This weekend sees part-time model Michelle Westby swap two heels for four wheels as she goes drifting at Lydden Hill.

The 25 year old is used to being around race tracks as a grid girl, but this weekend she will be inside her car as she tears up the track at the Kent circuit.

An Account Manager for a printing company during the week, Westby from Stevenage, will turn heads wherever she goes, but this weekend she is hoping that her driving will do the talking as she takes to the Lydden Hill circuit in her drifting car.

In a male dominated environment, Westby is one of many females getting behind the wheel to show their talent and she explained to KSN how she got into drifting:

“I’ve always been into cars, which is weird considering my parents aren’t. As soon as I passed my test I bought an MR2, which you can imagine was an expensive car to buy being rear wheel drive.”

“I looked at doing track days, but the cost was out of my league being on minimum wage.”

“So, I started working for the European Drifting Championships as a grid girl and that’s where I saw drifting for the first time.”

“I was amazed by it and it’s a really good sport to watch, so I bought myself a drift experience day which I did at Santa Pod and from that day onwards I was hooked.”

Having been drifting herself now for around two years, Westby explained it hasn’t all been plain sailing:

“I’d had about eight track days and then had quite a bad accident which saw me having a coming together with a concrete wall. That saw me write the car off and I have spent the whole of last year buying a new shell.”

With more and more girls getting into motor sport, Westby went on to explain how she tries to put her looks to one side and wants to concentrate on being the best she can be:

“I’m not your usual looking tomboy, but’s what I am. I do feel a bit more pressure as people are watching me and I get the comments from people saying – that’s a girl driving that car!”

“I have that added pressure, but at the same time I have a lot of people helping me out. I think it’s brilliant there are more women in motor sport and there’s a few girls that have started to get into drifting and I’m trying to help and support them.”

“It has always been a male dominated sport, but I do think that’s going to start changing as girls are starting to get into it.”

Only a few weeks ago, former F1 driver Jackie Stewart said he didn’t believe that women would race at that level as they weren’t menatlly tough enough, but Westby doesn’t believe that will be the case:

“I believe it will happen and I know a lot of girls that are mentally a lot stronger than guys. It’s not for every girl and some will find it more challenging than guys, but I do think we will see a girl in Formula One eventually.”

As for her own ambitions, Westby is looking to get enough practice drifting before moving on to competing:

“I’m not quite at the competition stage, but when I do the track days at Santa Pod and Lydden Hill, I’m usually one of the top drivers, so I’m looking to improve a bit more this year and get my semi-pro licence by the end of the year.”

“Depending upon how sponsorship goes, I do hope to be competing in the next couple of years.”

More and more people are flocking to Lydden Hill for their events and Westby told KSN hoe she is a massive fan of the Kent circuit:

“I absolutely love it! It’s quite a challenge for me at the moment with the long sweeping corner, but in third gear and flat out you are doing about seventy miles per hour around there.”

“That part is quite hair-raising when you’re not used to that kind of thing, but it’s a great challenge and I absolutely love that track.”

The profile of drifting has been enhanced in recent years with Sittingbourne’s Liam Doran having swapped his rallycross car for a drifting one only a few weeks ago and Westby believes more and more people will get into it over the coming years:

“It’s getting a lot more popular and with things like Fast & Furious coming out, people are coming over to watching drifting and most drifting days are now almost fully booked.”

“It’s also now being televised, so I think it’s a sport that will come out of the woodwork and become really big in the next couple of years.”

You can catch Westby in action as she takes her drifting car around Lydden Hill this weekend. For more information on events there, visit www.lyddenhill.co.uk

To find out more about Michelle and to keep track on her career, visit her website – http://michellewestby.com/