ZOE ZEROES IN ON ZANDVOORT

Zoë Wenham with her race coach Stefan Hodgetts and her new Polo. Photo: Image Vaults

The Volkswagen Racing Cup with Fuchs Lubricants is to gain its youngest-ever competitor later this month in Zoë Wenham, who will take to the track at Zandvoort on the 22nd for the championship's third and fourth rounds just 15 days after her 16th birthday.

Zoë, who passed her track licence test aged 13 and who has two seasons of saloon-racing experience under her belt already, will be hot-footing it to Zandvoort straight from the exam hall of Prince Henry High School in Evesham, where she will be sitting GCSEs the day before the Dutch meeting.

"We will be tearing straight down to Heathrow for a flight on the Friday evening," said Zoë, "and then it will be straight into qualifying at Zandvoort on Saturday morning. It's all going to be a bit hectic."

Wenham will race a 1.8-litre turbocharged Polo GTI prepared by KPM, the team headed by ex-Honda F1 technician Kevin Poole. "I've given the Polo a shakedown at Silverstone and I have a day planned at Rockingham, but other than that I have no experience of the car. It's going to be a big step up for me.".

Zoë has extensive karting experience and has raced for two years in the junior SaxMax series, finishing the championship ninth overall last year. She hopes to use her time in the Volkswagen Racing Cup as a launchpad to touring cars. "It's a great championship on a great package and the cars are all really nicely turned out. I'm looking forward to it immensely.

Zoë, who is coached by experienced saloon race Stefan Hodgetts, is the second female competitor in the championship this season, joining Golf GTI racer Anna Walewska on the grid. An impressive 24-car field is expected in the Netherlands for the first-ever Cup races held outside the UK.

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