Media – Organization – Federation – where are the links for Women in Motorsport? The question raises important aspects on the interaction of all 3 entities to broaden the profile of Women competing in FIM and FIA Motorsport disciplines. Taken on face value, Media provides coverage of Women racing across varying Championships, organizations action race schedules within seasonal calendar, and Federations provide rules and regulations on how racing will be conducted.
Within each portal of entity, goals are set, followed, and realized marking return of investment for sponsors, Brands, industry provider’s and competitors racing. Media posts information on latest results, interviews and articles meeting targets of audience engagement confirmed in website statistics, and social media reactions.
Organizations compile short-to-long-term objectives of increasing profile of Championship to global audience through written and film stories, race coverage, and insights on points standings in Championship tables.
Federations – both FIA and FIM provide information on Championship schedules and dates, rules and regulations providing governing personal at events, along with outlining safety procedures, sustainability benchmarks, and main body of management over vast array of disciplines women compete in around the world.
And, here’s the rub. As each entity operates within context of hitting supply meets demand – albeit Media feeds public demand for information, organizations feed competitors an event to race, and Federations feed authority for Motorsport to function, what links exist to feed future elevation of women’s career from one season to the next?
There are strong indications from Formula Championships, World Rally Championships, all-electric Extreme E Series, Hard Enduro Championships, and MXGP to amalgamate changes to race format and schedule which in turn provides basis for women to compete across more than one Championship and in more than one specific category.
Taken in context, Formula 1 has actioned F1 Academy which provides 15 female driver’s the opportunity to race full-season with Teams already established within F1, F2, and F3 Championships. Financial input remains split between driver’s, Teams, and F1, with the Media coverage pre-during-and-post racing.
Not only does F1 Academy raise the stakes on elevating the skills and profiles of women racing within the highest echelon of Formula Championships, but also stimulates the capabilities of women driver’s to push the mandate out on providing content engagement with fans and followers world-wide.
Equally, World Rally Championship took the bold move to incorporate The Dakar Rally organization ASO (Amaury Sport Organization) as Round in the world’s most prestigous Off Road Series. Covering both FIM and FIA entities, WRC has instigated two-pronged approach for the development of Off-Road racing, increasing opportunities for women to compete in selected Rounds or complete Series, in varying categories such as: bike, car, T3, T4/SSV, Truck, and Quad.
These changes have huge repercussions on the future dynamics of linking Media-Organizations-Federations to the elevation of women’s career competing cross disciplines. One only needs to take note of the diversity of racing the following women have achieved, from Laia Sanz who has gained phenomenal success in Women’s Trial World Championship, to Legend status in Dakar Rally, to currently holding lead in 2023 Extreme E Championship.
To, Aliyyah Koloc who has achieved impressive set of racing skills in Off Road Rally and circuit endurance racing at mere age of 19. The list continues with Cristina Gutierrez competing in WRC to Extreme E, Sandra Gomez racing Women Trails GP and Hard Enduro Series, Jamie Chadwick’s success in WSeries and currently racing Indy NXT, and Anja van Loon competing 2023 Dakar Rally in T3 to debut in truck category in 2024 Dakar.
The organizations adaptation, collaboration, and diversification of Championship events has opened new pathways for women to further their respective racing careers. Links between racing FIA and FIM disciplines have been blurred, allowing female driver’s, rider’s, and racer’s to broaden the scale and scope of Media attention to wider global audience.
Such shifts bodes well for future development of women’s profiles in Motorsport. No longer are women defined by their last results, nor restricted by one choice as organizations have altered course of racing action. It remains up to Federations to move with the tides of change, incorporate new efforts to amalgamate all components of Motorsport, and Media to link above together for the fans and followers watching.
Header photo: Iron Dames competing in 6H Monza Image: Iron Dames
Words: Sharon Cox.
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