Morris races off with female driver of the year award
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ASHLEIGH Morris has taken on the mantle of the queen of Scottish motor racing after being named the top female driver in the country.
The Reay racer picked up the Female Driver of the Year at the Scottish Motor Racing Club (SMRC) awards in Edinburgh.
It followed her finishing a career best eighth in the Scottish BMW Compact Cup which is held between April and October.
There was also success for her father Cammy Morris who received the Mechanics Award for turning out the best prepared BMW during the 2016 season.
Miss Morris said she was shocked but thrilled to get the recognition.
“I was quite surprised to receive the award,” said the Dounreay health physics surveyor.
“I never really expected to win it as I always associated awards with people who finish on podiums.
“But it was a good feeling to know that the judges rated my season so well to give me the award.
“It was quite special to receive it.”
Miss Morris said it was not a surprise that her father was singled out as she believes his mechanical expertise was one of the main reasons for her success over the year.
She said: “I would‘ve been quite disappointed if my dad did not receive the award.
“But I’m glad he did and to receive my award as well is a bonus.
“He built a car for the first time in about 25 years and during the season there was no mechanical failures on the track.
“His expertise definitely helped me do so well during the season.”
The SMRC awards featured drivers from a number of competitions in the Scottish motor racing scene.
Miss Morris first got behind the wheel competitively in 2013 and has taken part in the Scottish BMW Compact Cup for the past three years. She was the only female driver in the 26-strong field which contested last year’s series of seven races at Knockhill and at Donington Park.
She broke into the top 10 of the competition for the first time with a string of outstanding performances.
She said: “There have been the usual highs and low but overall it has been a very good season.
“I think it has been down to having more experience behind the wheel. I have certainly been more methodical about my approach and we have tried out a lot of different things this year.
“Everything we tried during the season seemed to work.
“But we will continue to try different things to try and get further up the rankings in the coming season.”
Miss Morris plans to get down to Knockhill to put the car through its paces to prepare for the new Compact Cup campaign.
“The main aim for the 2017 season is to make sure I have a good start to it.”
She said: “Preparations on the car have already started and we will be looking to get down to Knockhill to test the car as soon as possible to make sure we get off to a good start when the season kicks off. Success this season has to be finishing the Compact Cup higher than eighth.”
