Woman’s Day New Zealand – August 05, 2019

E’S NEED FOR SPEED

ag-racing princess

J

anelle Lawson is

every bit the gracious

young lady, studying

midwifery, dating

a police officer and

volunteering in under-

privileged countries. But the

Aucklander is also a self-

proclaimed speed fanatic,

thrashingsomeseriouspace

behindthewheelasour

“He cried when he lost,

and I shook his hand and

said, ‘Good race!’”

Over 40 trophies now fill

shelves in Janelle’s childhood

bedroom in Helensville, West

Auckland. It was her parents

Lisa, 49, and Adam, 48, who

got their daughter into the

sport,bringinganoldred

juniordragsterhomeonthe

the inside of the ambulance

for a scraped knee!”

But she wasn’t put off.

After ditching the little red

car two years later for an

American Spitzer – one of

the first of its kind in New

Zealand – Janelle went on

to compete across the ditch

alongsideyoungersister

Alyvea,now16,another

g girl racer.

ertook out

theTrack

gowhen she

ueensland’s

ceway against

others during

onals.

one of my

it was epic,

useI didn’t

” she enthuses.

a trophy with

heTrack’

n it.”

anelle said

tothe junior

andwelcomed

gerand better

agstertwo

years ago – a grunty American

import, worth over $100,000 –

Janelle was so overwhelmed,

she burst into tears.

“I was in love!” smiles

the university student, who

puts her racing success

down to hand, eye and foot

coordination. The new car is

a full-length dragster, capable

of ridiculously fast speeds of

over 320km/h.

“We’re expecting it to

easily go over 400km/h, but

since we’re still learning

about the car, I don’t want to

go too fast too soon and get

into a really bad accident,”

she explains.

Janelle was 14 when she

had her first major crash.

Her engine snapped in half

while she was competing

in the New Zealand Junior

Drag Racing Champs.

“I was almost flung into

the solid concrete wall and

was about five millimetres

away from it,” she says. “It all

went in slow motion.”

But three weeks later, her

dragster was fixed and Janelle

washappily back on the track.

Even witnessing a fatal crash

ecently hasn’t dampened the

petrolhead’s passion.

“I saw it happen as I was

pulling my helmet off at the

endof the track,” she tells.

It killed a man in his 60s,

whomy family knew. It was

horrific and definitely made

mealways check my seatbelts

aretight enough, my helmet’s

onproperly and all my safety

gearis up to scratch. Even in

myroad car.”

By the end of this year,

anelle hopes to jump from

herspot as New Zealand’s

ninth fastest female drag

acer to the top five.

“To stop racing would

ustfeel wrong because it’s

something I live and breathe,”

shebeams. ”I’m at home in

mycar and it’s a part of who

amnow.” #

fastestunder-21female

dragracer!

“I wonmyfirstraceat 10

andwasupagainsta male

whowasabout14,whokept

givingmegriefaboutbeing

agirl andsoyoung,”recalls

Janelle,20,whosteppedinto

herfirstdragcar

aged seven.

backofatraileroneweekend.

“Wewentdowntheback

roadsofKumeutolearnthe

basics,dodgingconstruction

andsecurityguards,”shetells.

“Myfirstpass,orrace,wasa

disasterandI hit thebank

trying to turn, andgot to see

up-and-coming

The speedste

thePrincessoft

titlesixyearsag

competedatQu

WillowbankRac

morethan 100 o

theWinter Nati

“I didn’t lose

eightracesand

especiallybecau

knowthetrack,

“Theygaveme

‘Princessofth

engravedon

WhenJa

goodbye

league

abigg

drag

d w r p p e “ w h m a o g m

Ja

h

n

r

ju

s

s

m

I

Woman’s Day 41