Colorado Springs woman gets into motorsport and will compete in weekend racing event | Culture & Leisure

Five years ago, a car accident turned Jeanette Negri’s life upside down.

It was a wake-up call to become a better, more aware driver, she says. A year after the accident, she signed up for driving lessons to learn car control and was hooked.

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“I continued to do autocross and moved on to the Track Attack series at PPIR, driving time trials,” says Negri, director of motorsport at Pikes Peak International Raceway. “My goal is to race every weekend of the season.”

Negri even bought a new car for her new life — a yellow Subaru BRZ — because it’s a “good handling car,” she says. “He’s not fast on the straights, but he can maintain speed in the corners. It’s more fun than a high-powered car.

The amateur rider will take part in the time trial competition this weekend during the #GRIDLIFE Alpine Horizon Music and Motorsports Festival. It’s from Friday to Sunday at the PPIR.

In the time trial competition, drivers compete for the fastest lap on the course. Negri and others will line up at the start line, do a practice lap, then race for 20 minutes, trying to land the fastest lap. A fast lap by a good driver would be 1 minute and 4 seconds to 1 minute and 11 seconds, she says.

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The weekend also includes a wheel-to-wheel competition, which is not about the fastest lap, but who can cross the finish line first. Between competitions, professional drivers will show off their drifting skills. This is when an experienced driver can skid their car while maintaining control.

Negri acknowledges that there is a much lower number of women competing in grassroots motorsports, but she is excited to see more coming to the track. Where it used to be a “good old boys’ club”, she says, for those with money and connections, it is now becoming more accessible.

“Many are introduced to it by their father, brother or boyfriend, but I see more single women,” she says. “They ask questions. They no longer need a man to introduce him to them. There is a culture shift happening.

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The jargon of the race now comes out of the language of Negri, when it was once a foreign language. The sport gave her deft driving and mechanical skills, as well as a lot of personal development, she says. She learned to turn the anxiety she felt at the start of a race into excitement, which translates throughout her life.

“Because I was learning to drive, I might be excited for a job interview rather than anxious,” she says. “With competitive driving, there are a lot of problem-solving elements that I find really fun. The adrenaline is also very addictive.

Contact the author: 636-0270

Contact the author: 636-0270

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