Up-and-coming racing driver Becky Frankland is in Dubai this week hoping to qualify for the prestigious Formula Woman Nations Cup Festival in May.

And the 28-year-old is optimistic that she will make it through to next year’s showpiece occasion, which will also take place in Dubai.

“I was in Dubai in the summer for a test day, I got the fastest lap,” she told The Local Answer. “It would mean everything to qualify for next year’s festival, ultimately I want to be a professional racing driver, that’s the dream.”

This week’s Formula Woman Nations Cup showcase event is a big step forward for Becky, who is a go-kart mechanic at JDR Karting in Gloucester.

The Formula Woman initiative aims to discover, nurture and develop female motorsport talent.

The drivers at the Nations Cup have made it through to what is effectively a semi-final from a global community of more than 10,000 participants from over 90 different countries and Frankland has already proved that she has much of what it takes across a variety of skills and qualities to be in the shake-up.

Formula Woman tests those taking part in mental agility, physical agility and fitness, media and partner handling skills, commercial knowledge, a degree of technical and mechanical sympathy and, of course, the necessary level of driving skill and the potential to be a winner.

The cars that will form the critical driving aspect of the event at the famous Dubai Autodrome will be the Radical SR3 sports racing car.

These pretty but purposeful bespoke race cars run on full racing slick tyres with their 1500cc engines, which will propel the cars from a standing start to 60mph in around four seconds with a top speed of more than 160mph.

The Radical company, which is based at Donington Park race circuit and has a factory in Peterborough, is the second largest constructor of purpose-built race cars in the world.

They have both national and world championships and any one of the competing women who can fully get to grips with a Radical could, like many Radical graduates, end up competing at the highest levels of motorsport such as the European and World Endurance Championships and the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours.  

Frankland, a mum-of-two who lives in Coalway in the Forest of Dean, has always been keen on motorsport.

When she was growing up she was the top driver in her age group at Border Counties Autograss Club in Herefordshire for three years in a row and she retains a keen interest in autograss.

The one-time Lakers School pupil is actually something of a sporting all-rounder because she also plays netball in the Gloucestershire League for Forest Foxes, a team she set up with her mum Tracy this season.

She also worked in horse racing as a work rider/yard worker when she was younger but since returning to motorsport, she wanted a job more relevant to her passion.

She has taken part in several track days since being part of Formula Woman, including ice driving and a sprint race in the Jaguar Project 8, finishing 12^th out of 74.

“It’s been going really well,” said Frankland with some understatement.

And she hopes it will go really well in Dubai this week, of course, although it won’t be easy.

Formula Woman is the brainchild of former race driver and F1 team commercial director Graeme Glew, who said: “We keep a close eye on everyone who gets through the initial stages of Formula Woman and I am delighted that Becky has made it to Dubai.

“It is going to be a big test for everyone who has made the event but Becky comes into a level playing field situation with every chance of making it through to the finals next year if she can prove to us that she has what it takes to progress there.”