last lap.

All in all it’s been a great season of racing and a fantastic result with limited funds.

Anna is now looking to step things up a gear and seeking sponsorship to challenge for the outright win in Britcar and to compete in British GTs in 2008.