Following a television appearance on BBC Look East, former rally driver Nabila Tejpar experienced a memorable encounter in a local supermarket. A young girl pointed her out to her mother and asked a seemingly straightforward question: how does someone break into professional racing? For Tejpar, however, that inquiry exposed a complex truth about the sport. Coming from a deeply rooted motorsport family where both her grandfather and father competed, getting started had never been a puzzle she needed to solve independently.

The Inherited Pathway Barrier

Reflecting on her early days, Tejpar admits she never had to navigate the logistics of entering the sport alone. Her father provided the playbook, the equipment, and the connections. Yet, that honest reality offers little guidance to a child without familial ties to the industry. This dynamic highlights a major obstacle in motorsport, disproportionately affecting youth from underrepresented backgrounds who lack early exposure.

In Tejpar's observation, the vast majority of competitors enter the sport either through family lineage or by growing up in regions where racing is deeply embedded in daily culture. High financial costs combined with low visibility create what can be described as the Inherited Pathway, where access is passed down rather than discovered through open channels. While children easily find football or hockey programs in schools, encountering a rally car up close remains a rare occurrence.

From Corporate Pitches to Childrens Literature

Rather than attempting to launch an immediate grassroots initiative, Tejpar sought a direct way to introduce children to the possibilities of motorsport. Writing a children's book emerged as the most effective method to reach a broad young audience.

“If some kid sees it, they can look at it and go, ‘Oh, that’s a race car, and that’s a little girl. Now you’re picking up a conversation.”

Scheduled for publication in August 2026 by Emrae Publishing, the book is titled Racing Towards a Dream. Its protagonist, Kyla, is a young girl of color designed to resonate across diverse cultures. Tejpar deliberately centered the narrative around circuit racing rather than rallying, noting that modern media franchises like Drive to Survive and F1 Academy have made open-wheel racing universally recognizable.

Bringing the project to life required a four-and-a-half-year journey. Initially struggling with a rhyming draft, Tejpar found her breakthrough when illustrator Amy Vint provided the cover art, allowing her to finally visualize the main character. For Tejpar, true success is measured simply: seeing a young mixed-race reader find representation on the cover and realizing that doors are opening for the next generation.

From Early Potential to Career-Defining Decisions

Tejpar was fifteen when she discovered her passion for motorsport. Though her parents initially laughed off the ambition, a test session a year later with veteran driver Mark Higgins proved her natural aptitude. Her mother insisted on a university degree first, prompting Tejpar to accelerate her business studies at American University in Washington D.C. and graduate by December 2014. By 2016, armed with professional pitching skills learned from her father, she was competing fully sponsored in the British Rally Championship.

Despite her momentum, skepticism surrounded her career choice from both the community and her own family. Her grandmother expressed open disapproval, remarking that racing was acceptable for her grandfather only because he was a man—a telling double standard regarding gender in high-risk sports.

A major accident at the 2016 Scottish Rally resulted in partial vision loss in her right eye, though she recovered enough to return to competition later that year. However, a second crash during the 2017 European Rally Championship and subsequent medical evaluations revealed a rare eye condition exacerbated by high-speed impacts. Prioritizing integrity and safety over personal ambition, Tejpar made the difficult leadership decision to step away from the sport rather than compromise on performance standards promised to sponsors.

Embracing Failure As A Growth Strategy

When asked about her biggest failure, Tejpar reframes her entire competitive driving career as a masterclass in resilience. Every crash served as a crucial data point defining the absolute limits of performance and machine. Today, she channels that same fearless experimentation into entrepreneurial ventures, such as managing an author marketing business, while working on letting go of an identity tied strictly to the driver's seat.

Opening Doors Wider For Future Generations

Overcoming the Inherited Pathway requires dismantling financial barriers and establishing robust training programs. Tejpar highlights models like the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, which equips drivers with comprehensive media training, commercial skills, and sustained support. Combined with the rising visibility driven by series like F1 Academy and Netflix, the future of motorsport relies on making aspiring talents believe that a professional racing career is truly within their reach.