OUR
5TH ANNUAL
WOMEN’S ISSUE
MEET A DOZEN CHATHAM CHANGE-MAKERS PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN MICHAEL SIMPSON
GWEN HØEG
NORTHWOOD HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR AND ASPIRING FORMULA ONE DRIVER
G
BY ANNA-RHESA VERSOLA wen Høeg,
18, was scrolling through social media last June when a TikTok video piqued her curiosity, changing the course of her life. The short clip showed a speeding race car rounding the curves of a circuit track and said girls and women 17 or older with little to no racing experience could apply for a chance to become a professional racing driver. The Northwood High School senior immediately responded to the call for
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CHATHAM MAGAZINE
APRIL / MAY 2022
Formula One is the best, the pinnacle of motor sport. I think it’s so cool. The pit stops are subtwo seconds. Everything about it is insane. They go 200-some miles an hour. … It’s the most intense thing ever, and I just love that.”
action. She passed a series of mental acuity tests, go-kart assessments and interview questions and beat out more than 800 applicants from 28 different countries to compete against 75 women in a final shootout in the United Kingdom in March for the chance to earn a spot in the driver seat of a McLaren 570S GT4 race car. The competition was organized by Formula Woman, a motor sport subsidiary searching for the next generation of female drivers in racing – a sport that demands intense concentration, mental strength, physical fitness, driving technique and fearlessness. “I feel like being a female race car driver is so badass – pardon my language,” Gwen says. “It could be a super cool opportunity to inspire other people.” Gwen, who is of Danish heritage, is an Formula One race fan and looks up to another Dane – Michelle Gatting, a