Only Woman Competitor

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30965, 22 January 1966, Page 2

Only Woman Competitor

The only woman racing motorcyclist in New Zealand, Miss Diane Foote, will start in two events at Wigram today.

“I have never won an important race—only minor ones —but I enjoy the sport very much,” she said on her arrival from Dunedin last evening. “Competition from the men is tough.” Miss Foote, ■ 24-year-old electroplater, is engaged to one of New Zealand’s leading racing motor cyclists, Neville Landrebe. “Neville has taught me all I know about racing and I ride a bike he used to have,” she said. “He approves of my riding, but is always telling me to be careful.” Miss Foote will not be able to go to the Isle of Man when her fiance captains the New Zealand team. They plan to marry when he returns. The idea of setting off on a honeymoon on their motorcycles has no appeal for Miss Foote, but she hopes to continue race-riding after her marriage.

An Auckland woman who now lives in Dunedin, she has been riding for nearly eight years and is in her second racing season. “I enjoy riding motor-cycles because of their manoeuvra-

bility and for their speed,” she said. Dressed in her black leather suit Miss Foote may be hard to spot in today’s races. The experts describe her as a steady rider who usually finishes well up in the middle of the field. “She certainly is never last,” one of them said last evening.