A study by More Than Equal (which for some reason requires a company name to download, despite its importance to people who aren’t in a company) has found that commercial prejudice is the biggest cause of women not getting through the lower tiers of motorsport. It has also found that lack of awareness (with nearly half of motorsport fans surveyed not being sure if women were even allowed to compete in F1, let alone businesses) due to a lack of visible and consistently demonstrable trajectory into professional racing series were a big factor. Thus, some companies that weren’t being prejudicial were nonetheless not backing women because they could not see any chance of a return of investment. It’s worse in motorbikes: 81% of fans aren’t sure if women are allowed to race in World SBK, despite it having the best record for women of all the professional series questioned (in that Ana Carrassco has already won a championship in that series). For MotoGP only 22% of fans thought women were allowed to compete.

Every series has a lot of work to do

Also note: given that 80% of fans think there will be a woman in F1 in the next 10 years, about 30% of fans think that the FIA is going to change the regulations to allow a woman into the series to make that happen. This represents a pretty spectacular fail on the part of the FIA, given that women have raced in F1 in the 1950s and 1970s, and attempted to qualify all the way into the early 1990s. Note the latter date is just before the really big sponsor money started to become compulsory for teams to compete in F1 - 1992 had some teams racing solidly in the midfield on a $15 m budget, but by 1998 that wouldn’t be enough money to keep a F1 team running for a whole year. Other reasons women struggle to become professional racing drivers: - women get less track time (thus less practise) then men - lack of role models (hampered by women being particularly sceptical about existing and previous social schemes like #WeRaceAsOne. Also note: over 80% of male fans and over 90% of female fans believe the racing is automatically worse in enforced single-gender series, which prevents people in F1 Academy and the former W Series from being seen as role models in that context) - lack of gender-specific training available (i.e. the specialised training expected of racing drivers is all based on male models) - rampant stereotypes against women (about 20-25% of men, and 5-20% of women, believed each of the stereotypes surveyed. Note that even one stereotype by the wrong person can be enough, and no data existed on what percentage believed at least one stereotype, as data only displays on a per-stereotype basis) - a culture that is unwelcoming to people not exactly like those already “accepted” - a culture that is sometimes discriminatory against women in terms of microaggressions - lack of research into whether mechanical biases exist in the cars in terms of suitability for anyone outside an unnecessarily narrow range of physiques - a perception that motorsport is extremely discriminatory by sporting standards (perhaps to a greater extent than is warranted even by the above statements) - unsurprisingly given the above, a smaller pool of talent to pick from at every stage

The consequence is that the gender imbalance becomes about 40% worse between FIA karting and lower-tier non-karting series, and another 40% worse between lower-tier and professional-tier series. This despite Hintsa, arguably the best organisation in the world at preparing motorsport competitiors physically, noting that women are as capable of hitting the physical and psychological benchmarks required as men. Be warned: there will be backlash if more women enter motorsports. Yes, over 40% more women will deepen their attachment to motorsport - but between 8 and 18% of men will reduce it (probably in a very noisy and nasty way, given the other findings). The report is not close to perfect - the way it’s presented shows its own biases and weak points in terms of communication equality - but it sheds a light on how far motorsport hasn’t come since 1997. 26 years ago, the first major research about women in motorsport identified four main obstacles to women competing: - Sponsors refusing to back women - Stereotyping - Peer pressure, primarily due to lack of understanding - Over-scrutiny of results Compare the two lists and see the similarities.

@WorldSBK · #ESPWorldSBK

WorldSBK 2023 ʳᵒᵘⁿᵈ ⁹ Magny-Cours 🇫🇷

Bassani suffers big tumble in FP1 and walks away unscathed.

BMW / Toprak Razgatlioglu / ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team by Artes Max Via Flickr: Superbikes Barcelona Motorfest – Pirelli Catalunya Round 2024 / Circuit de Barcelona

WorldSBK.

