Successful race debut for Shepherd Compello supported Formula Woman winners 

 

4th July 2022

 

Having started their motorsport journey a year ago - almost to the day - when contestants signed up for the Formula Woman competition to find the next female champion drivers, the four winners from an initial line-up of over 1000 entrants finally had the opportunity to realise their life-changing prize. 

 

Having been announced as the winners in March, Erika Hoffman (Canada), Jodi Sloss (Scotland), Anushriya Gulati (India) and Sara Misir (Jamaica), together with back up drivers Steph Sore (England) and Amy Riley (England) embarked on an intensive test programme to acclimatise themselves to the DTO Motorsport-run McLaren 570 GT4s they would be driving in this year’s GT Cup Championship.

 

Their first race of the season took place at Snetterton Circuit on 11th & 12th June, where the pre-event practice session went well, with Erika Hoffman and Jodie Sloss in the Trade Centre-sponsored car #64 and Sara Misir and Steph Sore in the Trade Centre Wales-sponsored car #65 quickly getting up to speed in readiness for their debut race meeting.

 

The weekend featured a qualifying session and two races on each day: a 25-minute sprint race and a 50-minute race endurance race that included a mid-distance pit stop. The two teams not only finished all four races but held their own against drivers with years – and in some cases decades - more experience under their belts.

 

Team quotes:

 

#64 Erika Hoffmann: "I’m really happy with my first ever race weekend. So many firsts ticked off! We really made progress throughout the two days and were able to reach the goals we set out to achieve. I can't say enough good things about DTO, the team and its supporting partners.”
 
#64 Jodie Sloss: “For the whole team the weekend was a huge positive when you see how much we all progressed as drivers. Being my first ever race meeting, despite the huge learning curves, I’m really impressed with how much I’ve taken in. I used this to my advantage, setting personal best times throughout the weekend. I have to say a huge thank you to the whole team for their endless support and encouragement.”

 

#65 Sara Misir: “I could not have asked for a better debut weekend. I improved on my personal best each time I went out and learnt so much. My coach was happy and so was my team. So that’s the mark of a successful weekend as far as I’m concerned!”
 
#65 Steph Sore: “I’m so proud of what I managed to achieve at my first race meeting. From the first time in the car on Friday, I managed to knock five-and-a-half seconds off my lap time and was super-consistent, which meant I was able to have some good battles in the races. None of this would have been possible for us if it wasn’t for the continued support from DTO Motorsport, the sponsors of the programme and the Formula Woman team. All of us drove amazingly and kept ticking the boxes towards our own personal goals.”
 
Graeme Glew, Founder and CEO of Formula Woman commented: “From arriving at Snetterton for Friday testing to the end of racing on Sunday, everything ran like clockwork. In every session, all four Formula Woman drivers improved their times to the point we were on the pace with the other GTH class drivers for the Sunday pitstop race. I’m incredibly proud of Erika, Sara, Jodie and Steph. They were the only novice drivers in the whole field, racing against pro drivers with years of experience, quite amazing. I’m very satisfied that we selected the best from the competition entry of 1000-plus. They can now call themselves ‘racing drivers’.”
 
ENDS