Emily Linscott is one of the most prominent young female racing drivers in the United Kingdom. She started in karts in 2016 when she was 13 and made her car racing debut in arguably the toughest junior class in the world, the Ginetta Junior Championship in the UK in August 2017, exactly one year to the day of her first official MSA Kart race.
Emily spectacularly won back-to-back GT4 races at Brands Hatch (UK) in November 2019 prior to which she secured two 2nd place podium finishes in America racing a single seater race car for only the second time in her career. At the same time, setting her first single seater lap record at the NCM circuit in Kentucky; a lap record that still stands to this day.
Emily has now been shortlisted in the “Young Inspiration Award” category for defying the odds and pursuing her racing career without any support system in the USA, doing it all in the middle of a Global Pandemic and performing to an extremely high standard under such difficult circumstances. Linscott said, “I’m very proud to have been shortlisted for this award, I’m blown away by it actually. I hadn’t regarded what I’d done as inspirational, but I guess it is, I understand it now it’s been explained to me a little more. I’m very honoured.”
Emily, who is still on the other side of the Atlantic having completed her first full race season in America, was told the news last week by the awards people. ”I didn’t know what to say, which is quite unusual for me, I was so shocked but so happy too, how cool is that!”
She added, “this year has been a strange and difficult one everyone but when the President of the United States banned all flights from the UK and Europe into America, I was devastated, I honestly thought I’d not get to race at all this year! After missing the first three races at the circuit I own the lap record at, I felt awful, I wasn’t in a good place! But, with a lot of hard work from myself, my amazing mentor, Pippa Mann, and too many other fantastic people to mention, I eventually got the news I could fly to America as part of an Elite Athlete programme during lockdown. Two days after getting that text, I was on the plane. I knew it would be tough being away from my parents for four months, as I’d never been away from them for longer than a week before, but I had to follow my heart to further my racing career Stateside.”
Emily was able to make the trip to America during the COVID-19 Pandemic after missing the first round of the championship and is staying in Indianapolis, USA, until the end of her US race season in October. Linscott is planning her career path around the Road to Indy ladder in the US whilst keeping her options open for the FIA route to Formula 1. Emily is mentored and coached in the United States by British born Indy500 driver, Pippa Mann.
The Essex based pocket rocket finished her championship in 7th place overall, with some impressive stats such as a 3rd place podium finish at Sebring in Florida, 2 x fastest laps, 1 x pole position, 1 x new lap record and 5 x top five finishes, but being the perfectionist she is, she’s not happy.
Linscott adds, “I’m pleased with some of my performances especially since I’ve had a very limited time in the car and all but one of the tracks were new to me, so I guess I shouldn’t be too hard on myself. My final round at Sebring International was my best driving all season though, I changed a few important things about my preparation that really paid off for me, it helped me concentrate more on my driving and I produced three great performances. I’m ready for the next step in the US now, I’m testing in Texas soon with an F4 team and I’m working hard to find the partners and sponsorship deals to get back out here early next year for some proper testing”.
You can cast your vote via the website www.sportswomenoftheyear.co.uk where you will get the chance to vote for each of the three categories that are chosen by the public. You will find Emily on the second of the three voting pages.
