A Staff Nurse in Macclesfield is in the driving seat to win a prestigious racing competition.

In November, we introduced to you Tara Richardson who was pursuing her other passion in racecar driving to win herself a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The 24-year-old Macclesfield District General Hospital worker would take The Formula Woman competition, which could propel her into a career in motorsport.

Now, East Cheshire NHS Trust staff nurse, Tara Richardson has taken things up a gear after being selected as a finalist in the prestigious Formula Woman competition.

Tara, who works on a cardiology ward at Macclesfield Hospital faced strong competition to secure her position, beating more than 800 applicants from 28 different countries to make it through to the final 50.

The final group consists of racers from over 16 different countries, but with our town rooting for her, Tara remains in pole position to win the Formula Woman competition.

The contest so far has seen Tara take part in a series of online and on-track assessments to determine who will be successful in becoming the next female motor racing champion.

The assessments have included fitness, media, and on-track driving skills, which have been assessed by a team of professional racing judges.

Tara, who is balancing nursing care and racing cars in her spare time, has been passionate about motorsport since childhood.

She said; "I couldn't be more excited about the experience of taking part in the final and I am feeling confident. My sponsors Duel Autocare have been amazing at supporting me every step of the way, and the support I've also received through social media has also been brilliant.

"The last two years as a newly qualified nurse has been extremely challenging. I know nursing and motor racing don't usually go hand in hand, but motorsport and my automotive hobbies are an escape from my job that can often be quite high pressured.

"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."

The final 50 successful applicants will now proceed to the last stage of the competition, to take part in further televised on-track assessments in March 2022.

After successful completion of this, six winners will then be awarded the grand prize of a drive in a McLaren Customer Racing GT4 car in the UK GT Cup championship during 2022, after undergoing full intensive training and coaching.

Tara got her driving licence in 2016, and her job at Macc Hospital three years later.

Senior Sister Laura Atherton, from the Macclesfield cardiology ward where Tara works, said: "Tara is an excellent nurse and takes pride in delivering high quality care for our patients every day.

"We know her other passion is motorsport and we want to wish Tara the best of luck in the next stage of this amazing challenge. We are all rooting for her!"

To follow Tara's challenge on social media, please visit @taraa.sr on Instagram, where she has over 3,000 followers.

She has also received 32,000 likes on TikTok for her car content, and we've even linked a YouTube vlog of her time at Formula Woman so far at the top of this article.

Macclesfield businesses are invited to sponsor Tara, by sending her a message via Instagram.

She already has the financial backing of a vehicle company from Denton.

Life-changing opportunity for Macclesfield teenage race car driver.

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