Molly Taylor

Molly Anne Taylor is an Australian rally car driver from Sydney, NSW[1] and is the 2016 Australian Rally Champion.[3] She is the first woman to win the Australian Rally Championship,[3] as well as the youngest to do so.[4] She currently drives for the Subaru do Motorsport team in a Les Walkden Rallying prepared production WRX STI with co-driver Malcolm Read.

Molly Taylor
Born (1988-05-06) 6 May 1988
Nationality Australian[1]
CitizenshipDual – Britain & Australia
Alma materUniversity of Sydney
OccupationRally driver
Home townArcadia, NSW, Australia
Parent(s)Mark Taylor
Coral Taylor[2]
World Rally Championship career
Debut season2011
Awards
Pirelli Star Driver
Australian Rally Championship
Years active2007 – 2009; 2015–2018
TeamsSubaru do Motorsport
Championship titles
2016Australian Rally Champion
Awards
2007 & 2008F16 Champion
British Rally Championship
Years active2009 – Present
Awards
2009 & 2010British Ladies Rally Champion
Websitehttp://www.mollytaylor.com.au/

She was the first female in the Australian Motor Sports Foundation (AMSF) International Rising Star Program and also awarded the New South Wales (NSW) Confederation of Australian Motorsport Young Achiever of the Year Award in 2006.[5] In 2011, she was part of the WRC Pirelli Star Driver Program and one of the youngest and the only female driver participating in the World Rally Championship.[6] She has won several championships including back to back Australian Rally Championships in the F16 Class for 2007 and 2008.[5] In 2009, she became the British Ladies Rally Champion, the first ever driver from outside of the United Kingdom to win such title,[7] winning the title two years in a row with a repeat in 2010.[8] She also competed in the 2013 FIA European Rally Championship.[9] In 2016, Taylor won the Australian Rally Championship overall classification.

Early life and education

Taylor is the daughter of rally driver Mark Taylor and four-time Australian Rally Champion co-driver Coral Taylor. Molly has one sister, Jane. Molly attended New England Girls' School in Northwest New South Wales. She had a love of horses growing up and competed in cross-country events.[8] While attending school, her focus was on equestrian events where she competed in national level events.[10] Taylor sold her horse in order to purchase her first rally car. She was quoted as saying, "I got 100 horsepower for one horse so I though that was pretty good."[8]

After attaining a Universities Admissions Index of 98/100, Taylor commenced a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Sydney. She left university to pursue rallying full time. She also has a Certificate in Automotive Studies and is a qualified personal trainer.

Career
Driving Citroen DS3 R3T for United Business in WRC Rally Finland.

Early career pre-2010

While working with her father at his rally school, Taylor was offered a car to compete in some local motorkhanas where she took first in class and placed ninth outright. It was during her time at the rally school with her father teaching her to be a safe driver that she decided to pursue a career in rallying.[11]

In 2006, Taylor was selected into the Women's Driver Development program where she was considered a standout performer.[5] The same year she upgraded from a Holden Gemini and won her first outing in her new car by a full five minutes. She was recognized as the New South Wales Young Achiever of the year by CAMS[5] after winning the 2006 New South Wales Rally Championship, taking both the 2WD and 2-Litre titles.[12] She used 2006 as a year to gain experience in a rear-wheel drive rally car before moving into a front-wheel drive car and moving up to the Australian Rally Championship.[2]

Taylor debuted in the Australian Rally Championship in 2007 where she won the F16 class, a feat she repeated in 2008.[5] She moved to the United Kingdom a year later in order to complete in the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup, where she won three out of her six races and became the British Ladies Rally Champion.[7] In 2009 and 2010 she was selected for the Australian Motor Sport Foundation International Rising Star program.[13]

Molly Taylor and mother Coral Taylor

2010–2016

While driving in the British Rally Championship, she was noticed by Pirelli and World Racing Championship Academy officials.[11] She was then invited to participate in the Pirelli Star Driver Shootout where she competed against sixteen of the top young drivers in rally racing from throughout the world. Based on her performance at the Shootout, she was awarded one of only six scholarships to the FIA World Rally Championship Academy, which allowed her to compete in the World Rally Championship in 2011.[13] The scholarship allowed her to participate in six events for the World Rally Championship with all of her racing expenses paid.[11] She finished the final race of the championship at the Wales Rally Great Britain with a stage win, also winning the Richard Burns Trophy for the season.[14]

