From the University of Bath: University of Bath student-athlete Stephanie Hobeika has set her sights on the global F1 Academy Championship after securing a podium finish on her car-racing debut at Brands Hatch.
The Integrated Design Engineering student, the only female SR1 driver in the 750 Motor Club Radical Club Challenge, secured third place in the Class C category during the second race of the season opener – all the more impressive as it came after an unfortunate breakdown in the first race and just three months after she suffered a spinal fracture while karting.
Physio support from Team Bath, provided through the Student Performance Sport Breakthrough Programme, helped Hobeika return to racing in time for the new season and a fresh challenge which has added extra fuel to the motorsport ambitions that brought her to Bath from Lebanon.
“To get a podium finish on my debut weekend was great,” said Hobeika, who has joined DW Racing for the 2025 campaign. “I’ve been karting competitively for a few years now, including representing Bath in the British Universities Karting Championship, but I felt it was time to take the next step.
“I test drove several cars across different categories and decided that Radical was the best option because it is the most affordable and a great first step after karting. This season is about learning all the differences between karts and cars. It’s going to be a big learning curve but, after this weekend, I believe finishing in the top three overall is possible.
“The big goal for next year would be to race in F1 Academy, which is the all-female championship and raced on the same weekend as F1. There is a lot that goes into that – there are only 17 women on the circuit and you need a lot of sponsorship support – but that is my ultimate target.”
Hobeika enjoyed karting as a youngster growing up in Lebanon and Dubai but it wasn’t until she was 15 that she had the opportunity to take up racing competitively.
“A friend’s dad knew I loved motorsport and that I also did painting as a hobby, so I did a painting for him in exchange for his old kart,” she recalled. “I took it back to Lebanon for the summer and was driving on a random rental track when the owner saw me and asked if I would like to race. I haven’t stopped since!
“Most of the men I race against have been competing since they were eight years old but I’m hoping more girls will have the opportunities that I didn’t. There are two 10-year-old girls now racing in Dubai and their parents tell me they wouldn’t have believed it was possible if they hadn’t seen me racing, which is amazing.”
Hobeika has continued to blaze a trail and was Lebanon’s only female racer – and the only female Senior Karting racer overall – at the 2024 FIA Motorsport Games in Spain.
She is also Programme Manager for Team Bath Racing Electric, the Formula Student racing team based out of the University of Bath’s Faculty of Engineering and Design.
“It was Formula Student that brought me to Bath,” said Hobeika, who also drives the Team Bath Racing car in competition. “I originally wanted to study Architecture and visited Bath as it was the top university in the UK for that subject but I remember walking into the Sports Training Village and seeing a sign saying ‘UK’s number one Formula Student team’.
“I dug deeper and, excited by the possibilities, decided to pursue an Engineering degree instead. I loved Bath and the University, so getting to work in motorsport with Formula Student too was the perfect fit.
“It has been very beneficial to my career. I want to go into motorsport management at some point and it has given me a different profile as I know what it is like to be a driver and run a team.”
Hobeika is also grateful for the Breakthrough Programme support, saying: “I am on a very demanding course and have been able to get help with managing my workload. That was certainly the case when I was in Spain for the FIA Motorsport Games – it was a full week away and right before two course deadlines but I was given some flexibility which proved invaluable.”
Visit teambath.com/Breakthrough-Programme to find out more about the bespoke dual-career support available to high-performance student-athletes at the University of Bath, and www.teambathracingelectric.com for further details about the University’s Formula Student programme.
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