Stephanie Coulshaw 

I am the only child of a sportscar, autoracing fanatic. When I was three my dad and I had matching hand-knit MG sweaters that my mother made for us, and my tricycle was painted to match my dads MGA, complete with MG crest on the steering head. As a child I was an expert at sportscar recognition, and I can still tell the difference between an MGA and a Healey 3000 from quite far away!

As a teenager I veered off into motorcycles, and it was over the parts counter of a BSA shop that I met Mike, my husband of 22 years. I rode a Dresda Triumph Trident, Ducati 350 Desmo, BMW and various BSA's. In fact, I didn't even get a license to drive a car until I was 32. I did some vintage racing on the Ducati and the Dresda at Shannonville, Mosport and Loudon. It was the most fun thing I've ever done in my life, and I wish now I'd just gone ahead and done 'regular' racing. The problem with racing a bike you really treasure is that you are always afraid of breaking it.

When I gave up two wheels after the birth of our son Charlie in 1985, I needed some vicarious excitement and discovered F1. My dad had always followed it  so I'd always had a periferal interest in it, but now I follow the circus with a passion!

I've attended all the Montreal GPs since 1992.  I've been lucky to see all the greats of the previous era, Senna, Prost, and Mansell, and the rise of the current crop of stars, Schumacher, Alesi, and Hakkinen. I'm a big fan of Alesi, have been since he ran in the lead of the Phoenix race in 1990, and was cheeky enough to repass Senna for the lead!   I'm keeping Fisichella and Wurz on hold as my future heroes, and I'll cheer for Alesi until he retires from F1.

I've met some of our members at the races over the years.  Bruce Benney in 1993, Looteye in 1997, Bob and Spenser in 1998.  In 1995 my dad came with us.  He hadn't been to a GP since the 60s when the Canadian GP was at Mosport.  ( I now own his collection of Road and Track from the 50s and 60s).

I'm living proof that it is possible to get daughters interested in cars and autoracing<g>.

These days my 'hot wheels' are my 1989 VW Fox (it sounds dull, but with the Stebro exhaust and the alloy wheels it is a fun car to drive) and my mountain bike (a Specialized Ground Control).  We no longer own any motorcycles, the BMW having left recently, but frankly I don't really miss them now.  As I pedal down the dirt roads where I live I think about how much I'm saving, since bicycles don't need valves, guides, rings, clutches, primary chains, fuel, insurance, tires and chains (not often anyway!), and I now have as much fun on a bicycle as I ever did on a motorcycle.  Plus, when they fall over they don't do hundreds of dollars of damage to themselves<g>!  The Mini also left for a new home, I never did get Mike warmed to the idea of doing bodywork.   He really isn't a car person, but he is following the F1 and CART series now with almost the enthusiasm I do.