Race Week Women in Motorsport – Red Bull Erzberg Rodeo, 24H Le Mans, 12H Monza, Moto3 and MotoE provide real feast of racing for all women competing and for fans watching this weekend.
From multi-discipline Title winner Sandra Gomez competing in Red Bull Erzberg Rodeo, to all-female team Iron Dames, French driver Dorian Pin, and Spanish F4 Women Champion Belen Garcia racing 24H Le Mans and Michelin Le Mans Cup, to Buggyra Racing driver Aliyyah Koloc competing with team driver’s at Monza, to Spanish female rider’s Ana Carrasco and Maria Herrera racing Round 6 of 19 at Mugello, 2 days holds plenty of action to follow.
Most significantly, all women represent sheer strength of character to fulfill their passion and potential to race on level playing field as their male competitors. Straight up, competing against the world’s most experienced Hard/Extreme Enduro rider’s in the most iconic of races – The Iron Giant – has to be the most physically and challenging race Sandra has encountered 2x over in her career.
Having already made history as the first female to complete Red Bull Romaniacs Gold Class, the Spanish rider will be focused on gaining start-line position within rows of 50 rider’s, which in turn provides clearer run to reach check-points with less hold-ups due to sheer volume of 500 rider’s competing. 2022 race proved as challenging as expected, with Sandra reaching check-point 17 out of 23 within 4 hour time limit of race.
The Iron Dames trio of Rahel Frey, Sarah Bovy, and Michelle Gatting have clocked up many years of experience competing in endurance racing, which will put the women in great stead to tackle 24H Le Mans behind the wheel of the Team’s Porsche 911 RSR – 19 car. Having achieved success as sole-female entry in the European Le Mans Series Round at Portimao in 2022, (Dorian Pin taking the place of Frey), this weekend’s 24H stint will not only celebrate the Team’s own place in history, but also mark the race centenary at the iconic venue.
It was back in 2019, when MXLink first interviewed Dorian Pin prior to the French driver competing in FIA Motorsport Games in Rome. Representing her country in Karting category, the now 19 year old confirms her development as a driver competing in 24H Le Mans with team-driver’s Mirko Bortolotti and Daniil Kvyat. Racing the Team’s Oreca 07 – Gibson car against 24 entries in LMP2 category, eyes will surely be watching how Dorian and Team driver’s compete over 24 Hours, starting 4.00pm Saturday – 4.00pm Sunday June 10 – 11.
The tenacity of Buggyra Racing driver Aliyyah Koloc to compete in multi-disciplines commands huge respect from mainstream audience. Not only has the 18 year old developed race-craft in Off Road Rally and circuit racing, the Czech Emirati driver has punched above what has been traditionally deemed not doable, competing at high profile categories in GT4 and T1 cars. Lining up with the Team’s driver’s Adam Lacko and David Vrsecky, the inspiring capabilities of Aliyyah will certainly boost the Team’s standings in the 24H European Series in Monza this weekend.
Spanish driver Belen Garcia has faced, endured, and overcome numerous challenges in her Motorsport career, not least making decisions post competing in WSeries 2022. Finishing P5 overall in the all-female single-seater Championship, Belen opted to further develop race-craft skills in endurance racing, competing in 2023 Michelin Le Mans Cup this weekend.
Fellow Spanish rider’s Ana Carrasco and Maria Herrera round out the nation’s proud list of female motorsport athletes with Carrasco racing Moto3 Round 6 at Mugello, and Herrera competing in Moto3, same venue, this weekend. With Ana posting P20 at Le Mans on May 14, and Maria pushing her levels of performance on board the Team’s Ducati bike, both women make their presence known on track against full-male rider line-up.
Super talented women competing in varying disciplines in Europe over 2 days with all eyes watching.
Header Photo: Dorian Pin competing in 24H Le Mans Image: Prema Racing.
Words: Sharon Cox.
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