Bringing the party from her Porsche

The world of Porsche opened up to DJ and presenter Sophie Wright (a.k.a. So Wright) a couple of years ago when she got behind the wheel of a Cayman during a media day at Millbrook Proving Ground. Fast forward to the present and she’s now the proud owner of a black 718 Cayman.
 
“I drove so many cars that day, from Ford Mustang Mach-Es and Bentley Continental GTs to Jeep Wranglers and Mini Cooper JCW GPs, but the Cayman absolutely blew me away,” she explains. “It was by no means the most expensive car I drove, but the way it handled and made me feel and just did everything I wanted it to do... I became obsessed and it became my mission to get myself a Porsche.”
 
It wasn’t long before she paid a visit to Porsche Centre Stockport and was back in a Cayman
for a test drive. “Because it was still off the back of COVID-19, they let me take it out on my own. I did get a bit lost on purpose so that I could stay out in it longer!” she recalls. “It just felt so right; it was like I was the car. Any other car I’ve driven, I feel like I'm sat on top of it, maybe like driving a boat, but with the Cayman I felt so close to the road, like it was on a track going around roundabouts. It was also great as a city car when I hit traffic and I thought: this car can do it all.”


 
Placing an order in August 2021, her ’22 reg Cayman arrived in May the next year just in time for her birthday and the summer. Lovingly named Pedro in homage to Mexican racing driver Pedro Rodríguez – and adorned with ‘Pedro’ stickers on the rear windows, “his first tattoo” – the Cayman is used for everything from drives to the shops to touring trips. There is even just enough room on the passenger side to fit a set of DJing decks in the footwell and, wherever she’s driving, it makes Sophie “smile every single day”.

Pedro is a step up from Sophie’s previous car, a BMW 2 Series Sport, but she has still kept in touch with BMW as a grid girl for their team in the British Touring Car Championship and can often be found trackside on UK circuits. To support this – and her work as a presenter for various other marques – she holds a racing licence. “Every race weekend, I am there looking after my driver,” she explains. “We have to stand on the grid as the cars are pulling in to keep them in position and we’ll also represent the sponsors.
 
“It’s a bit of fun and I know I won’t be able to do it forever, but I'm grateful I get to be there because, essentially, I’m access all areas at a racetrack and getting paid for it, which is brilliant! I've been with the team for three years now and it’s a great family feel. I love everyone to bits and I really enjoy seeing them every race meet. That's the direction I want to go in now: being around cars at races, events or meets. I'm trying to carve a niche as a car DJ, because the thought of late nights in clubs surrounded by drunk people is not my scene. I'd rather do a daytime event surrounded by nice people and nice cars.”


 
This role has led into some presenting work alongside her friend Paul O’Neill, an ex-racing driver now working as a pundit for ITV4. Together, they present for Kia at the marque’s Masterclasses. Sophie's presenter work spans everything from adverts and social media to prize draws and vehicle wrapping companies. “The dream is to get more behind the wheel when I'm presenting,” she adds. “I know there are a lot of fellow female petrolheads out there but, in terms of actually seeing them behind the wheels of supercars and driving them as intended, I’d love to be able to represent that market in some way.”
 
Having originally started out as a radio presenter, Sophie’s career segued into DJing when she decided to go to “DJ school”. Inspired by her idol, Annie Mac, she pursued the six-month course which covered everything from vinyl and CDs to USBs and digital DJing. Nowadays, she’s combining her love of cars with music mixing by DJing at events, such as Porsche Centre Preston’s 75th anniversary celebration.

“It was fantastic,” says Sophie. “It was such a colourful event; Porsche is so good at coming out with sample colours and the cars looked like a line of Skittles. Carla Raads, an amazing artist, had done this canvas of her interpretation of a 911 and she’d used fiery colours. It was almost like a flaming sun with a night sky around it on the canvas and Porsche Centre Preston took that canvas print and wrapped a 911 Carrera in it. It brought that canvas alive.”


 
Rather than blasting heavy beats and drowning out all other sounds, Sophie prefers to keep things to a level where people can “have a conversation about their car or the car that they’re dreaming of, all while tapping their feet and maybe feeling like having a bit of a dance.” Tailoring her choices to the audience, she often throws in samples to mix things up a bit.
 
“I like to say I play sunshine music,” she explains. “It will be lots of vocals, piano, maybe
a bit of saxophone in there. Really funky, soulful house. I love a melody and I'm not very techy or minimal. I love to go with those vocals, all while throwing in samples of something people might recognise. That could be a little old school R&B, Otis Redding or David Bowie, just so that beat will be going and then people might think ‘oh, wait, I know that hook’. It draws them in and creates a nice vibe. I'm always like: So Wright, vibe creator.”
 
When she isn’t behind a set of decks, Sophie can often be found out with R5. Having been with the Club for just over a year, Sophie is thoroughly enjoying the Club nights, chatting about technical specs with fellow members and networking with other Porsche owners. “It’s a great community and I feel like Porsche owners love to drive and use their cars,” she says. “Some other prestigious brand owners seem to have their cars as garage queens and only take them out at specific times of year, whereas Pedro can do anything: he’s been in rain, ice, snow, heatwaves, up mountain passes. He can do it all.”


 
Sophie has also written a book, The Nearly Girl – the first of a trilogy – which she hopes to convert into an audiobook down the line. Stuck in lockdown, the conditions were perfect to start the project. “I’d always said I would do it,” she explains. “It’s my memoir, but I've turned everyone into characters for anonymity. It talks about all the different industries I’ve worked in and interesting characters – some famous, some not-so-famous – and I hope it makes people laugh and maybe makes them think ‘You know what? I can do anything’.
 
“It’s very soul-baring, but it’s out there and it’s been very nostalgic writing about things like the first time that I ever went on a racetrack. My next mission is to get it done as an audiobook so that people can listen in their Porsches. That’s the dream.”