Leanne Tander ready for race comeback

Don't get Leanne Tander started about women drivers.

The mother-of-two, and professional Holden motor racing ace, has had a gutful of hearing sexist slurs hurled at females behind wheels.

"'Bloody women drivers', it's just such a generalisation, just so outdated that sort of comment," she tells News Corp Australia.

"People like to have a go at us, they will try and tell us girls can't race...but there's a possibility for my daughter to grow up and see girls at the top and they'll think 'OK, that's an option'."

As she prepares for a gutsy comeback four years after her first child was born, the 34-year-old admits to some nerves ahead of her first big race back.

"I've had two kids to keep me occupied but as the race approaches I've found, yeah, I'm about to go up against some pretty good competition," she says.

In 2000 she became the first woman to ever win a round of the Formula Ford championship

Leanne Tander first raced at Formula Ford level in 1997, becoming the youngest woman to ever achieve the feat. She found herself racing against men in open-wheel cars capable of speeds of 240km/h.

"They look a bit like canoes with wheels sticking out," she jokes. "The car feels quite twitchy and nervous...the first time you drive it you think 'oh s**t'."

In that hair-raising environment - up against the best of the best - she more than held her own. In 2000 she became the first woman to ever win a round of the Formula Ford championship, ultimately finishing third on the podium that same year. In 2001 she finished second in Round 1 of the Konica V8 Supercar Series and became the first female ever to stand on the podium of a V8 Supercar race. She is married to legendary motor racing driver Garth Tander, winner of the 2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series.

Leanne raced professionally for 17 years but had to put the car in the garage when the couple welcomed two kids into the family.

I'm finding it a mental thing now...being able to switch over to race mode

Yoghurt-loving Scarlett, nearly 4, and Sebastian, 3, are everything in Leanne Tander's life. She says the hardest thing about returning to elite motorsport is forcing them out of her mind.

"I'm finding it a mental thing now...being able to switch over to race mode," she says. "I can't be thinking about the kids, or what food's in the fridge or goals for the future. That's the challenge - blocking it all out."

Husband Garth is "all for it" and the two spend hours together in their "very big, very good" shed working on her Duratec-powered Formula Ford. She will race it this weekend at Phillip Island in Round 2 of the Australian Formula Ford Series.

Against the big boys

"I am proud of it and I'm also very protective about the fact that we can race against men," she says.

"Separating men and women in sport sort of puts a cap on our ability - saying 'you're not good enough'."

Leanne believes that while she might not be racing yet, the girl who can go on and win a Formula 1 Grand Prix is not far off. Who knows - Scarlett, make sure you pay attention from the back seat.