Tag: Feature

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ThePitCrewOnline Exclusive: Carolynn Sells for International Women’s Day 2019

The first woman to race the famous Isle of Man TT course as a solo rider was Beryl Swain, in 1962. However, in those days a woman racing caused a huge upset in what was, and some may say still is, a male dominated world of motorcycle racing. So incensed were they by a woman taking part, a weight limit was introduced that Beryl could not meet, thus causing her license to be revoked, ending her racing career just as it was beginning. It was 1978 before the next woman (Hilary Musson) was allowed to compete in the TT, but women would not be allowed to race at the Manx Grand Prix until 1989. It would be almost 50 years between the first woman racing on the Mountain Course and the first female to win a race there.

That woman was Carolyn Sells, and in 2009 she won the Ultra Lightweight Race on the FZR400 Yamaha by Paul Morrissey racing. An ambitious no pit-stop strategy meant she came home with a 62 second lead, and a best lap of 107.780mph. Carolynn retired from racing in 2009, but is still heavily involved with racing in the Isle of Man, supporting Newcomers to the Manx Grand Prix. I’m really delighted she was able to take time out from her busy family & life to answer my questions.

Laura Sawyer: How old were you when you knew you wanted to race bikes? 
Carolynn Sells: About 16, although I didn’t actually get around to it for another 10yrs or so!

LS: What path did you follow from starting out to racing at the Manx?
CS: My dad began racing at the Manx Grand Prix in 1985 and it was there that I decided that, one day, I was going to race there. At the time, women weren’t actually allowed to race in the Manx, but that didn’t even occur to me then.
Life got in the way though and after putting myself through Uni, progressing my career in TV & Film Design and then buying my first house, I finally got around to doing my first race on my dad’s TZ250 a month before I turned 27 in April 2000. I only did 3 meetings that year and then spent the next 2 years aiming to get my National Licence, in order to be able to compete in the Manx Grand Prix in 2003 – the year that I turned 30.

Copyright: Dave Kneen

LS: How supportive were your family and were they behind you from the start?
CS: They were very supportive – dad lent me his bike and then bought my first race bike for me – but I can’t say that he entirely wanted me or my brother to race the roads really (my brother was a newcomer to the MGP at the same time as me). Dad had raced since I was 5 though, so he knew he didn’t get much say in the matter!

LS: You’re now a director of the Manx Motorcycle Club – how do you use that role to support newcomers to the Mountain Course? 
CS: I’m not anymore, but I was for a few years. I am still a Rider Liaison Officer for the Manx and an Official ACU Mountain Course Coach, which means that I teach newcomers about the circuit and what to expect as a newcomer. It is something that I have been passionate about even when I was racing and my goal is to make sure that every newcomer thoroughly enjoys their first Manx and comes home safe and happy. If they’re fast too, well, that’s a bonus!

LS: Aside from the win, what is your next best achievement in racing? 
CS: I think I achieved a fair bit in my short time racing (9 years) and I’m not sure I can pick just one…
I won a solo Motorcycle championship in the Isle of Man (2002) and I won a race at the International Southern 100 (2005) and am the only woman to have done either of those things. I am also still the fastest woman at 4 of the Southern Irish road circuits, despite not having raced there since 2008 and the likes of Maria Costello, and several others have been racing those circuits regularly since then.
Nothing beats my win on the TT Course though, not even close. That was the culmination of 6 years of steadily and quietly working my way up and focussing on the goal.
I also got a Guinness World Record for the win and won Isle of Man Sportswoman of the year too, so they’re pretty special to me.

LS: If you could race again, which meeting(s) would you do, and why? 
CS: The TT and the Ulster Grand Prix… two things I really wish I’d done, but the timing was never right.

