American rising talent Caitlyn McDaniel made her first major racing steps in this year’s GB4 Championship with Fox Motorsport, less than a year after stepping into a kart for the first time.
With such little racing background of any sort to count on, compared to rivals that had been karting or racing for several years, it was very much a learning year for the 18-year-old, but one where plenty of progress was made, but only after a last minute decision to commit to racing.
“I decided to race during the test days of the first event at Donington Park” she admits. “It was the Friday before qualifying that I decided to race in the season and to know I’ve done a full season now, I honestly can’t believe it. It’s been such an exciting journey that I’ve been on for the past year and I think I’ve grown so much as a driver as well.”
For any competitive person, being lower down the order is a struggle whether it’s their first year or their tenth, but McDaniel was able to notice the big progress she was making throughout the campaign.
“It’s definitely been quite a struggle to be towards the back but I’ve really closed the time down from where I was at the start of the year compared to the end. The last round at Donington was probably my best race weekend, so to see the progress was incredible for me.
“I was in the mix and was fighting with upwards of four people, so it was definitely where I felt I had progressed the most in terms of my race craft and everything. Again I was the closest I was during a race with no safety cars, I was 28 seconds back. So to see that improvement compared to being quite far off at the beginning of the year and being much closer to the pack in the race as well was a big moment for me.”
Despite her lack of experience, McDaniel was one of only four drivers to finish every race, something that filled her with pride.
“I think it was good, because even though I wasn’t in any major incidents I was still fighting with people around me and battling with them.
“To be able to keep it clean and to get as much race craft as I possibly could and maxing out the track time was I think my main priority this year. It allowed me to get the most out of myself and the season.”
With an eye to a return next year, she believes fine tuning her driving style will have big rewards as she aims to secure the big end of year prize for the top female driver, with an aim to reaching F1 Academy in the future.
“My technique, I think everything that I’m doing is kind of sound, it’s just refining everything and polishing it and making it the best it can possibly be.”
"I’d like to win the top female prize, that’s my goal. I want to get as high as possible on the grid and I think I’m in a good place to progress and get to that level. I’d like to get a reverse grid pole, that would also be one of my goals. Not necessarily get on the podium but be up in the higher end of the grid would be incredible.
“F1 Academy would be the platform that would give me the most opportunity to continue racing in the next three to five years. That’s definitely my goal, to just be able to have the opportunity to race in the future. I’m really looking forward to whatever I do and hopefully getting there eventually.”
