Vicki Kemp is a blond bombshell, no question. But it’s not her looks that are turning heads - it’s her speed and phenomenal success on South Africa’s motor racing circuits.
The 19-year-old from Port Elizabeth competes in South Africa’s premier single-seater racing class - Formula Volkswagen.
The second round of the 2011 WesBank Super Series, run at the weekend at Cape Town’s Killarney circuit, was only the second time Kemp had driven at this circuit, which she says is one of her favourites, her second outing in the notoriously tricky FVW - and the first time she had driven a single-seater in the wet, when the rain came down during practice.
Luckily the weather cleared for race day and Kemp had two trouble-free runs; she finished sixth in Race 1 and eighth in Race 2 to end up sixth overall for the day, with a best lap of 1min14.837.
Kemp already has national colours for motorsport in motor racing. She was the first girl to win the SA Karting championship and the only one to have qualified in the CIK KF2 World Championships in Conca, Italy, in September 2007.
In 2010 she competed in arguably the world’s most macho motorsport discipline - V8 Supercars (520kW of ear-splitting Detroit attitude in a tubular-steel frame under a fibreglass replica body - it’s not for sissies) but, due to the enormous costs of running the V8 monsters she has entered the FVW series in 2011.
Motor racing is a male-dominated sport, and has no female divisions, so women compete on equal terms with men.
But this feisty young lady has achieved success in this macho world and gained the respect of her peers.
She said: “It wasn’t easy because of their egos. But I’ve been doing this since I was 10. It takes hard work, determination and discipline.”
She got into the sport after tagging along to the track with her father, Eugene Kemp.
“I nagged my father to let me take up karting and eventually he agreed. Now I’ve been in the sport half my life.”
In 2010 Last year she was selected from 900 applicants internationally to attend a leading motor racing academy, the Ron Sutton Academy in California, where she gained valuable experience.
“It was awesome. I really learnt a lot. I got a taste of what racing is like overseas. It’s one of my goals to compete overseas, all I need is the right sponsorship.”
The business management student admits even though she is a speed demon on the circuit she is safety conscious on the roads and “drives like a granny”.
She says she has always been a bit of an adrenalin junkie. She loved her bungee-jumping experience at Bloukrans but says it wasnothing compared to clocking 280-300km/h down the mineshaft at Kyalami in V8 Supercar racing.
“I still have a coupon to go sky diving. I’m looking forward to that.”
Kemp has a gruelling schedule as she divides her time between racing and study. She also goes to gym twice a day to maintain her strength and fitness.
“I have a personal trainer to build strength in certain muscles in order to drive and handle my car properly,” said Kemp.
She said that even though she competed in a male-dominated sport and held her own on the track, it was important for her to maintain her femininity. “I want to be a role model for other young women.”