Sisters rev-up at Killarney Women in Motorsport day

Published Aug 11, 2008

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Mother Nature - being a lady herself - smiled on last weekend's Women in Motorsport track day at Killarney over the National Women's Day weekend and delivered sunshine and perfect conditions for discovering that cars (and bikes) are not just for commuting and the school run.

The nationwide event was backed by the Women in Motorsport panel of Motorsport SA to encourage more women to participate in motorsport at all levels.

More than 200 women signed up for rides in Clubman racing cars and sports cars, test rides on the latest motorcycles, bike and quad rides on the motocross circuit, track sessions on their own bikes and skid-pan sessions in Kia demo vehicles.

All the organisers and most of the marshals were women and an eye-opening number of the drivers who gave up their time - and more racing fuel than perhaps they were ready for - to give rides around the circuit were women.

A demonstration race early in the day featuring 10 Clubman cars, each driven by a woman, set the tone. After that the sign-in tables at pit No.1 were inundated with women who wanted to ride in "one of those cars".

During the lunch break members of Live to Race, an organisation of sports-car enthusiasts who volunteer their time and their vehicles for worthy causes, lined up 16 classic cars from Ferraris through Porsches to Cobras and a show-stopping red-and-white Lola T70 to take terminally-ill children around the circuit.

Then it was the ladies' turn to line up for rides in cars most of which they'd never heard of but which looked - and sounded - like they were about to take off even when they were just standing there.

Nearly 40 women signed up to ride the Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and BMW demo bikes and 18 turned out for two track sessions on their own bikes, led by F800 Cup racers Paul Medell and Cindy Brown,.

Many of the husbands, boyfriends and "significant others" there in support were surprised by the preference shown by the ladies for hard-edged sports bikes.

The Honda and Suzuki 600cc screamers were among the most popular demo bikes and most of the women in the training sessions were riding performance machines - especially one young lady on a Ducati 1098!

Another surprise was the range of bike clothing and accessories on show clearly aimed at female riders - from "flower power" helmets through pink leathers to some of the most stylish boots this side of Milan.

Cape Town convenor Jeanette Kok-Kritzinger was delighted with the response to Killarney's first Women in Motorsport day.

"We've already told Western Province Motor Club chairman Brian Smith we're going much bigger next year", she said, "with more cars, more bikes and more activities."

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