Amber Anderson in the Driver's Seat

Written by Juliet Potter / Amber Anderson: 21-January-2009

Amber Anderson, Racing Car Driver, Lawyer and Pilot

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It takes ambition, precision and determination for any person to pilot a racing car at tremendous speeds – to truly go above and beyond their comfort zone; to become the best.

Amber Amberson has proven she's capable of repeatedly achieving the impossible; not only as a race car driver – but also as a lawyer, an aircraft pilot and a television reporter www.amberanderson.com.au

We asked Amber to write a blog for all 'women in the driver's seat'. What we got was truly inspirational. Read on...

Women in the driver's seat

I'm one of a minute few female racing car drivers and am frequently in the driver's seat in the wholly male-dominated sport of car racing.

I'm in the driver's seat in my day-to-day career as a corporate lawyer for a fund manager and I'm in the pilot's seat when I'm letting off some steam flying an aeroplane. Actually, I guess you could say that I spend a lot of time sitting on my behind!

I've been called a "daredevil" and an adrenaline junkie. While that might be true, it's been a struggle at times to be taken seriously in any of my pursuits for the simple fact that I'm not a man. I'm sure that, like me, many of you have been told that "you have it easy as a woman". Well I'm here to remind you of why it's not easy in a male-dominated and -dictated business like car racing and to share the obstacles I've overcome to triumph in various areas of my short life by believing in myself, following through with my dreams and proving all of my critics wrong.

My background

I'll digress quickly to tell you a little bit more about my background, my motivations and how I got to where I am today – and where I hope to be! Soon!

How I came to race was when I was about 13 years old. Mum had an appointment at a doctor and my dad took me to an indoor fun kart track to kill some time while we waited for her. After my first turn in the fun kart, I was ecstatic. I wanted to do more and more. Given that we ended up there for a few hours, dad eventually went to go and get my mum without me because I was still whizzing around the track. The next week, I made dad take me back again – and the weekend after that. Every weekend I wanted to go there. I was trying to go faster and faster to beat everyone on the track.

The man who managed the go-karts told my dad that there was a world of racing karts and that he should go and take a look for me as it would be much cheaper than going there every week and spending a fortune. So he gave us the address and we went and looked at Oakleigh Go-Kart Club.

I watched the much faster speed karts flying around the purpose-built facility and I was blown away. I hung on the chain-mail fence looking into the track and watching these kids – I had no idea this kind of thing existed and I wanted to do it.

Dad bought a kart for me in the trading post. It wasn't a new one or anything fancy to look at, but it was solid and good for the price. We had no idea what to do with it. My dad is a ship's captain. He was used to steering big cargo ships – not putting different sprockets and carbies on a kart!

As dad was away so much (6 months of the year), when there was a race on, I begged any family member I could to come along with me. The sprint karts require someone to lift them up and run along with them and then drop them to enable them to start/fire. I remember my uncle coming in his good suit pants and nice shoes and running along the grid pushing this little hot pink and purple kart along. He fell over and ripped his pants and everything. I felt terrible.

Despite it all, I struggled on and a small karting outfit who had watched me race and were impressed with my natural skill and offered to assist me at the track – unfortunately, they went into liquidation after only 2 races! So once I got into Year 11, I parked the kart and tried to pursue my studies with vigour so that I could always have a good education to fall back on if my dreams failed. But the karts weren't far from my mind.

I was a fairly good student in terms of my work ethic however, I was constantly in trouble at school for being the class clown. It was not unusual for me to be in the Principal's office every week for one thing or another. But the fact that I was the youngest pilot in Australia at the time, a national-level horse rider and a successful kart racer didn't go unnoticed. There was no acknowledgment from them that regularly taking days off school to pursue my other activities was a problem – so I just kept doing it!

I was determined to give myself the best opportunity to achieve all that I could by getting a degree. I applied for a scholarship at Bond University in Year 11 and, following an extensive interview process, was offered School Scholarships for both Law and Commerce. It was a great experience for me and one of the highlights of my life. So I opted to leave my family and head up to the Gold Coast by myself.

When I finished my degree, I considered going to the UK to become a pilot for British Airways, but fate intervened and pilots were facing job shortages, so I went to Melbourne and took an Articled Clerkship at Deacons. The opportunity arose for me to jump into a Porsche 944 Challenge Car and have a test-drive through a friend of the family. It was love at first corner – I was sold.

I spent the next few weeks trying to obtain my full racing car license – medicals, practical driving tests and lectures. Finally I was licensed and I was entered in my first race. The rest is history I suppose! I never looked back. I knew that this was what I was meant to do!

Since then I've raced around the world. I've driven Porsche's Ferraris, Holdens, Fords and MINIs. I've won the Australian Manufacturers Championship and I was the only female team to finish the grueling Bathurst 12-hour event.

