Emily Duggan

Emily Duggan is a self-made Australian racing driver who walked into motorsport with zero experience, bought her own race car, and became the first female to compete in the Super3 V8 Touring Car Series—all while working multiple jobs to fund her dream.

EARLY YEARS

Here’s what we know about Emily Duggan’s early life: not much. No birthdate, no hometown, no carefully curated origin story about a dad who raced or a childhood spent at the track. What we do know is that by high school, she’d already made up her mind—she was going racing[7]. How she got there, what sparked it, who encouraged her? That’s all off the record. But the decision itself? That stuck.

What makes Duggan’s story unusual isn’t just the lack of a racing pedigree—it’s that she didn’t let that stop her. No karting career. No junior championships. No well-connected family smoothing the path. Just a high school kid with a plan and, apparently, the kind of self-belief that doesn’t require a cheering section.

OTHER INTERESTS

If Emily Duggan has hobbies outside of racing, she’s kept them to herself. No mentions of weekend pastimes, creative outlets, or what she does when she’s not behind the wheel. Given that she once burned through all her annual leave just to get more seat time in her race car, it’s safe to say racing isn’t a hobby—it’s the whole agenda[2].

EARLY SUCCESS

In 2014, Duggan did something most people would consider insane: she bought a race car with her own money, entered Series X3 NSW, and started competing full-time—with zero prior race experience[1][2]. Not a single lap. Not even a track day. Just self-belief and a bank account she’d been carefully filling while working multiple jobs.

Then she won her second race[1].

It wasn’t a fluke. She racked up 26 podium finishes in the category, proving that sometimes the best way to learn how to race is just to race[1]. She drove the car to events herself, hauled it back, wrenched on it, and squeezed every ounce of value out of every dollar spent. “Two things kept coming up,” she later explained. “You had to have started very young (experience) and you needed sponsorships (money). Two things I didn’t have. So it wasn’t easy to begin with. The first thing I did was save for a car as I kept working. After that, it was finding what series I could race in, just in terms of being able to afford to be in it”[2].

Her obsession with seat time bordered on fanatical. “During that 1st year, I tried to get as much seat time as possible. I’d test drive my car so much that I burned through my annual leave from every job that I got… pedal to the metal”[2]. When she wasn’t racing, she volunteered at other events just to stay close to the action[2]. She even grabbed the fastest lap at Challenge Bathurst one year, proving she could hustle when it counted[2].

In March 2016, Duggan became the first female driver to compete in the Super3 V8 Touring Car Series, the third tier of Australia’s national V8 Supercar competition[1][3][5][6]. She self-funded one round—because of course she did. That milestone opened doors, including a scholarship to the Paul Morris Racing Academy, run by multiple Bathurst endurance winner Paul Morris[1][2]. Morris, not known for handing out participation trophies, called her the hardest-working driver in pit lane[1][2]. At the academy’s Norwell Motorplex, she trained relentlessly on car control through brutal “shootouts,” where drivers were given random starting positions and had to nail their fastest lap. “It’s a brutal but efficient way of training,” she said[2].

In 2018, she stepped up to the Toyota 86 Series—and built her own car to do it[1]. Because why pay someone else when you can learn it yourself? She returned to both the Super3 Kumho series and a second Toyota 86 campaign in 2019, finishing second in her second Super3 race event[1]. And at the end of the 2017 season, she competed in an international 8-hour endurance race, a well-earned opportunity that came after being named a finalist for the Cosmopolitan Sportswoman of the Year Award earlier that year[1].

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 2014: Won second race event entered in Series X3 NSW; achieved 26 podium finishes in the category[1].
• 2016: First female driver to compete in Super3 V8 Touring Car Series (March)[1][3][5][6].
• 2017: Finalist for Cosmopolitan Sportswoman of the Year Award[1].
• 2017: Competed in international 8-hour endurance race[1].
• 2018: Competed full campaign in Toyota 86 Series; built own car[1].
• 2019: Returned to Super3 Kumho series; finished 2nd in second race event[1].
• 2019: Second Toyota 86 Series campaign[1].
• Awarded scholarship to Paul Morris Racing Academy; recognized as hardest-working driver in pit lane by Paul Morris[1][2].
• Fastest lap at Challenge Bathurst[2].

INSPIRATIONS

No information available on who inspired Emily Duggan or what made her fall in love with racing. She’s kept her heroes, if she has them, to herself.

REPUTATION

Duggan’s reputation in Australian motorsport is built on grit, not gloss. Paul Morris, a man who’s seen plenty of drivers come and go, singled her out as the hardest-working driver in pit lane—a compliment that carries weight coming from a multiple Bathurst winner[1][2]. She’s known for doing everything herself: driving the car to events, wrenching on it, volunteering when she’s not competing, and squeezing every drop of experience out of every opportunity[1][2].

She’s also recognized as a trailblazer, not because she set out to be one, but because she showed up and did the work. As Australia’s leading female racing driver and the first woman to compete in the Australian V8 Touring Car Series, she’s navigated a male-dominated sport with self-belief and relentless effort, overcoming obstacles others take for granted[1][3][4][6]. She didn’t wait for permission or sponsorship—she just bought a car and got started.

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

No information available on Emily Duggan’s current racing activities, future plans, or goals beyond 2019. The trail goes cold after her second Super3 and Toyota 86 campaigns, leaving her next chapter unwritten—at least publicly.

References:

Emily Duggan Official Website
Occupied Souls Profile Interview
Glam Adelaide Article on Airspeeder
Everybody Wiki Biography
Verto News