“Ella was maybe eight or nine and about this big. Stevens has been karting most of her life (Photo: ) She had her own all-female kart team in the now defunct Bernie Ecclestone/Lewis Hamilton-sponsored Formula Kart Stars series, and was looking for talent. She first spotted Ella while working as a coach at Whilton Mill kart track in Daventry. Powell, a talented racer all too familiar with the obstacles facing young women in a patriarchal sport, remains a key part of Ella’s support team.
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The W Series, which launched last year as the first and only single-seater series for women, is also in discussions with Ferrari to offer successful graduates from Maranello a place on their grid. The three-stage audition begins in France in October. Two successful girls from around the world aged 12-16 will be selected from a test panel of 20 to undertake a four-year programme with a view to competing for the celebrated Italian marque, first in the FIA Formula 4 Championship and ultimately in F1.
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Ella is one of two British youngsters selected by world motorsport’s governing body, the FIA, from their Girls on Track Rising Stars programme to audition to become a part of Ferrari’s prestigious driver academy. She nods with a look that would cut a diamond in half. I can hear the other dads saying don’t let that girl beat you.’”
She said ‘I can hear what they are saying about me. One of the things that really inspired us was a story Ella told us when we asked her what it was that really got her energised on the grid. It began with nothing more than using our black book to help with sponsorship, some mentoring on the technical side and see where it goes. I emailed Alice and said I hear you two guys are doing something together, Rob and I may be able to help. “Rob and I had this idea about giving something back,“ Sidhu said. Who better with whom to connect than a talented girl from an ordinary background smashing through motor racing’s gender/class barriers? Electroheads is attacking the future on myriad hi-tech fronts, one of which is motorsport with a junior karting series premised on affordable grassroots development and educational attainment. The right support, in Ella’s case, means connectivity and guidance under the Electroheads banner, an organisation launched by Smedley, who spent his career as an engineer at Jordan, Ferrari and Williams, and Nav Sidhu, a PR consultant with deep F1 roots. She is just a natural talent who can go all the way, providing she gets the right support,” said former Ferrari racing engineer Rob Smedley. Where she positions the car, she gets two, three, four moves ahead of everyone else. “When we first started to watch Ella, watched her out on the circuit, you could tell she knows exactly what she is doing.
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