A 15-YEAR-old schoolgirl racing driver has competed in her first International Formula 4 Championship race in Asia.

Emily Linscott secured the drive in the F4 South East Asia Championship round at the world famous Sepang F1 Circuit in Malaysia with the help of sponsor, GoBobby.uk.

It was held on Saturday November 24 and Sunday November 25.

She said: “As soon as I arrived, the team introduced me to my personal team; my mechanics, my performance engineer, data engineer and driver coach, as well as the other drivers.

“They’d already set the steering column length, the pedal box position and the ballast in the car, based on my size and weight which they’d asked me before I even left the UK.”

Even before the start of race one, her car had shown signs of playing up, not allowing her to select gears seamlessly on the sighting lap, but there was nothing that could be done by that point.

A fitting seventh place finish overall was Emily’s reward. Emily’s second race on the Sunday saw her replicate her seventh place finish with another sterling drive.

For Race three, the final race of the weekend, she was on the front row of the grid.

The lights went off and she got a decent start, maintaining her second place into turn one, but sadly there was a coming together with another car on her inside.

This caused her car to rotate across the other cars’ front and she was hit by a third car, ending her race there.

Her plans for 2019 are fixed on competing in the F4 Championship, but with a twist. She’s aiming at doing both the British and Sea of Championships subject to raising the necessary budget, and of course ensuring the time and logistics of the two series don’t cause difficulties with her GCSE exams.

She is currently studying at St Clere’s School in Stanford-le-Hope.