LS:  What was the best bike you rode competitively, and which bike do you wish you’d been able to race (past or present) and why? 
CS: Although I had most success on the 400’s, I really did love racing the CBR600RR, it was the best fun and plenty fast enough for me. I always wish I’d had the chance to have a go on an RC30 though…

LS: You’ve always said you don’t consider yourself to be a woman in a man’s sport, and your achievements are certainly something any racer would be proud of. What advice would you give to women who may still feel nervous about progressing with their aspirations because they worry they may be disadvantaged by gender? 
CS: I don’t believe that we are ever disadvantaged by our gender. If you want to do something, get up and do it. It really is as simple as that.

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ThePitCrewOnline Exclusive: Louise McGrath for International Women’s Day 2019

International Womens Day gives us the opportunity to pause for a moment and appreciate just how far we have come and the wonderful progress that’s been made in the last few years towards encouraging more women to join the world of motorsport.

It’s a chance to recognise those who have been leading the way before us and defying all the odds in what has long been a male dominated industry. As women we too have just as much to offer the industry we love so much. We thank the women who came before us, who knew the challenges they were facing but did it anyway. There are now remarkable women throughout all corners of the industry from engineering to hospitality, from the pitlane to the factory, breaking down stereotypes and encouraging others to do the same.

As a 44yr old wife and mother of three children, I never dreamed I’d start working on a project within the realms of Formula 1, let alone doing it alongside my 18 year old daughter Rachel. She is obsessed with F1 and like me, has followed the sport for as long as she can remember. I think it may have begun when she realised she shared her birthday with Lewis Hamilton! She is gifted in maths and is the only person I know who gets genuinely excited at complex equations! From around 11 years of age, she started to become aware that she could take her love of maths and apply it to the sport. She began to research people like Adrian Newey, to understand the study path he had taken, to try and figure out how to become an aerodynamicist.

We spent hours, days and months on a quest for knowledge but the information was so hard to find. All the careers advisors we spoke to either didn’t take Rachel seriously about wanting to be a motorsport engineer due to her young age and gender, or just didn’t have a clue what an aerodynamicist was! It was a stressful time not only because information and understanding was so lacking, but she was trying to make the right study decisions that she knew would impact her future.

We eventually stumbled upon something called Dare to be Different (D2BD), which is an initiative founded by Susie Wolff and the Motorsport Association to encourage more girls to consider a career in motorsport. D2BD has a group of ambassadors from all across the world of motorsport – from journalists like Rosanna Tennant and Senior Strategy Engineers like Ruth Buscombe, to inspirational drivers like Nathalie McGloin and Maria Costello MBE. These women who have come before us are really leading the way in helping girls to realise that they can make their own unique mark in this exciting and rewarding industry.

D2BD gives us access to a supportive Facebook group of likeminded girls, and the ability to attend networking events where we can meet the D2BD Ambassadors. These meet-ups are always inspirational and you go home feeling like anything is possible! It’s thanks to initiatives like D2BD that girls are beginning to see a career in motorsport as an equal opportunity from a young age and are more willing and able to follow this passion growing up, just like Rachel has.

Being a part of the Dare to be Different community really inspired us and gave us the confidence to see our own project to fruition. We really wanted to help those students still in school and college who were struggling like Rachel, to make it easier for them to find the information about study paths into the world of Formula 1. On our journey we’d learned not just about study options, but about things like the importance of hobbies and work experience, networking and cv building, and all the events and opportunities up and down the UK that not many people know about! And so the idea of Formula Careers was born, a website to house all the information that a student would need to give them the best chance of working in F1.

No-one can predict the path that will lead to that dream job, sometimes it twists and turns in unexpected ways you could never imagine, and so it’s always best to stay flexible. But at least if we can give students a good foundation to work with, they will be more confident in the decisions they make for the future. We want students to realise they are not alone, that we know it’s a difficult and stressful time, that there’s help and support there if they need it from people who understand. To realise that they can take the gifts they have and match them up to the industry that they love!

Being able to speak with the D2BD Ambassadors was really important to us, and so we tried to figure out a way to do that for others and bring students closer to those already working in the roles they dream of. Myself and Rachel set about contacting and persuading as many people as we could from the world of F1 to share their own stories about how they got into the industry. We know these little case studies will really inspire the next generation and show them that with dedication, self belief and passion, it really is possible to have a career in Formula 1.

