Tasmin off to Europe for championship

South African circuit racer Tasmin Pepper has been confirmed as one of 18 women due to compete in the inaugural international W-Series single-seater championship.

The ground-breaking racing series aims to change the face of international motorsport, with the 18 finalists racing identical wings and slick single-seater race cars in a six-round championship around Europe.

It will form part of the 2019 German Touring Car roadshow, starting at the Hockenheim circuit in Germany on May 3 and 4. Tasmin, 28, started her racing career at the age of five, driving 50cc Kadett karts. She progressed through the ranks to win the Gauteng regional championship and later finished runner-up in multiple national championships.

Aged 15, she moved from karting into main-circuit racing, where she competed in the South African Formula Ford championship, winning the rookie title and finishing in the top five.

GIRL POWER. Tasmin Pepper, insert, will be one of 18 women to tackle this year’s inaugural W-Series of international races for women in wings and
slicks single-seater cars. It will form part of the 2019 German Touring Car road show.

She competed in the class for four years before moving to the Formula VW category. In 2007, Pepper became the first woman to win a national championship race in South Africa, in the Formula VW discipline.

She spent four seasons there, finishing second in her final year. During that time Pepper competed in the Formula BMW Asian Series, a support race for three Formula One races.

In 2013 she moved to saloon car racing, tackling the competitive Polo Cup national category. In her first season she won the rookie championship and finished in the top five.

After that, she won multiple races. Last year, Pepper finished second in the overall Polo Cup championship and won the Masters’ category for drivers 27 years or older. After being nominated for the W-Series, Tasmin made the cut out of an original 64 through a comprehensive and grueling knock-out process. Naturally, she is over the moon.

“I am beyond grateful for this amazing opportunity and cannot wait for it all to begin. Thank you to everybody who supported me – I will try my best to do you proud,” she said.

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