FEMALE RACE SCHOOL TO BE LAUNCHED AT SYDNEY MOTORSPORT PARK

Female race school to be launched – Photo: InSyde Media

Race Chix Motorsport and the Australian Racing Drivers’ Club (ARDC) has announced that on November 3 a motorsport training school for women will be launched at Sydney Motorsport Park.

By DAN McCARTHY

Race Chix Race School has been created to get more females involved in motorsport and compete against men on an even playing field as Rachelle Stirling, founder of Race Chix Motorsport explained to Auto Action.

“Female participation numbers are only around 10%,” Stirling told AA.

“So, that’s the aim of Race Chix Race School to make it as easy as possible for women to break down those barriers and get involved in motorsport.

“I don’t think it’s general knowledge for people to get involved in grassroots racing or how to get started in grassroots motorsport, especially for women.”

Stirling believes that the seeds need to be sown before any dramatic chances are seen nationwide in the coming years.

“I think it’s a process, if you think of it as like a pyramid, we need to broaden the base, to be able to move drivers up through that pathway,” she said.

“We offer three different levels of courses for the beginner, for people that have never been involved in motorsport before such as enthusiasts that would like to get involved in grassroots.

“Then we have the intermediate for people that have been doing track days and then want to step up to sprints or regularity.

“Then we have the motorsport 103 course which is for women that want to take that step up into door to door racing.”

Each of these courses contain both a practical and theory component and is tailor-made to fit the appropriate experience level or goal.

Practical elements include braking techniques, how to cope with oversteer and understeer and racing lines, while the theory elements include looking at flags, car preparation, oils and tyres.

Sterling herself has done a bit of racing and is using the experience she has gained to come up with the best course possible.

The ARDC jumping on board with the company Sterling believes will be very beneficial for the Race School.

“I compete in sprints, regularity and hill climbs, so I’ve taken my own personal experience that I’ve had with getting into motorsport, drawing on my experience and that’s why I’ve come up with Race Chix Motorsport and Race Chix Race School,” Sterling explained to AA.

“It’s fantastic that ARDC has come on board as our major supporter for the school, one of ARDC’s objectives is to get more women into the sport.

“I approached them with it, and they thought it was a great program, and to have their support is amazing.”

Next year the race school is looking at expanding onto two wheels with Motorbikes also.

“I think the model that we have with Race Chix Race School will cross over into bikes, so, I’ve been speaking with motoDNA about that at Sydney motorsport Park,” she continued.

“My drive is just to get more women into motorsport across the board, in karting as well because I think it’s the most fun you can have sitting down!”

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