Sunny races ahead

 

Marie-Soleil Labelle — aka Sunny (soleil means sun in French) — began pursuing her dream to race at age 12 with indoor go-karting. Overcoming personal challenges and societal barriers, she transitioned to road racing and just three years later — in 2020 — became the youngest driver in the Nissan Micra Cup (now the Sentra Cup).

Following her hero's footsteps

Twenty-year-old Sunny has long been inspired by her hero, fellow Canadian Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve — who won the hearts of fans with his skill and tenacity before his untimely passing in 1982.

In 1977, Villeneuve raced a Ferrari at Ontario's Mosport Park. Forty-seven years later, Sunny piloted her Nissan Sentra around the same circuit — now Canadian Tire Motorsport Park — in the Season 10 opener of the Nissan Sentra Cup.

"Gilles is my hero," said Sunny. "He never became a world champion, but he shared his determination to never quit with generations. I think a lot about how I race in the same physical space, and with the same determined spirit, as Villeneuve."

Challenges off the track

Sunny's path hasn't been without obstacles. She has Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), a condition that makes it difficult to understand what others say and to articulate ideas and feelings.

"When I was younger, I was super shy," says Sunny. "I would hide in the trailer so I didn't have to talk to the cameras after a race. I was not talking properly or with the right words."

Racing has helped Sunny be her true self. After the Sentra Cup opener in May, she confidently signed T-shirts and took photos with a stream of fans — many of them young girls.

She's now a spokesperson for the international Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder (RADLD) committee. She also works with the Make a Wish Foundation, known as Rêves d'enfants in French-speaking Canada. She's a junior ambassador and raises donations to help make wishes for seriously ill children come true.

"I want to show young kids that just because you are different does not mean you cannot achieve your goals," says Sunny. "If you have a dream, and at the same time you have a challenge, don't stop yourself because you're different. It may take you a little longer, but at the end of the day you will get it and you will be proud of yourself."