Katrina Ee’s rise in motorsport

"Being able to win Asian titles as one of the only Asian girls on the grid made me really proud" - Katrina Ee reflects on her karting career, what is it like to represent her home country as she prepares for her debut in cars in the Ginetta Junior Championship with Tim Gray Motorsport this week.

Photo credits: CBR Media

Two weeks ago, it was announced that Malaysia's Katrina Ee would step up to car racing with Tim Gray Motorsport in the 2025 Ginetta Junior Championship.

Born in Hong Kong and raised in Malaysia, Ee got her first taste of racing at a young age, when she went to the Shah Alam International Karting Circuit for a Sunday drive, which then quickly turned into her passion for racing.

"I started karting at the age of seven at that track," Ee said. "Ever since then, I knew that I really loved doing this as a sport because I enjoyed the speed and competitiveness."

Success came quickly for Ee, as she won junior titles in both the Malaysia Karting Championship and the Rotax Max Challenge Malaysia in 2022, along with back-to-back junior titles in IAME Series Asia and RMC Asia Trophy in 2022 and 2023, and most recently winning the 2023 Rok Cup Asia and was runner-up in the 2024 RMC Asia Festival in Junior Max.

"That was really amazing," Ee recalls. "Because in Asia, motorsport is not very popular, so getting to represent Asia around the world and being able to win those three Asian titles as one of the only Asian girls on the grid, made me really proud and felt surreal. I realized that I had a lot of potential, so then I went over to Europe and the UK to race around the world and compete with the best drivers."

While she won titles in Asia, Ee also made her debut in Europe, racing in the Italian Karting Championship, along with part-time appearances in WSK-organized championships, where she most notably finished 17th in the OK-NJ class of the 2024 WSK Open Series.

Photo credits: CBR Media

Speaking of her time karting in Europe, Ee said: "It was very interesting and a bit difficult when I first went there in 2021. I quickly realized that racing in Europe compared to Asia is very different, as it's a lot more competitive, the drivers are a lot more aggressive and the track conditions are also very different compared to Asia."

"I knew that if I was able to adapt, I could prove myself. I learned a lot from racing in Europe, and that’s why I am a much better driver now compared to when I first started eight years ago when I first started so, I gained a lot of valuable experience from there."

Ever since her debut in karts in the Asian Karting Open Championship in 2019, Ee has represented both Hong Kong and Malaysia on her racing suit, which she will carry on as she steps up to car racing this week.

"I would say that Asia overall is not as popular [in the motorsport scene] but I'm not taking that as a disadvantage," Ee continued. "If I can show that on the world stage I'm able to represent Asia, I see this as an advantage because I can prove that Asian drivers can compete at a high level, and show their talent on a global stage, which is very important."

"Coming from Hong Kong and Malaysia, [motorsport] wasn't as popular but it kind of made me work harder to get where I am today. My parents are not from a background of motorsport, so I started all of this on my own and had to learn a lot of different things."

Ahead of her final year in karting, Ee was nominated as one of six girls part of David Coulthard's More Than Equal driver development programme, which helped her in preparing physically and mentally for races on a level similar to Formula One junior teams.

Photo credits: More Than Equal

"It did help me a lot since I got announced last year," Ee explained. "It really made me realize that they see the potential in me and they see that I'm one of the future girls that will take on F1 one day, so being able to be selected as one of six girls was such an amazing moment."

"They supported me with a gym trainer, a nutritionist, a psychologist and a driver coach, so ever since they gave me these tools I knew that this is the world of driver development programmes and getting to represent my country in this world is something I'm really grateful as not many asian girls get to do what I do."

Less than a month after being presented with the Young Driver of the Year award at the 2024 MAM Awards Night, Ee was announced to be joining Tim Gray Motorsport to compete in the 2025 Ginetta Junior Championship.

With the announcement coming just under a month away from the season-opening round at Donington Park, the Malaysian-Hong Kong driver participated in various testing sessions, mostly at Zandvoort, to get used to the new car.

Speaking of her move to car racing, Ee said: “It was a huge jump. It was a last-minute decision; I hadn’t planned on doing this as my initial plan was to continue karting this year.”

“I had to do a few test sessions because, unlike go-karts, these cars have a clutch and require gear shifting. The feel of the car is completely different, so I had to learn how to adapt to it.”

Looking beyond the 2025 season, Ee has aspirations of reaching Formula One in the future, emulating her hero Lewis Hamilton in reaching the pinnacle of single-seater racing.

“I see my future as something bright," Ee reflected. "I really hope I can make it, my dream is to get to F1 and become the first female F1 driver from my country. This year I will be focusing on Ginetta Junior, learning from a lot of people, and getting to go to F4 in the future.”

With her 2025 plans set in stone, Katrina Ee is aiming to make the most of her debut in cars, with the first round of the season at Donington Park just around the corner on April 4–6, the Malaysian-Hong Kong driver is about to begin a new important chapter of her career.