Formula Careers gives us the opportunity to make our own contribution to the world of F1, so if we can do it then anybody can! It has been an absolute delight to be able to work with my daughter on something we are mutually passionate about. It’s not only brought us closer together, but given us the opportunity to create relationships with key people in the industry. I think people are surprised that we are a mother and daughter team, but I think that makes our project stand out in a good way!

We still get the occasional strange glance when we tell people what we are doing because many still see it as a male dominated industry! But each conversation is a chance to educate others on the exciting changes happening for women in motorsport. It’s thanks to initiatives like Dare to be Different and the amazing, brave women who have come before us that we can move forward with confidence and achieve our own career goals.

On International Women’s Day, we are reminded that all things are possible, and that no matter our circumstances we have the ability to go out and make our dream careers happen.

www.formulacareers.com
www.linkedin.com/in/louise-m-279239138
www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-mcgrath-12a7b1139
www.twitter.com/formulacareers
www.facebook.com/formulacareers

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ThePitCrewOnline Exclusive: Carole Brackley for International Women’s Day 2019

Marshals may well be the unsung heroes of motorsport, often taken for granted but who make the racing we all love to watch possible. Carole Brackley is one of an increasing number of women who are taking to volunteering as marshals at events across the country, and she was kind enough to speak to us about her role as Specialist Marshal as part of our series of interviews for International Women’s Day.

Jenny Rowan: How did your interest in motorsport first come about?
Carole Brackley: My father was a great lover of motorsport and cars. As soon as I could sit, I was in the front seat next to him, and I was a pretty good co-driver with his teaching. I could name every make and model on the road, and shared his interest. It was great that we lived near Silverstone, and one of his uncles had scaffolding, so we always had a good view of the events. Since my early days, I have watched and attended as many events as I could, although F1 was – and is still – my number one passion.

JR: How did you come to be involved in marshalling?
CB: In my early twenties, I had a friend who competed in rallies in his Mini CooperS and was a marshal at Silverstone. For many years I believed that only men could marshal… I got the taste for voluntary work after a stint as an Olympic Ambassador in 2012 and so I went onto the Silverstone website and sent in my details. I found that it was very easy to train as a marshal – much to my delight!

JR: What is the relationship like between marshals when working at a race?
CB: The teams are very supportive and inclusive. There are several different areas of marshalling and, after starting out track-side, I became a Specialist Marshal, working exclusively in the pits and paddock and on the startline. The work can be quite intense, as I will explain later, but everyone helps each other and keeps it enjoyable.

JR: Do you have a favourite event to work at?
CB: This is a difficult question: I love being in the pits for F1, but the security is such that we are not allowed to go near the team garages or personnel, and officiate from the pit wall. In WEC and other series (also with fantastic cars) you stand in the garage or just outside to officiate, which is a tremendous privilege, and you get a better feeling from the experience.

JR: What sort of duties do you have in an ‘average’ race weekend, if there is such a thing?
CB: As a Specialist Marshal, there are many different tasks, and we have pages and pages of official regulations to learn before the event. The most important is probably monitoring teams, to make sure they don’t break any of these regulations. Should this happen – as it usually does at least once – we write a report, which goes up to the stewards straight away to decide whether they will impose penalties. We also make sure that everyone is safe on the pit wall and in the pit lane, and remain ready to fight fires or push cars as the need arises.

‘Gridding up’ is fun – armed with the grid sheet and a yellow flag, you stand out on track to guide the drivers to their dedicated spot on the start line – sometimes they come at you in the correct order, and sometimes it is absolute mayhem! After the practice lap, usually the marshals responsible for pole position and second will go back out to the start-line, stand just in front of the markings and make sure these cars stop in the correct place. I love that feeling as they drive towards you – you leave, they go.
We also manage assembly, parc ferme, flags, message boards, lights and members of the public and guests.

