A British rally driver has been pipped
to the winner's post...by a cheetah!

Louise Cook, of Aylesford, set fur
flying yesterday by pitting her horsepower against catpower!

The 23-year-old, of Rochester
Road, used her experience of her debut season rallying by
taking on the fastest of the animal kingdom.

She raced an eagle, a peregrine falcon
and the fastest land animal, the cheetah.

But the cheetah had just too much get
up and go - completing a distance of more than 100m in a staggering
7.8 seconds!

Louise came second, in an impressive
eight seconds, with the falcon notching up 8.4 seconds and the
greyhound a mere 11.4 seconds.

The eagle took the booby prize after
coming in at a paltry 18.3 seconds, when it decided to go
completely off course.

Louise said before the event at Eagle Heights Wildlife Park in Eynsford: "It is nice to be able to support something like this.

"The people at Eagle Heights are doing
what they can to protect and aid with the conservation of these
endangered species.

"I have always loved animals and it is
nice to be able to give something to a valuable cause like this to
help it succeed.”

All the animals raced during the
day against the stopwatch.

Louise will be contesting the final
round of the British Rally Championship Challenge just three weeks
after the event, on September 24, in Yorkshire.

She is currently lying in sixth
place in the British Rally Championship Challenge and is third
junior driver in a 27 driver field, 26 of whom are male.

Louise will be doing some hunting of
her own in the mean time, trying to raise the funds she needs for
the final round.

As part of the event, more than
£500 was raised for the Cheetah Conservation Fund.

For more information, and to see a video of Louise in action, click here for her website.