On her 14th birthday, Emily Easton-Page was given a crash helmet from her dad and told she could take part in her first rally driving event the very next day.
Eight years later, the 22-year-old’s passion for the sport is still going strong and she has successfully become an award and title holder.
“I’ve got a lot of support around me,” she said. “That helps a lot when you’re trying to progress.”
The former Banchory Academy pupil started out by co-driving for her dad, Martin Page, who she had grown up watching on the track.
“I was always watching him thinking ‘I’d quite like to be in that seat’,” she said. “One year he let me cross the start line with him and then in 2021 I managed to do the whole rally with him properly.
“It was really nice for both of us.”
That same year, Emily won the junior title at the Scottish Rally Championships alongside Aberdeen driver Johnnie Mackay which pushed her to keep going with the sport.
A new experience
The 22-year-old, who grew up in Finzean, has been given the opportunity to further develop her skills as a co-driver through the Motorsport UK Academy.
After a successful pitch to M-Sport pros, Emily was invited on a trip to Croatia last month to sample a variety of different roles in the world of rallying.
“They were judging us but we didn’t realise,” she added. “They put in little slip-ups for us during a recce practice so they could see how on the ball we were.
“Then we had to give a pitch to M-Sport principal Rich Milliner, Nicky Grist, Sebastian Marshall and Luke Barry for the chance to go to Croatia.”
During the trip, the student got a crash course on how M-Sport runs its media, logistics and weather checks, including making sure the road conditions are suitable for racing.
“The main thing I took away from the weekend was how big the scale is compared to UK rallying,” she said. “I felt like a very small fish, but I think that’s normal because there were a lot of new things.
“It was a really good experience.”
Encouraging more women to take part
Last year, Emily was named as the runner-up of the John Easson award and received funding to help her progress with rallying.
“I was quite proud of that achievement,” she said. “It is recognition that you’re on the right track and going about it the right way.”
It was the highest place to be achieved by a co-driver since the award was launched, and Emily became one of the few females to have been recognised.
“It has always been a male dominated sport,” she said. “When you get to world level there are a lot of female co-drivers, and it seems other countries are better at encouraging women to get involved.
“Maybe we’re not promoting it enough for females in the UK. I know I wouldn’t have heard of it if it wasn’t for my dad.
“I always say I’m a co-driver first, and a woman second. But at the same time I do want to encourage more women into the sport, and I think being an ambassador is important.”
Looking to the future
Throughout her rallying career, the co-driver has had to balance school and university studies with the sport.
As she comes to the end of her law studies at Edinburgh University, Emily will be able to focus on co-driving before starting her traineeship at a Glasgow firm in February.
In June, she will move on to the European level by competing in Belgium and take part in the five-day Roger Albert Clark rally in November.
“That will be a challenge,” she added. “To keep up the stamina and energy levels across five days, rather than two or three, but it’ll be good.”
“People ask me where I see it going and I honestly don’t know. I’m going to keep doing it, try to improve and see where I go.”
Conversation