Normally, the police would be called when a teenager in a Ford Fiesta speeds past at 180 kilometers per hour, but Lisette Grinwis does it as a fifteen-year-old girl on the race track. Reason enough for Euro Manchetten to cheer on and support this talent. "I put on my helmet and then I get all that kick."
“I was eight years old when I first went karting,” says Lisette. Her father spontaneously took her to the karting track one day. In Lelystad they rented a kart and she drove all day. “I didn’t even know that karting was a sport at the time, but I knew right away that I wanted to do it more often. I bought my first small kart with my own savings.”
With her father, who, with his autocross past, thought it was great that his daughter shared his love for racing, and her grandfather, Lisette trained every week at the kart track in Lelystad with her new kart. Also in the weekend. “Later, I had my first competitions there and I became champion, both summer and winter champion!”, Lisette says proudly. “My vision for the future has always been motorsport. This year, I took my first step in that direction and I now know for sure: this is really what I want to continue in.”
Girls in motorsports
At her exceptionally young age, she is already making the move to Ford. “I think that is great. There are few girls in motorsport, so my mother and family had to get used to it, but they see that I enjoy it and then they are happy too. Two other girls drive in Ford, but the race is always mixed. As girls, we just race against the boys, because it is very rare for a girl to go into motorsport.” Lisette is not a 'girly girl', she laughs. And has always been a tough young lady. Which is no unnecessary luxury, when you are driving around the circuit at 180 kilometers per hour.
Examinations
Lisette is in her final year of vmbo-kader and will go to the Johan Cruyff College in Amsterdam after the summer. This is a school specifically for top athletes. She will follow the Sports & Business direction there. "At this school you are given the freedom to spend your time on your sport and I love that." There are also women with a lamp in technology, but Lisette will complete her vmbo diploma this summer on motor vehicles. "I also learned to tinker. Suppose something is broken on my car, then I know exactly what it is and I can fix it. I know everything about an engine, I find this technical knowledge very nice and useful."
Despite the many kilometres of experience on the circuit, she still has to wait a few years before she can go on the public road and get her driver's license. "My mother is afraid that I will drive on the highway at 180 kilometres per hour", laughs Lisette. "I'm definitely not going to do that. It will be easier to take driving lessons, because I already know how to shift, for example."
Importance of sponsorship
This is now the second year that Euro Manchetten has sponsored Lisette. As a processor of industrial textiles, Euro Manchetten knows the importance of fire-resistant textiles like no other. The Euro Manchetten logo is also on Lisette's fire-resistant underwear. "Euro Manchetten has helped me tremendously, I am very grateful to them for that," says Lisette happily. "I think it's great that they want to be my sponsor and we have a good connection together. I want to give everything back to them and I will do my utmost to achieve that."
Walter van Loon of Euro Manchetten has known Lisette's mother for a long time. This led to the successful sponsorship. “Lisette's mother is a business contact of mine; I knew that her daughter was into karting and was very good at it. We have sponsored racers in the past, because I really like cars and racing. Lisette is a lady in the racing world. That deserves attention for me, because the ladies are just as good as the men. We at Euro Manchetten also make no distinction between men and women, so Lisette's talent and perseverance suits us as a company. From that perspective, we wanted to give her a helping hand and promote her.”
Being the fastest, always. That is what Lisette wants. She says: “I often hear from racers around me that they want to end up in Formula 1, but that chance is simply small. That is why I enjoy everything I get to experience. The step to motorsport at such a young age, I never dared to dream of that. I put on my helmet and then I get that kick. It is just enjoyment when you can press that accelerator.”