Abby Wingett Continues Women’s Motoring Heritage at Historic Winton
MEDIA RELEASE 19/4/2024
Presented by the Austin 7 Club Inc in association with HMRAV.
25th & 26th May 2024, Winton Motor Raceway, near Benalla
Major Sponsor: Shannons
Women have always had a hand in motoring since the late 1800s when Bertha Benz, alongside her husband Karl Benz, played a formative role in creating the automobile.
Australia pioneers like Florence Thomson (1905) and Alice Anderson (1919) came to prominence through their motoring endeavours, rally driver and women’s garage owner respectively.
That passion continues on in the handful of the talented and highly competitive female drivers at Historic Winton, with one such example being 23-year-old Abby Wingett of Box Hill South.
Few people eat, drink, sleep historic motorsport like Abby who will race a 1962 Elfin Formula Junior at Historic Winton on 25th and 26th May.
The software engineering student competes every two to three weeks with the ambitious goal of completing 19 race meets this year.
She’s been racing since she was 16 but the door of opportunity swung wide when she met historic racing legend Nigel Tait whilst working in her casual job at Repco.
“Nigel introduced me to his mate, Bill Hemming, who tried my skill out at Historic Winton over the past couple of years, by letting me drive his Clubman in the Regularity (time trial) events,” Abby said.
“Since Bill was happy with my results, this year, he’s asked me to race his 1962 Elfin in the Lb category which is racing that’s the ‘real deal’.
“The car is very difficult to drive with the engine needing to run at 4,000 revs per minute and up to be drivable,” she said. “I’m practising hard and am ready to go.
“It’s a privilege to be racing the car that’s raced in over 30 circuits worldwide.”
She said she was lucky to be mentored by historic race legends Bill Hemming and Nigel Tait with mechanic David Elliott.
Proving her dedication to motorsport, Abby owns three race cars – two 1999 Hyundai Excels and a 1971 Mini Cooper.
As well as building her experience in historic and Hyundai Excel races, she works on these cars herself plus her daily drive, a Holden Commodore VE Ute.
With a continual love of motorsport and how cars work, Abby’s enthusiasm and talent makes her one to watch at Historic Winton.
Photo: Ken Gutteridge
Discounted online tickets and bookings for camping are available HERE.
LINK to Historic Winton video: https://youtu.be/tvg4-39dZmY
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Photo courtesy of Peter Knights.
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