Vicky Butler-Henderson grew up on her family's farm, and was educated
at the independent Perse School for Girls in Cambridge.
Racing was a big part of her upbringing and she was immersed in the
culture from a young age. Her grandfather used to race a Frazer Nash at
Brooklands and her father was in the British karting team. Her brother
Charlie is also a racing driver. The only member of her direct family
who in not involved with racing is her older sister, Charlotte.
She started racing karts when she was twelve, competing in one race
that featured David Coulthard. After several years spent competing
around Britain, at the tender age of 17 she started her career as a
racing instructor at circuits such as Brands Hatch and Silverstone, as
well as spending a year living and working at Knockhill in Scotland.
She has competed in series such as Formula First and the 2000 Pentel
Ginetta Championship. She has also raced in many other events, such as
the Porsche Cup, Radicals, the Speyside Stages Rally, a combine
harvester race, a 24 hour 2CV race and, on two occasions, as navigator
for ITV's Formula One pit reporter Louise Goodman, in the Rallye
Sunseeker. In 2001 Vicki raced a Honda Formula Four-Stroke speedboat
off of France.
She went on to win the Maserati Trofeo race with her co-driver and
fellow journalist, Matthew Marsh. Vicky described the event as one of
the best moments of her life. It was a historic moment as she was the
first woman ever to win a race in a Maserati.
She made her television debut in 1994, racing a Ford Fiesta at Brands
Hatch in a one-off piece for BBC2's Top Gear and was a regular
presenter from 1997 until December 2001, during which time she also
presented Top Gear GTI for UK Horizons. A year later she moved to
five's new Fifth Gear programme to join fellow presenters Tiff Needell,
Jason Plato and Tom Ford as well as presenting coverage of the BTCC
(British Touring Car Championship) for ITV.
Other than her presenting work, she is also a successful journalist and
has written for; Car Mechanics magazine, Carweek magazine, Auto Express
magazine and What Car?. She also helped launch Max Power magazine and
was a regular contributor to Top Gear Magazine. She has also written
for a string of national newspapers, such as The Daily Telegraph and
The Times.
