WHILE most of her teenage friends were grooming their ponies or swooning over pop stars, Annie Templeton was racing her Austin A30 at breakneck speed around one of Wensleydale's most elegant estates.

Now a celebrated racing driver, Mrs Templeton has fond memories of pitting her motoring skills against the man who has just succeeded his late father to the title of Lord Bolton.

"I bought my first car, the A30, for £10 when I was 13 and I used to race with Harry Orde-Powlett and his sister, Rosie, around the Bolton estate," she recalls. "An early boyfriend also had an A30 and I would go over to Neasham, near Darlington, to see him. When I was about 14 he smashed us into a tree."

That was the first of what was to become a catalogue of scrapes as Mrs Templeton, now aged 50, entered the "man's world" of motor racing. Her career began in 1987 in vintage car classes and she raced an MG single-seater with the vintage sports car club and MG car club for ten years. Successes included winning the Brooklands memorial trophy at Silverstone in 1992. She also contested the MGF cup from 1998 to 2000 with her best finish of eighth place.

Since competing in the British touring car championship this year, she has shown consistent form and, for most of the season, has been the only woman on the grid. Her last few races saw her points tally grow, contributing to the Tech-speed Motorsport team's overall position of fourth in the championship.

Along with fellow Peugeot 306 GTI driver Mr Paul O'Neill - pop star Mel C's brother - Mrs Templeton has stood on the British touring car championship winners' rostrum twice this year.

She was again in action at the weekend at Croft circuit, near Darlington, where she failed to complete the first race after spinning off the track but was 14th in the feature race.

"It is very different driving in touring cars," she says. "This is my first time racing in a front wheel drive car and it is a very different technique, which has taken quite a bit of time to learn. The calibre of the other drivers is superb, they are some of the best young drivers in England."

Undeterred, Mrs Templeton, has no plans to retire from the track and urges more women to compete. "Motor racing, along with equestrian sport, is one of the few sports at which women and men can compete on equal terms," she says. "There are some superb women drivers out there but not enough women come into the sport. A lot more women used to race in the 1950s and it is weird that, as feminism grew, suddenly all the women left the sport."

Even as a child, Mrs Templeton showed an off-beat and determined character. Her late father, Brig Wilfred Ponsonby, was a renowned local conjurer and young Annie was an enthusiastic assistant, willing to be sawn in half or appear from a dolls' house to earn a bit of pocket money.

She was rewarded when he gave her £5 towards her first car - the Austin - which was painted in vivid colours and tested out in the fields near their home in the village of Wensley, near Leyburn.

"I was always interested in cars. I was number five of six children and they were all interested in horse racing. I just had to be different."

Mrs Templeton, who was born in Scarborough, enjoyed life at Wensley House until she left school and moved to London. The family moved to West Burton in 1983. She is now based in Essex, where she and her husband run the Freightmaster transport and distribution company.

"I always love coming back to Yorkshire," she says. "I grew up with Harry and Rosie Orde-Powlett and we had wonderful times.

"I also love coming to Croft because I can see all my mates and I love the Yorkshire crowd. I always seem to get a bit of a special cheer at Croft."

Her family supports her motor racing career, although neither of her daughters, both in their 20s, has a driving licence. "They live in London and don't really see the need," she says. "My step-grandsons, aged 14, 12 and ten, are all mad keen racing guys so we have some great scraps in cars."

Although undoubtedly exciting, the race track can also be fraught with danger. "I have had lots of accidents but, luckily, no serious injuries. These cars are very safe and you can have quite horrendous accidents and walk away from them," she says. "The most frightening incident was when my car caught fire while racing at Knock Hill, near Dunfermline, in Scotland. The car was full of smoke and I was trying to undo the buckles and belt and just thinking 'am I going to get out?'"

She escaped, uninjured and undeterred, and was back behind the wheel as soon as possible. "I have no plans to give up something which I enjoy so much," she says. "Why should I? I have always enjoyed doing things that were a bit different and I will continue to do so as long as possible."