A MOTORSPORT-mad grandma who turns 90 next week realised a lifetime goal by zooming round a racetrack at more than 100mph in a Porsche.
Maud Maycroft, who celebrates her 90th birthday on Tuesday, has been a life-long fan of Formula One racing.
So she was over the moon when her family and staff at the Nightingale Hall care home Richmond, part of Wellburn Care Homes, organised for her to be driven around Croft racecourse in a Porsche Cayman – hitting speeds of up to 110mph.
Maud admitted that F1 racing was an unusual hobby for an almost 90-year-old grandma, but she has followed motorsports her whole life and it was a passion she shared with her late husband Arthur, who died in January this year.
She said: "My husband and I used to watch all the F1 and lived not far from Silverstone and so we used to go down there.
"We saw some of the big names and we have always followed it.
"Now thanks to the girls (at Nightingale) who let me know when it's on the television, I get to watch it on the cinema screen in the lounge – although sometimes people don't like that so I go upstairs to watch it.
"I am very sports-minded, I don't have time for television unless it's sport."
Mike Campling, Nightingale Hall manager, was delighted that the team at Croft was able to give Maud a once in a lifetime experience.
He said: "Maud knows everything you can possibly know about racing and it has been a huge dream of hers to get on a racing track, so why not for her 90th birthday?
"This is about making sure that people can still have dreams and aspirations even if they live in a care home.
"It's about giving people a normal life and letting them have fun, particularly Maud because her passion for racing is huge."
Paul Moss, who drove the Porsche, said it was "an honour" to race Maud round three laps of the circuit. He added: "We hit 110mph and she still wanted to go faster."
Speaking after the adrenaline-fuelled laps, Maud said it "more than" lived up to her expectations.
"I would recommend it to everybody," she said. "I'm coming again."
Maud, who moved to Richmond from Cheshire almost 20 years ago, has one son, two grandchildren, one step-grandson and three great-grandchildren.
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