FIA WOMEN IN MOTOR SPORT MAY 2016 – ISSUE 10 REVITALISED BY STAGES Lara Vanneste on victory in Germany and falling in love with rallying all over again P 6 AUTO MAKING A DIFFERENCE Former F1 driver Susie Wolff launches Dare to be Different campaign with MSA UK P 10 WOMEN IN REALISING THE AMERICAN DREAM How Commission-supported US racer Ashley Freiburg is making motor sport headlines P 12 MOTORSPORT QUEENS OF THE DESERT FIA Women in Motorsport/QMMF crews conquer the Sealine Cross Country Rally P 4 AUTO+WOMEN IN MOTOR SPORT CONTACTS: IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER OR STORIES FOR THE NEXT ISSUE, WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. E-MAIL [email protected] 2 AUTO+WOMEN IN MOTOR SPORT Welcome to this latest edition of the FIA’s AUTO+ Women in Motorsport newsletter. In this edition we mark the achievements of the women involved in one of the Commission’s most recent initiatives - the Sealine Cross Country Rally Selection. Last year the Commission, in partnership with the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation, launched a search for new rallying talent, offering the prize of a fully-funded drive at the Sealine Rally to the best crew. In the end the level was so high that three crews were chosen and after a tough pre-event training schedule the women finally tested their mettle on the gruelling Sealine Cross Country Rally. You can read about their adventures in our cover story. Elsewhere, we focus on two drivers receiving commission support in 2016. First, we look at the exploits of Shion Tsujimoto in the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy and later we hear from the Commission’s first US racer, Ashley Freiburg, who is making waves in the world of Stateside sportscar racing. Finally, we celebrate some great starts to the season with Lucile Cypriano, who finished on the podium at the season opening round of the SEAT Leon Eurocup, and with Peugeot works rally co-driver Lara Vanneste who recently won in the German Rally Championship. We hope you enjoy this issue. Your AUTO+ team 3 AUTO+WOMEN IN MOTOR SPORT Cross Country Rallying Desert Determination Having come through a tough selection process instigated by Qatar’s ASN and the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission, three all-new female cross country crews recently took part in one of motor sport’s toughest challenges – the Sealine Cross Country Rally. What followed was a tale of grit, bravery and immense perseverance The Sealine Cross Country Rally lived up to its reputation as while Berton and de Roissard suffered two punctures and a gruelling test of competitors and machinery as the three got stuck in the sand. Gutierrez Herrero and Labuscagne female crews selected by the FIA Women in Motorsport fared better and ended the day in 25th place overall, despite Commission and the Qatar Motor and Motorcyle Federation getting stuck once. battled towering dunes, mechanical mishaps and the vast Afterwards, Berton admitted it had been a baptism of emptiness of the Arabian desert to eventually gain hugely fire. “It was a tricky first day for us,” she admitted. “Two valuable experience of this incredibly tough motor sport punctures, and when you are running at the back of the field discipline. and you get stuck, there is no-one there to help you. We lost Prior to the event, the pairings of Charlotte Berton and 45 minutes.” Antonia de Roissard from France, Emma Gilmour and Lisette Day two saw the competitors battle through a 345.89km Bakker from New Zealand and Holland respectively, and section, starting in Al-Kharrara. Once again the three female Cristina Gutierrez Herrero (ESP) and South Africa’s Sandra crews made it to the finish, with Gilmour and Bakker Labuscagne, spent three days training in the desert under the finishing in 21st position, though this time it was their turn to expert supervision of Dakar Rally winner Jutta Kleinschmidt suffer with a puncture. Berton and de Roissard, meanwhile, and multiple rally and cross country winning co-driver had to contend with a broken shock absorber and were forced Fabrizia Pons. to drive slowly to finish the stage. Then, with the practicalities of managing tyre changes, It was a tougher outing for Gutierrez Herrero and GPS and trip systems completed, it was time to take on the Labuscagne. The women were halted at km281 by electrical ultimate challenge – the rally stages. problems, though they were eventually recovered and The first of five punishing days of action across the length transported back to the bivouac by trailer. They would take and breadth of Qatar saw the crews tackle a first selective part in the following day’s stage, however. section of 226.42km, stretching from a startinfg point at the Day three brought the rally’s biggest test, a massive stage ancient northerly military fort at Al-Zubara