Driven to win – Chloe Stuart’s journey from a battery-operated car to the DOE Formula Vee

Image supplied. Revving to dominate on the racetrack is 14-year-old Chloe Stuart who thrived in karting and Formula M and recently joined the DOE Formula Vee.

The Grade 9 pupil said she can’t picture life without racing. “My favourite motorsport highlights are winning my first race, winning my first wet race, competing in my first night race and moving up from karting to the single-seaters in Formula M. Then, I went from winning my first Formula M race to winning the year championship,” said Stuart, a Northcliff, Johannesburg resident.

She then received an early dispensation, allowing her to race against adult competitors on the track for the first time in the Formula M Class B. She placed second in the year in that championship. “To progress my racing career, we needed to go from a club status to a regional/national series, and that’s when Formula Vee welcomed us,” she said.

Formula Vee began in the United States and has been in South Africa since 1965. It’s a single-class category meaning all the drivers have to run the same spec engine, gearbox, suspension layouts with minimal to almost no modifications allowed, creating a level playing field for every driver. It also enables drivers to compete on a national championship level.

The racing cars are based on Volkswagen components and race on Dunlop Direzza tyres, with a field of 15 to 30 cars. Dunlop is the official tyre partner of the DOE Formula Vee Partnered with CIM Lubricants.

The young driver said the speed and adrenaline she felt when behind the wheel had her hooked on motorsport. “I love flying around the apexes, the acceleration, the engine power and just the feeling I get from racing in general. The racetrack is my favourite place in the world. Racing is how I escape from reality, it’s my passion,” she said.

Which was not surprising when she said she aspired to be an international race car driver, possibly in Formula 1 in the single-seat category and counted Ferrari F1 driver Charles Leclerc as inspiration due to his driving skills and sportsmanship. However, it was her dad that’s her mentor.

“It’s impossible to describe how grateful I am to him. He’s been so supportive in my motorsport journey. It’s still rare to find young women in motor racing such as single-seaters, the VW Polo Cup or rally racing, but on a positive note there are now more girls in karting. I hope when little girls see their female role models in motorsport, it inspires them to follow their dreams,” she said.

Her routine for race preparation entailed working around the clock to ensure her car was in perfect spec for handling and performance. She worked on her fitness and strength training at the gym every week and practiced karate twice a week, where she holds a brown belt, to enhance her concentration, focus and reaction time.

With many titles already under the belt, and on the racetrack, Stuart was not standing idle.

She’s very proud of TC Racing, a motor racing team, which she founded with her teammate Tjaden Tromp. “We’ve worked so hard as drivers in training. We’ve overcome so much and have become an amazing team. Together, we are building our skills and soon we plan to dominate on the racetrack.”