Female motor racer who won’t let wheelchair stop her racing Porsches

Nathalie McGloin is a racing driver with a twist. In 1999 at age 16 she was involved in a car crash leaving her paralysed from the chest down. However, she has never let her physical limitations stop her from doing what she loves and in 2015 she became the first woman with a spinal cord injury to be granted a race licence in the UK. Nathalie currently races Porsches against able-bodied men.
Having just completed an endurance race in which she finished 2nd in class, Nathalie is now looking forward to the start of her third season racing in the Porsche Club Championship which will commence in the spring of 2017.

During the off-season Nathalie is looking to practice at Silverstone using Goldtrack track days which operate during the pre-season and into the spring. “Having known Calum Lockie for a number of years, I decided I was ready to benefit from his advanced tuition ahead of my Oulton Park race this year. His instruction during my test day was invaluable. I have never managed to fully understand the art of trail-braking before but after half a day with Calum I understood what I had to do and by the end of the test day I felt I had really mastered the technique and the track at Oulton Park. I’m hoping that building on the techniques learnt from Calum the same can be achieved at Silverstone ahead of my third season of racing.”

The Porsche racer is very passionate about racing cars and loves the fact that Motorsport allows disabled drivers to compete on a level playing field against able-bodied competitors. “I leave my wheelchair in the pits,” explains Nathalie, “no one knows that I’m female or have a spinal injury when I’ve got my helmet on lining up on that grid, I’m just another driver.” She has even set up a non-profit company that allows other drivers in similar situations to experience track driving called Spinal Track. This is a track day experience in her hand controlled, track prepared Golf GTI.
The great thing about Spinal Track is these experiences are offered for free, funded and supported by companies like Goldtrack and Grand Prix Racewear. Spinal Track was only founded at the beginning of this year but it’s already generated interest and support from Williams F1 and Claire Williams has been to one of the events to have a look at the great opportunity it offers.

Nathalie is tenacious by nature and has high ambitions for her racing career. Having recently sampled the highs and lows of endurance racing, she has caught the endurance bug and is looking to compete in a 24 hour endurance race. “I love the team aspect of endurance racing. Everything you do during those hours on track has an effect on everyone back in your pit garage and your overall team result. It’s no longer about the fastest lap but it’s about doing what’s right for the team. I love the feeling and discipline involved with that. It makes the whole thing such a rewarding achievement!”
The story of a young 16 year old girl’s life being completely turned upside down by a car crash doesn’t usually lead to that same woman having the desire to race cars at high speeds around a race track, but Nathalie is a strong believer in ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’. An attitude that appeals to corporate companies for motivational speaking and more recently the FIA Women in Motorsport International Conference. Through Nathalie’s ambassadorial role for the MSA and Susie Wolff’s initiative Dare To Be Different, she was invited to speak in Portugal to the FIA about female and disabled drivers and discuss best practice for getting more to become involved with motorsports.

With a growing public profile, increasingly competitive race results, an expanding number of supporters and sponsors and an attitude of anything is possible, Nathalie McGloin is definitely one to look out for in 2017.
Witham Motorsport and Motul UK are proud to sponsor Nathalie and Calum Lockie.