Community & Business
12 February, 2022
Sisters reign over raceway
KURANDA’S daredevil sisters, Remmylee and Shmya Lelli, have been tearing up the speedway, putting experienced competitors in their rear-view mirror since they were just 13 and nine years old.
The duo, now aged 14 and 11 respectively, have chosen Springmount Raceway as their home arena, taking on the most souped-up V8’s in their small dragster cars.
With the support of their proud parents, family and friends, the girls have taken on the extreme sport of drag racing as their “favourite family hobby”.
Shmya is currently the youngest dragster at Springmount Raceway and was the first of the two sisters to get into drag racing at the age of nine after watching her uncle burn rubber.
“I have always liked cars and that sort of stuff and I kind of wanted to try out a new hobby,” she said.
“Our neighbour Grant, who is also our uncle, helped us learn drag racing and he one of our biggest supporters - my parents and my older sister Collet and my stepdad’s friends also come to Springmount to support me.
“I hope when I am older, I can drive like an adult and have drag racing as a big part of my life in the future.”
Remmylee soon followed in her younger sister’s footsteps, getting in the driver’s seat last year at the age of 13.
“When my little sister started, I thought it looked cool, but I didn’t really want to do it myself until my mate Ned was selling his car,” she said.
“Ned helped me get into the routines when doing drag racing, he sold (the dragster car) to me and started telling me about how much fun it was so I decided to do it with him and my sister.
“I am hoping I can move up to a bigger car and have (drag racing) in my life and win some big prizes – it’s just cool to do.”
Training and practice weren’t an issue with the young dragsters, with stepdad Daniel putting the girls into the car with one main instruction, “just put your foot flat on the accelerator”.
“We got into the car, and he basically told us to put our foot on the accelerator and then brake at the end,” Remmylee said.
“When I did it for the first time, I was really scared but as I kept going it became a lot of fun.” “We don’t train, we just do it, we get in the car and just go, I just learned the pedals and went,” Shmya added.
Daniel said he was very impressed with both of his stepdaughters, particularly Shyma who he thought would be more nervous.
“I remember putting her on the track for the first time and wondering if she would actually go,” he said. “I was expecting her to not go when the light went green, but when it went green, she put her foot down and went flat out.”
Both Shmya and Remmylee had to get their licenses to be able to drag at Springmount, starting from C class and going up to A class as they get older and their skills improve.
Shmya currently has a B grade licence, meaning that she cannot go any quicker than 8.60 seconds over the 1.8 miles. Remmylee has an A grade licence, the highest licence that young dragster can attain, which means that she can race at 8 seconds or under on the track.
When they turn 18, they will no longer be classified as young dragsters and will qualify for an adult licence, which will allow them to have passengers in the car with them.
The dragster cars are checked and worked on regularly, with safety always being the main priority every single race.
Dragster cars run off single cylinder motors and are a billet-built copy of a Briggs and Stratton motor, built to run consistent times, are aircooled and run off methanol fuel.
Junior dragsters are looking for more kids to join them at Springmount Raceway when the new season begins on 22 March.
