ABBIE EATON reckons burning rubber with Jeremy Clarkson on TV’s Grand Tour has made her a favourite to win the W Series.
The 28-year-old will join the women-only racing championship for its second season after starring in the Amazon TV series with Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond.
Abbie Eaton hopes her work as the female Stig on the Grand Tour will help her racing career
Eaton, dubbed the “female Stig”, is the show’s racing driver and responsible for setting lap times in a selection of supercars.
But she is now ready to compete in the championship, once racing resumes after the coronavirus pandemic.
And, despite limited experience in a single-seater, she says the pressure is on to challenge for the £390,000 first prize.
Eaton said: “I didn’t think I would be the target to beat but the feedback from others is that is the case.
“I have not had a lot of time in a single-seater but because I have had a little bit of profile, people are expecting me to be the one to challenge the current drivers.
“I can but you’d need to give me a few races and then I am confident I will. I want to finish in the top six this year and next year, I want to win it.
“I know it is going to be an uphill learning curve but throughout my career I have never had anything handed to me on a plate.”
Eaton says it has been a dream to be on the show after thinking it was a wind-up when she was first approached by the producers.
‘I WAS PINCHING MYSELF’
She added: “I got an email asking me to come down and meet the team and drive a few cars. I thought it was a friend winding me up, but I went down anyway.
“Only then did I see it was legit and they had these five cars set out and I had to set some lap times. I was pretty quick and they offered me a job.
“I was pinching myself. I’d grown up watching these guys on TV and now I was working with them.
“I can’t say yes or no if I will be in the next season or not, it would be nice because I think by season three, it felt like old Top Gear.
“Jeremy was alright. I respect all of them, they all have their unique personalities. Jeremy is a little bit outspoken and says things to create a stir, which is why he is perhaps a bit of a Marmite character.
“But he has respected me and I have always respected him and we have got on.
“When I got the job, I expected a lot of negative feedback but around 90-95 per cent of it was positive.
“Perhaps it was because the times I was putting on the board were quick times. I was not there as eye-candy. I am just a normal person who gets stuck in.”
Eaton stars alongside Clarkson, May and Hammond on The Grand Tour
Now switching her focus to the W Series, Eaton, who had a successful career in sports cars, says she has been won over by the championship after initially criticising it.
She said: “When the W Series came out, I did not agree with the segregation. I raced for 17 years against men and women.
“I felt I did not need a women-only championship to find my place in motorsport but then watching it throughout the year and seeing what they were trying to achieve.
“It could have been a flop had the right people not been in charge and given it the right direction.
“The whole show has been impressive. There has been no expense spared and the racing is high quality. The top ten are extremely close.”
The Grand Tour is back for season four as Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond go sailing in new trailer
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
