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WHEN the pedal hits the metal this speedy 70-year-old grandmother might just be the fastest in the west - if not all of Queensland and possibly Australia.
Barbara "Babs" Collier, 70, is tearing up the speedway circuit in Toowoomba, as co-driver for her grandson John Collier, 14.
"It's unreal, it's fabulous," Mrs Collier, of Grantham, said. "I just like sitting there watching my grandson do his thing - he's pretty clever."
The unique team came about when John had trouble finding the regular certified passenger needed for him to compete as a junior at the Charlton Speedway, near Toowoomba.
Grandfather Jack, 77, a former road race and speedway driver, did not pass the medical so his wife stepped in. The couple has raised John since infancy.
"My doctor kept saying to me 'you know how old you are, don't you?' and I said 'yes'," Mrs Collier, the mother of three, grandmother of five and great-grandmother of five, said.
Now she dons safety gear to compete in up to four races per meet.
John races in a safety-modified four-cylinder Datsun Bluebird and trains in his grandparent's paddock.
The duo has competed in three meets this season, taking out second and third places.
And John doesn't mind having Grandma sitting next to him. "It's fun. She just sits there and lets me do my thing," he said
"It's unreal, it's fabulous," Mrs Collier, of Grantham, said. "I just like sitting there watching my grandson do his thing - he's pretty clever."
The unique team came about when John had trouble finding the regular certified passenger needed for him to compete as a junior at the Charlton Speedway, near Toowoomba.
Grandfather Jack, 77, a former road race and speedway driver, did not pass the medical so his wife stepped in. The couple has raised John since infancy.
"My doctor kept saying to me 'you know how old you are, don't you?' and I said 'yes'," Mrs Collier, the mother of three, grandmother of five and great-grandmother of five, said.
Now she dons safety gear to compete in up to four races per meet.
John races in a safety-modified four-cylinder Datsun Bluebird and trains in his grandparent's paddock.
The duo has competed in three meets this season, taking out second and third places.
And John doesn't mind having Grandma sitting next to him. "It's fun. She just sits there and lets me do my thing," he said
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