It’s been 5 months for the reason that Excessive E season opener in Saudi Arabia, the place Grey Leadbetter made her debut with Legacy Motor Membership, however this weekend she’ll be again in motion.
It was a robust first displaying for the American teenager, who was competing internationally for the primary time. Regardless of an absence of seat time forward of the occasion, she helped the group to a pair of sixth place finishes, and this time round she’ll be racing within the mud, gravel, and grasslands of Scotland the place she’s aiming to construct on a optimistic first expertise within the all-electric off-road sequence.
“It was fairly humorous really as none of us had pushed the Odyssey 21 earlier than,” she says. “We had been all moving into the unknown somewhat bit, so we needed to study collectively as soon as we obtained within the automotive for the primary time.
“We obtained as a lot enter as we might from the mechanics and from chatting with these across the paddock, however we had not pushed within the sequence earlier than so it was all new. Between Travis [Pastrana] and I we managed to get on the tempo fairly rapidly, which was nice.
“For our first occasion we centered on staying out of hassle and bringing the automotive again in a single piece, which we achieved and never by being sluggish,” she provides. “We did it with loads of tempo as we confirmed with our Continental Traction Problem occasions in Spherical 2. For a primary weekend in an all-new sequence we had been fairly pleased with our efficiency.
Leadbetter had a well-recognized face in Pastrana – who was filling in for group boss Jimmie Johnson – alongside her. The 19-year-old is seen as one thing of an inheritor to Pastrana’s throne within the off-road world, and has competed with the motion sports activities icon in Nitrocross’ side-by-side division.
“I obtained a message from Travis asking if I wished to participate and race within the sequence! It was unbelievable. He stated, ‘do you need to go racing in Saudi Arabia?’ and saved it fairly obscure – however I used to be actually up for it,” Leadbetter says. “Jimmie had requested Travis to fill in as a result of Jimmie was competing at Daytona over the identical week, and so Travis performed a giant half in serving to me get that seat at Legacy Motor Membership. It was all a shock and it occurred so rapidly, however I used to be so excited to get to Saudi Arabia and race for the group.”
Pastrana and Leadbetter debuted collectively in Rounds 1 and a couple of. Sam Bagnall/Excessive E
Leadbetter admits that after a busy 2023 competing in Nitrocross and different classes within the U.S. off-road world, the thought of competing in Excessive E had been put “little bit on the backburner”, however whereas the chance got here “out of the blue”, the championship wasn’t completely alien to her.
“I had been to the Season 2 finale in Uruguay to take a look at the sequence beforehand with the Chip Ganassi Racing group, so I had at all times been serious about Excessive E,” she says. “I had such a blast once I went to that occasion – I knew fairly just a few folks inside that group already and right away I simply cherished how the racing labored. It was very totally different from something I had ever seen.
“I assumed the female and male driver dynamic was actually cool, and I at all times saved an eye fixed on what was occurring within the sequence. I’ve at all times been serious about it, however I used to be simply on the lookout for the best alternative to get into it.”
Her huge expertise, regardless of her age, and that transient enterprise into the paddock in 2022, helped Leadbetter stand up to hurry in what’s thought to be a really difficult sequence for newcomers.
“As a driver you must be fairly adaptable if you get behind the wheel to maximise the quantity of seat time you get and in Excessive E it’s no totally different,” says Leadbetter. “We made probably the most of our periods beforehand, after which it was about tweaking what labored finest for us as we went alongside. I feel we managed to do this fairly effectively.
“Driving off-road vehicles earlier than, and particularly side-by-sides, helped me vastly to stand up to hurry. There are some similarities in how the automotive strikes out heading in the right direction and the way it’s weighted. It’s related with the dash vehicles I’ve pushed when it comes to observe time and preparation. As a driver you must do your finest to nail it down as rapidly as potential after which maximize your efficiency from there.
“Basically although, the whole lot I’ve taken half in earlier than has been a giant assist, as a result of on the finish of the day it’s all about driving the automotive as finest as you may.”
However whereas Leadbetter shined, a lot of the eye was on her wildcard teammate, who had NEOM McLaren’s Mattias Ekstom in his crosshairs for the entire occasion. It was Leadbetter, nevertheless, who was the one to cross swords with him on-track, placing up a robust struggle in opposition to the two-time DTM and 2016 World RX champion on the second race day – a day the place Legacy Motor Membership went on to set the quickest ‘tremendous sector’ time of the weekend.
“It was so cool. In case you take Travis’ purpose of beating Mattias for the primary time for example, who would have thought it could come all the way down to pairing up with a feminine teammate in electrical vehicles in the course of the Saudi Arabian desert to do it?” she says. “It was simply an unbelievable alternative. Attending to race with such a proficient driver line-up was superb.
“We had been somewhat bit unfortunate with the pink flag state of affairs as Travis solely obtained one lap out heading in the right direction within the Spherical 2 Redemption Race. That positively shook issues up. Nevertheless, being that near beating not solely NEOM McLaren, however profitable a race on our first day trip, was an unbelievable feeling.
Scotland will present a wildly totally different problem to the sands of Saudi Arabia. Andrew Ferraro/Motorsport Pictures
“Though it didn’t end how we wished it to, it was so reassuring for us that we had been in control and on the tempo with the extra established groups after simply a few days within the automotive.”
Excessive E has offered a robust platform for feminine racers, each rising stars and established opponents, to compete on an equal footing with legendary male names of the game, and it’s one thing Leadbetter has taken in her stride.
“I’d by no means have thought there could be a sequence on the market like this which might have everyone from such a racing,” she says. “There are folks on the market who so many have seemed as much as for years and years, so to place all of them on the grid, after which add in probably the most proficient feminine racers to the line-up, means there are such a lot of totally different facets of racing and motorsport rolled into one championship, which is unbelievable.”
Consideration now turns to this weekend, the place Legacy Motor Membership and Leadbetter will proceed to study the sequence. This time she may have one other debutant alongside her within the type of Patrick O’Donovan, with Johnson heading again Stateside to arrange for subsequent week’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Johnson will race in Excessive E, however not till September’s races in Sardinia.
“Jimmie has not competed in off-road racing for plenty of years so that’s an thrilling prospect,” Leadbetter says. “He’s among the finest there’s on the earth and so it’s going to be fascinating to see him behind the wheel with an off-road racing mindset. We’ll be working arduous to get our automotive within the optimum window and as quick as potential.”
Then, the sequence heads to North America for the primary time, with the sequence set to conclude in Phoenix in November.
“I’m so excited for it! It’s going to be a very cool occasion and I hope the observe might be superior,” she says. “Getting the Excessive E automotive to the U.S. is lengthy overdue and can make for a fairly superb spectacle.
“Getting behind the wheel of a racing automotive is thrilling it doesn’t matter what and the racing in Excessive E has proven that. To know that we’re driving a automotive just like the Odyssey 21, which has the pace out on observe, is fairly cool. That’s particularly so for my technology I assume due to what’s occurring all over the world proper now when it comes to local weather change. It’s positively so cool to see how motorsport is rising and adapting to the well being of the planet.”
