Start your engines ladies, gents and everyone in between. If you remember a few months ago SW/S spoke to Lynne Jordan about her adventure into motorsport, through the Formula Woman competition. She was at the beginning of the journey then, but now, she’s filled her living room with a simulator, sat her first lot of exams at university, still working full time, oh I forgot to mention….
She’s only gone and got through to the final!
Yes, that’s right. Lynne competes this week to get into the next stage where they will go from the top 50 to 15: “I’m competing against women from Australia and Canada and then there’s wee me from Greenock.” If there is one thing that SW/S is determined to show it’s that no matter where you come from, the Scottish women taking part in sport, deserve a space on the stage just as much as anyone else.
Since we last spoke to Lynne, she has had a fitness assessment, and on-track assessments, including a karting assessment, a media assessment and a written assessment. The sessions took place at Knockhill Racing Circuit, near Fife, so Lynne was able to meet the competition.
This all took place at the beginning of November, it wasn’t until a few days before Christmas that Lynne got the call to say she had made it to the next round. She is only one of three Scottish finalists heading down south for the final.
“Since January I’ve been focussed on keeping my fitness up, but I’ve been learning about all the data from the car and the performance, I was at a technical data course, where we went out on the track and then came back and got to look back at all the data, which I’ve never learned about before. But it will be part of the final assessment so it’s great to learn about it rather than it just being something you hear them talking about.”
Another aspect of fitness that Lynne has been focused on throughout her journey was her metal wellbeing. We spoke about it quite a lot in our last interview and how important it was to her overall experience. She has been working with lifestyle coach, Marion Morrison. She founded Invincible Grit, to help other people with their self esteem, confidence and has helped Lynne in particular to get into that winners mindset. She went on to tell me a bit about why it’s so important to her to be focused on her mental health and Marion comes from Inverclyde as well so she is really happy that she can support a local business: “I’ve got a mind coach now, and we’ve been working over the past six weeks on an intense and serious course of mind training, and it’s been helping me everyday. I’ve been learning to bring my mind to a focussed state. I’m more aware of my thoughts and feelings now, so that I can have a bit more control over them and get into that winners mindset.”
Lynne mentions that her family are around her a lot as well. Her nephew often travels to Knockhill with her, she and her son both started university at the same time. The rest of her friends and family have been backing her from the beginning: “The whole community have been great, they’ve helped me with fundraising because the costs can really add up, the sponsors have stuck behind me as well, which is such a help. Local restaurants have donated vouchers to raffle off to raise some extra funds.”
Throughout January, she had been doing assessments for university but luckily exams have been passed and all finished off in time to get back to training for the final coming up this week. However, Lynne is also working as a healthcare support worker, when we were chatting, she was due in the vaccination centre the following day. I did ask her when she finds the time to eat and sleep, we had a good laugh over it. She assured me she does have the time but knows what her goals are and is willing to put in the graft: “It’s already paying off, I’m enjoying every minute of the experience and have such a blast, it’s not just about the final goal now. This whole thing has completely changed my life and even if I don’t make into the final 15, I’ll be a bit upset but as long as I put my all into it, I’ll come away, knowing that I did my best, and everything else is a bonus.”
When myself and Lynne first bonded over our love of all things motorsport, I was excited to find another female fan, so for her to be completely surrounded by loads of other women who are competing is wholly refreshing for her to be a part of, but for fans of the sport and for women of all ages and backgrounds it gives them hope that the barriers that were once there, won’t be anymore: “It’s a breathe of fresh air to be able to talk to women who understand about cars and motorsport and share that excitement. Even though we’re all competing against one another, its a really supportive environment.”
Taking on so much might seem daunting for a lot of people but as Lynne pointed out, she’s never had more energy. Having focused on her physical health, by eating well and getting out and exercising as well as the steps she’s taken to work on her mental wellbeing, has put her in a position that not many find themselves in: “I feel like I have more energy now, you don’t realise how much what you do can impact your body. I used to get really bad migraines but now they’ve gone away because I’m focused on doing the right thing for my body.”
Regardless of the outcome of this week, Lynne is hooked. Formula Woman have provided her with all the tools to keep going within the sport, even if it’s not to carry on that journey with them.
The final six will be driving the McLaren GT4 in the British Cup in April. Opportunities like this are encouraging more women into the sport and will help see them on the same big stages as their male competitors, things are getting better for women in motorsport but there is still a bit to go. The entire sport for Lynne has gone from being a passion to watch, to being able to sit behind that wheel, it’s a real life pinch me moment.
As much as Lynne has been focused on her own dreams and her future in motorsport, she’s taking it to the next level and thinking about the next generation of women in the sport: “I got in touch with Active Schools in Inverclyde and there is no opportunities around here for young people to get involved in motorsport. So I’m hoping to go round the schools to even have a chat to show that there are those opportunities out there, that it doesn’t matter where you’re from, just to follow your dreams. If I can inspire someone just to get involved and get more girls and women into the sport it will be worth it all, the more I shout about it and show people those chances are there, then the more likely people are to take it.”
Our fingers and toes and everything in between are crossed for Lynne to make it to the next step in the Formula Woman competition. Even if she doesn’t, she’s got a solid plan already in place for where her adventure in motorsports will take her. A true legend in the making. Lynne is someone that little girls will look up to and think yes she’s done it and so can I.
More information about motorsports in Scotland here and you can follow Lynne’s journey further on her social media @Lynne_jordan.racing on Instagram.
