Latest / BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show / Sim to Track: Women Driving the Future of Motorsport Training

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Sim to Track: Women Driving the Future of Motorsport Training · BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show

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The following episode is brought to you in part by Women in Motorsports North
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America, a community of professional women and men devoted to supporting
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opportunities for women across all disciplines of motorsport by
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creating an inclusive and resourceful environment to foster mentorship,
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advocacy, education, and growth, thereby ensuring the continued strength
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and successful future of our sport.
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This International Women's Month, we've been celebrating the fearless,
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trailblazing women making waves in motorsports, on real world tracks, and
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in the fast growing world of sim racing.
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We'll dive into the journeys of Tatiana Calderon, Brenna
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Schubert, Nina Han, and Sally Mott.
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Chatting about their challenges and the adrenaline fueled passion that keeps
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them pushing for the podium from real life racers Breaking barriers to sim
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drivers redefining the competition from behind the screen These women are proving
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that racing isn't just a man's game It's anyone's race to win and with that
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I'm your host crew chief Eric from the motoring podcast network and filling in
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for Lauren Goodman from the Revs Institute We have Mike Noss from Innit Esports as
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our co host welcoming everyone to our center conversation So Tatiana, Brenna,
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Nina, and Sally, welcome to the show.
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Hello.
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Thank you.
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Thanks for having us.
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Like all good stories, there's always a super heroine origin.
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So let's briefly talk about how everyone got into motorsports.
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And let's answer the question.
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What came first?
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The Sim?
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Or the racer.
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So who wants to take that on?
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I guess I'll go first.
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For me, the racer came first.
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Me and my dad were at a miniature golf course when I was nine years old, and
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they had these rinky dink little go karts there, and I begged my dad to try them.
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He was not too keen about it, but I was persistent, so I hopped in the go
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kart, and as soon as my foot hit the gas pedal, I was hooked to the adrenaline.
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So that's kind of where it started for me.
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Nina, how about you?
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So as a kid, we went like a couple of times to karting
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tracks and that was really cool.
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And I really enjoyed it.
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And for just being a kid, I wasn't that bad, but then for a long time, it just
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died down because my family wasn't really into like motorsports or cars in general.
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And then through video games, I started playing just some normal
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games and then getting a sim and getting into it that way.
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Sally?
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For me, the driver came first.
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Kind of similar to Brenna's story.
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Got in a go kart at eight years old.
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Did my first race, got hooked, and here I am.
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Tatiana, how about you?
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Yeah, back when, when I started, there was not such thing as simulators.
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So, um, I started also like in a go kart rental that was near my house.
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My sister took me, she's seven years older than me.
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I got the buck straight away.
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Like I love the adrenaline, the speeds.
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Nobody in my family has ever raced.
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It was just the two girls.
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I have a younger brother who never was really interested.
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He was like, Oh no, this is for girls.
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So for me, it was like.
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Okay, I'm going to try this out because I really love being behind the wheel and
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quickly it went into karting and then I can't believe I've been here for over
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20 years so lucky to call this my job.
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I'm starting to notice a common thread here.
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Karting.
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Everybody starts in karting and that's really interesting.
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So does that mean that your first, and I'm going to use the term loosely, sim
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was then some sort of karting game?
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Maybe it was Mario Kart, maybe it was something else.
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Let's talk about your first experience.
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What was the game that got you in or the title that got you deeper
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into motorsport and made you more passionate about motorsport and
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started using that as a tool?
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I actually got hooked with Gran Turismo 3 on my PS4, I think it was.
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My dad actually made a wooden simulator, like a chassis.
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He put a go kart seat.
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It was literally like a go kart, but it was a simulator.
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It had wooden stuff.
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He just nailed plywood together.
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And I would sit on that thing for hours.
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And just try to focus as hard as I could for an hour straight and
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then go to the go kart track and I would just be that much better.
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It really, really helps my performance.
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But for me, it was Gran Turismo 3.
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I think Gran Turismo 4 on the PlayStation 2 was my first, but it might also have.
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Spin Nitro Speed underground too.
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It's one of the few games that I had for the PlayStation and then I just played
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them a lot when I really got into what I would call like sim racing with a wheel
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and stuff was with Dirt Rally because I saw it at a Friend's and yeah, and just
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really was fascinated by the Pace Notes and started to learn that and drive that.
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And from there I progressed onto like air racing and stuff.
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For me, I guess the first ever sim would probably be Mario Kart.
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My parents were never really big on video games when I was growing up.
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So I didn't really have access to anything like that other than
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when I was at a friend's house.
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But then more recently was when I actually got into sim racing and the mobile game
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street cars on my phone was how I got my prodigy pass into racing prodigy.
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So that was also go cart.
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involved as well.
