Women Drivers, Eh?

Here are some:

The one on the left has just been given a new job.  She is going to be a test-driver for the Sauber F1 Team.

 

The one in the middle is rallying legend Michele Mouton.

 

The one on the right has recently criticised the one below.

But then again, I sort of did too - in 2015.  And so has Jensen Button now.

 

The recent criticism is about her ("her" being Carmen Jorda) claiming that a "physical issue" was the barrier preventing women from competing in Formula 1 or Formula 2.  Susie Wolff, the third woman in the top photo responded with a tweet pointing out that motorsport doesn't care about gender.

 

Susie Wolff became the first woman in 22 years to take part in a Formula 1 race weekend in 2014 - and is married to the team boss.

 

I'm not too sure that motorsport doesn't care about gender - especially given by the responses to her tweet and the fact that it has taken until 2018 to sort out the grid-girl situation.

 

However, if you want to see a really tough woman driver, please watch the video in this story. 

Her name is Charmaine Laurie.  I was very impressed when I first saw the footage which was before it had been identified that it was a woman driver.

After I knew it was a woman driver though, I was impressed at exactly the same level.

Lotus Appoint Caroline Aherne

Actually, her name is Carmen Jorda which sounds too much like Jordan to me - which implies bimbo when applied to an attractive woman.

I haven't a clue whether Ms Jorda is a bimbo or not - I would suspect not - but she is incredibly lucky.

She has been appointed as a Lotus F1 team development driver. CarAdvice have an article on it here.

Her racing history is spectacularly unremarkable.  She has clearly been given the job because she is an attractive woman who can drive a bit.  However, don't expect to see her in a race.  Like Susie Wolff at Williams, she is there to gain headlines, not drive cars.

And it seems to be working.

It just seems a bit unfair on more talented drivers who are missing out on a chance to show what they can do because they happen to have a Y Chromosome.  Or because they don't have lots of money.

It is also very unfair on women racing drivers everywhere (and I'd like to see more of the good ones at all levels of motorsport) who will probably be told that they are only getting chances because they are female.

Maybe this is a sign of desperation in Formula 1 - viewing figures continue to fall - shall I mention the shameful BBC/Sky deal again?  No.  But you don't see my beloved, successful, free-to-view-on-ITV4 BTCC resorting to female drivers.

But we should.

There are plenty of talented women competing in the BTCC support races.

Come on Team bosses - you know you want to.  Give a girl a chance - and give her a grid-guy to stand in front of car - you may get more lady viewers and that can't be a bad thing.


Sorry about that - I don't normally say anything sensible - I promise everything will be back to normal for my next post.