She’s also turning heads in Sydney's Vaucluse – which suits this self-described bogan and daughter of Westfield co-founder John Saunders just fine.Betty Klimenko. But in Klimenko's telling, some of his gifts to her were almost comically stingy, particularly compared with those bestowed on her sister. "Well, not a different person.

Last October, in front of 50,000 spectators at Mount Panorama and a television audience of 2.7 million, Klimenko is short and stocky, with a big personality. The centre was opened by John Saunders and Frank Lowy. "The poor boy. Sofas are festooned with cushions covered in sequins and fur. Image courtesy Westfield Frank Lowy and John Saunders had arrived in Australia in the early 1950s, both Jewish immigrants who had been scarred by the horrors of fascism in Europe. The family hasn't always been good for Westfield. Whatever twisted fairy tale Deerskin is, it's not boring.Florentijn Hofman, the Dutch artist behind Sydney Harbour's supersized rubber duck, is unveiling his latest work at this year's Brisbane Festival. A stool is upholstered in what appears to be the fleece of a long-haired sheep. Once you do that, they start to take you seriously. 'Can I have a photo?'

"Klimenko was born Catholic but raised Jewish. Forceful in any setting, she seems to have an added sense of purpose out here.

.

It is hot, it is dusty, it's noisy as hell, but Klimenko greets me with a spring in her step and a gleam of excitement in her eye. Klimenko was curious to know about the woman who gave birth to her, so she hired a private investigator to do some research. On race days, she attracts attention whenever she steps outside the garage. "We need to get more women involved in the sport," says Arocca.
A race meeting is three days of politics, chicanery and nastiness, then for two hours there's sport out on the track. Her husband Daniel likes to tell her, "Sweetheart, you live in an area where they think V8 is a vegetable juice." When the couple eloped and got married in Las Vegas, he disowned Klimenko, who moved with her boys into Daniel's grandparents' house in the then working-class Sydney suburb of Matraville. Back in the mid-1980s, when the zeitgeist oozed with the media bug, Frank dropped a cool $450 million on an ill … "Klimenko assures me the bike and hair-comb left her with no hard feelings towards Saunders-Weinberg. Klimenko, who is never happier than in the company of fellow rev-heads, relishes the carnival atmosphere at the meets. "We had a better relationship afterwards. During race meetings, she's bonding with everybody. But he adores her and she adores him.
"I actually love being the eastern suburbs bogan," she says. But it is equally clear she is a formidable operator.

The name Westfield is derived from "west" related to the West Sydney location, and "field" due to having located on subdivided farmland. She is wearing torn blue jeans and a lot of jewellery: four diamond studs in one ear, two in the other, a whopping ring, a glittering jangle of bracelets. team drivers David "In the Erebus camp, there is optimism about the season ahead. She's got a sense of humour." Spotting seven-week-old Betty, who was making a laughing sound, he said, "I like this one. Propelled by 5.0-litre V8 engines – so-called because of their two rows of four cylinders in a "V" configuration – these deceptively ordinary-looking vehicles (this year a mix of Holdens, Fords and Nissans) compete in a series of races ranging from 100-kilometre sprints to 1000-kilometre endurance tests. "He said, 'Because I don't love them as much.'

Go to the shops and get yourself something decent to wear.' "She treats everybody in our team like they're family," says Erebus general manager Barry Ryan.When Klimenko entered Supercars, she was widely expected to hire a crack race crew, then retire to the corporate hospitality suite to drink champagne. "When you're adopted, you have this thing that your mother was a princess and she couldn't keep you for some reason," she says. "Saunders-Weinberg, who splits her time between Los Angeles and Sydney, says there are some elements of her US experience she brings to her  philanthropic approach.At its heart, she believes giving should be joyful and collaborative. Founded in 1985 by the late John Saunders AO, co-founder of Westfield, Terrace Tower Group is a family run real estate and investment company. "For me, it's not about the speed," she says of the hold that motor racing has over her. the tall poppy thing doesn't apply there because everyone is in a similar situation," Saunders-Weinberg says. And then reality bites." "She says there is a real feeling of joy after US fundraising events for charities including Baby2Baby, which buys necessary items including nappies for children living in poverty and has Hollywood celebrities Jessica Alba, Nicole Richie and Rachel Zoe on its board.