'Girl Power' Laidlaw to live her dream

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

History will be created at the Dover Raceway on Heroes Day, when a woman, Michelle 'Girl Power' Laidlaw, competes in the motorcycle event for the first time.

The two-day meet dubbed Heroes of Speed race meet, will be held on October 16 and 17 in St Ann.

Laidlaw, who has been a rally car driver since 2008, said this is a dream come true for her to be given the opportunity to compete against the men at the championships.

"I race cars at Dover even though I took a one-year break, but instead of sitting out the entire year, I decided to try the bikes because that was an original dream of mine," said Laidlaw in an interview with The Gleaner.

"I was always drawn to motorcycles and so I originally tempted them to get the females involved but they weren't really interested," she recalled. "They (Jamaica Race Drivers Club) told me if I could get other females interested, then I could start a female race, but that didn't happen," Laidlaw recalled.

She added that she has been a big admirer of motorcyle racing from a tender age while attending the Dover races with her father.

" ... I kept the dream, but I put it on the back burner and I decided to go with cars because of the lack of support for it among the females," Laidlaw said.

"I kept up my passion for bikes by doing commentary for the events at Dover. This year the bug bit me and I decided to take a chance and feel out the bikes on the track."

Laidlaw, a past student of Campion College, said she approached veteran rider Adrian Blake, took his bike and went around the track and she really loved it.

"Now I am going to finally fulfil my dream of racing with the guys at Dover," said the soft-spoken Laidlaw.

Promising a good show

Laidlaw, who describes herself as a tomboy growing up, has promised to put on a good show for the fans attending the race meet.

"I am definitely not good enough yet to win, but my practice runs were good and I didn't fall off the bike. So I think that I can give the people some excitement during the race," she said. "My goal is to complete the race and so I am not aiming to win, I just want to end the race with sound bones," Laidlaw reasoned.

She added: "I want to show other women that it is possible to enter into this male-dominated sport. I have a new-found respect for the bikers and so I realised that it takes a lot to race a bike at Dover, in terms of the speed and the times that they are putting down."

Laidlaw will be riding a Honda CRB 600 and is sponsored by SeaFreight Jamaica. She will be competing against the likes of defending champion Stefan Chin, the current lap record holder. Chin is expected to be strongly challenged by Blake.