Childcare Worker by Day, Circuit Racer on Weekends

I have loved Motor Racing since I can remember. Throughout my childhood I watched my Dad, Barry Devlin, build and race his own minis.

Most of our weekends were spent supporting and following him to race tracks around Australia as he set lap records and had many race wins.

Name: Linda Devlin

Age: 23

Occupation: Diploma Qualified Childcare Worker  

Type of Racing: Circuit

Current Race Cars: 1964 Mini Cooper S

2008 JCW Mini Cooper S

After years of focusing on his racing, he turned to my brother and I and asked us if we'd like to start go-karting. In 1998 Dad bought us our first go-karts. I started racing at 8 years old. Throughout my karting years, I finished many races in the top 3, including finishing 2nd or 3rd every year in the Club Championships. In 1999 I won the 'Champions of Champions' race, but it was in 2004 that I had my most successful year, winning the 'Junior Best and Fairest Award' and the Championship in my class at the age of 14.

After 9 years of racing, our family decided to take a break from karting because of other commitments.
After a few years out of racing I was offered a drive in an Historic Mini by our long time family friend, my honorary uncle and now neighbour, Henry Draper. The Historic Mini was his Targa Tasmania rally car with an 850cc engine. I was stoked. The chance to race again was extremely exciting. So in late 2007 I was 17 and got my AASA licence to take up Henry's offer. I now held a circuit racing licence before having my P-Plates!

I competed in the Doug Byrne Memorial Race at Winton Motor Raceway. It was a dream come true to be able to follow in Dad's footsteps and race a Mini around Winton. I ran at the rear of the field all by myself as I didn't have the horsepower to keep up with the other minis. They had 1275cc engines which my 850cc could not match, but it didn't matter to me. I was out there racing! I pushed hard and impressed a lot of people as my lap times were close to those who had previously run with a similar engine capacity.



From then on I've been racing the Mini in a number of events. I entered regularity races at Phillip Island and Bathurst. A regularity event is racing against your own nominated lap time. Henry was impressed with my driving and saw my raw potential, and agreed to let Dad (my mechanic) transform his Targa Rally Mini into a Group N race mini. This then allowed me to enter into proper races and gain more experience, competing against an array of experienced drivers with starts at Wakefield Park Motor Raceway, and Baskerville (Tas).

I have now competed in many Historic Winton events, as well as the Doug Byrne Memorial. My greatest achievement in the Group N Mini was in 2013, where I won two races in Group Nb & Nc Division 2, followed by a second in the last race. I had made history in being the first female to win a Historic event at Winton. I was also awarded the ‘Youngest Driver’, ‘Best Performed Female Driver’ and ‘Best Performed in Group Nb Category’ across both Division 1 & 2.


Now onto Big Red... 

Henry and I have had much success in the JCW Mini Cooper S. Over the past few years, we have competed in the Wakefield and Winton 300 Endurance Events. Except for one of the 300’s at Wakefield where the driveshaft broke, we have finished in the top 10 out of 40 odd cars since then, with our best being 7th outright. Our best Division result was 1st place in 2012.

Throughout the year, there is an event known as the MRA Series held at Wakefield Park. I have
been racing in this event since 2011, winning majority of the mini’s series races, including
overall division wins.

I am actively running in the 2014 MRA Series, having won 6/6 races so far. The next round is in June, where I hope to continue with the race wins!

In conclusion, I enjoy everything about racing;
the 7 hour drives up to Wakefield, the people you meet who share the same passion, learning new things about myself and the car, pushing my limits, the adrenalin and excitement that racing creates.

All of the above would not be possible without the support of my Dad, Barry Devlin. Who not only looks after the car at race meets, but prepares the engines, changes the set up and finds new ways to improve the performance of the car.

My life goal is to race in the V8’s series. Unfortunately I don’t have enough arms or legs to sell, so I’m always actively looking for sponsorship to aid me in achieving my dream. The more races I compete in, the more money it costs, the more recognition I receive, the closer I get to one day racing in the big leagues! At the age of 23, I have been told that I have accomplished a lot but I know I have more to give and more to achieve as this is my passion and dream.