Vicky socks it to stock car status quo Think of a stock car racing driver and the image of a tattooed, hefty fellow with grease permanently ingrained in his skin springs to mind. However, Vicky Thorpe, the newly crowned Classic Stock Car champion at Angmering Raceway, West Sussex, could not be further from that image. For an obvious start, she is the only female on a grid full of the aforementioned drivers and certainly lacks the usual ink and oil-begrimed appearance so beloved of the stock car racing fraternity. However, Castrol R and four-star leaded petrol would appear to run in the veins of the newly crowned, and to date only, female Classic Stock Car champion. Her father Mick Thorpe started racing at the age of 17 in the sport's very early years and her cousin is a former Ministox champion. Five years ago, she joined the "family business" behind the wheel of a 1956 MG Magnette, with which she amassed a considerable collection of trophies and the respect of any male stock car racer who tangled with her on the track. "I don't feel it is any more difficult succeeding at stock car racing as a woman," she says. I'm treated just the same on race day and wouldn't want it any other way. After a close season's racing which, in keeping with the strong family element on the track, saw Vicky beat her father to the championship and along the way remove her boyfriend Paul Axell's Anglia from contention with judicious use of her 1964 Volvo's front bumper, Vicky feels she has proved that stock car racing is not just for the macho. As for future racing plans, 28-year-old Vicky says she is happy racing classic stock cars but would not mind trying her hand at rallying in the future. That's an advance warning to the male drivers in that discipline. Vicky runs Oval Legends Go Out Racing (OLGOR) vintage stock car club and would be happy to help any other women (or men) who are interested in experiencing the thrills of stock car racing as it was in the 1950s and 1960s. She may be reached at 07833 744 955 or victhorpe@hotmail.co.uk or go along to Angmering Raceway which runs regular events for classic stock cars.