Harvard student and race-car driver Aurora Straus competes with purpose
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Two hours before the green flag dropped in the BMW Endurance Challenge, a four-hour sports-car race, Aurora Straus ’22 was seated in the corner of a conference room stage at Daytona International Speedway, giving a PowerPoint on her laptop to Girl Scout Troop 2031. She explained friction, engineering, and aerodynamics, and talked about how the BMW M4 GT4, the car she was driving in her first race of the season, was outfitted with special brakes and tires so she could drive both faster and safer. Then she took questions: How much time do you have to get out of the car in the pit? (Ten seconds.) Does the car have turn signals? (Yes, but she almost never uses them.) Does the GS sticker on her car stands for Girl Scouts? (Unfortunately, no.) “It’s great to show them something they are not exposed to very often,” said Katie Kennedy, co-leader of the...