Do women have what it takes to be competitive in motorsport or should there be separate categories for them?
No one will disagree that motorsport has been a male dominated field, but if you look closer you will see women have been racing in Australia and around the world for many years. The most successful Australian female driver to date is Christine Gibson, who competed in 9 Bathurst races from 1968 to 1984 with a best result of 6th in 1981. Christine also competed in the ATCC and in 1975 with four round wins throughout the season she placed 5th overall in the series.
(This video below is footage of Christine Gibson at the 1981 Bathurst 1000)
You may recognise some of these current drivers:
Rachelle Splatt, Australia’s ‘Queen of Speed’ has been racing in the Top Fuel class of drag racing in Australia and America for years. Rachelle won the 1993 Calder Park Nationals before a brief stint in the NHRA series in America where she became the first woman in the world and only the 16th driver ever to break the 300mph barrier. Rachelle is due to return to the sport on January 21st after 10 years away from the dragstrip. She returns as the owner and driver for Rachelle Splatt Racing. In the last week they have announced a major sponsor and crew chief and they should prove to be very competitive.
Image Credit: Rachelle Splatt/facebook
Image Credit: Rachelle Splatt/facebook
Leanne Tander has been racing since the age of 13 in Karts, Formula Ford, and V8 Supercars. Last year Leanne achieved an Australian first, when she won the Australian Formula Ford Series and became the first woman in Australia to win a national circuit racing series. Leanne has also done well in the Australian Production Car Championship as well as the Touring Car Masters where she finished the season in 5th place driving a Ford XA Falcon GT.
Image from the Townsville round of V8 Supercars 2010. David Reynolds and Leanne Tander
Simona De Silvestro is a Swiss born driver with experience in Formula 1, Indycar, Formula E and V8 Supercars. Simona partnered Renee Gracie in the 2015 and 2016 Bathurst 1000 races with very promising results of 21st and 14thand if they keep improving at that rate they’ll win ‘The Great Race’ in 2018. Simona has announced signing with Nissan Motorsport on a multiyear agreement, her first race as a factory driver will be the 2017 Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, March 2-5.
Simona De Silvestro with Second Place check before she moved up to IndyCar.
Simona De Silvestro Team Stargate Worlds/HVM
© Car Hamlet 2016 (Simona De Silvestro at the 2016 Bathurst 1000)
Molly Taylor is an Australian rally car driver and has made a name for herself winning the Australian F16 class Championship in 2007 and 2008. Molly then won the British Ladies Rally Championship in 2009 and 2010 and has since been competing in the FIA World Rally Championship and the FIA European Championship. Last year Molly also made history by being the first woman to win the Australian Rally Championship.
Image Credit: Molly Taylor/facebook
Molly Taylor and co-driver Stephen Marshall in the Citreon DS3 R3T at the Chirk Castle RallyFest stage of the 2013 Rally GB.
Motorsport is one of the few sports where men and women can compete on the same stage rather than having gender specific classes. Unlike other sports where physical strength and size is such a decisive factor, physical fitness combined with skill and technical knowledge are far more important in motorsport.
In this article I have not made reference to the partners or parents of these women, even though there are some noteworthy names among them, because I think it detracts from their accomplishments. The fact is that most people who end up being successful in sport are successful and passionate because of the support and encouragement they receive from the people around them and that has nothing to do with gender.
Images:
Rachelle Splatt has given permission to use her images, images can be found at https://www.facebook.com/pg/RachelleSplattRacing/photos/?ref=page_internal
Image from the Townsville round of V8 Supercars 2010. David Reynolds and Leanne Tander. Available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasrdororg/4784368270 under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0. Full terms at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0.
Simona De Silvestro – Second Place available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/trackchic/5716788919 under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0. Full terms at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0.
Simona De Silvestro - Team Stargate Worlds/HVM available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/micurs/4917115222 under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0. Full terms at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0.
Molly Taylor has given permission to use her image (Subaru image), images can be found at https://www.facebook.com/pg/MollyRally/photos/?ref=page_internal
Molly Taylor at 2013 Rally GB available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/somethingness/10907195913 under a Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic. Full terms at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
References: http://www.wams.org.au/profiles/