FOR teenage East Cowes motorsport devotee, Chloe Harris, a career as a Formula 1 pit mechanic would do nicely — but to help progress her ambitions by doing a course with Ferrari, she needs help through a fundraising page.

The 17-year-old only started to gain an interest in motorsport less than three years ago, watching Formula 1 racing with her mum, Amanda. 

But it really went into top gear when she went to her first-ever British Touring Car Championships (BTCC) race event at Thruxton, watching the mechanics at work.

"I remember stopping, looking at my mum and just saying: 'This is where I want to be'," said Chloe.

"The hustle and bustle of the paddock had sold me completely. Everywhere I looked, I was in awe — something I hadn’t felt before. It's how I knew I needed to be involved in motorsport."

Chloe, born in Yorkshire, but an Islander since she was five — attending Whippingham Primary School, then Cowes Enterprise College — she dropped her passion for performing arts for the artistry of a future career in motorsports.

A student now at the National College for Motorsport (NC4M), Chloe had to be patient to get her place by taking a motor vehicle mechanics course at the Isle of Wight College in September 2021.

Less than a month later, after initially being knocked back by NC4M, Chloe received a phone call out of the blue from them, offering her a place on their Foundation Race Technician Level 2 course — on-line, with three days at Silverstone — which she passed in June last year.

In tandem, Chloe had joined the Isle of Wight Car Club and rode passenger in their autotest sessions, then she joined a 'girl car' group on the Island — the Isle of Wight Car Girls, which solidified her love for motorsport.

It was the springboard for her passions for Formula 1 and BTCC.

Chloe is now studying at Race Technician Level 3, which she is determined to pass this summer.

As part of her education, Chloe wants to enrol on a ten-day electrical engineering course at the Dipartimento di Ingegneria "Enzo Ferrari" (the Enzo Ferrari department of engineering), at the University of Modena, Italy.

She learned about it from a 'pop-up' on her phone.

Financially out of her reach, the course will cost her around 4,000 Euros (or £3,500) and will have to pay a minimum 500-Euros non-refundable deposit up front. 

"This is a huge opportunity to add to my knowledge. The only thing holding me back is the cost. If anyone could help, it would be incredible,"said Chloe, who lists the likes of Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz as her favourite F1 drivers

"Once my Level 3 is completed, I hope to be working as part of a single-seater team — preferably working up from Formula 3, to Formula 2 and, eventually, Formula 1, but I could work in GB3 and similar areas. 

"I've had successful work experience with both F2, F3 and BTCC teams, which I am pursuing for a job, or apprenticeship.

"My ultimate goal is to end up in Formula 1 as a pit mechanic, then possibly move into strategy for a team and go on to work with the FIA on incident and accidents investigation — finding the causes and the responsibility.

"But before I can move up to this, I feel I need the basic knowledge to understand the cars and what is going on, and to be able to make strategic decisions."

To support Chloe on her Italian adventure, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/chloe-go-to-italy-to-study-engineering