Ruth Senior, a 19 year-old girl from Wymondham, Norfolk, has one ambition in life – to be a professional racing driver.

Since the age of twelve, she has been climbing rung by rung up the ladder in this male-dominated sport. Following the traditional route, she did three years of karting. She then took the step up to cars at the age of fifteen after winning the Building Environmental Services T-Cars Scholarship. Three years on and she’s now taking on the challenge of the UK’s premier Formula Ford championship, racing at major tracks all around the country in this televised series, including Brands Hatch, Silverstone, and more locally, Snetterton.

Her choice of car for this prestigious series is the Spirit WL06 from Snetterton-based manufacturer Spirit Racing Cars. “Spirit Racing are a local team and we know the support they will give us is second to none. We value their expertise highly,” says Ruth’s father David.

The requirement for supreme fitness for motor racing dovetails neatly with her love of athletics. With dedication and hard work, she excels in this sport as well. This year already she has won the Norfolk, Norfolk Schools and Anglian Schools cross country championships, and taken the silver medal at the AAA indoor U20 championships over 1500m. This follows on from the two national medals she won on the track last summer - 2nd at the AAA U20’s in the 3000m steeplechase and 3rd over 3000m at the English Schools Championships. She is also Norfolk County champion at 800m, 1500m and 5000m.

With all this sporting success, it would come as no surprise if her academic studies lagged behind, but this is far from the case. In 2004, whilst undertaking a full programme of motor racing and athletics, she sat 11 GCSEs, and gained her school ‘Governors’ Award’ for her outstanding results. She is currently in the 2nd year of the 6th form at Wymondham High School, studying for 5 A-levels, and plans to study Sport and Exercise Science at Loughborough University from October.

Other activities have had to take a back seat. Ruth plays the flute, and passed her grade eight exam in December, but doesn’t find the time to play regularly any more.

Her family background is one of engineering and motorsport - a great mix for a budding racing driver. Her father, David, worked at Aston Martin and March Grand Prix as a designer before spending eleven years at Team Lotus and Lotus Engineering. He is now a director of DSN Classics Ltd, Mini and Morris Minor parts specialists based in Attleborough. Her grandfather, Arthur Senior, achieved considerable success in the '50s and '60s competing in most of the major rallies, and is still competing in historic rallies today.