In the past two articles, we gave you the stories of two young riders supported by Haus of Moto – Sophie Kirkland and Daisy Polden. Today, we bring the story of the woman behind Haus of Moto – Lauren Harris.
© All photos provided by Lauren Harris
Lauren Harris never set out to build an organization. She simply loved motorcycles, art, and the electric energy of race day. But sometimes, the things we love most have a way of leading us exactly where we’re meant to go. Today, Lauren is the founder of Haus of Moto, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting young female talent in motorcycling in the UK motorcycling. Her journey is as inspiring as the riders she champions.
Before being actively involved in motorsport, Lauren has long been a fan of MotoGP, specifically a Valentino Rossi fan. “My family has always been motorbike fans and racing fans. I grew up watching MotoGP, and I was a huge Valentino Rossi fan. In 2007, we went to Donington Park to watch MotoGP, which was my first time at the track.”
Even though I already loved the sport at the time, seeing it trackside made me absolutely obsessed.
But Lauren’s heart held more than just a love for speed. She had always been drawn to creative art. And when those two passions finally collided, Haus of Moto’s first iteration was born. “Whenever I go to a race weekend, I’d always do my nails, such as team-themed nails, Vale’s special helmets. My cousin and myself also have a massive merchandise collection of Rossi’s stuff, and I was just posting those on Instagram as well as re-sharing other people’s art. This is how I started Haus of Moto_GP in 2022, an outlet for sharing artwork inspired by motorsport.”
Inspired by other women who were championing and supporting females in motorsport, Lauren began to see new possibilities for her own involvement. “I was on holiday in Italy in 2023, Aurora Angelucci’s team WSM was racing near where I was staying. I went to see them race and spent the weekend with them. I thought what Aurora was doing was so fantastic, and we need this at home – I need to help the youngsters at home.”
On April Fools’ that year, Aurora posted a joke that she was entering an all-female team in MotoGP with Ducati. I reposted, saying that Haus of Moto will sponsor it.
Even as she toyed with the idea, her posts from Italy unexpectedly connected her with young riders back home who were in need of support. By the time she returned, Lauren was already set on making it happen. “When I was in Italy, I was putting my Haus of Moto stickers everywhere and then posting pictures of it online. Daisy Polden’s mom Donna, messaged me and asked whether I had stickers left and whether I could send them to Daisy. So I started thinking, maybe I can help them with sponsorship. Donna also helped connect me with Lucy Curtis (Moto4 British Cup rider), so we started with helping two riders. Then we took on Nellie Newth as well, who went on to win the AC40 Rookie Championship in 2024.”
When raising sponsorship, Lauren first reached out to businesses she was familiar with. “When I got back home, I reached out to my boss and some other companies I’m familiar with. My colleagues know I have a big passion for motorsport. I also know one of our biggest customers actually is a motorsport fan. So he came to mind immediately, and he was really happy to support me. Over the years, my boss and other businesses have done more and more to support me. This year, when we had the Royal Cornwall Show, I put some of our girls’ bikes up to advertise them and raised some more sponsorship from all other customers who were coming to the show.”
Not content to stop there, Lauren also turned to more specialised motorsport brands to secure proper racing gear and merchandises for the girls. “151’s, who already support Chloe Jones, makes our base layers. I met them at race weekends. I asked them whether we could get custom base layers with the Haus of Moto logo, and they supported all our girls. The Clothing Kings is very well known in the paddock. I reached out to them for some merchandise, and they always give me a discount on my orders and help promote us as much as they can.”
Though many businesses have generously supported her journey, raising sponsorship in motorsport is never without its challenges. “It’s easy when I know the businesses. But if you are reaching out to businesses you don’t know, you always need to prove your worth before they can give you anything. Initially, I found it really difficult to see the worth of what I was doing. Now, through working with other people, they helped point out what I can offer people and helped me realize the worth of what I’ve been doing in the past few years. These families that we support are also very grateful. Lucy’s family branded one of her bikes in full Haus of Moto livery last year, without me asking them. Even if it’s just a few hundred pounds, the families really appreciate it because it means a lot to them.”
A few years ago, we took Lucy on a garage tour with Michael Laverty’s team, and they remembered her, how she conducted herself, how mature and responsible she was. So this year, they were more than happy to take her onto Fibre Tec – MLav Team in the Moto4 British Talent Cup.
Haus of Moto’s sponsorship program started with a joke and Lauren’s stickers on a few bikes, but now, Lauren has a clearer plan for the future. “This year, I started the Ambassador Program since I can’t sponsor everybody. I send the girls hoodies and other merchandise, I help promote them and they help promote us while they are racing. This way, I can support a lot more girls and get more of them into racing. Next, I want to get to a stage where we have this ladder from the Minimotos to Minibikes to British Championships, then all the way up to the World Championship. Hopefully next year in the WorldWCR, there will be a Haus of Moto sponsored rider as well. I also want to get in touch with manufacturers and universities to encourage more girls to get into the engineering and technical side of motorsport. I really want us to help girls find those opportunities as well, and be a one-stop shop for females in two-wheeled motorsport.”
Paddock Sorority 
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