Reneé Brinkerhoff

File:Brinkerhoff.png

Born	Renée Brinkerhoff May 19, 1956 (Age 66)
Occupation	Race-Car Driver, CEO of Valkyrie Racing
Website	Valkyrieracing.com

Renée Brinkerhoff (Born May 19, 1956) née Renee Mushett is a world record-breaking race-car driver, CEO of Valkyrie Racing, and founder of the nonprofit organization Valkyrie Gives. Most notably, Renee is the first person to race a car on all seven continents. She has raced on every continent in the world and is the first woman in history to place four times in the Mexican La Carrera Panamericana rally race.

Early Life

Brinkerhoff was born in Quantico, Virginia, USA. During her childhood, Brinkerhoff lived in several different countries, specifically – Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Laos. Brinkerhoff had some formative experiences as a child growing up in Hong Kong during the Cultural Revolution and Red Guard riots, and in Laos during the Vietnam War.

Family

Renee Brinkerhoff is a mother to four children and resides in Denver, Colorado. Before beginning her race-car driving career, Brinkerhoff successfully home-educated all four of her children through their high school years, and each one later went on to college with scholarships.

Racing Career

Renee Brinkerhoff began her career as a race car driver at age 56, with no background in cars or racing. Brinkerhoff attended classes at the Porsche Track Experience in Birmingham, Alabama, and was instructed by Hurley Haywood. In 2013, she prepared a 1956 Porsche 356, assembled a novice team, and became an overnight racing phenomenon when she and her team won their class in the notorious Mexican rally, La Carrera Panamericana. In 2017, after several years of success in the famed Mexican rally, Brinkerhoff and the Valkyrie Racing team launched the Project 356 World Rally Tour. With the goal of raising awareness and funds to combat child trafficking, the Project 356 World Tour’s vision was for one driver and one car to race on every continent on the globe in the most extreme rallies in the world to raise funds and awareness to combat child trafficking. In four years (2017-2021), Brinkerhoff and the Valkyrie Racing team completed the challenge competing in rally races such as Targa Tasmania, Tasmania–Australia, Caminos del Inca, Peru–South America, Peking to Paris, 13 countries–Asia and Europe, East African Classic Safari Rally, Kenya & Tanzania–Africa, and Union Glacier, Antarctica. In December 2021, the Project 356 global goal was achieved when Renee and the Valkyrie Racing team completed 356 miles on the blue ice of Antarctica and nearly 20,000 racing miles globally.

The Porsche 356

In 2011, Brinkerhoff purchased her 1956 Porsche 356, which then had to undergo a thorough transformation in preparation for rally racing. The vehicle's original bodywork remains the same, but as the racing challenges changed, vehicle modifications continued for Project 356’s races in various elevations and terrains. In preparation for the Project 356 World Tour's race in Antarctica, the Porsche 356 underwent complex modifications by Engineer Kieron Bradley in order to navigate 356 miles of sub-zero terrain. To survive in the freezing temperatures of Antarctica, a combination of skis and tracks, a crevasse bar with a dual-sided solar panel, and multiple safety and environmental reinforcements were added to the vehicle.

Races

• La Carrera Panamericana
• Targa Tasmania
• Caminos del Inca
• Peking to Paris
• East African Classic Safari Rally
• Ice Challenge 356

References

This article "Reneé Brinkerhoff" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Reneé Brinkerhoff. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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