to a finish close to of 355.49km. The day began close to the former bivouac at Sealine. All three female crews finished the first stage, though Sealine before heading towards the Inland Sea and the Saudi the shortest of the rally’s stages wasn’t without its difficulties. Arabian border, before revisiting the western coastline and Gilmour and Bakker were forced to drive with a broken GPS, turning inland to finish between Umm Qarn and Abu Nakhla. Charlotte Berton and Antonia de Roissard tackle one of the many 4beautiful but gruelling stages of the Sealine Rally in their QMMF supported NIssan T1 Patrol. AUTO+WOMEN IN MOTOR SPORT Despite the stage length all three crews again got their T1 Jutta Kleinschmidt and co-driver Philipp Beier, meanwhile, Nissan Patrols to the end, with Kiwi Gilmour in 18th overall finished in an excellent fifth position. at one point. Berton and Gutierrez Herrero also made good “This has been a really enjoyable event, demanding, progress after early delays. different and the stages were just the right length,” said After overcoming the difficulties of the first three days, Kleinschmidt. “It was a proper cross-country rally. It’s great to the women might have been forgiven for imagining their be back in the car and I hope that I can do some more events goal was in sight, but day four proved to be an even bigger now. There is still work to do.” challenge as each crew encountered technical difficulties. Commenting on her Sealine experience Gutierrez Herrero Gilmour and Bakker lost the studs from one wheel, while said: “In cross country there are many kilometres, you have Gutierrez Herrero and Labuscagne suffered a broken front to learn to get out of the difficulties encountered, and you differential. Berton and de Roissard seemed set to escape have to know how to control your nerves and learn to keep the mechanical woes, but 30km before the end of the stage a steady pace for many hours. But challenges are always the rear differential on their Nissan broke. Once again, the opportunities for learning, and especially as we are here for women were recovered and were able to start the final day. the great opportunity we have been given. The 350km final stage saw the crews battle through more “I will continue in this speciality because I feel very hardship. Gilmour was forced to retire when the wheel hub identified with everything that surrounds this world, and broke again and she shed the same wheel as on Thursday. hopefully I will continue to find support from it to continue Berton’s Nissan, meanwhile, succumbed to an oil leak. That growing as a driver,” she added. “Of course I want to make a left Gutierrez Herrero as the sole finisher and the Spanish special mention of Sandra, my co-driver, who did a brilliant competitor and her co-driver reached Losail in 24th place job getting me to the end of the stage every day.” overall. Her feelings were echoed by Gilmour who is now At the front of the pack, Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah determined to take on more cross country events. emerged unscathed from the final stage to confirm a “The whole cross country training and racing has been memorable victory. an amazing experience and I thoroughly enjoyed the stages; Finishing ahead of the X-raid Mini All4 Racing crew of navigating the dunes and driving flat-out across wide open Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk, Al-Attiyah recorded spaces and then nursing the car over the rougher rockier a second outright triumph with Overdrive Racing and the roads,” she said. Toyota Hilux in the space of four weeks and a fifth home win “It was all I expected, and more, and I really hope that in six years. I will have another opportunity to start and finish a cross The achievement marked a third successive victory for country rally. Dakar maybe! his French navigator Matthieu Baumel and gives the pair a “A very big thank you to the QMMF and to the FIA for comfortable lead in the FIA World Cup for Cross Country making the whole experience happen, and especially Jutta Rallies after three rounds. and Fabrizia who had the dream and the passion to make Behind Al-Rajhi, G-Energy Team Mini’s Vladimir Vasilyev the training a reality,” she added. “It was a shame we had and Konstantin Zhiltsov were third overall, while Yuriy mechanical problems that prevented us from repaying Sazonov and Konstantin Zhiltsov finished an impressive everyone’s efforts. I really hope I get to go cross country fourth in the Mobilex Racing Team H3. rallying again soon!” 5 AUTO+WOMEN IN MOTOR SPORT ADAC Deutsche Rallye-Meisterschaft Navigating her way back to the big stages Selected by the QMMF and the FIA to take part in the Sealine Cross Country Rally, Belgium’s Lara Vanneste suddenly found herself with an irresistible offer of a works rally drive in the German Rally Championship.