Page 18 - Jan 2019 IWMA Nation News interactive magazine

Olivia Muscat’s Favorite Hobby is No Surprise - Racing
Olivia Muscat hails from Mackay, Queensland, Aus- tralia, where her dad raced go karts, Formula 500s, and Sprint cars her whole life. When her parents got a divorce 4 years ago her mum was always against her racing. Then in May 2017 her dad bought her a car without her mum knowing. In June of 2017 she started racing at the age of 15.
During the first 6 months of her racing she was afraid to travel so she just competed on her home track in Mackay. At the start of this year she started traveling, first to Moran- bah, then Ayr, then Rockhampton and many more to come in the future.
The most memorable moment of her career was get- ting her first 3rd place in a heat and seeing her dad so proud of her.
Olivia’s marketing partners are Auto Barn of Mackay; Thommo Tyres; NQ Car and Truck Rental; and RMS Perfor- mance Engineering.
Olivia’s dad inspired her to start racing because he raced when she was young and she has always looked up to him as a role model. He helps her with her car.
Her best finish was the heat race at Mackay on Janu- ary 9, 2018, where she finished 3rd, and in a feature her best finish was 4th so far.
Olivia races mainly around the QLD area, and plans to travel this race season. She races a 1980 Datsun Sunny in the SSA Junior Sedans.
One of Olivia’s first races in a feature, as she was coming into turn one and two she crashed into a tractor tyre. She was headed straight for it and in the heat the same night, she almost ran the camera man over.
There are two other girls that she regularly races with, who are also from Mackay, Sophie Montgomerie (14) and Chloe Lebeter (10). The three of them are close friends.
Olivia’s racing goal is to make it big and race a sprint car for a team with all expenses paid for. Her favourite part of being a race car driver would have to be the fans and the adrenaline rush she gets from it. Being a successful race car driver means accepting great opportunities and making great memories.
Her car number is 68. Originally when she started racing she wanted to be #82 but she fell in love with #68 as it was already on the car.
On race day she doesn’t eat and she always wears the same underwear, a necklace with her number on it and a bracelet her friend got her.
Olivia currently goes to Mercy College Mackay. She has an older brother and a younger sister. Her favourite hob- by is racing and her favourite food would be garlic bread. Her favourite vacation destination that she has been to would be Warrnambool Victoria. “It is my favourite as I have such
18