Because yes, according to some, motorsport isn’t for women. So… go for it. Launch yourselves.
“Women don’t belong in racing, period.” “Now even women are racing…” “When will they understand it’s not a sport for them?” “Then what should Grosjean say?” “If she’d become a lawyer… that wouldn’t have happened!”
Following the serious accident involving Marta García, these are just some of the comments we received under our viral TikTok post (sadly, it did go viral for the wrong reasons).
For those who might have missed what happened, here’s what Marta said about the crash. The Spanish driver is doing well now, but the risk to her health was real.
Ironically, while these comments were being written, Italy is currently trying to raise awareness about horrifying tragedies like those of Sara and Ilaria — a difficult attempt to confront a deep, widespread societal plague.
But these episodes are just the tip of the iceberg of a much deeper-rooted issue. So, let’s take a closer look at how “motorsport isn’t for women.” Or maybe not.
Let’s begin with this: Marta races for Iron Lynx, an Italian team based in Cesena. A team that, back in 2019, launched a wonderful initiative: we’re talking about the Iron Dames, a program created to support women in motorsport.
And the Iron Dames haven’t only raced in the Michelin Le Mans Cup, where unfortunately they were forced to retire due to the severe damage to their Porsche 911 GT3 R (here’s a photo of the crash).
They also competed in Barcelona, in the European Le Mans Series, racing in the LMGT3 class. We’ll let the following image do the talking when it comes to the race result.
Here’s the ELMS result in the LMGT3 category:
Just in case someone still says, “It’s not a sport for women.”
But it’s not just the Iron Dames taking on this bold and beautiful journey. Last year, we interviewed Aurora Angelucci, founder of the Angeluss project — a company committed to promoting female talent in motorcycle racing.
We’re talking about real stories, many of them from Italy, that are making bigger and bigger waves in the world of motorsport.
And when faced with comments like these, there’s only one response: prove them wrong. Prove that yes, it’s possible. Prove that, by taking the leap, there’s more and more space for women in motorsport — whether it’s on two wheels or four.
So go for it, girls. You don’t necessarily have to get behind the wheel — we know how costly and challenging the sport can be. But dream and give it a shot, whether as a journalist, engineer, team manager, data analyst, mechanic, director, track marshal, or writer.
Do it for Maria De Villota, who passed away at just 33 due to complications from a Formula 1 crash. Do it for Hannah Schmitz, the mastermind on the Red Bull pit wall, teaching the world lessons in race strategy. Do it for Marta García, the very first F1 Academy Champion in 2023. Do it for Laura Müller, the first female race engineer in Formula 1 history, now working alongside Esteban Ocon.
Do it for yourselves, to chase your dreams. Do it for everyone, so that these kinds of comments become fewer and the projects mentioned here become more and more common.
Take the leap. Do it.