JR: What has been the highlight of your motorsport marshalling career so far?
CB: This is difficult, so I’ll let you decide…
– Obviously the first British Grand Prix in the pits – you’re just so close to the cars.
– Being asked to represent marshals at a reception at Number Ten Downing Street, mingling with the great and famous from all aspects of the sport – pinch me!
– My first MotoGP race.
– Being chosen the wave the start flag for each car at F1 Live in London – can you imagine?!

JR: You joined Susie Wolff’s Dare to be Different as an ambassador – what does being part of an organisation like that mean to you?
CB: I received an email from MSA (now Motorsport UK) as they had been contacted by Susie, and she wanted to know if I would be interested in becoming the Marshal Ambassador for her new initiative. Having already been under the impression that motorsport was a largely male-dominated sport, I grabbed the opportunity to help get the message out that all areas were open to females. It has achieved so much in the four years since it launched, and it continues to offer advice, help and mentoring to all.

JR: What would you say to other people who are thinking of maybe taking up marshalling themselves?
CB: If you enjoy motorsport, there are fewer ways of getting closer to the action that don’t cost you shed-loads of money. It isn’t particularly glamorous: you’re up very early, out in all weathers and the days are long, but, from that first time a car roars past you (or bike or truck!) at close quarters, you’ll want more! It also makes you feel very much part of everything that’s going on.

More information about how to get involved in UK marshalling can be found here ? https://www.motorsportuk.org/volunteers

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The Haas Project – Romain Grosjean, Kevin Magnussen & Guenther Steiner On F1 2019 & Beyond | M1TG

Check out the latest Mobil 1 The Grid video featuring Haas F1’s Romain Grosjean, Kevin Magnussen and Guenther Steiner as they reflect on the ‘Haas Project’ whilst also previewing the season ahead.

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ThePitCrewOnline Exclusive: The training of F1 driver | Interview with Michael Italiano – Daniel Ricciardo’s performance coach

F1 and other racing series aren’t only about driving a car. Before getting behind a steering wheel the driver must have done a lot of activities. The physical training is one of the most important of them. Michael Italiano,  Daniel Ricciardo’s performance coach, spoke to us by answering questions asked by Julia Paradowska about the physical preparation of the racing driver.

Julia Paradowska: Why is physical training so important for the drivers?
Michael Italiano: Racing is a very demanding sport physically and mentally. The drivers need to be physically fit in order to withstand the G-forces during a race and the constant loading from the cars whether its braking, accelerating or turning. In saying this, it’s important the drivers include regimented cardio and strength training to keep their body in prime condition to race at their peak performance. If an athlete is not physically conditioned to drive they won’t be strong enough to withstand the G-forces the cars produce during a race. They will also fatigue, once fatigue sets in a driver won’t be able to control the car as efficiently as he’d like. These side effects make a big difference in a sport like Formula One where every tenth of a second counts.

JP:  How does the training program vary during the season? – Ie. Training during race week and training during a non-race week.
MI: Training varies quite a lot depending on the time of the year. During pre-season (January) training is fairly intense as your main goal is to get the driver into peek condition and prepared for the first race of the season. Training during race week again is dependent on whereabouts in the world we are. All factors play a part, time zone, weather, humidity, altitude to name a few. To give you a slight idea we would normally train up until the Wednesday of a race, nothing too intense. Mainly to switch everything on, get moving and loosen up feeling good before he (Daniel) jumps in the car on Friday. This routine would change slightly if we had back to back races, we would focus more on recovery with the short break and flight times in between.

JP:  Which round of the 2018 season was the hardest for you and Daniel to train and prepare for and why?
MI: Probably the triple header mid-year. It was a crazy 3 weeks, I’m glad F1 have decided on no triple headers in 2019. It’s asking a lot physically and mentally of the drivers. Not only are they driving the car for three days each week, they have media and team commitments outside the race track, then you add in all the flying and transport to and from hotels. There wasn’t much time for recovery and training, you have to be flexible in these situations and make do for what time you have to prepare your athlete.

