WARRINGTON racer Daniella Sutton hopes to be in the seat and on the grid in the Formula 4 Championship this year.
The 15-year-old St Gregory’s High School student has put down firm foundations for this to happen, with the support she receives to play a crucial part in that being achieved.
She sees it as the next step in her dream being realised – becoming the UK’s first female Formula 1 driver.
Sutton, Total Karting Zero UK North champion 2022, continued to race with grit and determination through 2023, with highly competitive wheel-to-wheel racing at tracks across the country.
She finished the Daniel Ricciardo Series Championship in an epic battle and was seeded number four out of 34 drivers, of which only three were females.
The journey to reach that goal meant waking up at ‘stupid o’clock’ to drive to tracks in south and north Wales, Dorset, Northamptonshire, the Cotswolds and the nearest track at Ellesmere Port.
En-route, Team Sutton faced detours, major traffic and trailer collapse, after which they were rescued in the darkness and delivered to track in the early hours, just in time for race weekend.
The thrills of triumph and podium, the spills of mechanical failure, along with the joy of family, sponsors and partners joining the excitement trackside, all added to Sutton’s love of racing.
Proud to be awarded vice champion of the 2023 British Women’s Racing Drivers Club Kart Sport Championship, she is an advocate of women in motorsport and looks forward to attending the prestigious awards evening in February.
As well as being selected as a finalist in the Ginetta Scholarship 2023 from 70 up-and-coming racing drivers, Sutton was then invited to test with front running racing team, Fortec Motorsport in one of their Formula 4 cars at Snetterton Circuit.
She reached speeds of almost 150mph and was raced by a military Apache helicopter.
That day was a fantastic taste of what is to hopefully come in 2024.
The quest for title sponsors and keystone partners continues.
And importantly she has passed her ARDS and Advanved ARDS racing driver tests to hold the respective Motorsport UK racing driver licences, giving her the potential to compete in the Formula 4 Championship this year.
Echoing the words of one of Sutton’s idols, Ayrton Senna: “Pure driving, pure racing, that’s what makes me happy.”
If you are interested in sponsoring the teenage racer contact racing@daniellasuttonracing.com or call 07738 432352.
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