It’s astonishing to meet a 16-year-old championing the motorsport pitches and dizzy heights like a pro. The girl from East Kilbride is making F4 motor racing history. She is none other than Logan Hannah who became famous when she got the tag of the first female to compete at the F4UAE championship.
So how did this teenager (unfit to drive on roads due to legal age) decide to be a racing driver? Let’s find out:
- Hannah’s passion for racing cars began when her dad, Graeme, was racing in the Radical Middle East championship, the Middle East’s most successful one. Fascinated by the cars and tracks, Hannah would pester him to take her with him. Bitten by the racing bug, she managed to convince him and started off from a karting competitive karting. In 2013, she entered her first race at Dubai Kartdrome.
- She was brilliant at her job and scored enough points that year to qualify for the UAE in the SWS World Junior Cup Karting Finals at Le Mans in France. That was followed by competing in the UAE’s Rotax Max Challenge, driving for the Sodi Middle East team.
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- The Scottish teenager is making a mark in a sector, which is traditionally men-dominated space. In January 2016, she was selected to join the Young Racing Driver’s Academy (YRDA) which was a huge accomplishment for any racer in only their second season of racing.
- Hannah now lives in Glasgow in Scotland. After spending a decade in Dubai, she left her father there who works in Abu Dhabi as a manager for Emirates Global Aluminium.
- The racer lifted third place overall in the Al Ain Raceway Challenge Trophy, being signed to the Arden Young Racing Driver Academy, reaching the Finals of the Ginetta Junior Scholarship competition and winning the 2016 Karting Magazine Female Driver of the Year award.
- Hannah’s first outing at Yas Marina’s Grand Prix circuit was a memorable one. She experienced a Formula 4 car for the first time.
She was quoted by The National.ae “It went as well as could be expected. It was my first time on that track. I’d driven it on simulators, so I knew which way the track went and what gears to select when going into the corners. But it’s totally different when you’re doing it for real, dealing with the g-forces, the wind and the heat. After driving that car, though, it’s just made me want to do this even more.”
- In 2017, she progressed towards a new route -- entering “formula” racing via F4 – the next step for any successful kart racer.
- The racer has every intention of becoming an IndyCar or F1 driver.
Speaking to BBC Scotland, she said: "I hope to get to a certain level to be viewed not only as a female driver but a driver itself."
"For me, it's just to be able to make my name and inspire younger girl into the sport and really get us ladies taken seriously. In four years time, I'd like to be racing professionally and not to have to worry about an office job."
- The aspirant driver aims to be a role model for girls one day but is now focused on passing her driving test.
Amazing work, Logan!
READ: Changemakers? Young Girls Lead The Way
READ: Special Feature: Meet India’s women motorsport champs
Also Read: Speed Sisters: meet the Middle East’s female car-racing team
Feature image credit: The National
Read More Stories By Ria Das
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