On the morning of Wednesday 10th October 2018, news broke that a women’s only racing championship was going to begin in 2019. Between fans, drivers, journalists and motorsport personnel alike; opinions on the matter were divided. Myself being on the negative side. But I ask myself, “could this really be a good thing for women in motorsport?”
As the daughter of a former rally driver and navigator, all I wanted to do when I grew up was race. I remember sitting and watching Formula One races and British Touring Car Races, among others, with my dad throughout my childhood years. I wanted to be the best. However, apart from my mother, who was my rally driver father's navigator, I never had any female racing idol to look up to. This made me think racing wasn’t for girls and my dream died.
So, the news of the new “W Series” would be good for the likes of me, right?
Wrong.
Upon hearing the news, I felt insulted by the plan of segregation. And this is the main issue I have with these plans.
Motorsport is a very male dominated sport. And I, for one, am extremely opinionated and defensive when it comes to women racing. But why do I think this new championship to be a bad thing?
Ok, I understand that it would encourage women and young girls to race, but, we want to race against the best and the only way that could ever happen is to start racing at the bottom and this is where the problem lies.
Young girls may start karting professionally between the ages of 8-10 with a very small number making it into a professional racing car. I believe the reason for this is financial backing and support. It’s pretty much guaranteed that a sponsor or a team would chose a young lad over a girl to back because men have had the opportunity to prove themselves. This is where my opinion starts to sound conflicting, as females need a chance to shine.
We’ve seen plenty of females racing in the likes of Formula 3 and GP3 but where are most of them now?
Alice Powell, for example, the first female to ever score a point in GP3 who, in my opinion, was quite a consistent driver, never made it past that level. No team was ever interested. It would be for drivers like Alice where a women’s championship could come across as sustainable and a success.
Then we look at the likes of Carmen Jorda. I think it’s more than fair to state this driver has zero talent. What if she won this said championship and ended up with a seat in Formula One where she faltered against the male dominance? It would be a waste of time and money.
And, finally, Colombian driver, Tatiana Calderon (pictured above). A female with potential, fortunate enough to be snapped up already by Sauber Formula One team. But will and when will she get her Formula One chance? There’s not much more she can do.
The moral of this story is females need to be nurtured into great racers by starting at the bottom, just like our male companions. The FIA should be investing money here, helping young females get the start in motorsport that they want. Honestly, something should be done in order to encourage more ladies into the sport, however, I among others believe that this is not a sustainable way.
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