Guest blog by Thiemo Albers-Daly
Drive to Survive. Le Mans ‘66 (Ford v Ferrari). Rush. These are the obvious contenders that come to mind when the topic of motorsport films and TV comes into conversation. Naturally, there are others beyond this, such as the YouTube Docuseries ‘Michael Fassbender: Road to Le Mans’ and the slightly less well known such as Amazon Prime’s ‘Race for the Planet’. With Formula 1 and the wider motorsport world increasing in popularity in recent years, more bodies of work are being created for television and cinema and sometimes it can be difficult to keep track of them all. But that doesn’t mean that any of them should be forgotten about. In fact, it’s proven to be the case many a time that these are the ones that people should watch the most as they are the rare hidden gems of this realm.
BBC One’s ‘Our Lives, Fast Track to Glory’ is a perfect example of this. Part of a wider BBC series that focuses on people from all walks of life, this particular episode focused specifically on Isla Mackenzie’s motorsport journey so far.
For those of you who don’t know, Isla Mackenzie is a Scottish Racing Driver, hailing from the Isle of Lewis. Having been a Prototype and Test Technician for the Williams F1 Team to then becoming a Dyno Technician at Mercedes F1, Isla decided that she also wanted to get involved in the other side of motorsport – by becoming a racing driver herself.
Since 2021, she’s worked hard to create opportunities for herself to gain experience and move up the motorsport ladder. This has included racing in the Senior Rotax Karting Category, joining IMC Motorsport and testing for the Scuderia Fern Racing Team.
‘Fast Track to Glory’ tells this underdog story, zeroing in on Isla’s origins and some of the obstacles that she has had to overcome in order to get to where she is today.
“A determined young Formula One dyno technician chases her dream to be a racing driver. Isla Mackenzie has a sought-after role at one of the world’s top Formula One teams, testing engines for some of the biggest names in motorsport. But Isla always had the thirst to succeed as a driver herself. This season, she has been signed up by a team that has seen her potential, and she is going for it at full speed.” – BBC One.
MacTV did a brilliant job of weaving this short documentary together and really provided a snapshot in time of the life of an aspiring racing driver. For a documentary episode that’s only thirty minutes long, it packs an awful lot into it and paints a very raw but real and stirring image of what life can look like for someone attempting to break into the world of motorsport without the privilege of a wealthy background.
While some of the tougher experiences caught on camera definitely weren’t easy for Isla to go through at the time, the silver lining to them is that it lends the documentary an extra level of authenticity and helps to capture Isla as an individual who’s not only determined, passionate and fierce but also genuine, relatable and, ultimately, human.
You can’t help but smile along for example when you see old family footage of Isla as a child driving (ish) a car across a field or when her Grandmother essentially roasts her for not having won a race yet! But equally, you can’t help but feel gutted for her when Isla’s season begins to unravel through events such as her team’s race car not being made ready for her for a race weekend and a valuable opportunity to prove herself to the wider world then slips through her fingers.
It’s a constant story of give and take and about having the guts to put a lot on the line just for a chance at showing what she’s capable of with absolutely no guarantees after the fact. The documentary is also a reminder of how bizarre life can be. When detailing Isla’s work for Mercedes, there’s proper footage of the Mercedes Formula 1 cars on track, of Isla in her element at Mercedes HQ, of Lewis Hamilton speaking about how vital the work at the factory is to enabling him to do what he loves and even a personal video message for Isla from George Russell – all supplied by the Mercedes F1 Team themselves. Nobody forced Mercedes to lend this kind of support in the creation of the documentary but when watching it, you can’t help but feel that they wouldn’t have gone above and beyond like this if they didn’t believe in Isla.
“Isla’s rural upbringing in the Isle of Lewis in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides couldn’t seem further from the fast-paced world of motor racing. But early freedoms, from riding horses to tearing around fearlessly in old cars on the family farm, gave her a first taste of speed. Now she is training for her F3 debut and will need to draw on everything she’s learned to succeed. In the male-dominated and expensive world of motor racing, can this 29-year-old island speedster achieve her breakthrough?” – BBC One.
We all know that getting the opportunity to at least get into the world of motorsport by being a driver is a privilege in itself but with so many wannabe drivers out there, it can be difficult to know who the real deal is, who isn’t and which drivers recognize the value of this opportunity in itself, how much it means to them and how much they’re willing to work in order to make it happen. The fact that Mercedes supported Isla in this way for this documentary is testament to her character as being someone who isn’t (and hasn’t) going to falter when the going gets tough and that she’s as real as they get.
“It was a very surreal experience having my life, family and home filmed and aired on National TV…but I am beyond grateful for the opportunity and very glad I did it. MacTV captured it all just as it is and despite my racing season not going according to plan, the documentary is real and highlights the struggles people like myself face when they are chasing a dream, having not come from money.” – Isla Mackenzie
When you’re a racing driver in a top tier of motorsport, it comes with the territory that you’re going to be filmed, that social media will scrutinise everything you do and that sometimes, people from across the globe will see a lot more of your life than perhaps you wish they would, particularly in the challenging moments when the last thing you want is a camera in your face. To do this when you’re still at the start of your motorsport journey when there’s a bigger risk of things not going to plan, it can be quite the gamble. But, it’s been a gamble she’s been willing to make and in true Isla Mackenzie style, she wasn’t just thinking about herself when this documentary was being made either.
“I have a few things I hope the documentary achieves, first of all that it will inspire women (of all ages) to give motorsport or engineering a go if they have always pondered pursuing it. I hope it gives people a bit of confidence to go against the grain and reassurance that it doesn’t matter where you come from or if you are a bit different… I see that as a strength! Finally I hope that it will be just what I need to propel me back into racing. I keep telling myself that you never know who may come across my story, so I’m training and working hard still to be ready for any opportunities that arise.” – Isla Mackenzie
Motorsport is full of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Without giving too much away (you should go and watch this documentary for yourself on BBC iPlayer before I write an even longer article about it), the ending is akin to a Christopher Nolan or a Denis Villeneuve film in that what happens afterwards is up for interpretation – the story doesn’t quite feel finished yet. The biggest difference here though is that instead of leaving you with ambiguity about what happens next, it leaves the door open for a sequel somewhere down the line. What that sequel might look like, not even this writer knows. But if anyone could find a way to pull off a punchy, hard-hitting sequel, it’s Isla Mackenzie. Watch this space.
BBC One’s ‘Our Lives, Fast Track to Glory’ is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
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