DAY SCORES A FIRST IN DRIVING NZ MOTORSPORT

Deborah Day can trace her first race meeting back to when she was just six-weeks-old.

She recalls how her dad raced a Hillman Hunter back in the day – they’d drive to the racetrack, take her car seat out of the back, pull the muffler off and he’d race his laps on the club circuit at Pukekohe. He’d then put the muffler back on and they’d drive home at a far more sedate pace.

“I was pretty much born into it. It’s definitely Dad’s fault,” says Day, who turns 47 next month. Now she’s made history as the first female president of MotorSport New Zealand.

Although she loves driving, Day’s involvement in the sport has been primarily one on the sidelines and behind the scenes. She started with flag marshalling and worked her way up to race control (which became her natural home), communicating and managing events and a team of people to deliver the best motorsport events they could.

She earned her clerk of the course licence (the second most senior official at a motorsport event) in 2009 and she’s had her gold licence  – the highest level – for over a decade.

Day is a past recipient of Motorsport NZ’s Volunteer of the Year Award and its Award of Merit.

Last month, she was elected the 10th president of the sporting body at their 77th AGM, taking over from Wayne Christie. She’s served on the MotorSport NZ Board, where she worked with Christie, for eight years.

“He’s done a fantastic job for our sport and he’s given me a very steady ship to take over from,” Day says. “We’ve got a fabulous board and it’s a group that’s an absolute pleasure to chair.”

Day and her husband, Martin, have a blended family with four children between them – and three are into motorsport. Their son Matthew and oldest daughter Shiane (and her husband) compete. Their daughter Caitlyn doesn’t race but is involved on race weekends.

In fact, the wider family are usually found at the racetrack too, with Day’s parents still marshalling, and her sister, brother-in-law and niece all taking part as well.

Deborah and Martin own building supplies specialist Dayle ITM, which they bought in 2012 from Martin’s parents. They now have three stores in Auckland’s Avondale and East Tamaki and Kopu near Thames.

That growth has helped them support young drivers in New Zealand and internationally on the world stage.

They include Christina Orr-West – “New Zealand’s fastest Mum” who’s also a dairy farmer from Whakatane – top rally driver Emma Gilmour, Brendon Leitch, Saxon Sheehan, Ronan and Cormac Murphy (sons of Greg Murphy), Ryan Wood and Angus Fogg.

“We’ve been fortunate enough to be able to sponsor a lot of young Kiwi drivers to chase their dreams,” says Day.

MotorSport NZ is a not-for-profit sports organisation appointed by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) as the sole authority to regulate motorsport in New Zealand.

Day’s initial term as president will last three years and her immediate priority is increasing participation.

“Like every sport, it’s expensive to a be a part of, and in our sport there’s a bit more investment involved,” Day says.  

“Really getting an understanding with schools through STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] projects, like the F1 in Schools programme, and actually driving participation into those events that you can do with Mum or Dad’s car, that you don’t actually need to go an invest in a race car or all the safety apparel to start with, is a really important step for us.

“The more that we can talk about careers in motorsport, or participating in motorsport, the list of ways to be involved is huge. If we can start to tap into that and get some career plans going with kids in high school and university, then we can set the feet in the right direction for the sport in the future.”

While a lot of sports are having issues with gender discussions and related participation, Day recognises that motorsport is actually unique in that space. Once you put your helmet on, you’re just the same as the person next to you on the grid, no matter what your race, religion, or gender is, she points out.

Another ambition during her tenure is further recognition of the stars of her sport by the media and in turn, the general public. Day would love it if drivers walked down the street and were as recognised as say, our major rugby stars.

“As a sport we have a huge number of drivers competing overseas in championships and the general public wouldn’t have a clue, so, opening that up and getting them the recognition they deserve [is important],” says Day.

As her term begins, Day realises that her election to the role is one to be grabbed with both hands.

“It represents opportunity,” she says. “It’s probably not a role I ever dreamt of taking on, but I think the skillset that I’ve developed in my professional life means I’ve got some skills that I can give back to the sport and that’s really important to me.”

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2024-06-23T18:41:35Z dg43tfdfdgfd