WHO'S SOPHIE?
Like all good stories, lets start from the beginning....
When dinosaurs roamed the earth and I was a mere nipper I can remember loading my toy cars onto my Tomy train set along with my budgie Georgie and a couple of bourbons. I would point at all the cars driving down the road and be able to tell you what they were "Sierra, Cavalier..." (yes I am that old)
In fact in my baby book it says one of my first words was "brum brum". Growing up I can remember my dad always having a Cavalier SRI and in later years a Vectra before he moved to the dark side 8 years ago and got an Audi A3. At one point he threatened to buy a Volvo S40 T4 - I was that pissed off about the situation (I was about 14) I told him I'd leave home because of my (non existent) street cred jokingly. He didn't buy it.
So I've always had a soft spot for Vauxhall's - I'll never forget the smell of my mum's Nova back in the day and if I could have any car now it would be a GTE. It seems fitting that in recent years I've had the pleasure of working with a selection of manufacturers including Vauxhall and Opel as their youngest and first female master trainer. I've spent most of the past few years flying around the world for many product launches, training, presenting, hosting and even writing training for a selection of other manufacturers too - Lexus, Mercedes Benz, Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, VW and Peugeot.
After the toddler years - and after harassing my dad for literally years, I raced karts and cars from when I was 10 years old. My dad agreed to take me to Matchams (If you're near Bournemouth you'll know it as the banger racing mekka - RIP) Saturday morning kart club before I then progressed onto "proper" karting all over the UK - mainly in Junior and Senior Rotax. I was the first female ever in Junior Rotax Max and was invited onto BBC's Blue Peter with Lewis Hamilton (yep, still got the badge) and Channel 4's Faking It - My dad has the VHS which he loves to embarrass me with - along with my self cut hair (I wanted to look like Victoria Beckham with her mega crop back in the day so I just did a DIY job....lets leave that image there) I don't come from a motorsport family, it's just something I always loved. I used to watch BTCC and WRC with my jam sandwiches growing up. John Cleland was my hero and funnily enough I bought my F Type from his Jaguar dealership in Galashields - great people, but unfortunately they only do Volvo now. After retiring from racing I've been focused and pretty busy working as a freelance trainer and presenter but I did hop over to America to give Bobby Ore's stunt school a go - so watch this space on that!
Outside of anything with an engine - I have also worked doing all sorts of random jobs as a commercial model - before it was cool to be one. I fell into modelling over 15 years ago after being spotted and also being chosen as a Red Bull F1 Una - one of the best experiences of my life so far (thank you, Red Bull) I was a finalist in Miss GB too back in the pre anti social media naughty noughtys, which being a tomboy wasn't really my bag but was intriguing and a very different experience!
Aside from anything with an engine and work I have always had a real love for nature and conservation. When I'm home I try to go out regularly with my litter picker. It pisses me off immensely that people litter but I can't leave it. My best loot so far I found was a yellow plastic turtle who lives on my balcony now. His name is Terry. I also spend a lot of my time at community projects and at events such as bird ringing. I find bird migration and sharks in particular fascinating and I have seen some bloody brilliant off piste documentaries (not the fluffy shit they show you on TV) and read some amazing books - I'll link them somewhere if you're interested.
I have my own little feathered friend aka Wingman - she doesn't migrate but she does travel a lot with me and is free range when I'm home - Albie the budgie.
I like a challenge and try and do a couple for charity every year - Beat (Eating Disorders), Salisbury Hospice and Alzheimer's Research UK are charity's I like fundraising for - My dear friend Charlotte passed away from an eating disorder and my mum from dementia.
So thats me....Keep it real, share some smiles and pick up your frigging litter please!
See you on the streets, or more likely at a Shell...
Sophie
