Nora’s Story

Nora's interest in fast cars and technical driving began at a young age. Her dad, a Navigator in the Air Force, had always stressed the idea of driving in a way that he would refer to as “effective.” He regularly shared stories of driving on deployments and in various training courses, and young Nora was hooked. It wasn’t until she was 8 years old that she visited her first kart track. What she didn’t know, was that this would become an experience that echoes in the back of her mind for the rest of her life.

Nora has always been involved in what some may refer to as girly sports, such as dance and cheerleading, and as a result of these remarks, she never saw a place for herself in motorsport. She worked tirelessly to suppress the motorsport urges, trying to focus on the career path that everyone else wanted her to follow. It wasn’t until she was in her senior year of high school, when university acceptances started to come back, that she realized after all those years of ensuring the happiness of others, the most important person in her life, herself, was unhappy. The decision to decline her scholarships was made easily, and she moved from Winnipeg, MB, to Ottawa, ON, to begin her career. This wasn’t an easy decision to come to, but Nora decided that it was time to start putting herself first. Knowing that university, and all other forms of post secondary education, would always be available to her, Nora felt comfortable taking a gap year to help better understand where she wanted her life to take her.

Growing up with family in the forces, Nora was no stranger to relocating to new cities. Only this time, she had to face the challenge alone. Not yet 18, Nora began her new life in her first apartment with her first racing team. Beginning in a rental league, she took second place in the championship her first year of Karting, missing out on first by only a few points. Nora was determined to make the following year even better. After purchasing a kart from her teammate, she was ready to take on her first year racing at the club level. Nora's coaches had originally planned for her to remain at the club level for a few years before progressing to regional and national karting events. However, Nora, ever the overachiever, signed herself up for her first regional event only two races in. “I was ready to take on a new challenge,” she said when asked why she felt the need to make such a large step. “Sometimes you need to step out of your comfort zone to really see what's possible.” And step out of her comfort zone she did. Going from a field of 10 drivers to one of 32 at her first Coupe De Montreal race in St-Celestain should have been overwhelming, but Nora was nothing but excited. She carried this excitement throughout the remaining club and regional races, battling all weather conditions with a smile.

With her second karting season coming to a close, Nora continued to look for new and exciting ways to challenge herself. That's when she began training with Apex V2R. She took on her very first High Performance Driving Event in one of their Toyota FRS Race Cars. This day meant a lot to her; finally realizing her dream of driving a race car on track, Nora was determined to make a good impression. Listening closely to the coaching of her instructor, she learned quickly and before days end, she had set the fastest laps of her group. This ensured her dream only grew bigger. 

Now looking towards her first full racing season behind the wheel of a car, Nora, her fans, and her team could not be more excited about the direction she is headed.  

Alongside being a professional racing car driver, Nora dreams of one day becoming a CFL cheerleader, joining a team of women she has idolized for so long. You can learn more about this here.