Female stunt driver Kelly Bird tells Chris Pleasance why she turned her hobby into a business teaching others how to have greater control behind the wheel

IF you’ve ever seen a car chase in a film, chances are you’ve seen a J-turn. It’s when the hero realises the only way out is back. Enter the J-turn: reverse fast, spin the car in a graceful arc and drive off the way you came, checking the rear view mirror for the villains now eating your dust.

A simple theory, but if you’re not used to handling a car skidding and driving backwards, it’s tough.

Kelly Bird, from Middlesbrough, teaches this and other snazzy car control moves. The 19-year-old runs Stunt Drive Experience, a purposebuilt arena where she teaches amateurs hand-brake turns, J-turns and even drive a car on two wheels.

Kelly has been fascinated with speed as long as she can remember; it’s in her genes. “I started karting when I was three because my mum and dad used to run a karting track in Durham,” she says. “Then, at 14 I started rally cross racing, which both my parents also used to do back in the 1980s.

The family would holiday in Florida, where they would watch stunt drivers performing in shows. “I used to say to my dad: I’m going to do that one day,” says Kelly.

While studying for exams at Teesside High, Kelly used her spare time to race and trained to do stunts.

A bright pupil, she passed 13 GCSEs and carried on to get four A-levels, and though her friends did question her choice of hobby, they and the school were very supportive.

“I played netball and stuff, but my friends were girly girls and I was the tomboy. They were into shopping; I was into driving,” she says.

Kelly also spends time in the gym, lifting weights, running on treadmills and swimming, as physical fitness plays an important part in stunt driving. “I have quite big arms for a girl, but I don’t spend my time pumping iron or anything. I need to keep fit, especially my back and neck, because they go through strain and can get some quite hard knocks.”

After school, Kelly was due to go to Northumbria University to study criminology and forensic biology, but had a last-minute change of heart. “I thought, I could go to uni and get a degree, but I’m not guaranteed a job and I’ll get in a lot of debt. Or I can do what I’ve always wanted to do since I was little.”

Kelly deferred her entry and, with help from parents Paul and Jane, set up her stunt school in an empty car park at Middesbrough Motorsport Park. They laid tarmac, put up crash barriers, and bought two speciallyadapted Minis.

The Birds have a long history with the Motorsport Park – Kelly’s parents used to run the Langbaurgh Kart School there – and by coincidence, Kelly moved in 20 years to the month after her parents moved out.

The arena opened in April, but is already proving popular with groups – about a third are women – packing it out every weekend. “I love it because every group is different and you can never tell what people are going to be like behind the wheel.”

“The men are typically more difficult to teach than the women because they think they know everything and they don’t want to have a woman telling them what to do. So you’ll explain it and then they do what they think is best. It’s only after everything’s gone wrong that they’ll listen and then get it right.

Being a woman in a traditionally all-male profession has lead her into some awkward situations. “I get people telling me that they can driver better than me, and I think, you’ve never seen me drive so how could you know? And on film sets sometimes people will see me and ask where the driver is.”

Kelly is also studying for an engineering certificate and making a name for herself in TV and films. She has worked with the BBC on Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is, a show where two antiques collectors see who can make the most profit.

Kelly was brought in to liven up an episode, where a car was being bought, by performing a few stunts, though she has no dreams of buying a special car for herself.

She is not picky about her stunts.

“I will try anything once,” she says.

“I’ve never really seen anything I wouldn’t do. I’ve never tried flipping a car over like they do in films, but I wouldn’t say no if I was asked.”

  • Stunt Drive Experience, South Tees Motor Sports Park, South Bank Road, Middlesbrough TS6 6XH; 01642-713010; stuntdriveexperience.co.uk