MOTOR RACING: Jamie Chadwick to mentor Great British Bake Off's Paul Hollywood

Jamie, who lives near Tetbury and drives for the Beechdean AMR team, made history last year by becoming the first woman and youngest ever person to win the motorsport series but this year her challenge is to turn Hollywood from baker to racer.

The partnership came about through Paul’s lifelong passion for Aston Martin.

Jamie explained that Paul has been involved in various ventures with the luxury car company and during filming for a BBC documentary last year he was approached by Beechdean to test with them.

Hollywood impressed the Buckinghamshire-based team enough to offer him further opportunities and he made his racing debut in March last year at the Britcar Sports and Touring Car Championship before entering the Aston Martin festival at Le Mans the following June.

Jamie, who is just 17 years old, is delighted with the pairing, saying: “Paul definitely has the racing instinct, he’s got the feel for racing with a lot of natural ability, the technical knowledge and the ability to learn, those are the three things a driver needs to be successful.”

On her remarkable success last season, Jamie is very modest.

She said: “Of course to be the youngest ever and first female champion is a bonus but I just wanted to win regardless.

“We had an awesome year and the key was reliability. The team did a great job so Ross, (Jamie’s driving partner), and I just had to do our jobs.” 

It certainly was an awesome year as the pair won two of the seven races, at Silverstone and Rockingham and finished on the podium at Oulton Park, Brands Hatch and Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium to secure the title with a race to spare.

Her partnership with Paul looks set to be successful too as the duo have bonded over a mutual love of cakes. 

Jamie says she is a “massive Bake Off fan” and is looking forward to exchanging plenty of her own racing tips for Paul’s baking advice.

On the track, they will drive an Aston Martin V8 Vantage which has been slightly modified to fit the GT4 class. 

“The car itself is 90 per cent road car,” explains Jamie, “it’s not been modified too much as the class is meant to be based on road cars but it has a racing tank which is in the middle of the car for weight distribution, it has been lightened and fitted with a roll cage.”

Otherwise the car is very similar to the £95,000 road version, even the gear box and engine are the same.

Her first race with Paul will take place at the iconic Spa over the weekend of July 8-9.

The circuit, famed for its difficulty, has a legendary status in motorsport and has played host to some of history’s greatest races.

“It’s great for Paul to start off there,” said Jamie, “he will definitely be chucked in at the deep end.”

The duo will then race at Snetterton in August and Donnington Park in September.

Jamie will also compete in the first two rounds of the championship for AMR Superracing as she sits in for James Holder.

However, Jamie is determined not to let motorsport get in the way of her studies so defending her title is not of importance to the Cheltenham college student.

“This is the first year school is really the priority, it’s the last year of my formal education,” said Jamie.

She is determined to keep her options open, “I want to be a big player in motorsport, hopefully as a driver but if not I want to have a university education to find another role, as an engineer or technician.”

But really it’s impossible to suppress her need for speed and in addition to her education and her races in GT4, Jamie will take part in a series of single seater tests throughout the year to see if a move would be right for her.

Her first test took place last weekend with F3 team Hillspeed at Snetterton. 

Team Principal, Richard Ollerenshaw, said: “This is Jamie’s first outing in a single-seater and we’ve been hugely impressed.

“She provided excellent feedback, and improving times throughout the day, as she adapted with the car, and it’s clear she’s more than capable in a single-seater.”

The dream is to one day compete in Formula 1 but she is remaining grounded.

“It’s tough to get in to and needs huge financial backing,” said Jamie, “the first realistic step was GTs and I’ve had great success so far but I need to see whether it’s realistic as to whether single seater is the right step."

She added: “In the next few years I hope to race in Daytona and Le Mans, it’s a long way off but it’s a realistic goal.”

“I need to find a strong pathway for myself but I would never rule Formula One out.”

For now, Jamie is focusing on the present. 

After her exams she will race in the GT4 races with Paul Hollywood and hopes to compete in some one-off events including the 24-hour endurance races in Barcelona, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. 

Her first race of the British GT season will be this weekend at Brands Hatch.