FOXY’s first honorary Hall of Famer was Vicki Butler-Henderson who presents Discovery/Quest TV’s, Fifth Gear, and ITV4’s classic car show, The Car Years, as well as content for AutoTrader’s You Tube channel.
If it’s a challenging drive, (including Formula 1 cars, racing bikes and jet fighters no less) chances are Vicki will have had a go!
Not only does she race fast cars but she also features regularly on radio, runs driver training days, writes books, hosts conferences and presents Award Ceremonies.
In between all this busy-ness, she also takes time out for worthwhile community events such as opening FOXY Lady Approved SMaRT Garage in South London, where we last met Vicki.
During our original Hall Of Fame interview this is what Vicki told us about her career.
When did you first realise you were a better driver than most men?
I’m not sure about that! Tiff Needell is still a better driver than me.
I started racing 100cc karts from the age of 12 to 17 and knew from an early age that cars must be in my life.
At 17 I progressed to race cars, as well as start my journalism career in a variety of car magazines.
Taken from your book, which is your favourite drive in a sexy car?
I’m really surprised that a car I drove as far back as 1999/2000 remains one of my favourite ever cars to drive – the Lamborghini Diablo GT.
There are no traction control aids on it so it’s very much a proper driver’s car. And I went to Lambo’s HQ to pick it up, which was a bit special.
Many women worry about driving on wet, slippery or icy roads. Can you help?
Driving a car is exactly the same for a woman as it is a man, so ANY extra driving tuition you search out will be great.
I offer private tuition to perfect driving skills behind the wheel, or simply just to gain some more confidence in your car. This could be a great gift for your other half, perhaps?
Good fun and life-saving skills are guaranteed. Just contact me at my website.
Knowing many men consider themselves better drivers, how do they react to you on the Fifth Gear circuit?
I’ve always let my driving do the talking, and so far it’s done the trick!
What advice and encouragement can you give to those that’d like to follow in your career footsteps?
I’ve been very lucky to turn a hobby into a career, albeit not a racing one. But not many are so fortunate. For every one Formula One driver, I could name you ten who are just as talented but didn’t have the right luck and money at the right time.
My advice would be to… “Race because you love it, be prepared to work hard for every place on the track and expect to earn every penny of sponsorship off it.”
How do you drive with a camera on board whilst telling us what you think?
When we film on a racing circuit, our speeds are so high and the cornering forces are so strong that it’s not feasible to put a cameraman alongside us!
So we attach very small cameras to the windscreen and windows to capture everything.
The microphones are on our seatbelt usually, and then there might be a whacking great bright light pointing at us from the bonnet!
We’ve all been doing it so long now that we are not affected by these at all.
I love it all!
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Thank you Vicki – we’ve really enjoyed hearing about your driving experiences!
We think you are far too modest about your career achievements to date and we hope that this interview will encourage other young women to pursue their dream motoring career as you have done.
More About Vicki Butler-Henderson
Here is Vicki’s website.
Twitter: @vb_h
Instagram: vickibutlerhenderson
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