SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. — There are people who follow trails and others who blaze them. Sonoma County's Tati Ziemer is blazing her trail on the racetrack.
Ziemer travels a road that most wouldn't dare. The Sacramento State graduate, and Sonoma County native, spends most of her time at Sonoma raceway where she works on karts and drives them in competition. Interestingly enough, she happened to fall into this field by accident — literally.
"I actually didn't grow up around motorsports. I grew up playing soccer and riding horses," explained Ziemer. "A couple years after high school, me and friend were driving down a backroad and I ended up rolling my Subaru with her in the car. We both walked away. We're totally fine, but that inspired me to learn how to drive."
Ziemer is up at 4 a.m. every morning working out and training to be the best kart driver she can be. But she also realizes the challenges that come with working in a male-dominated industry.
"It's been difficult. There's been days where I wanted to quit. I get messages and comments and stuff where they patronize and try to tear women down. And at the end of the day, you have to ignore all of that," Ziemer explained.
That resilient attitude has taken Ziemer to England this week, where she will compete in the International Formula Woman competition. She was one of 50 finalists, selected out of 800 candidates, for the opportunity to win a fully-sponsored season in a McLaren GT4 car in the GT Cup in the UK.
More than anything, Ziemer is hoping that she can inspire others with her journey.
"I'm trying to inspire more women to just get into it and understand that you can do it," she said.
