US Motocross star turned Super Trucks driver Sara Price ready to race in Gold Coast 600 weekend
WHEN Sara Price straps into her Super Truck this weekend she will be the sole female competitor.
But the 24-year-old trailblazing American thinks of herself as just another driver.
Price, a 17-time national motocross champion in the US, isn’t just the only female Super Truck racer, she’s the only woman behind the wheel in any of the GC600 events.
“Growing up I always raced against the boys in motocross and I’ve raced in cars against men. With Super Trucks there are no disadvantages and no advantages being a woman, we’re all equal.
“I get a lot of respect, the guys know I’m there to compete. That’s what I want to be known for, my talent, skill and the hard work I put in — not because I’m the only girl.”
Price first raced trucks in July at Toronto where her ability caught the attention of Gold Coast-based Super Trucks racer Paul Morris.
Morris flew her to the Gold Coast straightaway to put her through her paces around his Norwell Motorplex track and she was signed up by Morris and UFD team co-owner Bill Hynes as their third driver,
“Paul wanted to get to know me and know I’m legit and here to race — which I am.”
Morris said despite Toronto being her first Super Trucks race, Price was impressive.
“The way she approached Toronto was really smart. She raced herself in at the start and by the last race she dropped the hammer which I thought was cool,” he said.
Price said she felt like a trailblazer and role model for others: “I do have a lot of girls who look up to me but I also have men, kids, boys come to me for advice and I give them insight into what it took me to get there.”
Price said she’d always had no fear since she started jumping motorbikes aged eight.
“I never had a problem, I’m very determined and always going for it so I ended up in the right sport.”
She said she was also in touch with “my feminine side”, having once competed in a Miss California pageant while recovering from a shoulder injury.
“I learned how to put on make-up. It was a good experience.”
During the GC600 Super Trucks event, she will be racing for Supercheap Auto, Coffee Sisters, Morris Finance and Murphy Glass & Mirror.