Continental Tire IMSA Driver Spotlight: Katherine Legge

Driver Spotlight: Katherine Legge
Driver, No. 0 DeltaWing DWC-13
Follow: @katherinelegge

How did you get your start in racing?

“I started racing when I was 9 years old in go-karts. Actually, we were on a family vacation and my Dad and my Uncle really wanted to go and I wanted to have a go so I persuaded them to let me try. We came back to England and there was an ad in the local paper for go-karting so I started then and it was every weekend since.”

What’s it like being part of a development team like the DeltaWing?

“It’s been an interesting project. I’ve never been a part of a development project per say before and I’ve learned a lot from it. It’s kind of cool being so cutting-edge and revolutionary and Dr. Panoz’s vision of having the road cars out there and everything so you know you’re working towards a goal. It’s a very close-knit team and every time we go out we improve, so we’re always happy.”

How do you adjust from an open-wheel car to the DeltaWing?

“Before I drove it, I looked at it and said, ‘How am I going to drive it, it’s not conventional looking.’ I called Andy (Meyrick, co-driver) and said, ‘What am I going to do here?’ He said just treat it like you would a normal race car and I did that and it drives like a normal race car. You have to isolate different parts of your driving style so to a certain extent, it makes it a bit easier. You can only brake in a straight-line, you can’t really trail-brake. It has its own characteristics but it’s a race car and it feels like a race car. It’s probably more similar to the Indy car than anything else I’ve driven.”

What is your preference for a track?

“I grew up racing on purpose-made race tracks, Silverstone, you know, all the kind of Laguna’s, Road America’s. So to come (to Sebring) with all the bumps and such it takes some getting used to. But I have been over here since 2005 so I’ve driven a lot of the tracks. We did all the street courses, stadium road courses, so the differences really are in the set-up of the car. Alan (Mugglestone, team engineer) does a brilliant job of setting the car up. It’s very sensitive to the underneath of the car because we get all of our downforce from the underneath of the car so we have little drag. I try not to have favorites because if you have a favorite, you’re going to try working harder there than anywhere else. But my favorite, even though I had a massive accident there in 2006 when by rear-wing delaminated on a Champ Car, is probably still Road America.”

What are some of your hobbies when you’re not in a race car?

“If I could I would ski every day. I love to ski. I like hanging out with my friends, watching movies, going shopping, I am a normal, every-day person. Unfortunately racing is not as such that you can do that on a regular basis because you’re always away. And if you’re not away, you’re working on sponsorship, PR, training. But I like going home and relaxing with my friends at home.”