The 12 days of StreetCar: celebrating women in motorsport 

With numerous programmes celebrating women in motorsport here at Motorsport UK, March saw StreetCar catch up with Katie Smith, who started off marshalling at the Hughes Rally with her grandad during primary school. From there she was hooked, she had the motorsport bug and her passion for cars continued to grow, all leading up to her first Autotest at Maidstone & Mid Kent Motor Club at age 14. 

Through StreetCar, she has continued to develop her skills year on year and even sees great success with running and maintaining her own competition cars. She started in her dad’s 1991 Mini Cooper, but fast-forward to now and she finds herself competing in a number of different vehicles including a 1989 VW Polo, a 2002 Ford KA and a KA Sport. 

The closest she has come to Autotest glory came at the Ashford Cattlemarket AutoSOLO, all day she was looking favourite to take top spot, until in the last minute she clipped a cone and just missed out. She has not let this small slip up affect her and continues to flourish in StreetCar competition. When the 2023 season came to a close, the recognition for all of her hard work materialised at the MMKMC awards night where she was presented with the Mike Jordan trophy for the most improved driver. 

Competing in StreetCar has been a great starting point in Katie’s motorsport career. Progressing through the ranks and building up both the skill and confidence, she is now motivated to start competing in Stage Rallies in the future. 

Looking to get your motorsport journey underway and follow in Katie’s footsteps? Submit your ‘get started’ form here.