June 15 - 21, 2022
Roycroft races for the region
◆ FAMILY AFFAIR: Felicity Roycroft (left) has experienced significant racing success since welcoming son Nate into the world at a racing championship in Mildura in 2019. Supported by her racing family (from left) Zylah Brooks, Ollie Roycroft, Jay Nicolaisen, Matthew Brooks and husband Shane. PHOTO: Wade Aunger
By RYAN MALCOLM
FELICITY Roycroft has always had the need for speed. The second-youngest of seven siblings born to North East racing mainstay Dave Pollard, Felicity’s passion for speedway racing was nurtured at a young age, when she called Seymour Granite Park raceway home for two years. “My grandparents ran the Seymour raceway,” she remembers. “My Dad was the caretaker for the track he thought there’d be no better thing than to
live there for his work.” However, despite her proximity to the track, Felicity’s racing opportunities were limited, until she finally began competing in speedway events during the 2014/15 season. The move has paid off, with Felicity establishing herself as one of the brightest talents in stock car racing in only her fifth full season, earning a call-up for Team Australia to compete in next year’s New Zealand Stock Car Teams Championships and capping off a breakout season at Wangaratta Speedway
with overall victories in the Darren Levy Memorial and Ladies Open sedan championships. “Growing up, my siblings all had a go at racing in Dad’s car but they broke it before I got in,” Felicity said. “Dad had had enough of it by the time I got there. “When I met (husband and fellow stock car competitor) Shane, he’d built a car for himself - it was probably a year into the relationship before he let me drive it.
“I remember Dad telling me I’ve got to hold it steady through the corners, but instead I held it flat out and crashed into a wall. “We built Shane a new car and I rolled it over, so Dad told me I needed to brake into the corners from then.” The Wangaratta Speedway member and her mechanic-by-trade husband have emerged as a formidable duo across Australia, travelling to the farthest reaches of the nation in search of the ultimate in speedway success.
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