JP: In addition to physical training, you also work to enhance and develop the psychological ‘mental’ fitness. How important is this aspect of the training?
MI: Personally, very important. How a driver can stay so immensely focused during a two hour race error free its extremely impressive. If their mind is distracted, fatigued or unfocused this will hinder their driving ability substantially. Sports psychology has really developed over the last five years and I’m a big believer in getting the mind in a positive and affirmative state before a race. How you do that is very dependent on the athlete’s character and your relationship with them. Mental training can be anything from working on a daily winners mindset, race day mindset, mindset out on the track during a race, what are you telling yourself, how you deal with particular actions or issues during a race emotionally, understanding mood profiling and what level should a drivers intensity be at during qualifying or race.

JP: How did you get interested in F1?
MI: I got interested in Formula 1 through Daniel. Being a Perth kid, knowing a Perth boy coming through the ranks and eventually making it to the F1 level was very inspiring. I followed his journey at a young age and developed the love for the sport through my eagerness to see Daniel succeed.

Follow Michael’s Journey
Website: michaelitaliano.com/
Instagram: instagram.com/michaelitaliano/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michael-italiano

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ThePitCrewOnlineExclusive: Gosia Rdest’s Top 3

Polska wersja artykułu: thepitcrewonline.net/2018/09/24/thepitcrewonline-exclusive-top-3-gosi-rdest/

The best moment of the season is definitely the win of race in Dubai. It was the debut of the car and the team in this crew.
I keep in my mind memories from qualifications at Brands Hatch. The lap timer wasn’t working – there was an error of the display. I didn’t know what was going on and I didn’t have the faintest idea what times I was setting We also had minimal radio communication. My time was the 7th time in the general classification. Brands Hatch on the longer grand prix circuit is a very demanding track. It is old type, there are no safety zones, for the driver is waiting a lot of up-down driving. That kind of the track suits me very well. I love the Red Bull Ring, where there are also noticeable changes in elevations, and driving on that kind of tracks makes me very happy.
What I was really happy about was winning at the Hungaroring, which finally was taken away from us. The team took a huge risk – despite the fact that the track was, the crew put that the track would dry up and let us go on slicks. We were one of five cars (48 cars took part in the whole race), which left just on those tyres. It was a huge jugglery and huge stress before the start, because we didn’t know if it is possible to ride on this type of tyres and whether it won’t be the ice-riding, but it finally paid off. The time was good and improved from lap to lap. Also the selection of tyres and driving the race under delicate pressure and risk is my best third moment of the season.

Julia Paradowska/ThePitCrewOnline

For my worst moment, I consider it a start in Zolder. It was a huge disappointment. We were very unlucky – my teammate went for an unscheduled pit stop. It was the first racing weekend [of the season] and because of it we weren’t fully prepared. I consider it one of the most chaotic moments of the season.
Another of the worst moments was losing the pole position in the Central Cup at the Nurburgring. In qualifying I was second or third, but only because of my own fault. If we put all the fastest sectors into a theoretical time, I would have started the first race from the start of the grid. This qualification was – it’s hard to call such a worst moment, but in the perspective I could be faster because I knew my own and the cars abilities. I don’t want to be brutal to myself, but it was a bit disappointing for me because I could easily get pole position.
The third moment I think will be the last race. My physical predisposition wasn’t the same as it is used to be because I had a cold or even I caught a flu. I was sick almost from Thursday evening, so Friday, Saturday and Sunday is the perfect time to get sick – you couldn’t have had a better one (laughs). It was better today – all the symptoms have gone away, there is only a runny nose and a slight hoarseness, but it isn’t so bad. I think that my well-being has also had a huge impact on my command and the feedback which I gave to the car engineer on Friday.

