Ottawa’s Erika Hoffmann is Porsche’s latest racecar-driving phenom

Ottawa racecar driver Erika Hoffmann has become the first Canadian to earn a seat with the Porsche Mobil 1 Female Driver Program. CTV’s Dylan Dyson reports.

It was a cold call to Calabogie Motorsports Park six years ago that changed Erika Hoffmann’s life.

Since she first took to the streets of Barrhaven, she had a passion for driving but never felt fulfilled.

“As I got older, I got my driver’s license and I was driving down the road and I was like, well, this isn’t cutting it. I want to, like, actually drive,” Hoffmann told CTV News Ottawa.

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To the 28-year-old, actually driving is different than a zip out to the grocery store or changing lanes on Highway 417. It’s a driver pushing the limits of a car, right to the edge of the track and the edge of your seat.

After making a call to the racetrack in Calabogie, Hoffmann says she would do anything to thrust herself into the racing scene, whether that was volunteering at racing events, providing extra hands at the racetrack, or getting in and learning from racing teams that had garages in the Ottawa Valley.

Once she found her groove, she brought out her own car, a Subaru BRZ, to Canada’s longest racetrack and started clocking lap times.

“I started racing in 2019 here at Calabogie Motorsports Park. I started by taking my own car, which is the street version of this car (a Toyota GR),” she said.

“I didn’t know anybody who raced. I didn’t know it was an option for me. Honestly, I thought you had to grow up in Europe and be a millionaire who started karting at the age of three, so I just didn’t see it as an option,” she added, referring to the lack of racing culture in Ottawa.

Calabogie Motorsports Park offers the opportunity for anybody interested in racing to rent track time or the Toyota GR vehicles and learn about the sport.

“In 2022, I kind of got my big break,” says Hoffmann on when the wheels of her racing career really started turning.

“I entered this international driver search competition and there were a thousand drivers from 35 countries. And then I got to the top ten and I was like, oh my gosh, I could actually do this thing.

“I placed first overall, won a seat race in a McLaren GT4 car in Europe, immediately moved to England within two weeks, and was on grid for my first official race, racing in the UK’s GT Cup.”

Hoffmann has since returned to Canada and North America where she has earned a seat with the Porsche Mobil 1 Female Driver Program, becoming the first Canadian to do so.

“It’s really cool to get to represent Canada within the Porsche Mobil 1 Female Driver Program. I’m the only Canadian. And it’s really cool to get to see how motorsports is growing within Canada, how more and more fans are coming out.”

Starting a racing career from scratch is as much work off the track as it is on it, according to Hoffmann. In a sport as expensive as racing, sponsors pave the way for drivers like the Ottawa native to be given a chance.

From buying racing tires for her Subaru BRZ to now sitting behind the wheel of a Porsche Cayman Clubsport GT4 RS on the most notable tracks in North America, the last six years have been a whirlwind for Hoffmann.

“Whenever I’m in the paddock and I’m like looking at my Porsche, I’m like, that’s my car. And being on the podium, everything has been so surreal to actually get to experience it.”

During her time building a reputation on track, Hoffmann also started Slate Racing, an all-Canadian female racing team, with the goal of creating more opportunities for women in motorsport.

“I think motorsports is really growing. There are more and more women getting involved in it and it’s really opening up, which I think is amazing for the sport.”

In all of her races, Hoffmann competes against mostly men. According to Slate Racing, female drives make up just seven per cent of professional drivers globally.

“For me, you don’t want to be a female driver, you just want to be a driver. We just want to get it to the point where it doesn’t matter who you are, it just matters whether you can drive fast.”

And for Hoffmann, she can drive pretty fast, reaching up to 250 kilometres an hour in her Porsche racecar.

In her last two races on the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America circuit, she has landed on the podium both times.

“Currently, I’m third in the championship for my season, which is pretty awesome. Being a rookie, I also don’t have much testing (pre-race) because I’m running on a pretty slim budget compared to some of my competitors.”

Hoffmann says when driving a racecar, you should be looking as far ahead on the track as possible.

With just four races left on the calendar for this season, she has the finish line and her future within eyesight.

“My goal for next season will be to race the GT3 Cup car, just keep moving up within the ranks and then eventually do Carrera Cup, and then IMSA is the long-term goal.”