WOMEN have always been present in motorsport from the very start, but they haven’t had it easy in the male-dominated sport.
Any females that were around the industry at the being of motor racing were just used to hold trophies and weren’t allowed to help in any sector of the race weekend, but that didn’t stop them from taking any interest.
Despite the rise of women wanting to work in the fast-paced industry, out of all the people currently working in motorsport only 10% are female.
The low number of women in the sport didn’t matter to the Iron Dames as they made history with their drivers; Sarah Bovy, Rachel Frey and Michelle Gatting, who drove their Porsche to secure the win in the World Endurance Championship in the season finale. This made them the first ever all-female class-winning team in the FIA World Championship.
Women such as Danica Patrick, Michele Mouton, Susie Wolff and Hannah Schmitz have made their incredible mark on the sport by being some of the most outstanding motorsport role models.
Patrick has broken multiple records and is known was the most successful female driver in NASCAR history due to her numerous top-10 finishes and being the first woman to win the American Cup series pole position.
Mouton is a former French driver and was the first woman to win a World Rally Championship, a 4-time Pikes Peak International Hill Climb winner and she had a very memorable victory at LeMans.
Wolff is best known as the Team Principal for Venturi Racing in Formula E and former F1 development driver. The Scottish racer was the first women in 22 years to take part in an F1 race weekend.
Hannah Schmitz is currently one of the most popular females in the sport due to her role as principal strategy engineer for the 6-time championship winners Red Bull Racing.
Her job is to calculate and analyse billions of data to simulate scenarios that will determine the outcome of the race weekend.
A big part of the increase in participation of women in motorsports is because of a community called Girls On Track UK and Dare to be Different, which former racer and managing director of F1 Academy Susie Wolff created.
Girls On Track UK is a group of inspirational women who work in motor racing and provide vital insight to their members on the world of motorsport.
They create many meetings by attending schools and frequently setting up networking events nationwide. Every month, they have webinars for young girls to meet and build relationships with like-minded people.
The community has a variety of ambassadors, such as British racing drivers Alice Powell and Catie Munnings, Presenter and Broadcaster Ariana Bravo and Carol Glenn, who is the first female official of colour in the UK to work as a marshal and Championship coordinator at national and international level across different categories.
Munnings is a Red Bull athlete, and in her first year competing as a Rally driver, she won the FIA Ladies European Rally Championship, making her the first Briton to win a Euro Rally title in over 50 years.
Racing is a male-dominated sport and is challenging for women to purse their dream careers when they face discrimination or get overlooked despite their talent.
However, in recent years, more people have become more welcoming to females working in motorsport.
The likes of Marta Garcia, who won the first ever F1 academy championship, is now a massive inspiration and role model to many young girls who want a racing career.
