‘People are realising girls can actually ride bikes’
A British motocross champion from Doncaster, Lauren Collingwood, has set up one of the first all-girl motocross training academies to encourage more women and girls into a sport she describes as "male-dominated". Collingwood, a WMX British and World motocross racer with more than 20 years' experience, created the Girls That Moto scheme to pass on her skills to riders as young as five, aiming to raise the profile of female participation and eventually train a future British champion.
Collingwood teaches groups and individuals at venues including Fatcat Moto Parc in Hatfield, Doncaster, and says she has a particular fondness for Yorkshire's motorsport scene due to its strong network of tracks. She competes professionally without pay, and young riders she coaches, including Millie from Chesterfield and Maisie from Sheffield, credit her with inspiring more girls to take up the sport and helping them compete against boys who are sometimes reluctant to be beaten by female racers.
- Doncaster racer Lauren Collingwood launches all-girl motocross academy
- Girls That Moto teaches riders aged five upwards across the UK
- Aims to inspire more women into male-dominated motocross scene