Breaking down the barriers to access Motorsports
One thing I have always wanted to do and dreamed of was being a racing driver and after being turned down at various go karting tracks across Scotland due to my disabilities I always thought that this would never be possible. That was until a wet and cold day in October 2022 when I met an amazing guy called Colin.
Colin runs the charity Disability Motorsports Scotland and we were introduced through the BBC programme Scotland’s People when I was recognised for all of my fundraising for local charities. On this particular day I thought I was just meeting up with my wheelchair racing coach John and the team from Red Star Athletics for some training at Knockhill Karting track when I was surprised by Jackie Bird and taken to the actual Knockhill Racing Circuit for a surprise…
The next thing I knew an Audi sped along the straight and pulled up beside me and Colin opened the door, got out of the driver’s seat and into his wheelchair. I couldn’t believe my eyes, all of this time I thought that this was impossible and here was Colin proving me wrong and then he asked if I was up for a bit of speed? And that was that, Colin offered to enrol me on their motorsports pathway to become a racing driver and to become the next disability motorsports coach and since that moment there was no turning back as I was hooked.
Some people may already know that motorsports is extremely hard to get into due to the costs, but if you have a disability it becomes even harder and living on an island.. well that’s another factor. How had I never heard of Disability Motorsport Scotland? The charity provides an exciting opportunity for everyone no matter their ability: the incredible experience of driving a race car. Ever since the day that I met Colin we have been in regular contact, meeting up and discussing how we can make this sport even more accessible and, more importantly, how to spread the word that Motorsports can be much more accessible than people realise.
But, living in Scotland, never mind living on an island, creates challenges for getting involved or even started in motorsports. Having a disability denied me the chance to experience go karting first hand and there is no where in Scotland which has karts with hand controls ready to use. This is something Disability Motorsports Scotland is trying to tackle, as not only do they have a motorsports car which is fully adapted but they also have a twin-engined kart and are currently looking for a track where they can keep and use it.
Even when a track has been found for go-karting, for a lot of people the distance and cost to travel will still cause a barrier to get into the sport and to help with this I am currently working with Colin and the team at Disability Motorsport Scotland to put together a Scottish E-Racing team, to create a platform to bring together disabled sim racing drivers to compete on virtual tracks and I can’t wait to share this opportunity with everyone!
The Hauxwells 