Teenage sisters Grace and Murron Parkington and 26-year old Isla MacKenzie will team up to compete in the HSCC Classic Formula Ford 1600 Championship this season in a three-car team.
The trio will race three pre-1981 Crossles from Ballpark Motorsport, the team headed by Ian Parkington, father of Grace and Murron who are currently 15 and 16-years old. The project is thought to be a first in the 57-year history of Formula Ford racing and is certainly a first for the Historic Sports Car Club’s Classic FF1600 category.
At 16, Grace has a slight advantage as she did a handful of races in Formula Ford last season to gain some vital early experience. Her younger sister Murron, who will not be 16 until April, has done some kart racing and is now ready to make the step up. As soon as she reaches her 16th birthday she will apply for her racing licence. Isla was originally from the Outer Hebrides and now works in Formula 1 and is eager to race after a successful first test.
The whole project will be managed by Ian Parkington who has extensive experience as both a racer and race engineer over more than two decades. The cars will be based at Ballpark Engineering in Lancashire.
Ian said: “I’m delighted that Grace and Murron want to go racing. It is a brilliant sport and it has given me so much pleasure and excitement over the years. All of the girls support the Women in Motorsport initiative and we hope to use the team as a platform to encourage more young females to consider motor sport, either as a hobby or as a full time career.”
The team will use three cars with famous histories: the Crossle 25F raced by Tiff Needell; the Crossle 32F raced by Eddie Irvine and the Crossle 40F raced by Julian Bailey.
The Classic FF1600 season starts at Snetterton in April and takes in six double-headers race meetings.