Beth Lestrade

Elizabeth "Beth" Anne Lestrade (London, England, United Kingdom, August 16th 1990) is a British female automobile racing driver She is currently attached to the Euromotor International team at the F1 Rejects Indy Championship Series, where she races since the series' inception, in 2015.

Lestrade has a diverse and broad career, despite her background being from open-wheel racing. She also had experience at touring car, endurance racing and other kinds of 'alternative' racing series.

Early Life

Born in London, Lestrade come from a family with a different tradition than racing. Many of her relatives, including her father, grandfather and sister, works with Scotland Yard or have any kind of involvment with any branch of British law enforcement. Because of that and her unique last name, similar with the character from Sherlock Holmes series, she gained the nickname of 'The Inspector Lady'.

Her first forays into racing were into karting, at the tender age of 12, racing at indoor tracks around London. Soon, she jumped into proper championships, winning a few races, but not achieving a championship trophy. In 2007, Lestrade decided to further advance into the racing ladder, joining Formula Ford GB with ACER Motorsport. With ACER, she ran mostly at the midddle of the pack, conquering a few points to finish the championship just under the top 10.

She kept herself with Formula Ford GB in 2008, now joining Kevin Mills Racing. Despite her season kicked off well with a win and two podiums, the year was clearly of up and downs to the young Londonian, who handled several DNFs and low position finishes at the second part of the season, killing her momentum.