published 19-02-2015




Whoever said sidecar racing was just for blokes must have forgotten to tell Clare Hartnell and Tracy Davidson as the pair known as "The Pink Ladies" have proved themselves in up against some of New Zealand's top Speedway talent in what is their first year as a combination.

Hartnell who works as a leading hand in cattle yards in Mataura has always loved the thrill of speed, from the tender age of just nine while living in England she was trial riding on motorbikes and Landrovers but it was three years ago she took on her biggest challenge swinging on the side of Stan Ross's Triumph Daytona sidecar.

Ross decided at the end of last season that he wanted to upgrade and get something faster so Hartnell decided if they couldn't sell the Triumph then she would take it over and ride it rather than swing "luckily it didn't sell, to be honest we didn't push it too hard" Hartnell jokes.

With the change to riding becoming apparent, Hartnell was on the hunt for someone keen enough to hang off the side of the bike, preferably female and thanks to the powers of social media Davidson a keen speedway follower came forward. Davidson, a dairy farmer from Otautau had done a bit of dirt bike riding but had never been on a speedway bike before, the fact they have no brakes and her job was to hang millimetres from the dirt in every corner just didnt phase her with Hartnell saying " Tracy is doing a great job considering shes new to the sport, we did have a moment where Tracey fell off and got hit by another bike, it looked pretty bad but she got up, dusted herself off and we finished every other race that day".

The team has had their fair share of critics Hartnell admits "there has been a few that have said girls shouldn't be doing this, its a mans sport, that just makes us more determined to beat them at their own game, but most of the guys are great and we love the jokes and banter".

With the critics also come the fans, and The Pink Ladies really have won the hearts of many speedway fans, they have a strong following on their Facebook page Pink Ladies, priding themselves on being New Zealands only female sidecar combination, they even have their own calendar which they put together to raise funds to race, Hartnell said "we put together 150 calendars and they sold out in a matter of days, and we will do this again next year", she also admits getting the funds together to race is tough work and sponsorship is hard to come by, Hartnell is even planning to shave her long blonde hair off to raise funds next season if it means being able to race.

Going forward Hartnell is heading back to the UK later in the year and has already secured herself a ride at a race meeting over there, she would like to race in America and Australia at some stage but the current priority is experience and maybe a new bike.

The Pink Ladies can be seen in action later this month as the Oreti Park club host the  Xtreme Karts South Island Sidecar Championships.

Hartnell and Davidson wish to thank Hokanui Engineering, Laben Photography, Southern Office Products, Sign It Gore, Shell-Be Beauty and Southland Car Painters for their support this season.