Introduction: After a career as an international competitor in alpine skiing, winning three Canadian Championship titles, Melanie Paterson left ski racing for auto racing. With 'the need for speed' still in her blood, Melanie signed up for a 4-day racing school and the rest is history!
After falling in love with the sport of auto racing, Melanie worked as a mechanic in exchange for a race series in Formula 2000 cars. With the skills in car racing similar to those of ski racing, Melanie caught on quickly and saw success and podium finishes. While her parents were urging her to get a 'real job', Melanie had other plans.
Melanie went on to race go-karts, and then raced on oval tracks in a Legends car. In 1998, Melanie competed in a few events of the Professional Canadian Formula Ford Championship. For the 1999 and 2000 seasons, Melanie returned to the Canadian Formula Ford Championship to compete in the full 8-race series in the Sunoco-backed Van Diemen RF98. Some of the race events included The Canadian Grand Prix, Grand Prix of Trois Rivieres and the Toronto Molson Indy. In the year 2000, Melanie finished 11th in the Championship. She returned to the 2001 Canadian Formula Ford Championship for another successful year with a new title sponsor in Schneider's Hot Rod.
As well as racing, Melanie is involved in various other activities. She is a member of the prestigious CART Pace Car Team. This exclusive female team pilots the Official Pace Cars at all the CART FedEx Championship Series events as well as giving VIP rides around the race tracks. She is a partner in Driving Unlimited, a national company that specializes in driver training as well as introductions of new product lines for automotive manufacturers. She is a race driving instructor and teaches race driving courses, advanced driving and defensive driving programs. Melanie hosts women's clinics to teach them about car maintenance and safety and attends many events for speaking engagements. She is an automotive journalist and has also done stunt driving for the movies.
Melanie is looking to move up the development ladder in sportscar racing and is working towards her ultimate goal of competing with some of the best drivers in the world in a top level auto racing series.

Current Season: Melanie is making her debut in the American Le Mans Series in 2002 in an LMP 675 Lola/Nissan. With support from one of the leading Canadian snack food brands - Schneiders Hot Rod, mild beef sausage snacks - Melanie will take part in the Grand Prix of Trois Rivieres and the Grand Prix of Mosport. Starting with the two Canadian races, Melanie hopes to compete in the rest of the series for 2002 with a full season in 2003. Melanie is racing with Essex Racing of Atlanta, Georgia and is looking forward to a successful debut in professional sportscar racing.

Racing Goals: Melanie's goals are to have a full successful season in ALMS for 2003in LMP 675 with plans to move up to LMP 900 in the future and compete at Le Mans.

Special Thanks to: Melanie sends thanks to Schneiders Hot Rod for making this possible and to her family for their support. Also, a big thank you to her coach and mentor, Danny who believes in her all the way.