Hannah Pym is the dark horse of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Scholarship award. That is a line I have used a lot in reference to the former Karter. Yet it is also true that the majority of circuit racing fans have probably never heard her name.
That doesn’t mean she should be underestimated, or her position in the final four overlooked. She has just as much experience in motor racing as her rivals, if not more. Just in a far more cut and thrust discipline.
“I obviously did not know what to expect when I stepped into a car,” says Pym who first made the transition from Karts during a test session in a Ginetta GT5 in April. “Driving is driving though.”
She describes her first step into a Type 991 GT3 Cup machine as “natural”, adding “I felt really comfortable driving the car and that is what made me so dead set on going into the scholarship.”
It was actually a member of the In2Racing team, whom Hannah has spent most of her time testing the Porsche with, who put her forward for the scholarship. “It was a huge surprise and I was over the moon to get into the final four.”
Successful karter now heads for car racing. (Credit: Hannah Pym Racing)
“I have always looked at the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup and Le Mans as the goal. That’s much more the sort of thing I want to be doing instead of Formula 1.”
Testing in a car is one thing but the actual race craft is something that can only be learnt in combat. Pym points out that despite having never been part of a car race, “Kart racing is close and so brutal so I have good racing experience with the amount I have done.”
In 2015 with the introduction of MSA Formula, fifteen year olds were actively courted to make the step-up from Karting formulae into single-seaters. Arguably this mixture of youth and inexperience has led to some unnecessary accidents. With everyone stepping up so quickly, why did Pym stick with what she knew? “I think there is a lot to be learnt in kart racing and some people move out to soon. I think it has really developed me as an all round driver.”
One thing that surprised this author is the determination of all four potential scholars to be on the Carrera Cup grid next year no matter what the outcome. “The benefits of being a Porsche Scholarship driver beside the money are so good.”
Pym has tested in 2015 with In2Racing. (Credit: Hannah Pym Racing)
Another thing that carries through from the scholarship finalists in an appreciation of the standing of the TOCA package, Pym perhaps summing this up best when she says “It is the package you have to be on.” Slightly more unusual for a racing driver is Hannah’s enthusiasm for the media aspect of modern motor sport, “I love talking to people,” she adds.
“Josh is a tough act to follow,” she continues. Webster has been a fantastic scholar on and off the track and the recognition of the multiple roles these young drivers will have to take on if successful is very interesting.
“The four they have picked they have done so for their own reasons and I think that shows that they have put real thought into it,” Pym concludes.
Hannah Pym is a name to watch no matter how she ends up racing in the Carrera Cup GB. Her enthusiasm for racing goes beyond what happens on the track and that is particularly refreshing. Maybe not so much a dark horse as an out and out contender for future GT success.
Supercup is Pym’s target. (Credit: Porsche AG)
