From Girls On Gravel to Team Bakkerud: Lily-Rose joins Bakkerud’s Media Team
For 15-year-old kart racer Lily-Rose Hughes, a visit to Motorsport Ireland/ Mondello Park’s Girls On Gravel event turned into an incredible opportunity to experience professional motorsport from the other side of the fence.
Lily-Rose enjoyed an action-packed Girls On Gravel event, taking part in games, listening to guest speakers and learning more about the different opportunities available within motorsport. She also got the chance to take a paddock walk, giving her a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into running a professional motorsport event.
During the paddock tour, Lily-Rose met Andreas Bakkerud and his team and chatted with them about their weekend plans, the team set-up and what was involved in preparing for the FIA European Rallycross Championship event. It was then that an unexpected opportunity came her way. Andreas offered Lily-Rose the chance to join his team as part of the media team for the weekend!
She jumped at the opportunity.
Her weekend began on Thursday evening when she joined the team at the Drivers Parade in Naas, capturing photos and videos of Andreas as he met fans, drove through the event and signed autographs.
On Friday morning, Lily-Rose arrived at Mondello Park and received her team wristband, giving her access to areas normally restricted to team personnel, including the paddock, pre-grid and team areas. It gave her a completely different perspective on a major international motorsport event.
Saturday was the first day of competition and it was spent capturing plenty of photography, allowing Lily-Rose to get the bulk of her photos completed so she could concentrate on video content on Sunday. She also had the opportunity to access the pre-grid, an area normally reserved for teams and those with the appropriate credentials.
Throughout Saturday and Sunday, Lily-Rose also conducted interviews with Andreas following his runs, asking him how each session had gone and how he was finding the Mondello Park track and the car. These are things fans love to hear so they can keep up to date with how their favourite driver’s are feeling about the weekend.
Sunday saw her finish off her video work while capturing a few more photographs before heading to the prize-giving at the end of the event to support Andreas and the team and capture some final moments from the weekend. It was a hugely successful weekend for Team Bakkerud as Andreas took the top step of the podium in Mondello Park, the first time the FIA ERX has been back in Mondello Park in 30 years.
For Lily-Rose, what started as a visit to the Girls On Gravel event quickly became a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience of professional motorsport media at the highest level.
From the karting paddock to working alongside an FIA European Rallycross Championship team, her weekend demonstrated exactly what the Motorsport Ireland Women in Motorsport Commission is all about- showing young women the many different pathways available within motorsport and giving them the confidence to take their next step.
With an incredible weekend of experience now under her belt, Lily-Rose’s journey in motorsport has gained another exciting dimension, and this is hopefully just the beginning.
