Rally
How Catie Munnings' unconventional upbringing helped her racing career
Rising rally star Catie Munnings was raised on four wheels in the British countryside and destined for a thrilling racing career from a young age. Read the in depth interview with Catie here.
21-year-old British Rally superstar Catie Munnings has already achieved a lot in a relatively short time. She jumped straight into a test with a professional rally team when she was 17, and by 19 she was the Ladies European Rally champion in her Peugeot 208 R2. Her involvement with Dare To Be Different has inspired young female drivers everywhere to get involved in competitive sports and she is undoubtably one of the most promising young talents to come from the British Isles in recent years.
Below, Catie discusses her "not that conventional" upbringing and the impact it's had on her career, the challenges of the ERC3 and getting to the GB Rally, as well as how motorsport is changing from male-dominated to a more inclusive environment.
Catie is aiming for a full ERC3 season and a podium overall finish
© Olaf Pignataro / Red Bull Content pool
Tell us a little bit about your upbringing, what was 8-year-old Catie like?
I was a massive tomboy! I grew up on a farm where my parents had a motorsport entertainment company, and so we had woods and fields and massive quad bikes. I remember when I was about seven, I used to run home from school and jump on the quad bikes at the events that were going on, and get absolutely plastered in mud, still in my school uniform.
It was a nice environment to grow up in, but probably not that conventional!
I kind of grew up around motorsports, not rally so much – although my dad used to be a rally driver before I was born. When I was very young, he was an instructor at Brands Hatch Rally School and London Rally School. As I was getting older and more into the quad biking, he started the rally stuff at his entertainment business, so much of my driving experience was just in old cars around the field where I lived — nothing special, just doing what every kid does, playing around in fields. They were really old cars that were breaking down, so we would do banger races. Nothing glamorous!
How did you get into competitive racing?
When I was 14, I started grassroots testing, and that was where I got into the competition side of motorsport. Before that, I was into other sports; I did athletics at a national level, netball at a national level and I was really into dancing and performing. I was very sporty and very competitive as well. We just started grassroots testing to get experience because where we live is quite remote, and in the winter the country lanes just never de-iced, and my dad wanted my sister and I to get some experience of the car sliding before we went out on the roads when we turned 17. My sister and I both started, but I caught the bug a bit more.
That lead on when I was 17 to my first test in a rally car with Peugeot – and the rest was history! It was a nice environment to grow up in, but probably not that conventional!
Catie is hoping to enter a few WRC races as well in 2019
© Olaf Pignataro
What was it about getting behind the wheel of a rally car that made you think it was a career option?
It was probably the first time I sat in the car. When I was out at the first rally test with Peugeot, it was in Mont Blanc, so it was off the side of the Alps. And I’d never sat in a rally car before. Everybody that knows about rally will know that you start off at grassroots in an old car that you maybe build with your friends. But this was literally me going straight into a factory team at an international level. I was looking around and the top drivers competing in the World Championship [WRC] were there testing their cars at the same kind of level that I was. And I was thinking “Oh my god, this is absolutely crazy, what am I doing?” These guys are all 10 years older than me, they’ve got all their sponsors here – it was a massive event for Peugeot. I was only 17 and I’d only just started driving on the road. It was also the first time I drove a left-hand car, it was a rally car so it had a sequential gearbox [gears have to be selected in order].
As soon as I sat in the car, I just absolutely loved the adrenaline. I remember sitting next to one of the French drivers that was mentoring me, and thinking, “How is he going this fast?”. I did not understand how he was going so fast in a car on a road that was like that.
Catie collecting her Ladies ERC trophy
© FIA European Rally Championship
I think it was the curious side of me that thought if he could do that, then I really want to be able to do that. I hate not being able to do what other people can do, so I think it was probably the competitive side that encouraged me! And then I got addicted to it; I got addicted to the feeling and the adrenaline. It was a completely new world for me, and it was what the team were looking for at the time. They were looking for a complete novice that they could train with their engineers, in their way. So then we decided we would go into the European rally championship and create we called #Projectkt, which was taking a beginner straight into the ERC and follow the progress.
You’re competing in ERC3 this year – what have learned from previous seasons?
The European championship is sort of a feeder series for the WRC. The junior championship goes to six countries, and the ERC3 goes to eight countries. Which means we go to Gran Canarias, The Azores, Rome, Czech Republic, Poland, Latvia, Cyprus and Hungary – they’re amazing countries to travel to. And every rally is very specific. Azores, for example, is a volcano island and the race surface is volcanic ash. In Gran Canaria it’s on tarmac and it’s very hot out there, so you have to think about that with your tyre management. Every rally is very different, and you have to have a very different skillset for that, so it’s very nice to be with a team that has experience with that.
