Meet the Leeds schoolgirl chasing her motorsport dream at 70mph
A Leeds school girl is in the fast lane when it comes to breaking boundaries after impressing during her first official test with the UK’s pioneering all-female kart team.
Caitlin Steppenbeck, 14, hopes to follow in the tyre tracks of 2024 F1 Academy Champion Abbi Pulling after falling in love with the sport last year.
The Guiseley School pupil is juggling studying for her GCSEs alongside motoring and joined AJ Racing for a full day of testing at one of Britain’s most challenging kart circuits.
It was the first chance to get behind the wheel of a full race-spec junior rotax kart on an outdoor track.
Caitlin quickly adapted to the faster, grippier machine, steadily improving her lap times and reaching speeds of up to 70mph.
Sharing the circuit with nearly 30 other drivers, including the newly crowned UK Kart Champion, she held her own — earning praise for her focus and composure.
Team principal Ami Jerger said: “It was a pleasure to have Caitlin join us for testing at PFI.
“Junior Rotax is a big step up in both speed and grip compared to what she’s used to, but she handled it brilliantly — especially on what turned out to be a very busy test day.”
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Caitlin’s passion for racing started last year after Leeds-based driver Neil Hunt—a friend of her father—introduced her to his Formula Ford car at Silverstone.
Since then, she has trained regularly at the Teamsport Leeds Race Academy, where instructors Matthew Johnson and Lewis Suggitt have helped her develop vital karting skills and racecraft.
She is now preparing for her race debut in the Club 100 series at Warden Law Circuit, near Sunderland, on Sunday, October 26.
The teenager hopes to contest the full Club 100 Northern race calendar next year, with ambitions to compete in the Jamie Chadwick Series—a championship supporting up-and-coming female racers—in 2026.