New Mills racer Scarlett Robinson's desire to inspire on the track

For Scarlett Robinson, hurtling around a race track at high speed and on two wheels was always likely to be how she’d spend her teenage years and beyond.
Scarlett Robinson in action. Photo courtesy ofTony Else Photography.Scarlett Robinson in action. Photo courtesy ofTony Else Photography.
Scarlett Robinson in action. Photo courtesy ofTony Else Photography.

Having grown up in a household where racing was the norm thanks to her dad, Dave, Scarlett began by flying around the woods near her home on an electric child’s bike at 11-years-old before competing in motocross on a KTM 65, then getting a KTM 85, putting slick tyres on it and moving into supermoto racing.

She has since progressed through the ranks and is impressing both in motocross and on tarmac circuits across the UK.

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And in a sport that’s so male-dominated, the 17-year-old says she hopes to be an inspiration to other girls with a need for speed.

"There’s a few younger girls coming through now and it’s good because there are five or six of us competing at a good level and it shows the young ones that they can progress,” she said.

"Hopefully they can be inspired and see there’s a route to competing at a good level if things work out.”

Scarlett splits her time between Bury and the High Peak, where she went to Hayfield Primary School and where her father owns The Fire Place in New Mills. He was also once a sponsor and mentor of current British Superbike star Christian Iddon.

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She currently competes in the Thundersport Superteens series, racing a 400cc Kawasaki for her dad’s team ‘The Fire Place’ and in which she currently lies in second place in the championship standings.

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She also takes part in the Nurosport British Supermoto championship, which combines motocross and tarmac racing on a 350cc machine for Dave Clarke Racing.

And having made good strides in both series, Scarlett now hopes to move up a gear in the next couple of years.

She said: “My aim is to remain in these two championships this year as being a girl and quite young I’m not really strong enough as yet to move to the bigger bikes.

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"But I hope to then look at doing the British Superbikes Series Supersport Championship, maybe next year, and concentrating mostly on that whilst still dipping into the events I already do when I can.

"I’ve raced a bit in the Supersport before and if I can go into that and be in the top 20 that would be brilliant.

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"Sometimes the events clash so it’s a case of picking the best option depending on a few factors, but it’s good to travel around the country doing it and I have some really good sponsors behind me, as well as my dad who obviously plays a massive part.”

As with most sports, the COVID-19 pandemic did motor racing no favours in 2020, but things are now largely back to normal with the respective calendars.

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Scarlett added: “It was really difficult last year as we only raced five or six rounds and couldn’t really get going, so it felt a bit wasted but we did manage to use it to learn a few things and that’s helped this year.”

You can keep an eye on Scarlett’s career by visiting her Facebook at facebook.com/scarlettrobinson4, her Twitter (@scarlettracing4) or Instagram (@scarlettrobinson4).

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