Dorna WSBK Organization proudly welcomes Dodge as the Official Car and Official Safety Car for the 2024 season. The iconic American automotive brand is set to join an exclusive roster of partners, adding a new dimension of power and style to the world's leading production motorcycle racing series. Dodge will take centre stage as the 2024 WorldSBK Official Car & Official Safety Car. The partnership showcases the perfect fusion of character and speed, with Dodge muscle cars serving as the ultimate 4-wheel counterparts to WorldSBK machinery. Dodge's rich history of power and performance, both on the track and the drag strip, will resonate with WorldSBK fans as the thrilling roar of the new Official Safety Car is unleashed. Two Dodge Challenger SRTs, equipped with the iconic 6.2L HEMI V8 engine producing 717 Hp, will patrol the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship rounds, providing a perfect match to the racing Superbikes. This level of performance not only allows for precise assessment of track conditions but also ensures officials can always intervene swiftly. Completing the Dodge WorldSBK fleet are Durango SUVs, serving as the Race Direction and FIM Safety Officer official cars. The Durango combines high efficiency with practicality, making it an ideal workhorse for the championship. Two specs will be deployed on track: a Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat with a 6.2L V8 engine delivering over 710 Hp and Dodge Durango SRT featuring a 6.4L Hemi V8 producing 475 Hp. The pinnacle of victory will be marked by the presence of the Dodge brand on the top step of the podium during the prize-giving ceremonies, symbolizing the rider's triumph - a distinctive moment of unparalleled excitement and pure motorsport essence. A third Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye powered by the 807 Hp 6.2L Hemi V8 will also be on display next to the podium. The Dodge Official WorldSBK fleet is poised to make its debut at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, marking the first European round of the 2024 season. As the engines rev and the partnership unfolds, Dodge and WorldSBK are set to redefine the standards of speed, power, and performance on and off the track. Domenico Gostoli, Head of RAM & Dodge Brands Enlarged Europe “As Dodge Europe, we have worked hard on this Project and we are proud to start this exciting new cooperation, the first for Dodge Brand in EU: the partnership with WorldSBK is built on a common “performance and race” spirit and fits perfectly with a fan world and an audience of enthusiasts for our Brand. At Dodge we always aim to exceed our limits and reach new heights, putting daily a winning attitude, grit and determination into our work.” Francesco Valentino, Head of WorldSBK Commercial & Marketing Department "Built to take on the road in style, Dodge muscle cars deliver on the promise of their looks with power and acceleration under the hood to match. We are proud and thrilled to welcome Dodge and bring it together with WorldSBK. As a production-based motorcycling series, we identify with Dodge’s tradition of high-performance cars, and the alignment of our values makes for an exciting brand association." Dodge, DodgeChallengerSRT, WorldSBK

The regular well trodden route to competitive race speed generally includes two ingredients, Ohlins and Brembo. They are in most successful traditional recipes and have a huge bank of knowledge to draw from but some go other ways, one example is HRC in @worldsbk with Showa and Nissin. They’ve got the runs on the board and trophies in the cabinet from @fim_ewc_official but that’s yet to translate to #worldsbk in recent years, let’s hope they get there, vive la difference! Or whatever that translates to in Japanese…. (at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit) https://www.instagram.com/p/Co_xIyHSzLV/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

(Aruba.it Racing - Ducati via Instagram Story | 23.07.2022)

It’s Wheeliewednesday! with the „Crocodile“ Troy Corser 🐊 Next RSE Event: 24th - 26th of February in Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia (ES) 🇪🇦 www.racing-school-europe.com _________________________ #NeverStopChallenging #MakeLifeARide #m1000rr #s1000rr #worldsbk #bmw #motorcycle #ridelife #motorcycleart #instamoto #instalike #superbike #motorcycle #motorbike #speeddays #motorsport #sportbikesquad #instamotogallery #bikefamily #bikeofday #superbikesgram #docslomo #DoubleR #racingschooleurope High quality pictures by: 📸 @bennykaetzmer @racingschooleurope @troycorser11 @speerracing (bij Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoZfxV-ImzX/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

@WorldSBK · #ESPWorldSBK

WorldSBK 2023 ʳᵒᵘⁿᵈ ³ Assen 🇳🇱

FP2 session in the Netherlands was briefly red-flagged due to a stray crocodile balloon.

Ducati Panigale V4R / Alvaro Bautista / ESP / Aruba.It Racing - Ducati by Artes Max Via Flickr: Barcelona Test SBK 2023 / Circuit de Catalunya / Barcelona

pannier stickers . https://mayastickers.com/superbike-world-championship-logo-sticker 

WorldSBK. Toprak Razgatlıoğlu #54.

Ο Toprak Razgatlioglu κέρδισε και τoν φοβερό 2ο αγώνα στο Most της Τσεχίας – Αποτελέσματα – Yamaha, Ducati και Kawasaki στο βάθρο

Ο Toprak Razgatlioglu κέρδισε και τoν φοβερό 2ο αγώνα στο Most της Τσεχίας – Αποτελέσματα – Yamaha, Ducati και Kawasaki στο βάθρο

Razgatlioglu, Bautista και Rea πάλεψαν σκληρά σε έναν απίστευτου θεάματος 2ου αγώνα στην Τσεχία, με τον Razgatlioglu να παίρνει την δεύτερη συνεχομένη νίκη του σε αυτό το γύρο και την έκτη του νίκη στους τελευταίους τρεις γύρους! (more…)

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