This post is to announce the decision I have made to step away from Motorsport. This decision hasn’t come lightly, although it is one that comes with my best interest at heart. 

From the very beginning of my career, I had made a decision to give it 100%, knowing that by the end of it, the only option is to rest assured that I did all that I could have. My Dad passed away just before I had started racing. This meant everything I have done I have solely been on my own with no guidance or support.

Coming from a background of no financial or personal support meant that I made my career happen with pure determination and sacrifice, which left me at the dependence of other people. This approach meant many lessons by trial and error and as you can imagine, many lessons learnt the hard way trying to find the best direction to navigate myself in this sport. 

My career took off as a full-time pursuit in 2017, where I first moved away from family to work for one of my sponsors in order to be able to continue racing. From this moment, I then took on the will to race as not just something I can do and enjoy on the weekend, but something that I lived every single moment of every single day for the next 3 years.

Every action, every decision was made based in favour to race. From there, I sold everything I owned, bought a one-way ticket to the other side of the world and worked full-time for no wage to continue. I sacrificed many things, my happiness, my lifestyle, my family, my mental health and my physical health. I felt that racing was the only meaning I had to my life, so it felt like a small price to pay at the time. 

Throughout my journey in motorsport, I have experienced and been exposed to many challenges, some that I struggle to even speak about. Most of the challenges I have faced, have been sourced from the lack of respect and derogatory treatment of women. Things that I know that I would have never had to experience or be exposed to if I was a male. 

There comes a point where enough is enough, and I feel like I have reached that point. I feel that I no longer want to continue to be exposed to this behaviour or to be treated this way. This deeply saddens me. It deeply saddens me to look at the challenges of my own journey, and to acknowledge the fact that women dedicating their lives to pursuing their dreams are being exposed to this and are being treated this way. This has been the main contributing factor of my decision to step away. 

I can say that I have truly given everything I’ve had in order to become successful in this sport, and with this I have been able to witness what is truly possible when you set your vision on something and go after it 100%. After reaching my lowest point, this led me to focus my energy in to healing myself and understanding psychology of the human brain. With this, I have been able to understand the driving forces behind the things we do and the things we believe.

I have found it truly astonishing to realise the power of our beliefs and the motives behind the paths we choose to take. There is always a deeper meaning to the things we do, and the things we believe. Until you become aware of these underlying factors it’s hard for us to be able to create and experience the life we truly want to live and fulfill our ultimate purpose we are here for. We all have limitations, but it is you that gets to decide whether you keep them or not. 

My love for the sport continues and I am not sure what the future holds for me. I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved in this sport, and I feel it’s a shame I haven’t been able to realise my full potential yet. I want to say thank you to everybody that has supported me, provided me with opportunities and the friends I’ve met along the way.

I hope that from my journey I am able to help and encourage others to know that they are worthy of everything they desire. My wish for others is to know that no-one has the right to make you feel unworthy or uncomfortable, or that you must dismiss anything that doesn’t sit right with you. Your intuition is the most reliable guide we have and the answers we seek are all within us. You are stronger than you think, and you are capable of more than you realise. 

• This media release was published by Sharni Pinfold via her Instagram account on 24 January 2021. Click here for the original.