In the world of car racing, Amy Avis is a rare female competitor among the the men... and the children!

Amy is a competitor in the world of radio controlled model cars, and this coming season will be the first woman to enter the Iconic series, which is raced on different tracks across the country over the season.

She is also the secretary of the Carlisle Radio Model Car Club (CRMCC), which is based at the Downagate Community Centre at Warwick Bridge, and which will be hosting a round of the National Iconic Cup Championship for the third time, with enthusiasts travelling from across the country to compete.

Originally from Allenheads in the north east, Amy moved to Cumbria after meeting Tom, her husband, and worked in IT at Cumbria police headquarters in Penrith until health reasons meant she was no longer able to continue in the role.

She got the racing bug from Tom, an engineer who works with the Cumbria Clock Company at Dacre, who got into racing when he was younger, and travels around the country now to compete at different tracks.

The world of model car racing closely mirrors the full size competitions, with different classes for smaller cars, faster touring cars, F1 cars and even trucks.

Amy, of Skelton, revealed that model car racing, while a very friendly sport with a good atmosphere at meetings, is also very competitive.

“When I started I found it really straight forward, as long as I kept the speed down. The temptation is to go flat out, but you stop doing that when you realise you end up on the grass every time,” she said.

Damage to cars is minimal during races - a few little knocks - or maybe a wheel nut falling off. Usually if a racer loses control the car will simply fly off the track onto the grass.

“As long as it is built well you can pop your battery in and go. The touring cars are a lot more technical,” said Amy. “For the car shell you can use almost anything. I had a Fiat 500 shell at one point and I also had a Fiat 500 as well, and they were painted to match!

“I am very much in it for the fun side. I stay away from the touring cars! Everybody is super competitive, but it is nice and friendly.”

Races are typically held over five minutes, with the final placings depending on the number of laps completed. There are qualification rounds and final rounds at race meetings.

Amy said: “It takes the Mini about 20 seconds for the fastest guys to complete a lap, although touring cars are a lot faster. You don’t want to be a marshal there if you are not paying attention. The touring cars can go 60 or 70mph, and they can do a lot of damage!”

“Thankfully, touch wood, we have never had any serious incidents at Carlisle, but we are covered by insurance!”

Most cars have distinctive colours and styles to make them stand out, and many people pay attention to the aerodynamics, to make their car as competitive as possible.

“We have got a rule in Carlisle that it has got to look like a proper car. There are a lot of jellymoulds available which have good aerodynamics, but they don’t look like a proper car.”

This season Amy is entering the Iconic race series for the first time. There are five Iconic race meetings over the course of the season, and competitors have to race in three out of the five to see their scores count towards the title.

“I believe I am the first lady Iconic racer. There are some females who are far better than me, but for the Iconic Cup, I am the first female,” she said.

“You get a few females, but it is mostly still the guys and the boys. I do get a lot of support from the other racers, but it would be nice to see some more females.”

For the Iconic series, Amy will compete at Mendip in April, Warwick Bridge in May and Broxtowe in June.

The Carlisle club’s track proves very popular, with racers coming from Scotland, the north east and from further south in England too. Up to 100 people can race at a meeting, although the club averages about 80 for each one.

“We organise it on a Bank Holiday weekend to encourage people to come and spend Bank Holiday in the Lakes. A lot will bring their family and have a long weekend,” she said.

“We do allow camping, but a lot will just find local hotels and B&Bs. It is nice to be able to bring some people to the area and show it off.”

The Downagate base is leased from the community centre. The club has been based in Brampton, but moved to Warwick Bridge in 2001 with club members raising money and working at the site to make it suitable for racing.

The cars that are raced on the track are all electric. Remote-control petrol cars do exist, but the club does not have planning permission to use those on its track.

But in December 2015 it was hit by Storm Desmond. The track flooded and much of the equipment stored in a container at the site was ruined.

“Thankfully it didn’t do too much damage to the track surface itself. We managed to repair some of the generators but we did lose generators, lawn mowers, strimmers and things,” said Amy.

“We have built shelves inside now. If it did happen again things are off the ground now. It was thanks to the dedicated club members who spent hours removing all the silt and things off the track, and putting fences back up.

“Thankfully we were able to get it up and running for the start of the season.”

All round the country different clubs are competing. Some have indoor tracks, which can be very useful for winter series, but are costly, with money having to be spent on special surfaces for racing.

“We tried an indoor winter series for a few years racing on polished wood at Brampton Community Centre, which was a challenge. You can get all sorts of carpets, but they are so expensive to buy, and you have got to be able to store it,” said Amy.

“Brampton was really reasonably priced but we weren’t getting the numbers to cover the costs, so we had to stop the winter racing for this year.”

Not surprisingly perhaps, model car racing is very popular among motor racing enthusiasts - including F1 drivers.

“A lot of Formula 1 drivers have got remote control cars, including Louis Hamilton. There was a Blue Peter clip of him as a kid with one! The two Ferrari drivers have a challenge, although it is a different set of skills. Some people are naturally gifted at it. I am rubbish but I am quite happy with that - I just turn up and drive. I have no problems being beaten by an eight-year-old!” said Amy.

“You get quite a few motorsport racers taking part. We have had a few come up from Red Bull in Milton Keynes. They come up and race in Carlisle because they really like the track.

“Tracks are all different. We have got a nice long straight, a couple of sweeping bends and some tight twisty bits.”

There is also the option to ‘reverse’ the track and race anticlockwise, in the opposite direction to normal.

Anyone who wants to try racing, can get in touch with the club, and they have a club car for anyone to hire to find out if they want to race regularly with their own kit. Second hand kits can be bought on eBay for around £100-£150, with touring cars selling for £200-£300.

“Anyone who tries the club car will go and buy one!” said Amy.

“We get a lot of people come to bring their kids, and quite often they end up racing themselves.

“Our youngest member joined when he was four, and is about 10 or 12 now, but it is for all ages. We get grandparents coming with their kids and grandkids.”

Youngsters do have their own races in the competitions, but can also race against the adults if they choose.

The season starts in April. To find out more, the Carlisle group has its own Facebook page and website.