University of Wolverhampton Racing Team's Jessica Hawkins hoping to inspire a new generation

The 28-year-old has become the team’s first female driver and will race the university’s Praga R1 car alongside Shane Kelly in the Britcar Prototype Cup.

UWR – based at the university’s Telford campus – are the only student racing team in the UK competing in professional motorsport events. And Hawkins – who has raced in W Series and the British Touring Car Championship, as well as being a stunt driver on the Bond film No Time To Die – is excited to get started with the team.

She said: “I’ve seen lots of stories about the university and the racing team over the years and it’s a great opportunity for me to work alongside the students.

“An exciting bonus for me is the impetus to get more females interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects.

“We’re also aiming to get more females into the sport and it’s something I’m really passionate about so I’m sure that this is the start of what will be a great relationship.

“I’ve been racing a long time and there are things I can pass down to the younger generation.

“I’m excited to start this journey with the students and am more than happy to get my hands dirty – even though I’m not an engineer, I’ve learned a lot over the years and it will be great for us all to grow together, and I know I’m going to learn things as well.”

UWR is made up of students undertaking a variety of degrees including motorsport, automotive, mechatronics, aerospace, manufacturing, mechanical and chemical engineering in the School of Engineering at the university’s Telford campus based in Priorslee.

Previous graduates have gone on to work in a variety of motorsport roles, including the Mercedes Formula One team, working on Lewis Hamilton’s world championship-winning car.

After being crowned Formula 3 Cup class champions in 2021, UWR competed in the Praga Cup for the first time last year – thanks to a £200,000 sponsorship for the new car from Highclear Investments – led by local businessman and philanthropist Walter Gleeson, co-founder of musicMagpie.

His driving ambition is to get more diversity into engineering and motorsport, especially women, as his daughter was the sole female student on a computer course at another university.

Gleeson said: “This sponsorship is primarily about promoting manufacturing and engineering jobs as viable career paths for all, but especially women and students from the BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) communities and I’m delighted that the team has appointed its first female racing driver.

“I’m really hoping that this continued investment will provide the necessary exposure to the range of courses available at the university while at the same time allowing us to give something back to the community.

“And I’m sure that Jessica will be a positive role-model for potential students looking to study engineering at the university.”

And new driver Hawkins is fully behind Gleeson’s vision.

“When I was growing up, it was a given that motorsport was a man’s world,” she said. “I started racing purely because I saw a kart circuit in the distance and I begged my dad to let me have a go and that was how it started.

“He probably wouldn’t have thought that was something I would be interested in which is also why I’m so passionate about helping females into motorsport.

“I do think there is still some stigma around it and some people still think it’s a man’s world, but we are slowly changing that idea.

“It needs to become more accessible and we need more female figureheads in motorsport for the younger generation to look up to.”

Dr Aman Dhir, head of the department of engineering, added: “The appointment of our first female driver will undoubtedly prove beneficial to increasing diversity on our engineering and manufacturing courses and the continued experience of engineering alongside professionals in the industry will further enhance the student experience to really prepare them for industry-standard careers in the future.”

Britcar Prototype Cup begins at Silverstone on March 25 and 26.