Motorsport: Meet one of kart racing's young guns

Chelsea Herbert is an emerging talent who says Formula One is her long-term goal.

Ambitious young woman brushes aside the sexist comments she receives

She's 15, she's from Albany and her dream is to race in Formula One.

Chelsea Herbert is one of the "young guns" of Kiwi motorsport unveiled at the CRC Speedshow in Auckland.

The impressive line-up of racers aged 26 and under include those doing the business overseas, others making a mark in domestic championships and juniors starting to attack the racing landscape.

The emerging talent includes motorcycle riders, circuit and speedway racers, drag racers, off-roaders, karters, rally drivers and drifters. Probably the most pleasing aspect was seeing the number of young women getting involved in motorsport - there are four in the list at right.

Chelsea is an up-and-coming karter who's about to try midget speedway racing.
"It's definitely not the end of my karting career as I still want to win a national title. The best finish I've had is second," she said.

"Speedway racer Matt Thompson asked me if I wanted to race his car and I couldn't pass on such a great opportunity.

"I was talking to people at the Speedshow and they said a lot of tarmac racers have done some speedway to help them develop better car control. I think it will be a good experience for me.

"But my dream is to race in Formula One, and if I can't get there I'll be happy to race single-seaters as a professional racer."

Herbert told how, as a toddler, she would knock on her dad's bedroom door in the middle of the night to get him up so they could watch IndyCar, Formula One and other series. It's doubtful Mark Herbert ever minded the early morning wake-up calls - he's been involved in racing as a fabricator and racecar builder.

"I used to watch Danica Patrick racing IndyCar and thinking, 'I can do that'. I remember when my dad asked my older brother if he wanted to go racing and I said I wanted to.
"He said I had to wait for a year, so I didn't start until I was seven.

"I can remember my first accident when I pushed too hard and spun off. I just had a bit of a giggle and then carried on," she said.

Herbert has broken bones and reckons her worst injury came from the most innocuous accident.

"I spun off and crashed into a really small tree and broke my wrist. I thought I could just bandage it up and carry on but when my dad saw it, it was at a funny angle and we had to go to hospital."

From the start Herbert has had to endure snide remarks and racing "incidents" because she's competing in a sport some still think is the domain of males. But all the rumblings and mumblings appear to have done to the 15-year-old is to make her more determined.
"The putdown comments only drive me to be better and prove them all wrong. It started back in junior karting when some of the dads would tell their sons off for being beaten by a girl.

"Some of them still try and hit me off, so you have to feed them a wheel back, to let them know not to try that sort of stuff," she said.

Her team is aiming to have her racing on the speedway in November.

The Young Guns
Avalon Biddle, 21, Orewamotorcycle road racing
Taine Carrington, 16, Auckland off-road racing
Caleb Cross, 13, Christchurch karting
Dyson Delahunty, 14, Papamoa off-road racing
Mitch Evans, 20, Auckland circuit racing
Chelsea Herbert, 15, Aucklandkarting
Ben Hunt, 25, Nelson rallying
Jamie Larsen, 21, Paraparaumuspeedway
Kayne Lamont, 21, Mangakinomotocross
Matthew Leversedge, 17, Christchurch speedway
Scott McLaughlin, 21, Melbourne circuit racing
Monique McMillin, 25, Hamilton drag racing
Daniel Mettam, 18, Auckland motorcycle road racing
Richard Moore, 22, Auckland circuit racing
Bailie Perriton, 16, Ashburtonmotorcycle road racing
Jodie Verhulst, 26, Tauranga drifting
Mike Young, 22, Opotikirallying