Claire Schönborn, who made her rallying debut almost one year ago, is nearing the end of her first season in the FIA Junior WRC Championship as part of the WRC Young Driver Team. The 26-year-old engineer talks about her rise to the World Rally Championship, the unique challenges of the past few months, and her goals for the future.

Claire, what are you doing at the moment?
“After work, I went for a quick jog and will now spend an hour watching some of the Central European Rally stages around Passau, the final round of the Junior WRC, on my laptop before I go to bed. I’m not a professional, so I have to balance my job and my passion. That’s not always easy.”

How much of a challenge is this?
“It’s brutal to be honest. I came home from Rally Sweden in February as the winner of WRC Promoter’s global development initiative, Beyond Rally Women’s Driver Development Programme. Everyone was happy for me, and the next day I was back at work. Rally driving, especially at this level, is actually a full-time job. It’s incredible how much versatility is required in the World Rally Championship. I just drove on gravel for the first time in May, two weeks before Rally of Portugal. I’m putting in the effort, trying to learn as much as possible as quickly as possible, and fighting for every opportunity to get behind the wheel of a rally car. All of my competitors have significantly more experience and have competed in many more rallies. But that doesn’t deter me; it just spurs me on even more. I’m missing experience, experience and even more experience. In the World Rally Championship, nothing is as important as that.”

Is it difficult to gain more experience?
“Thanks to my job as a test engineer, I already have a good basic feel for both car and rally driving. But almost everything around it is new to me, from working with a co-driver and writing pacenotes to the details of suspension set-up, optimal tyre selection and so on. I drove my very first rally almost exactly a year ago, and before my first world championship even at the Central European Rally last October, I only drove in two smaller rallies, and those were with different co-drivers in completely different cars. To be able to show what I’m capable of in my world championship debut and to hold my own against two drivers with significantly more rally experience was a bit of a dream come true. Since then, I’ve learned a lot and will continue to do everything I can to get better and faster.”

What is it like in this situation?
“With the Beyond Rally programme I won a season, meaning five world championship rallies in the Junior WRC. This includes a test before each actual event, usually around 50 kilometres. I have to organise and finance everything else more or less myself. That costs money and time. I learned early on in my still young career that while you have to set priorities, you shouldn’t forget to work on all areas, especially those that involve lower costs.”

Now we are curious…
“It starts with nutrition and fitness. In the latter case, I’ve made considerable gains in stamina, strength, and coordination over the past few months. I’ve also had my eyes tested and, like many top drivers, wear glasses, especially when driving. I also do special vision and cognitive reaction training. I’d also like to have a sleep analysis done in the winter. There are many areas where you can improve, but the special demands of a rally driver are, of course, at the top of my list. I often sit at home on my simulator or work on my pacenotes. We’re not professionals yet, so it’s not like I can jump into a rally car and practice whenever I want. It’s also important to know that, apart from a minor sideways rollover in Portugal, I’ve never had an accident, meaning I’ve never driven at the absolute limit – simply because I want to maximise driving time and also I can’t afford to let it happen.”

How is the driving with your co-driver Michael Wenzel coming along?
“Excellent! I’ve taken a huge step forward with Michael. His experience is worth its weight in gold. Sure, he’s not behind the wheel; I want and need to develop myself in that regard. But his vast experience as a co-driver, from the pacenotes to all the organisational aspects before and during a rally, his input on nutrition and fitness and how to approach a rally tactically—these are all aspects where he helped me to make progress significantly.”

For the final round of Junior WRC you are returning to the Central European Rally. How do you prepare and what goal to you set for yourself?
“Oh, I’m really looking forward to it. After all it’s my home event. Of course, I do feel a positive pressure. Also because it’s my first asphalt rally since last year’s Central European Rally. But as a hillclimb driver and driving instructor on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, I like driving on asphalt; that’s where I come from, and hopefully that will suit me. On the other hand, my direct competitors have a huge advantage in terms of experience – so a rank in the upper midfield would be a huge success. In Finland, we saw how small the gap is in the Junior WRC. On the particularly tricky and extremely fast sections, we were only about a second per kilometre slower than the fastest drivers in our class. Keep in mind they have much more experience on gravel and some of them have started there three or even four times. In the end, all the Junior WRC drivers finished. From the outside, people tend to look more at the placing than at the actual gap. That’s a shame and perhaps doesn’t do our performance justice, but that’s the nature of sport. I have to deal with it – and I can deal with it. At the Central European Rally, I want to show that someone like me can do it. I simply want to inspire the fans watching on the stages, my supporters, family and also Michael and myself. I love rallying, I want to keep going and go far. I’ve only had a Plan A so far, and that’s it. I’m fighting to ensure this incredible journey continues.”