MAXTED’S Garage, a family-run car repair centre in Shipley, have taken the plunge and sponsored the talented teenage female racing driver, Emily Linscott, in her next Ginetta Junior Championship round at Croft circuit this weekend.

Linscott, just 15 years old, started her motorsport career in hire karts in 2016 and was immediately noticed for her pace and fast learning. She has since won over 20 finals, with numerous awards and a championship.

She was scouted by Arden International Racing Team, owned by Christian Horner, Red Bull F1 Team Principal, becoming one of just 15 young drivers worldwide to form part of their Young Racing Driver Academy (YRDA) programme.

Linscott has progressed into racing cars quickly, in the highly-competitive Ginetta Junior Championship, and the teenager showed her skill with a hard-fought ninth place in the previous race at Oulton Park.

She said: “I’m so pleased to have managed to get into the top ten so early in the season. I’m learning loads and can’t wait for the next round at Croft.

"I’m confident I can bring some good pace and race craft to my three races there, let’s see what results I can fight for.”

Speaking about her latest sponsor, Linscott said: “I work exceptionally hard on social media to keep my followers entertained, which also helps my sponsors engage with a wider audience.

"Nick Maxted, owner of Maxted’s Garage, said he’d like to sponsor me for the Croft rounds but only had a limited budget, so I got my manager, who happens to be my dad too, to sort out a deal.

"They managed to get a package worked out and I’m so grateful to him for coming on board, it means a lot and helps to keep me racing at this level.”

Maxted said: “I don’t have lots of money to spend on this sort of thing, but it was something I wanted to do to help a young rising star in the motorsport world and it might just help to gain some more business.

"She’s posted about the deal on her social media accounts and I’ve done the same and it’s gaining a lot of interest already.

"I’ll have the garage’s name on the car and will meet Emily and the whole Richardson Racing Team during the day. They’ve gone above and beyond what I’d expected, so I’m very happy."

Emily’s Ginetta Junior races support the world-famous British Touring Car Championship and around 35,000 people are expected trackside for this weekend's event in Darlington.

Saturday’s schedule has qualifying sessions for all events and five races, two of which feature Linscott, the only female on the Ginetta grid.

Sunday will see nine action-packed races, live on ITV4, broadcast to millions of viewers in the UK and worldwide.