That was one of the reasons why we didn’t start off in the national championship — we decided that if we were going to do it, then we would start right off in the deep-end. And that way, we’re getting as much experience in as many different conditions as we can, and the progress rate is that much quicker because you’re up against the top drivers in the world really that are fighting for the spots in the WRC.
Catie drives a Peugeot 208 R2
© Josef Petru
What’s your aim in the ERC3 this season?
Last year I finished fourth on the ERC3 but I didn’t make all of the races, so I’m hoping that if this year I can get to all of them I’ll get a podium position. This year we’re running with Michelin tyres, which will mean we’re not counting in the junior category anymore because that is sponsored by Pirelli. So, the ERC3 category is the one we’ve got our sights set on.
You have a new co-driver this year, can you tell us a bit about her?
Yes, I have a new co-driver and she’s called Veronica Engan and she’s from Norway. She’s the old co-driver of Petter Solberg and also Oliver Solberg; she’s worked with the Solberg family for a few years. She’s got lots of experience in the World Championship and the European championship, so it’ll be great to work with her. To be on top form, you really need be with someone who can work at a really high level as well. So, I’m really excited to work with her!
What is the relationship like between a driver and co-driver?
It’s a strange one, because you spend so much time together it’s really important that you are friends. Most drivers and co-drivers will agree that it’s the most important thing to look for. To work as a team under high pressure and stressful situations, you need to understand how the other one works, and I think having similar qualities is quite useful. I know that I perform best when I’m relaxed and not too stressed out, and I think she’s exactly the same. Some people are different, so it’s important to have the right dynamic, which you don’t really see until you’re in the pressure of a rally. From what I understand, she handles it the same way I do, and I think we’ll make a great team.
You want to compete in the GB Rally this year on the WRC circuit. How do you get there?
It’s pretty straightforward to get there, we just need to make sure that the calendars match up with the European Championship, which they do at the minute. Obviously, you need the additional budget as it’s a bigger event than the ERC, so it’s the additional training that will go into that if you want to be competitive. GB is renowned for being quite a gruelling rally for the cars, especially if you’re in the R2 category, because all of the R5 cars go first, so you have big ruts in the road and big boulders, so it’s very easy to break a car. It’s a rally of survival.
To get experience on a World Rally track would be amazing. They are really long hours and long stages. To get a feel for that would be awesome.
I think now times are changing a little bit, I think there are more and more girls coming into motorsport. I personally don’t speak about being a ‘female racing driver’, I speak about being a rally driver.
Motorsports has typically been male-dominated – do you see that changing now and how so?
Catie with YouTuber Queen B and VC London at a women in motoring panel
© Sarah Smith
When I started, it was never something I ever thought about. Every driver will agree that they start driving because it’s their passion. If they’re serious about the sport they tend to think more about that than “Oh, there’s more men than women”. I think it’s obvious the first time you sit on the grid that you’re the minority, but it’s not something you focus on too much.
When I first started, I was very involved with Susie Wolff’s Dare to be Different campaign, and I used to have a lot of questions for Susie about this. She used to tell me that there are people who tell you not to talk about it, so people won’t make a big deal out of it, but the fact is it is there. That is the way it is at the minute, and if we don’t talk about it then you’re not inspiring more girls into motorsport and it will stay like that. Susie feels that it’s all very well to say, "Oh don’t speak about it”, but we need to be more active in getting women into motorsport.
That’s what I learned starting out. I think now times are changing a little bit, I think there are more and more girls coming into motorsport. I personally don’t speak about being a ‘female racing driver’, I speak about being a rally driver. Of course, I had messages before, when I first started the European Championship, I was a complete novice and read some comments from people saying 'Why doesn’t she get out of the car and go paint her nails or make me a sandwich' [laughs]. I just think, oh that’s an intelligent keyboard warrior!
Other than that, I’ve never had any other negative experiences. I think the other drivers realise that actually it’s cool to have more girls involved in motorsport, so they’ve tried to help me. It’s been the same with my team. To be in the minority – any driver is looking for a way to be different and stand out to sponsors – so if you can use it to your advantage, in a positive way, then I think it’s brilliant to have an angle that’s slightly different to everyone else. I wouldn’t say it holds any advantage of disadvantage, in terms of driving. As soon as you put your helmet on, nobody can see if you’re a girl or a boy. I think that’s one of the best things about the sport!
Catie is aiming to do a full season of ERC3 and a few WRC stops. We can't wait to see how she does!
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