Sara Price celebrates racing Extreme E – The Electric Odyssey with America’s legendary Chip Ganassi Racing, a dream come true- or more importantly reward for years of hard work pursuing a racing career. Stating how significant the opportunity was to her career, Sara has also made history as the first female to race under Chip Ganessi Racing which currently celebrates their 30th Anniversary in Motorsport.
Milestones indeed. Yet, these break-throughs are not totally down to ‘being in the right place at the right time’. Sara has made tough, hard decisions on how to keep the goals to race alive, how to make racing a reality rather than a side-line hobby, and how to deliver best possible performance on track within a budget.
From an early age racing dirt bikes, to competing and gaining medal in X-Games, to realizing racing would have to provide more than being on a bike- it would need a business strategy to make it work for years to come.
And here is the rub. Making switch from 2-to-4 wheels Off Road racing was certainly key to Sara’s on-going development as a racer. So to was building an Automobile Paint Touch shop- now a couple- along with venturing into the working roles as stunt performer. All of which emphasizes how Sara has adapted to make her vision of racing a reality.
Sara: ‘If you would have asked me a year ago that I would be racing in such a top-notch series like Extreme E, for a legendary team like Chip Ganassi Racing I would have said, ya right, I sure wish and kept on dreaming. Well now it’s reality and I still feel on cloud 9 and I can’t wait to put all I have into this Series and our team’.
‘The fact there is also a mandatory female and male on every team is something no series has ever done and it’s going to give 10 women an opportunity they have never had to be looked at as equals and an asset on a equal racing field for the very first time’.
Credibility aside, Sara brings a different skill base to the Team and Extreme E Series. No other woman- on planet earth for that matter- has raced such a diverse range of vehicles, schedules and terrain at speed than Price. From MX to Off Road UTV and SxS vehicles, to Rallycross Lightweight cars, to Trophy Trucks where Sara held out crossing the finish in total race time of 19 hours as sole driver. These results are accumulative to developing a driver’s resilience which will be needed for such an ‘out-there’ race as Extreme E.
Sara: ‘Number one I always follow my heart and staying true to my passionate goals. My passion is racing in every form with my heart belongs in the dirt. When I make a decision to do something or set a new goal I give 1 million percent – blinders go on and that’s what I immerse myself in, into achieving just that. No giving up’.
With less than 4 weeks until Extreme E Round One at Al-Ula in Saudi Arabia, Sara has all that will be required to shift them-oh-so-many gears into race mode until the finish. Sara: ‘I think the key will be to work well as a team and work fast as a team. This is a new series and a lot will be thrown at us this first year and we just have to be ready to adapt and be ready for whatever might come our way’.
Words: Sharon Cox.
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