Fuel Magazine: 2017 | Lady Racer | Dominique Chaleyer
Photography Peter Soulis. Styling Vass Arvanitis.
Through a series of personal sketches, Dominique Chaleyer reflects on her passion for classic and vintage car racing.
The silver Bullet races down the straight, a hustler in a pack of swarming machines. Gripping the barrier she pulls herself to her tiptoes. The summer air streams along the race car, familiar black curls escape from under the white helmet, steady hands control the wheel. “Mum, I can see Dad…Ash are you ready?” Ash, my brother, loads a roll of film into the camera and hands it to my mum, Lindy, and together we cheer. The brake lights glow red against the Bullet’s bare aluminium. I hear the drivers change down through the gears, a rabble of pre-war engines crack and roar as the cars slow down. A Bugatti, Riley and a Talbot-Lago funnel into the corner and tear along the horizon. “It’s a great field today at the Island…the debut of Paul Chaleyer’s Alvis Monoposto Special, now closing in on the venerable MG K3…nothing wrong with a bit of rivalry among grown men who should know better.” The announcer chortles and a racing official unfurls the checkered flag as the Bullet thunders across the finish line.
Many of my fondest childhood memories are of days spent with my Dad, Paul, at various vintage and classic car events. He has built, modified and raced at least a dozen vintage cars, a lifelong passion that began with building an MG TC in his bedroom fifty-one years ago. My brother, sister and I would take turns ‘pit crewing’ for Dad, bundling ourselves up in the passenger seat, if there was one, and setting off to a Rob Roy Hillclimb, Winton race weekend, or Sandown sprint. It’s no wonder the smell of petrol and heated brake pads remind me of home. Those days were the seed of my car racing aspirations.