If you want to learn to swim, start at the deep end. And that's exactly how dedicated 21-year-old Andrea Bate is tackling her motorsport career.
Beginning in 2009 with an initiation in the Western Cape's GTi Challenge, she was rewarded with the Rookie of the Year trophy, as well as a second in class C and fifth overall. She then took a deep breath, dived in and has spent the 2010 season competing in the national Goldwagen Challenge.
Although similarly Volkswagen-based, there are differences in the rules of the two disciplines. The long established Goldwagen Challenge continues to gain in popularity and is attracting an average entry of 44 cars per meeting.
Of course “national” presents a challenge of its own. The circuits are spread around South Africa, although Bate was able to leave her weapons with family in Johannesburg when Gauteng meetings followed one another. For the rest it meant trailering the race car - and a supply of spares - to the venue.
Once there, with the exception of Killarney, here home circuit, it was a whole new world. Circuits had to be learnt - and learnt quickly. Kyalami provided her first up and down experience. Phakisa is bumpy but wide enough to make it difficult to protect a defensive line. Zwartkop was formerly a drive-in theatre while East London remains a true driver's circuit. And so it went on.
Nearly all the opposition were experienced drivers, familiar with the circuit layouts. Some of them also had fixed ideas about the merits of women racers and Bate soon found she had to fend for herself.
First, realising the value of reliability, although help was invariably available, she became adept at maintenance and setting up the car for the various circuits. The result was that although the scars were often visible - she lost a front bumper during one skirmish - she still finished all 18 races in the title chase.
During that period her quickest qualifying time (in class B) placed her third on the grid. Her best individual race, as well as overall result, was fourth. She also scored a first in the Index of Performance category on one occasion. But the best was reserved for last when she received the Driver of the Day award at Kyalami.
And there is more to Bate's life than just motor racing. Tennis was her first sporting interest and she represented Western Province at junior level from Under-10 to Under-18. She has a full-time job at her father's business and has just completed a criminology degree through Unisa. With the aim of specialising in forensics.
And in case you've missed her so far, she'll be in action at Killarney again in the final meeting of the year on December 4. - Argus Motoring