Taylor also competed in the FIA European Championship in 2013.[9] She also competed for the first ever FIA European Rally Championship ladies trophy.[15]

In 2015, she became the first woman to win a heat in the Australian Rally Championship in heat one of the opening event in Western Australia,[16] and then the first woman to win an event outright at the National Capital Rally in Canberra.[17] Molly achieved podium positions at every Championship round and finished second overall in the Championship.[4] She was also invited to take part in a 1000 km Endurance Race in Lithuania where her team finished third in their class.[4]

She was awarded the Peter Brock Medal, one of the most prestigious awards in Australian motorsport, awarded to the driver who has demonstrated similar characteristics to the late Peter Brock AM, including outstanding ability, a fair and sportsman-like attitude and a willingness and capacity to promote the sport in the wider community.[18][19]

In 2016, she became both the first woman to win the Australian Rally Championship and the youngest to do so,[20] with co-driver Bill Hayes.

Career highlights
  • 2016 – Australian Rally Championship – overall champion
  • 2016 – Twilight Rallysprint Series – 37th in Round 1
  • 2015 – Australian Rally Championship – runner up; awarded Peter Brock Medal
  • 2013 – FIA ERC Ladies Rally Champion
  • 2012 – Signed With United Business Rally Management, Selected World & European Rally Championship Events
  • 2011 – Pirelli Star Driver – World Rally Championship Academy
Richard Burns Trophy, Wales Rally GB
  • 2010 – British Ladies Rally Champion, 3rd Citroen Racing Trophy (BRC), IRDC Most Improved Award
  • 2009 – British Ladies Rally Champion, Greenlight TV Star Performer Award
  • 2008 – F16 Champion, Australian Rally Championship
  • 2007 – F16 Champion, Australian Rally Championship
  • 2006 – 2WD Champion, NSW Rally Championship
  • 2006 – 2 Litre Champion, NSW Rally Championship
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See also

References
  1. Viastaras, Ana (3 August 2011). "Molly On A Rally Mission". The Daily Examiner. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  2. Mansell, Lachlan (22 March 2006). "Daughter of a Gun". Auto Action.
  3. McCowen, David (23 November 2016). "Molly Taylor wins Australian Rally Championship with Subaru". Drive. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  4. "Molly Taylor – Bio". mollytaylor.com.au. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  5. "A Dream Taylor-Made". CAMS Magazine. May 2009.
  6. Barari, Aman (12 July 2011). "WRC's Only Female Drive Gears Up For Home Rally". Motor Ward. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  7. Mckay, Peter (28 August 2009). "Aussie Molly Taylor is the British Ladies Rally Champion". Motoring. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  8. Jordan, Bev (1 December 2010). "Molly Taylor's Rally Trip From Arcadia To England". Hills Shires Times. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  9. "Molly Taylor". Fiaerc. Archived from the original on 24 September 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  10. "About Molly Taylor". Molly Taylor Motorsport. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  11. Ottley, Stephen (12 November 2010). "Rallying To The Cause". Drive.com (Sydney Morning Herald). Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  12. "Moscatt Teams Up With Molly Taylor". 13 March 2007. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  13. Keene, Neil (6 January 2011). "Molly Fast-Tracks Her Career". Daily Telegraph.
  14. "The Wales Rally GB Closes Molly Taylor's 2012 Sporting Season". 22 September 2012. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  15. "Fast Lady Taylor Signs Up For Eight-Round ERC Bid". 29 March 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  16. David McCowen (4 April 2015). "Molly Taylor makes rallying history by winning a heat of the Australian Rally Championship". Drive.com.au. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  17. Pollard, Trent (28 May 2016). "Molly Taylor aims to defend National Capital Rally title continue her Canberra streak". Canberra Times. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  18. "Molly Taylor Honoured To Receive Peter Brock Medal". www.cams.com.au. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  19. "Molly Taylor Wins Peter Brock Medal – The Deadline Network". racedeadline.com.au. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  20. van Leeuwin, Andrew. "Taylor becomes first female Australian rally champion". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
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