Women's Health - UK (2019-07)

Women’s Health J U L Y 2 0 1 9 | 1 0 1

it seems that women are under-represented on

the grid for the same reason they’re under-

represented in boardrooms, surgical theatres and

political chambers. Heard the one about women

drivers? Yeah, so has everyone else. ‘The shop

window into the sport [the way women are

perceived] is so important with motor racing,’

explains Formula E television presenter Nicki

Shields. ‘Male drivers are seen as competitors,

clever, sportsmen; women are seen as a sideshow,

there to look pretty. The whole “grid girls”

phenomenon had a lot to with this.’ If you’re

unfamiliar with the concept, grid girls – buxom

and scantily clad – were employed to walk

alongside the cars in a ceremonial capacity. And

much like cheerleaders at the Super Bowl and

ring girls in boxing, their presence only served to

exacerbate the idea that women were accessories

to this sport. They’ve been banned in F1 since

2018, but stereotypes aren’t easily undone.

Sponsors weren’t the only ones guilty of writing

women off. ‘Women were so rare in these spaces

that there weren’t even changing facilities – I had

to change into my leathers in the toilets,’ recalls

Amanda Stretton, who started racing in the early

00s and competed for 15 years before becoming

a motor sports journalist. And the facilities were

the least of her worries. One anecdote about being

driven off the track by male racers beggars belief.

‘In a practice session, two cars came alongside me

and deliberately squeezed me into the corner,’ she

explains, describing the dangerous practice of

driving three-abreast in the approach to a tight

bend. She narrowly avoided a crash, but it was a

reckless manoeuvre. Why did they do it? ‘They’d

agreed beforehand that they were going to “test”

me,’ Stretton explains. ‘They wanted to see how

I was going to react. Because I was a girl.’

DRIVING CHANGE

It’s the reason the arrival of Jamie Chadwick and co

is so exciting. ‘I’ve heard the horror stories from the

90s,’ Jamie tells WH from the pit lane of Formula

E’s opening race weekend in Riyadh, where’s she’s

test driving for Nio, her team. ‘It’s a credit to how

far the sport has come that I’ve not experienced any

sexism in my career. There’s still a way to go, but

I try to lead by example. Hopefully, I’m encouraging

more girls to get involved, and changing the

attitudes of the guys we’re racing against.’

How, you may ask, did a 20-year-old woman from

Cheltenham find her way into this world? ‘I think

my parents always knew that I was going to do

something like this,’ she says. ‘My brother Ollie and

I were always doing crazy stuff as kids – we’d take

a tray from the kitchen, tie it to the back of a quad

bike and take it in turns to be dragged around.’ It

was Ollie who introduced Jamie to racing when,

aged 11, she was granted a turn on his go-kart. Aged

14, she won the Ginetta Junior Scholarship, which

provided her with everything from a junior race car

to insurance and fuel. At 16, she became the first

female and youngest driver to win a British GT

championship when she and her teammate won

the 2015 GT Championship GT4. By the time she

was doing her A levels, she was flying all over the

world for races. Since then, she’s test driven for

Formula E and raced in British and Asian Formula

3 championships, but the launch of the W Series

represents her biggest opportunity to date. For

context, test driving for your teammates is a bit like

always being the bridesmaid; the W Series will give

female racers the visibility they need to win races,

secure sponsorship and make it big. ‘It’s always felt

so natural to me – the speed, the fear. I was good at

it, and that, combined with the adrenaline, kept me

coming back,’ she says. ‘But when I found out about

the W Series, I knew this represented a massive

opportunity, and I really stepped up my training.’

For a sport that involves a lot of sitting, racing

drivers are fit. Nutrition is vital, since the lighter

you are, the faster you go. This should mean women

have a competitive advantage, but they’re held back

in other ways (cars are typically designed for bigger

feet, for example). Jamie doesn’t work with a

nutritionist, though she’s mindful of what she eats.

‘I’m short, which is helpful weight-wise,’ she explains.

‘I’ll add extra protein to my meals, like eggs, fish or

NAME

Sophia Floersch

INSTA BIO

@sophiafloersch

CAREER

HIGHLIGHT

Joining the Van

Amersfoort

Racing team for

the prestigious

F3 World Cup

NAME GAME

Sophia has a

penchant for

giving her cars,

erm, dad names.

Among them?

Paul, Hugo and

Jerry. Nice

Sophia Floersch with
eyes on the prize

The new grid girls

R

A

C

E

(^) R
E
P
O
R
T