Speed Demoness

New Zealand racing star Christina Orr will be competing in this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour Race, driving for Jim Hunter Motorsport. The 2008 Bruce McLaren New Zealand Driver of the Year will be teaming up with Heather Spurle MBE and Molly Taylor on the all girl team #66 Subaru RS. Orr has been racing since the age of six, and finished fifth in 2005 in the New Zealand Championship racing in Formula Ford. She has recently spent time in America for the test of an Indy Lights single-seater; earning her the respect of racer’s the world over. When it comes to issues of gender, Orr has her priorities set. “I am a Driver Racer first and a female second,” says Orr, “I have raced with boys all my racing life since I was six. As soon as I put my helmet on and pull down my visor I am a driver not a female I am their equal. I have no problems with the guys I race with as they do respect me as an equal. It sometimes is the fathers that get upset when I beat their sons. You hear them say on the grid afterward, ‘why did you let that girl beat you.’ Its sad really.”