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ThePitCrewOnline Exclusive: Top 3 Gosi Rdest

Najlepszy moment sezonu to zdecydowanie wygrana w Dubaju. Był to zarówno debiut samochodu, jaki i zespołu w takim składzie.
Bardzo miłe wspominam kwalifikacje w Brands Hatch. Nie działał mi wtedy lap timer – był błąd całego wyświetlacza. Nie wiedziałam co się dzieje i nie miałam zielonego pojęcia jakie czasy wykręcałam. Mieliśmy także minimalną łączność radiową. Udało mi się wtedy wywalczyć siódmy czas w klasyfikacji generalnej. Brands Hatch na długiej pętli jest bardzo wymagającym torem. Jest starego typu, nie ma tam stref bezpieczeństwa, kierowcę czeka mnóstwo jazdy góra-dół. Taka charakterystyka toru bardzo mi odpowiada. Uwielbiam Red Bull Ring, gdzie też jest ogromna różnica wzniesień, także jazda na takiego typu torach sprawia mi ogromną przyjemność.
To co jeszcze bardzo mnie ucieszyło, to wygrana na Hungaroringu, która finalnie została nam odebrana. Zespół podjął ogromne ryzyko – pomimo tego, że było mokro na torze, ekipa postawiła, że tor będzie przesychać i wypuścili nas na slikach. Byliśmy jednym z pięciu aut (w całym wyścigu wzięło udział 48 samochodów), które wyjechało właśnie na tej mieszance opon. Była to ogromna żonglerka i ogromne stresy przed startem, bo nie wiedzieliśmy, czy da się jeździć na tym typie ogumienia i czy to nie przypomni to jazdy na lodzie, ale finalnie opłaciło się. Tempo było dobre i poprawiało się z okrążenia na okrążenie. Także dobór opon oraz jechanie wyścigu pod delikatną presją i ryzykiem to taki mój najlepszy trzeci moment sezonu.

Julia Paradowska/ThePitCrewOnline

Za najgorszy uznaję za to start w Zolder. To było ogromne rozczarowanie. Mieliśmy ogromnego pecha – mój zmiennik zjechał niepotrzebnie na pit stop. Przez to, że był to pierwszy weekend wyścigowy, to nie byliśmy tacy dotarci. Uważam to za jeden z najbardziej chaotycznych momentów w sezonie.
Kolejnym z najgorszych momentów to stracenie pole position w Central Cup na Nurburgringu. W kwalifikacjach byłam druga lub trzecia, ale tylko z powodu własnego błędu. Gdyby złożyć czas teoretyczny, to spokojnie mogłam wystartować na czele stawki do pierwszego wyścigu. Te kwalifikacje były – ciężko to nazwać takim najgorszym momentem, ale w perspektywie jakby mogło być szybciej, bo znałam możliwości swoje i samochodu. Nie chcę być brutalna dla siebie, ale trochę to właśnie ja zawiodłam, ponieważ spokojnie mogłam zdobyć pole position.
Trzecim momentem myślę, że będzie ostatni wyścig. Moja predyspozycja fizyczna nie była taka jak zawsze, ponieważ byłam przeziębiona albo nawet złapałam grypę. Byłam chora praktycznie od czwartku wieczora, więc piątek, sobota i niedziela to idealny czas na chorowanie – lepszego nie można było sobie wymarzyć (śmiech). Dzisiaj już było lepiej – wszystkie symptomy odpuściły, został tylko katar i lekka chrypka, ale to nie jest takie odbierające siłę. Myślę, że moje samopoczucie też potężnie wpłynęło na moją dyspozycję za kierownicą i na sam feedback, który oddałam inżynierowi z samochodu w piątek.

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The Heat Of Battle – How FLIR Thermal Imagery Helps Red Bull At F1 Demos (Ft. Max Verstappen) | M1TG

Check out the latest Mobil 1 The Grid video on how the team uses FLIR thermal imaging cameras and special heat control techniques at show runs. The piece features comments from Max Verstappen, in reference to his run at Zandvoort earlier this year.

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