LeeM Posted 12May, 2018 Report Share Posted 12May, 2018 I've been saying this girl is a great driver, and after qualifying 4th, she proved it today by getting a 2nd at Sandown in the GT3 Cup @ Shannons Nationals ?? I believe she actually passed the leader only to come up short later on, yet when you think this kid has only driven the Wall Racing cup car a few times after a lengthy sabbatical away from racing due to lack of funding, you have to be impressed! Rock on Chelsea!! More racing tomorrow from 9am Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 12May, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 12May, 2018 It' being live streamed from 8.30am Melbourne time if anyone is interested Go to the Shannons nationals website for a link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 13May, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 13May, 2018 Update (my words, not an official press release) After a great 2nd place podium on Saturday at Sandown, this meant a front row start for Chelsea on Sunday for race 2. Another great start had her and the leader start to pull away from the rest of the pack, only to have a safety car deployed after a small incident with some drivers mid pack. The rolling restart had the leader start to pull away, yet Chelsea got stuck in and went after him with some great speed up the back straight and catching him just before the tricky, and fast set of bends that lay ahead. Unfortunately, being a little off line had her touch the kerbing at the entry to the esses a little too hard putting her into a spin and into the armco pretty hard, which damaged the Wall Racing GT3 too much to end her weekend of racing. Bummer! Personally, I reckon she was on for a win, as she just looked fast, yet it's just a matter of time before she tops the podium. Next round of the Shannons nationals is at Philip Island in 3 weeks time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddahaydn Posted 16May, 2018 Report Share Posted 16May, 2018 I’ve been following her progress on instagram, she started the weekend well. Shame about the outcome but that’s racing. She’s only going to get better! jaie Robson is another young talent to watch. Shame he’s not racing Porsche’s! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiller Posted 16May, 2018 Report Share Posted 16May, 2018 I was surprised by how good she is, don’t mean that in a sexist way but you don’t expext to see a young female battling it out for wins in a hot competition like cup challenge. She’s obviously got runs on the board as a junior and real talent. Great to see, hope she makes it to Carrera Cup (she undoubtedly will) and can carry on with some success there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 16May, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 16May, 2018 I too hate to focus on the fact she is a female, yet when lesser male drivers are handed opportunities because they have the financial backing to pay their way into a good car/team, it gives me the shits. Sadly, any female driver seems to have to prove herself a helluva lot more than a male does (Simone de Silvestro, Renee Gracie included), yet having the opportunity with Wall Racing in last year's Carrera Cup winning car kinda says 'Ok, here's a bloody good car in a good team, show us what you can do' and she's doing it. Qualifying 4th with some good talent behind her, then the 2nd place she got on Saturday (not televised) was fought for, not handed to her, and anyone who watched race 2 on Sunday live stream will know she was up for another podium, probably a win in my opinion, as her and the leader were pulling away very quickly from everyone else. Yeah she crashed, but if you'd seen how quickly she was catching the leader after he got a jump after a safety car, she was definitely quicker into the eases which put her offline and touched the kerb too hard then over corrected. Probably a rookie mistake, yet at least she was pushing hard. Wall Racing were impressed with her, so that's a big wrap. Spose I just like to support the underdog, yet Chelsea really does have the opportunity to be successul in motorsport if she continues to be in a decent team with good equipment, and I for one hope she gets to Carrera Cup here then overseas. I watched some community tv show with her being interviewed, and she said she loves the Porsche, so she is broadening her horizons to overseas instead of just the bloody V8's (I really hope she doesn't get stuck here racing) yet without the financial backing, she will end up being a spectator again like Renee Gracie is now, which would be a sad scenario. The next round is at Philip Island which is a helluva test for anyone, and if you're quick there, you're probably quick everywhere (that track scared the crap outta me at first on a bike), so let's hope she puts Sandown behind her and gets on the podium again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiller Posted 17May, 2018 Report Share Posted 17May, 2018 Well said @LeeM. I was going to say, hopefully she has her sights set on bigger and better things than V8SC. If she loves the Porsche, cool! A lot of young up and comers probably just see racing cup cars as a tool to get to the next step (usually supercars). Matt campbell has shown how far you can go via Porsche so let’s hope some other Aussie youngsters can follow in his footsteps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 17May, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 17May, 2018 Yeah mate. Some think racing a Porsche here is a step back, yet that is a worldwide series, unlike the Commodore cup! I know Porsche Europe are watching her with interest already (probably due to Matt Campbell being friends with her) and she is one of the Aussie Porsche juniors, so if she keeps her nose clean and gets some consistent results, who knows where she will end up? I know we're all Porsche people here, and that's all that really interests me with motorsport, yet being stuck in the V8SC series or the V8 feeder class would be a step backwards I reckon. She's good in open wheelers too, as she tested in Malaysia last year (Forumla Renault possibly?) and was immediately quicker than the regular driver having never seeing the track or driven the car before, but she couldn't raise the cash to get the drive. Shame, as that may have leap frogged her to Europe or the US a bit quicker. She just needs a big dollar sponsor to get her a test in a good car in Europe, hopefully a Porsche Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MFX Posted 17May, 2018 Report Share Posted 17May, 2018 22 hours ago, LeeM said: I too hate to focus on the fact she is a female, yet when lesser male drivers are handed opportunities because they have the financial backing to pay their way into a good car/team, it gives me the shits. I don't closely follow the Carrera Cup, but if I was a company looking to get a driver into a series like this, all things being even, I would pick the young attractive female driver every time. If she is at least as good as her male counterparts it is a much better marketing situation. On a different level, years ago when I had a body kit company, we leapt to sponsor Kat Coleiro "Drift Cat" in the Drift Australia series. She was very good, but not generally one of the top 3 or 4, but still got heaps of coverage for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 17May, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 17May, 2018 That's it Jeff. It shouldn't be how attractive one is to get them ahead in their chosen field, be it motorsport or a CEO of a company, yet it's par for the course that 'sex sells' so she may as well cash in on it whilst she can. If I was running a company that wanted some worldwide exposure, I'd be sponsoring her for sure. Renee Gracie had 2 years in Carrera Cup, and the second year she started getting some half decent results, yet ofcourse a couple of well known old touring car drivers got her into the V8 feeder class which I think was her undoing, as she was running at the back a fair bit, and Chelsea out qualified her and beat her ontrack when she had one or two drives with Damien Whites team. Sad, as Renee had potential in the Cup car, yet from what I've seen on her Instagram page (she's not hard to look at too) I don't think she misses racing much. Maybe there were other factors involved, yet I personally think Chelsea is the better driver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiller Posted 20May, 2018 Report Share Posted 20May, 2018 Agree Lee, Gracie was starting to impress in Carrera Cup when she left (also agree she’s not hard on the eye!) for b grade touring cars, although she seemed to get herself into trouble and often had to do it the hard way. Angelo seems to have a bit more natural talent and speed. Not sure why Gracie isn’t racing anymore but I suspect there is some personal stuff going on there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 2June, 2018 Author Report Share Posted 2June, 2018 Chelsea qualified P6 and fought through to P3 at Philip Island ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reddahaydn Posted 10June, 2018 Report Share Posted 10June, 2018 So she gained more spots than Dan did from 6th! Good on her Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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