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42 Friday Sports Friday, November 22, 2019 Women drivers can succeed in Formula E, says Venturi’s Wolff LONDON: Formula E starts its sixth season in was a woman capable, like Jamie, have no doubt Saudi Arabia today with an all-male cast of I would put her in the car,” said Wolff, a former drivers but Venturi’s Susie Wolff, the only Williams F1 development driver whose husband woman to run a team in the electric series, says Toto runs Formula One champions Mercedes. change will come. While a woman has not “And I would hope that would be the case for started a Formula One grand prix since the late other manufacturers.” Italian Lella Lombardi in 1976, three have competed in Formula E since the city-based cham- BIGGEST ISSUE pionship began in 2014. Wolff, who competed in the German Tour- None have had staying power, however, with ing Car Championship (DTM) but has now only Swiss Simona de Silvestro completing a hung up her helmet, wants to see more women season in 2015/16 for the U.S. Andretti team racing against men generally. A critic of the W and scoring four points. Britain’s Katherine Series single sex concept when it was an- Legge and Italian Michaela Cerruti lasted two nounced, she recognised women needed more and four races respectively in 2014/15 before track opportunities. being dropped. “Overall, there is a positive to those women “I think there’s no reason why a woman racing,” she says now. “Our biggest issue is the can’t be successful in Formula E,” Wolff told lack of young talent coming up the ranks. And Reuters in a telephone interview ahead of the that’s at every level. There’s a real lack of young opening race. “I definitely see that coming in girls entering the sport. the future.” British racer Jamie Chadwick, win- “What’s changed massively in the last three ner of the inaugural all-female W Series this years is that there are now a lot of opportuni- Susie Wolff ( Second left) with Venturi Formula E team. year, has expressed interest and tested with ties for women. Before there hadn’t been but the Nio team in Saudi Arabia a year ago and in now the opportunity’s there. “The truth is we ence. Venturi have Brazilian Felipe Massa, ROKiT are also title sponsors of Williams F1, Morocco last January. don’t always have the talent there to put for- Formula One championship runner-up with coincidentally the only Formula One team to be Beitske Visser, the Dutch racer who was run- ward. That’s the worrying thing and where Ferrari in 2008, along with Swiss-Italian ex- run by a woman. Wolff said her past Williams ner-up to Chadwick, was Formula E test and re- we’ve got to be very proactive now to get DTM driver Edoardo Mortara who won a race connections had played no part, however. serve for BMW Andretti last season. De enough young women coming into the sport so last year. “Actually it all came about because one of Silvestro, 31, drove a Venturi when nine women they can rise through the ranks.” The Monaco-based team are using the same the businesses that ROKiT has, called Smart joined the men in testing after last year’s inau- All of the Formula E champions to date powertrain as Mercedes, effectively giving Cities, basically puts internet connections into gural Saudi race. The Swiss is now with Formula have been ex-F1 drivers and the field draws them identical cars to the German manufac- city centres,” she said. “I think Formula E is at- E newcomers Porsche as a test driver. heavily from that world, with nine of the cur- turer’s, and announced yesterday a new title tractive because of the new technology and the “If I had a gap in my driver lineup and there rent 24 having previous grand prix experi- sponsor in telecoms company ROKit. fact that it’s sustainable.” — Reuters Lyon’s ex-All Black Ngatai Rennie won’t wary of Leinster test make excuses PARIS: Lyon’s former New Zealand cen- Tuisova who joined ‘The Wolves’ from for rebuilding tre Charlie Ngatai says hosting record Toulon for the new campaign. The 2016 four-time winners Leinster in the Champi- seven-a-side Olympic champion is an in- Wallabies ons Cup on Sunday will be “massive” for jury doubt due to an ankle problem but the inexperienced club at the highest level has scored once in two games following of European rugby. his arrival at the Matmut Stadium after MELBOURNE: Newly appointed Wallabies coach The French outfit, who lead the Top 14, being knocked out of the Rugby World Dave Rennie knows he will be expected to deliver are only in the competition for the second Cup pool stages. instant success to win over sceptical fans and says time and lost all six of their pool matches “He can turn nothing into something. he will not reach for the “rebuilding” excuse if re- last season. “It’s going to be massive. You just give him the ball and he feeds off sults do not go as planned. The New Zealander was They’re going to want to come down here that. You can see his raw power and his handed the reins on a three-and-a-half year deal on and give it their best,” Ngatai told AFP. ability to break the line,” Ngatai said. “The Wednesday and will take over a Wallabies team in “I guess we have a chance to put a foot more ball we can give him, the more dan- transition after their quarter-final exit from the forward to show how we can hold our own gerous it is for the opposition to try and Rugby World Cup Japan. against a big team. “We had a taste of it defend him. He pulls in two or three de- “The Australian public expects the results and Newly appointed Wallabies coach Dave Rennie. last year, we know what the standards are fenders which they have to worry about. they’ll probably expect it immediately,” Rennie, who and we have to lift our standards each He opens up more space for us,” he added. starts the job next July, told local media yesterday. “I don’t want to give the players any excuses Rugby Scott Johnson on the ground sizing up game.” Elsewhere this weekend, title holder player prospects. Rennie said he would look to The 25-14 defeat to Northampton last Saracens welcome the Ospreys in their that we’re building and all that sort of stuff so the expectation is that we’re going to work re- focus more on domestic players in Super Rugby in weekend was their second defeat in three first home fixture since they were handed building his Wallabies squad rather than look at games after having remained unbeaten for a £5 million ($6.5 million) fine and docked ally hard, we’re going out to win footy. “I just feel if you use excuses, you’re giving players an others overseas. “It’s a big question isn’t it, because the opening seven rounds of the domestic 35 points for breaching Premiership the advantage of having guys playing Super Rugby campaign. “It wasn’t where our standards Rugby’s salary cap rules. out to maybe under-perform, so I guess like the Aussie public, we’ll all be thinking the same means that we’ve got access to them, we’ve got in- have been this season. We were disap- On Sunday, South Africa’s World Cup fluence,” he said. pointed in our own performance. At this winning fly-half Handre Pollard could thing, we’ll be desperate to perform well and keep building on that.” “And obviously picking players from overseas, level you can’t give away as many penal- make his Montpellier debut as they play maybe it works alright in a World Cup year but it’s ties,” Ngatai said. Gloucester after he replaced the departed Australia’s next internationals come in a two- match series against Ireland in July. Rennie, who will difficult to have influence. “Best case scenario is that Lining up outside the one-time All Aaron Cruden in the French club’s squad we’re going to try and develop guys within Aus- Black Ngatai could be Fiji winger Josua for the competition. — AFP finish up his coaching contract with Glasgow War- riors in June, will have little time to get acquainted tralia and promote them and try and build experi- with the Australian set-up but will have Director of ence that way.” — Reuters.

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