Nicole Drought Joins BTCC Pit Crew at Brands Hatch
Irish Britcar racer Nicole Drought travels to Brands Hatch this weekend to join the AmD Motorsport team for the final weekend of the hugely popular British Touring Car (BTCC) series.
Having made her UK racing debut this year with the Valluga team in the Britcar Endurance Championship, the Irish woman is keen to continue her learning curve. Having taken three class wins in her CJJ Porsche 718 and narrowly missed out on the title, Nicole changes role this weekend, as she swaps helmet for headphones and joins the engineering side of the 2019 Independents Title winning BTCC team.
AmD Motorsport Team Principal Shaun Hollamby: “We are delighted to welcome Nicole to AmD at the final round of the BTCC this weekend. I hope it will give her the insight into the workings of a team in the UK’s premier motorsport championship. She will be working with our engineering team over the weekend.”
Nicole Drought “I have learnt so much this year and am keen to continue. This is a great opportunity for me to work with the data engineers in the team and as a lifetime BTCC fan, it is also very exciting for me- I can’t wait.”
Nicole Drought, 25, from Roscrea in Tipperary, is Ireland’s top female racing driver. In 2016, she became the first woman to win in the Irish Touring Car Championship, taking victory in the Production Class in her Honda Integra. She has subsequently raced in Global GT Lights, Stryker Sportscars and Nicole is the only Irish Ambassador for the International Sean Edwards Foundation, with whom she tested a Porsche GT3 Supercup in Le Castellet in 2016. In 2018 and 2019, Nicole raced in the Irish Stryker Championship, running at the front all year with a number of podium finishes. She is also the reigning Class 1A Endurance Trial Champion, having taken the title in 2018 and sucessfully defending it in 2019, with six wins from six starts. In May 2019, Nicole became the first woman to win in the UK C1 Endurance series, when she partnered Colin Lewis to victory in a 4 hour race at Anglesey in Wales.
In August 2019, Nicole drove a Formula 1 car at the Mondello Park Historic Festival, when she demonstrated the ex Derek Daly March 811 for CJJ Motorsports and in February 2020 she travelled to Palm Beach in Florida to drive the team’s Jordan 192 F1 car.
For 2020, Nicole has joined the CJJ Motorsport team. The initiative, set up by Irish expat John Campion, supports Nicole as she competed in the UK Based Britcar series, having taken three wins and four podiums en route to second in the class championship..
Nicole is also an Ambassador for Formula Female, the initiative set up by Irish Hockey Star Nicci Daly to attract more females into Motorsport, Motorsport Ireland, 20×20.ie, WISP, and the International Sean Edwards Foundation.
Image from Michael Chester
CJJ Motorsports was founded by Irish entrepreneur and philanthropist, the late John Campion, to provide opportunities for the next generation of Irish motorsport talent and to continue the growth of Ireland’s racing legacy worldwide.
The CJJ Motorsports Driver Programme currently supports three drivers; James Roe Jr, Nicole Drought and Sean Doyle in race categories in the United States and across the United Kingdom, under the leadership of Ferrari GT driver Matt Griffin.
CJJ Motorsports also supports a number of innovative grassroots programmes in Ireland including Formula Female and their Go Girls Karting Initiative, which aims to introduce 1,000 young females to motorsport via STEM education, and the F1 in Schools Ireland programme.
A notable collector of historic racing cars, John Campion’s collection includes examples from Ireland’s prestigious F1 history, including the 1981 ‘Guinness’ MARCH 811, the Jordan 192 and the iconic 7up-liveried Jordan 191.