Girls Race Too Spotlight – Jess Golding

Jess Golding is many things; a business owner, driver coach, team owner, and racing veteran – but she also is a Girls Race Too role model for those across Australia in the Karting community.

After starting her own pathway into karting, she received her first Kart from Santa Claus at ten-years-old after being enamoured with racing at the track, following in her father, Murray’s, footsteps.

“I was absolutely obsessed with it from a very, very young age – Dad wasn’t really sure if I’d like actually driving because I liked going, I liked watching but was always asking a lot of questions.” Golding shared her experience.

When she originally started, there weren’t many female racers around, but after twenty-eight years involved in the sport, there has been a noticeable difference – more young girls wanting to race or be involved in the sport, with programs like Karting Australia’s Girls Race Too initiative helping open the door for female progression from grassroots to the world stage.

Golding’s journey in motorsport grew from karting at club level to national and then racing karts overseas before she moved onto the Australian Institute of Sport where she was grouped with names like Molly Taylor. From there, she explored the industry, making the step up to cars: lots of testing, a lot of Formula BMW, followed by three rounds of Formula Ford. However, like many in the sport, the funding to go racing ended.

“I’m in my fifth year of running the team (Jess Golding Motorsport) this year, but in those five years there’s been a lot of challenges as well – you know, (some) people don’t like it,” said Golding.

“I’m really well educated; I’ve worked in sport, worked in businesses in commercial roles, sponsorship, so everything that we do, we do really well. We try to raise the bar every single time, ever year.”

After creating a successful team, Golding remains a standard to work by in the community. Her focus is on helping young drivers progress, learn, and grow as an athlete.

Golding still gets behind the wheel of a kart, staying in touch with her roots to better express kart behaviour and track conditions to the drivers she coaches at JGM. And while she did momentarily step away from racing, entering the Australian Skeleton Team, an Olympic winter sport, the lessons from karting stuck with her.

“I really just want to help the kids and drivers in my team, and the families, have a good experience, and learn things the right way,” said Golding.

“I want to keep helping kids navigate in all the motions and give the support I didn’t really get going through the ranks.”

When it comes to achievements within her team, her devotion to the next generation of the sport is crystal clear, with Golding’s very own program called ‘Racing Ready’, with plans to extend her knowledge to even more young guns coming into the sport.

“The Racing Ready program is something I’ve created from scratch and built it, the people have bought into that and believe in what we do and what we provide.”

This Girls Race Too Spotlight provides a snapshot of the journey and impact of one of the many inspiring females contributing to karting in Australia. The Girls Race Too program is designed to encourage greater female participation at all levels of the sport – from first-time drivers at grassroots through to elite competition – by creating opportunities, fostering inclusion, and showcasing role models like Jess Golding.

If you’re a young female looking to get involved, a parent wanting to support your daughter’s interest, or a club seeking to grow participation, now is the time to get behind Girls Race Too – because the future of karting is stronger, more diverse, and more exciting when everyone is given the chance to race.