Women in Motorsport shine at the first ever Dublin City University (DCU) Intervarsity Female Karting Open event

The students in DCU’s Karting Society held the inaugural Women’s All-Ireland Intervarsity Karting Open on Tuesday February 18th. The event, which featured female students from over six universities, was held at White River Karting in County Louth, and supported by SSI and Motorsport Ireland. The day was hailed as a great success, not only by Motorsport Ireland’s Women in Motorsport Commission but also by the managers of the track and the participants themselves.

Over 34 female drivers participated, with each of them getting three heats and a final, allowing everyone to get equal track time and the ability to race against others at the same skill level in their respective finals.

Ellen Donnelly of SETU Waterford came out on top at the end of the day, winning the A final, with Lucy Fox of University Limerick coming in second place, and Caitlin Kearns of Dublin City University finishing in third.

The managers of the track had a surprise in store for the participants of the day, as Lucy Fox got an opportunity as the highest-finishing non-regular racer to run a few test laps in a Tillotson T4 kart, a run that was met with great excitement and applause by the onlooking crowd.

Representatives from Motorsport Ireland were Women in Motorsport Commission Member & Secretary Noelle Horan and Sports Development Officer Kelsey Kirby, as well as Formula Women Global Nations Cup racing driver Hanna Celsie, who were all in attendance all day, talking to everyone, answering questions and informing the drivers on their next steps to get into motorsport in the future.

DCU Karting hope to run this event every year with even more colleges and participants in the next few years.

Article by Ross Flanagan, DCU.