Women Only Series Created

Housey · 18 Oct 2018 at 21:50

What is needed is a good female driver, not a race series. A good female racer will have sponsorship far easier than a good male racer but the fact is there have been so few really good female racers, probably only Michelle Mouton reaching the top level of motorsport on talent. I always thought Desire Wilson was a good racer having seen her win a top-level WEC race (she won 2 in a season) and of course winning a round of the Aurora AFX series, which I don't hold as high.

I don't see the value in this series as a good female racer, and they are starting to appear, will get the support she needs to compete. Fact is up until last 10 years hardly any have tried. I think people don't have the slightest idea how motorsport works and how few drivers will ever make a living from it or how hard it is to get anywhere, especially if you are not the very quickest. 99.999999% of all racers fund, be it out of their own pocket or via sponsorship. Creating a series like this will not fix the problem of not top female racers. I want great female racers and I think they can get to the top with the right skill. Danica Patrick did OK, she is not top level but showed a woman can compete in top-level motorsport.

muon · 20 Oct 2018 at 14:46

Why do you think not many girls aspire to be racing drivers?

Calm · 20 Oct 2018 at 15:23

Aren't women folk generally more risk averse? less inclined towards daft stuff that could get you killed!

muon · 20 Oct 2018 at 23:04

Calm said:
Aren't women folk generally more risk averse? less inclined towards daft stuff that could get you killed!

Or they see it as a male dominated sport, so it isn't something they should aspire to do. These kind of things are built into your thought processes from a very young age. That's why role models are so important as well as exposure.

Mr Jack · 21 Oct 2018 at 10:49

I really don't understand the fuss over this. Almost every sport has a women's version; why not motorsport?

MikeTheNative · 21 Oct 2018 at 11:56

Mr Jack said:
I really don't understand the fuss over this. Almost every sport has a women's version; why not motorsport?

The goal of the series is not to segregate Woman's Motorsport like it is in Football, Rugby, Athletics etc. The goal is to prepare young girls to get further up to F1 ladder GP3, F2 then F1 etc.

GravyMonster · 21 Oct 2018 at 12:07

The goal isn't segregation, but the end result will be.

Woman need their own series for football, rugby and athletics because they're physically not able to compete at men's levels. That's not sexist, that's a plain fact. In motorsport that is not the case. Women can compete at the exact same level as men because it's stamina that's required, not physical strength. Segregating yourselves away is a shortsighted answer to that issue.

If they really wanted to help then the solution would have been some kind of funding scheme for young women drivers who have already shown talent in junior formula where both sexes compete, not this sideshow to obscurity.

MikeTheNative · 21 Oct 2018 at 13:03

Spunkey said:
The goal isn't segregation, but the end result will be.

Woman need their own series for football, rugby and athletics because they're physically not able to compete at men's levels. That's not sexist, that's a plain fact. In motorsport that is not the case. Women can compete at the exact same level as men because it's stamina that's required, not physical strength. Segregating yourselves away is a shortsighted answer to that issue.

If they really wanted to help then the solution would have been some kind of funding scheme for young women drivers who have already shown talent in junior formula where both sexes compete, not this sideshow to obscurity.

I 100% agree this is the wrong way to go about it. However this will not result in other women only series and the majority of women will still be racing against men. I'm giving this series 2/3 years before it fizzles out.

ttaskmaster · 22 Oct 2018 at 10:57

Calm · 22 Oct 2018 at 14:59

The keywords there are 'generally' and 'less', I'm not implying women can't, or don't want to!

I found this survey on skydiving: https://uspa.org/Find/FAQs/Demographics

GENDER
87% male
13% female

Misogyny at work? or just less daft!

Housey · 23 Oct 2018 at 12:48

muon said:
Why do you think not many girls aspire to be racing drivers?

It's not of interest to them. For those who are genuinely interested they will find a way to go racing. I would say 99% of people out there self fund so circumstance determines who can afford to and who can't. The good ones might get a backer and some free drives and a female racer with talent will be more attractive to sponsors, so really there is no excuse when it comes to talent. I don't think the physical aspects are relevant and I think there will be more opportunity for a quick women driver than a quick male driver. Friend of mine, talented racer, was in a team with a female for a season. He won and got podiums, she ran at the back. End of season she was kept on (due to her backing) he was let go. One example, there are more.

mmj_uk · 23 Oct 2018 at 14:41

Spunkey said:
Woman need their own series for football, rugby and athletics because they're physically not able to compete at men's levels. That's not sexist, that's a plain fact. In motorsport that is not the case. Women can compete at the exact same level as men because it's stamina that's required, not physical strength.

Even in stamina based athletics such as marathon running the fastest women are around 15% slower than the fastest men over the same distance, so it's still not fair to say they aren't at any disadvantage. ie. towards the end of an F1 race they might be suffering more fatigue which could impact performance.

Like I've said before allow F1 teams to prepare to have a third car if it's a female driver, or better still make them have a male and female driver in the current 2 car per team system and have a separate drivers champion for women which will also do away with the worst aspects of team tactics in F1 today. I'd like to see it.

something daft already!! · 23 Oct 2018 at 14:50

There was a women only series on TV years ago called Revolting Women. It was rubbish. Wow, it was 1981.

DAIR · 25 Oct 2018 at 10:16

Spunkey said:
Good old positive discrimination.

Women already have all the same opportunities as men to get in to and advance in motorsport. In fact I'd argue they have a better chance. For example, Jamie Chadwick achieved mass media coverage for winning an F3 race. When did that ever happen for anyone else? She's now able to attract bigger backing due to that coverage and having a recognisable name, despite the fact she is 8th in the championship and hasn't really shone in any category she's competed in. In contrast, without looking it up, could you name the championship leader in British F3 right now?

All this 'womens series' will serve to do is create a bigger divide. If you want to be the best, you need to compete against the best. Segregating yourself so you can win against a diminished talent pool serves only to cheapen your achievement, and arguably makes it less likely that you would be selected to drive in a more prestigious series because of your talent, but instead because of your marketability. Is that 'equality'?

Nothing positive about it.

However Im of the view that something needs to be done. Im not sure this is the answer.