South African motorsport’s future has a new face. 16-year-old Chloe Stuart. And she’s already in the fast lane.
When the visor drops and the red lights go out, everything else fades away. For teenager Chloe Stuart, that moment between silence and speed is where she feels most alive.
Chloe isn’t just another young driver chasing a dream. She’s the youngest female ever to win a Formula Vee Rookie title. It is, she says, her favourite racing memory, adding, “I was the first female to win that title in more than 50 years.”
Chloe’s love for racing began before she could even reach the pedals. At just eighteen months old, she swapped dolls for a battery-powered car, and by seven, she was competing in karts with the encouragement of her father, Barry, a former endurance kart racer.
“I remember when I was about 9 years old, my mum came to support me at a race. There was an accident at the start… karts went flying and it was a pile-up of absolute chaos, with a flying kart landing on my head. I wasn’t fazed about it … I just took the next corner really sharply and sent the kart on my head off into the barriers.
Then I continued my race, gained back some of my positions and had fun. After the race the medics, who’d seen the accident, came to fetch me as they had to do precautionary checks. So I’m in the ambulance and they are doing some checks and the next thing I know my mother’s sitting next to me… it turns out she was so stressed after watching my incident that she had a panic attack. My dad had to come sign a form for not only me but my mom as well … I had such a giggle because my mom was in a worse condition than I was.”
Since then, Chloe’s gone into high gear. From starting in the SSS Prokart Midgets, she’s finished third in the F300 Championship, moved up to Formula M, where she won the Class C Championship, topped the Index of Performance, and was named Formula M Driver of the Year. A year later, she proved her ability in difficult conditions by winning the Libre Invitational in Cape Town, a wet race that tested every driver’s skill and concentration, and has represented South Africa in Spain.
Soon after, she stepped into the Formula Vee championship, swapping karts for a single-seater built for real wheel-to-wheel racing. It was a big shift – faster cars, closer competition, and no margin for error. She was also the youngest driver in the field and the only woman, but she settled in quickly and finished her debut season as Rookie Champion. Last year she joined Pablo Clark Racing as a development driver in a BMW E46 330i.
Being the only woman doesn’t faze her. Does she scare the boys? “I would like to say I very much intimidate them. They are much more accommodating nowadays, but I remember growing up they hated that I was there and treated me like I shouldn’t be, so I kept my head straight and proved them all wrong! Over the years, I’ve gained a lot of respect as they realised when I drive I’m actually a lot more aggressive than they are, that I’ll never back down going into a corner, and I have more confidence than they do… so it terrifies them slightly.”
Chloe says she doesn’t have any real fear. “I am not scared of anything, but there is always a worry of what other drivers will do and if they are going to cause an accident or jeopardise my race.” She does recall her scariest moment. “I had a mechanical issue on the back straight of Zwartkops, I was going around 170 km an hour, my brakes had locked up, and I just skidded straight off at a high speed. When I saw a wall approaching, I was bracing myself for a huge impact and a very damaged car … luckily it happened to be catching pads for bikers, and I had just gone straight through them and didn’t hit a wall, but I got the biggest fright of my life.”
This year the Northcliff High School pupil is in grade 11, a year known to be tough, with loads of work. “Striking a balance between school and racing is difficult. But I keep up to date with my work and at the same time try to keep up with content and training… Most times you will see me doing my schoolwork at the track in between sessions. My school is very supportive and allows me to leave as long as I keep my marks up.”
Away from school and the track, Chloe enjoys CrossFit and holds a brown belt in karate.
She also analyses telemetry data, reviews footage, and works closely with her team to understand every technical aspect of performance from tyre wear to aerodynamics.
And despite this busy schedule, she finds time to interact with followers online. Her Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram pages offer follower behind-the-scenes access to race-day preparations and track walks, as well as gym sessions and debriefs with her engineers.
Making this year even busier, Chloe is preparing to launch Racer Girl, her first fragrance, and is also building Classic Cars by Chloe, a project focused on bringing old vehicles back to life with the help of a skilled crew.
Her focus now is building experience that will eventually take her into international competition.
She may still be at the start of her career, but there’s no question she’s steering South African motorsport into a new era. Details: Follow @chloestuartracing on Insta or @chloestuartracing on Tiktok
Image by Ivano Mattiello, Pablo Clark Racing team photographer.
