TWO talented Border female drivers line up on the grid for the popular Valvoline Winton 300 endurance race this weekend.
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Katilyn Hawkins will share a Suzuki Swift with Winton Raceway operations manager Wayne Williams, while Hayley Swanson will team up with her father, Walter, in a V8-powered Subaru WRX.
For Hawkins, it will be her Winton 300 debut, but the former go-kart competitor has plenty of racing miles under her belt, including a strong showing in the Winton Sprint Series where she finished second overall in the Ladies Class last year.
“I’ve watched the Winton 300 since it started in 2011, and I’ve seen it grow into a really successful event so I’m really looking forward to competing in it,” Hawkins, 21, said.
“Because it’s only my first time racing in the 300, I’m aiming to finish without any mechanical problems and hopefully Wayne and I can score a podium in our class.
“We know the Swift is not the fastest car in the race but it should be reliable.”
Swanson’s career path has some similarities to Hawkins’.
She competed in the Winton Sprint Series before stepping up to the Victorian Super TT Championship in her WRX.
From there, she progressed to the Aussie Racing Cars in 2011, racing at circuits all over Australia alongside the V8 Supercars Championship.
In 2012 she stepped up to the V8 Ute Racing Series which she contested for a season before returning to state Super TT competition in 2013.
“I really enjoy these club-level events and I love racing at Winton, it’s my home track,” Swanson, 27, said.
“In some of those higher-profile national categories, the pressure and weight of expectation is a lot higher, where events like the Winton 300 are a lot more relaxed and friendly.”
Swanson contested the Winton 300 with her dad last year – they were running competitively until retiring just after the half-way mark with a broken rear axle.
“In these endurance events, you can’t just drive flat out like you would in a sprint race; you have to sustain the car over a much longer distance,” Swanson said.
“Hopefully the car holds together and we can go all the way this year.”
Since its inception in 2011, the Winton 300 has become one of the top club-level endurance car racing in Australia, attracting a wide variety of vehicles.
The winners for the Winton 300, which first started in 2011, will be awarded the perpetual Michael J. Ronke Memorial Trophy.
Practice and qualifying will be held on Saturday, followed by the race on Sunday.
