22 year old Nicole Drought is the First ever woman to become a nominee for Motorsport Ireland /Sport Ireland Young Driver Award and the first to win in the Irish Touring Car Championship What inspired you to pursue a career in motorsport? My father rallied and raced for years and I was his biggest fan. Even as a young girl, my dream was to become a professional race driver! What was your first memory of motorsport racing? Dad coming home with a new rally car and discovering that it was not eligible for the events he wanted to enter- so we brought it out testing anyway! When he was actually competing in a rally, my “job” was to wash the car when it came back to service during the event- a task I took very seriously! Did you face any difficulties getting into the sport and if so how did you overcome them? Motor racing is an expensive sport and initially I had to save for a long time to buy my first car. In recent times, I have been lucky enough to enjoy commercial backing which takes the pressure off and allows me to concentrate on my driving. In 2016 for example, Gem Oils, IT Monkey and Stapleton’s Bakery all backed my ITCC campaign. Who is your favourite driver of all time? It would have to be Ayrton Senna. Have you ever found being a woman in motorsport to be an issue? Well there are not too many of us competing and any issues that might arise can be balanced against the promotional gains and subsequent commercial backing. What advice would you give an aspiring female driver? That’s easy- go for it! Get good management and push for backing as soon as possible. What was it like becoming the first women to be nominated for the Motorsport Ireland/Irish Sports Council Young Year Award? It was incredible- and completely unexpected. On reflection, it made me take the sport a lot more seriously. It is great that Motorsport Ireland and Sport Ireland recognise the best young drivers in the country and give them backing- both financial and in terms of personal fitness etc Who has been your biggest inspiration throughout your career so far? Probably my manager Leo Nulty. He has helped me with driver training and managed all of my commercial deals and PR. Whom do you...