THE SWITCHBACK

The W Series was announced in October to a mixed reaction. Some claimed it’s a great platform for female drivers to make a name for themselves and kick-start their careers with the prize money from the series, while others believe it’s an unnecessary segregation of males and female and an attempt to push female in the sport to one side.

 

On a positive note, it will create a series where people will notice female racers as opposed to them being overlooked due to males, and to be honest it’s something I will still watch despite my dislike of the idea.

 

I have enjoyed watching the likes of Sophia Floersch, Aurora Strauss, Jade Edwards and Jessica Backman compete over the past few years and a series where some of my favourite drivers like those mentioned could race together hugely interests me.

It could also offer a spotlight for these talented drivers, ones who are often overlooked due to their gender. With no men on the track, it would be their time to show what they can do on their stage.

 

But this all eventually boils down to why should they. Why should these talented drivers need to remove themselves from open competition just to find some extra funding? Why are the men with the money trying to force them down this path?

 

Over the past year or so, we have seen women compete very closely in open competition. Jessica Backman drove to 4th in the TCR UK series, including a brilliant bit of wheel to wheel racing with championship runner-up Ollie Taylor. She won that battle in the season finale at Donington Park. 

 

In British Formula Three, Jamie Chadwick took a historic win at Brands Hatch, becoming the first female to win in the series.

 

In the USA, up and coming stock car racer Hailie Deegan became the first female to win a NASCAR sanctioned event, as she won in the K&N Pro Series race at Meridian Speedway, beating a field of 14 men.

 

Female drivers Aurora Straus and Samantha Tan have both stepped onto the podium this season at Circuit of the Americas in the Pirelli World Challenge. Straus, 19, took a win in her class, while Tan, 20, took third.

 

18 year-old German, Sophia Floersch has enjoyed success in German Formula Four, picking up two podiums before moving into FIA European Formula Three. A huge crash for the young driver hit the headlines in November, but she has vowed to come back to motorsport and could be one of the front-runners to be the sixth woman to compete in Formula One and the first to start a race since Lella Lombardi in 1976.

 

Also, in the past month, Colombian GP3 driver Tatiana Calderon has driven an F1 car. Calderon is a development driver for the Sauber F1 Team and got the chance to first drive the current Sauber at a media day following the Mexican Grand Prix.

 

All of these drivers, and many other young females coming through the ranks, are proof that segregating males and females is unnecessary. One of the great things about motorsport was that it’s one of few inclusive sports. Anyone of any ability, race, nationality or gender can compete against each other.

It feels like segregation is a step completely in the wrong direction, especially when it is far from the only option and the need for an all-female series is being disproven week in-week out as women successfully compete against men.

 

It’s sad that any female drivers should be made to feel like this series is something they need to compete in, simply to try and move forward. Going against what they believe in and what they want to achieve just to try and secure a future is an awful position to be in, and a rather shamefully one on the part of the people trying to force this.

 

It’s also sad that the attitude of those running teams in the sport is still that a woman needs to do more than a man just to have the chance of securing the same seat, and that a woman is a bigger risk to employ than a man.

 

Also, other than seat time (which, don’t get me wrong, is hugely important), the W Series gives no advantage to anyone's career. Running as an alternative to F3, the W Series is unable to offer any super licence points due to it being closed to males. It is effectively a year out of competitive motorsport if drivers choose to compete exclusively in the W Series.

 

Another area of worry I have about the W Series is that it has been announced in the same year that Carmen Jorda, a member of the FIA Commision for Women In Motorsport, said she did not believe women should aim to compete in F1as they were unable to compete physically. This is a woman who is in a position to fight for females to be given equal opportunity, but instead has harmed those looking to go to the top of the sport. Jorda test drove for Lotus in 2015 & 2016, despite failing to pick up any notable results in any category she has competed in. She has backed the W Series, but it seems she has an attitude of if I can’t succeed I won’t let anyone else.

One of the big advocates of open competition and hugely opposed to the W Series is British IndyCar racer and IndyLights race winner Pippa Mann. Mann has spoken of her interactions with people planning the series, and that they tried to use the fact Mann doesn’t have sponsorship to compete in full-time competition. The 35 year-old driver isn’t alone in the negative view of the series, the aforementioned Sophia Floersch and Jessica Backman have both been vocal in their dislike for the championship.

While the W-Series does have positives (although few and far between) they are hugely outweighed by the negatives, and it will be a sorry sight to see any female driver be forced down this route by lack of funding to race in a proper, open competition.

 

 

To learn more about the ins and outs of the whole situation, I'd suggest you go and read Pippa Mann's article on MotorSport Online (https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opinion/single-seaters/w-series-case-against) as she talked from a much more qualified position than myself.

 

* 2/12/2018 I've updated this article after I used it for a university assignment and had to tweak it to suit. I feel time and the comments I received from the original article have helped build my understanding of the issue. While my opinion hasn't changed, I feel I can now express that in a more detailed and measured way.