Athenry's Aoife lights up the kart track

DON’T be fooled by the flowing blonde hair or the pretty smile. Behind the teenage glamour lies a highly skilled racing driver who has made it into the top three of the Motorsport Ireland Championship in her first full season of racing.
Aoife Melia, 17, from Athenry has already set her sights on winning her first Motorsport Ireland Championship title over the next 12 months.
She collected her third place trophy at a glittering gala dinner in Portlaoise last month and came runner up in a female driver of the year competition, run by a prestigious motoring magazine in the UK.
“I was nominated for the Karting Magazine Awards after I won a race up in Northern Ireland earlier this year, so to come runner-up in that was incredible,” said Aoife, who garnered 2,000 public votes in the competition.

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