I've met incredible people who have given their lives to become racers. I've walked on the track at Daytona and waved to the crowd cheering me as I left the bathroom – only to find U.S. Nascar racer Dale Earnhardt Junior greeting the crowd behind me.

Having my flying and mechanical knowledge honed from obtaining my pilot's license has put me in great stead to understand car mechanics – I guess I'm lucky that the skills are so interchangeable.

I love racing, it's my world, but I also enjoy being a lawyer. I know that I'm lucky and fortunate to be doing what I want to do but, as my boss said "you work hard and play hard". I live by that mantra every day.

The male-dominated world of motor racing; my career in law and my life in general

Often tagged as a "yobbo sport", motor racing is a sophisticated, highly demanding, intense and competitive sport. In fact, now it is far-from the can-guzzling image of the VB man in his stubby shorts shouting out from the top of the Mount at Bathurst.

But, run by men, for men, motorsport is about as blokey as it comes. The men involved in the sport still feel much more comfortable ogling sweet young things in their tiny lycra outfits brandishing a fist full of promotional brochures than helping a woman achieve equality on the race track. Whether that's from a deep-seated emotional belief that they think women are physically unable to compete with men, or whether it's because they find a woman who knows what she wants and isn't afraid of going after it threatening to their manliness, it doesn't matter, the fact is that it is a fact. And it's not changing anytime soon. Common problems I encounter in racing range from pure condescension and indifference to hostility, all because I'm a girl and I'm racing a car.

However, the good times totally outweigh the bad. I've also had a great time doing what I'm doing and I've had some incredible experiences and opportunities in racing. I had the opportunity earlier this year to drive a Ferrari 360 Challenge Race Car – amazing car, reaching speeds up to 300km/h and worth almost half a million dollars! I was lucky enough to meet some people who offered me an opportunity I could not refuse:

• Brakes fail at the end of the straight

• Nearly hit Lotus because he slowed down

• Having lunch and participant says "who is the bloke driving the silver Ferrari? He was incredible!"

• It was me.

I've had equally great experiences as a lawyer. I've worked with some amazing companies and people. I've received help and guidance from leaders in their field.

"There is now the first female Chief Justice in the Victorian Supreme Court – Marilyn Warren and female Governor-General for the first time. Things are definitely moving up!"

However, the fact remains that only 12 per cent of legal advocates in NSW today are female. Experts say it has something to do with the masculine social networking, lack of empathy for females with families and alienating lawyer drinking rituals. But I must say that while there is some element of that still there, in the Law, it's just not as blatantly evident as it is in motorsport. Luckily for me, there have been far more trail-blazing women in the law than in motor racing – making my job in law much easier than it might once have been. I have them to thank for this and, happily in fact, women are now infiltrating this previously male-only domain in almost every level. There is now the first female Chief Justice in the Victorian Supreme Court- Marilyn Warren and female Governor-General for the first time. Things are definitely moving up!

Struggles I have overcome (in law and car racing)

On a number of occasions, I've overcome difficulties in car racing through my stout and absolute belief in myself. I realised when I started racing karts at about 13 years old, I was one of only 2 girls in a club of about 350 boys. The boys would come up to me in a big group and tell me that I was slow and that I would never win a race. I actually turned my back and just stopped listening to them - I knew I was better than them. I still remember that moment and it was shortly after that, that I won my first kart race. I knew and believed in my heart that I was so much better than them – I knew I could beat them.

Sadly, my karting career came to an end outside the Oakleigh Go Kart Club cafeteria when I hit the wall so hard the body of the kart broke in 2. I remember laying in the dirt in my hot pink and purple race suit and the well-meaning canteen lady leaning over me saying, "Are you ok little guy?" I was so dazed, all I said was, "I'm not a boy, I'm a girl!". There was fight in me still. It would take a lot more than that to scare me!

Once I started racing cars, my first real indication that there was going to be a fight on my hands from the boys was in my very first race. One older male competitor wasn't happy that I out-qualified him in my first-ever race. He was walking around the pit-paddock saying that he was going to deliberately hit me into the wall because he wanted to hurt me. He is a renowned blabber-mouth and he said it to maybe half a dozen people who were so alarmed that they visited the Head Steward from CAMS to advise him that they feared for my safety. At this time, my dad also overheard this man and a fight almost ensued (lucky my mum was there to hold my dad back!). I went up to the Steward and said that I was happy to race despite this, but could they please watch him. We actually had a "coming-together" during the race and he did push me into the wall and my car was a write-off. But in my opinion, it wasn't a deliberate act on his behalf – it was a racing incident and I fronted up to the officials and told them that.

