Meet the Macclesfield nurse who spends her spare time whizzing around racetracks.

Staff Nurse Tara Richardson (24) from East Cheshire NHS Trust is balancing routine observations with racing cars.

The Cheshire car-racer prepares to compete in this year's Formula Woman competition to find the 'next female racing driver'.

Nurse Tara started working for her Macclesfield employer in 2019 straight after qualifying and has been passionate about motorsport since childhood.

She was brought up watching the likes of Top Gear and Formula 1, by her step-dad who she states 'gave her a true interest in cars by buying nothing but broken or barely running motors'.

Tara got her driving license at 19 and has spent many a night fixing and modifying her own car with her partner and friends, who she calls family.

Tara also attends car shows and events held throughout the year, across the UK. And five years after she first started driving, she is taking part in a national female racing driver competition.

Tara said, "I know nursing and motorsports don't exactly go hand in hand, but motorsports is an escape from my job that can often be quite high pressure.

"I love being a nurse, I'm a people person and I've wanted to look after people for as long as I can remember so it was always going to be my career.

"There is nothing more rewarding than seeing someone come in to us very ill and then go back to their loved ones feeling better. Balancing my two passions will be a challenge but I love them both so I'm sure I'll make it work.

"The pandemic has solidified for me, that we have to go out and achieve what we want for ourselves, because at any time it could be taken away."

Tara is now preparing for her Formula Woman assessment day this month.

This which will consist of multiple tests including Karting which Tara is very keen on, as she also aims to qualify for next year's British Indoor Karting Championship.

Tara is hoping to stand out and win the intensive race driver training and coaching package, which will provide her with professional training with Graeme Glew.

The motorsport consultant and founder of Formula Woman has over three decades of experience, and will tutor Tara with his team over a period of 2 months.

On successful completion of this, the end prize is to achieve a fully sponsored seat in a Mclaren GT4 in the GT Cup Championship running through 2022.

The very beginning of 2022 is when Tara will find out if all her hard work and dedication has paid off.

Whilst Tara feels the competition is fierce, she will be taking to social media to announce her place in the competition and raise her racing profile with her first promotional video which has been filmed by her official sponsor Duel Autocare.

The Denton company are excited to be promoting women in motorsport, just like Tara.

To follow Tara's challenge and cheer her on, you can follow her social media updates on Instagram or TikTok.

You can also watch her on YouTube, and we have included a video of Tara's at the top of this article.

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