As fate would have it, this man was actually thrown out of the racing group a few months later altogether for something else unrelated and told that he was not welcome back. So I've learned, what goes around, does comes around!

"It's the power of positive thinking and the ability to shut out the harmful criticism that makes me pick up the phone and make calls to prospective sponsors every day."

However, my biggest struggle so far has been to find necessary support to enable me to race. Without any support, I can't race – it is as simple as that. A large boutique beer company that I approached told me, "Why would he want a woman with his brand on her driving a Ute out there in front of all of his clients when I smack into the wall and kill myself of the first lap?". I never got to race in this race and he went and found a celebrity and sponsored him to race all year as a PR stunt.

So, apart from lawyer and race car driver, my job is to reinvent myself as my own sales person. However, there is a real reluctance to support a female race car driver because there really hasn't been one in Australia at all and it is hard for corporate to understand how different and new a woman in racing would be – not to mention a fabulous PR and media vehicle. But I keep trying and I know that, with my unwavering faith and persistence and believing in what I do- I will find a sponsorship arrangement which will be useful for both me and the company that sponsors me.

It's the power of positive thinking and the ability to shut out the harmful criticism that makes me pick up the phone and make calls to prospective sponsors every day.

Coping with the pressure of being the woman in the driver's seat – Lyn St James

I was fortunate to be invited to the USA earlier this year to participate in a development course called "Women in the Winner's Circle" by one of the most inspirational female racing car drivers who ever lived – Lyn St James.

Lyn drove in 7 Indianapolis 500's, won the 1992 Rookie of the Year, Set the world record for women racing on a closed course and was the oldest-ever Indy Car driver in 2000 at the age of 53. Lyn's drive to assist other female drivers resulted in the Women in the Winner's Circle Foundation.

The Foundation's mission is to provide leadership, vision, resources and financial support to help create an environment of opportunity for women's growth in the automotive and competitive motorsports fields.

During my time with Lyn, she gave me an idea about how I can tackle the issue of sexism in motorsport. She told me that I can never afford to get it wrong as a race car driver. As a woman racer, Lyn couldn't afford to show weakness or girly tendencies on or off the track for fear of being labelled too "emotional" or "weak" – her advice to me before a race was to "be super-prepared" and make sure that you are better than everyone else or nobody will take you seriously. This piece of advice was spot-on with some advice that I read from legendary aviator Amelia Earhart, she said, "Women must pay for everything. They do get more glory than men for comparable feats, but, they also get more notoriety when they crash".

While I was in the USA, I was asked to test the wonderful Daytona Prototype Cars – these cars are exciting! They're purpose-built exotic carbon fibre beasts with engines in the middle, that do over 300km/h and weigh less than 1000kg. I was so excited to be asked to participate and I was looking forward to driving the car at Virginia International Raceway. I spent 3 days in sun in the sweltering 45 degree heat of a Virginia summer, eating southern fried chicken, taking notes, serving sandwiches and drinks to crew and gearing myself up mentally for the fastest car that I had driven to date.

On day 3, after waiting all that time, finally my time came. I slipped on my suit and helmet and I have to admit, I felt like a bit of a rock-star. Just as I went outside, striding like a superstar I heard a bang and over the radio, the test driver who was in the car all weekend shouted out, "the engine just exploded!" I couldn't believe it. I was flying back to Australia next week – this was the only chance I would get I wanted to cry but all I could do is laugh. I helped the crew pick up the bits of smashed engine and I've got a date scheduled to go back there in 2009 and try again (if the dollar picks up!). That's motor racing!

Lessons I've learned from racing that can be applied to life:

• Have an established set of ethical principles that you work within and don't compromise them for anything – it's not worth it

• Don't listen to the people who tell you that you'll never do it – they either feel threatened, intimidated or both

• Achieving perfection may be impossible, but striving for it is not – always strive for it and you know you've done your best. Talk about driving on Laguna Seca and how I just tried and tried and in doing so, I ended up achieving one of the fastest lap times ever achieved in that car on that track

• Focus on your own performance, rather than on the competition's

• You don't always have to be able to see around the corner to know and trust that the road will unfold before you. Have faith that it will!

• There are dizzying heights that you reach in racing, but usually and more often its dismal lows and self-belief that keep you going- embrace them and learn from your mistakes

• To finish first, first you must finish.

So what is the key message that that I hope you take away with you ? I think that women, like Juliet, like me, like Lyn St James – we are all in the driver's Seat and we're driving as hard as we can.

Follow you heart, chase your dreams and don't listen to the critics, you can do and be whoever you want. For me, it's racing a car. I'm in charge of my destiny. I'm in the Driver's Seat.

If you find Amber as amazing and inspirational as we do and are interested in sponsoring her, please get in touch at www.amberanderson.com.au/contact