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But now I'm lucky enough that I actually live with three other
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race car drivers and they all have super nice racing simulators.
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So now I actually get to play with the real deal a little bit.
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But similar to Brenna, I never really, uh, I sucked at video games.
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The only thing I actually liked was Mario Kart.
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I think it was like quickly through the pandemic that I really got into
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understanding sim racing and how much it translate into the real racing and
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really Got excited about it and fascinated by how much it has evolved since then.
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So I think it's a amazing tool that any racing driver, any aspiring race
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car driver should be doing, and I've been impressed because I've been
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coaching and prodigy with TC racing and.
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Honestly, like I can see like sim racing being a huge tool that I have been
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incorporating more for my racing as well So nina hit on something, you know She
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talked about her first sim sim dirt rally is actually a really good example of that
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because that was a step away From the dirt series and some of the more simcade games
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like gran others that exist out there So i'm wondering now fast forward you all are
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using Sim as a tool for being on track.
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And Nina, you spend a lot more time doing sim racing as well, you
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know, weekly, daily, et cetera.
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What Sims are you gravitating towards like proper Sims?
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And I know there's a limited number of titles there.
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We could talk about iRacing, Assetto Corsa, things like that,
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but what is your go to for training?
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My go to is definitely iRacing.
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I just feel that the physics are really, really good and they constantly
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keep improving on it, because, you know, it's subscription based, so
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they regularly bring like big updates and always making it better, scanning
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new tracks, reworking old stuff.
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Yeah, that's definitely my go to, but for stuff like GT3s, I
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actually prefer ACC, for example.
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I just feel like I understand more what the car is doing, and I understand more
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what the tires are doing specifically, like the GT3s and iRacing are just always
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a bit vague for me, for my feeling.
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It's more about like drifting than also the original Assetto Corsa is great for
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like simulating drifting on street tires.
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So every different simulator has its little thing that it does best.
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All of them are really great tools and depending on what you want,
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you can use them effectively.
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Kind of similar to Nina, like we drive on the sim a lot.
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I like iRacing.
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I feel like it's super duper realistic.
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Like she said, they laser scan the tracks.
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And for me, it helps me with gearing and braking going into race weekends.
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Like how I'm going to a race weekend this weekend.
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I've been on the sim a lot and it's definitely translates.
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To the real world I think, and we'll talk about that a little
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bit more as we go along here.
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So Tatiana, what about you?
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What's your sim of choice?
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I have to say I racing, since I started doing more races in the US
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I feel like the tracks are really accurate and I really enjoy I racing.
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I also have like a BL race tech, they're collaborating with me.
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They're develop sort of a platform for racing drivers so we can do like
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even set up with our own engineers.
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A bit more, you'll be using like sort of the parameters that you use in the car.
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Real for real.
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So I think it's, it's just evolving towards being able to
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work with your race team as well.
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But yeah, my, my go-to for now at my home sim is, uh, I racing, I would
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have to say I racing, but I also really like a set of corso because
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it has a lot of different mods for tracks that aren't found on iRacing.
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For instance, when we go to Nola Motorsports Park, that's not on iRacing.
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Atlanta Motorsports Park is not on iRacing.
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So this season I've had to use a set of Corso a lot to prepare.
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For the folks that are listening to this at home and they're thinking about, you
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know, oh, you know, racers and sim racing, using it as a tool and things like that.
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Sims are still categorized in the world of eSports.
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Prodigy Racing League is eSports.
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Innit eSports, right?
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Is iRacing, Assetto Corsa, all the racing titles, are they still considered
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a niche compared to what a lot of other gamers classify as eSports?
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You know, we're talking like Fortnite and League of Legends and Dota 2
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and stuff like that where it's like racing, that's not really eSports.
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That's something else.
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Let's talk about that a little bit and what the world of sim racing
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looks like versus the rest of eSports.
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Well, it's probably Similar to other categories of sports in real life,
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where you also have like the big ones like soccer or American football or
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those kind of things, but then you also have like the smaller ones and it
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doesn't make them any less of a sport.
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And in the same way, I just think that eSports in terms
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of racing, it's still eSports.
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because you use a computer and race or compete against others.
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But it's still like a niche because there aren't that many people in it yet.
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And also, since for most games, the only thing you need is kind of a keyboard and
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a mouse and you can already start playing.
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But for Sim, You need to actively decide to go out and buy a steering wheel and
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sets of pedals or something like that.
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Even though the entry barrier for sim racing is significantly lower
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than for real life motorsports, it is still higher than for a
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lot of the other eSport variants.
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I mean, I'm not super familiar with eSports in general, so excuse my
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ignorance, but I feel like sim racing has a lot more physicality involved,
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even though it is still electronic sport, but it teaches you more valuable
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lessons for the real life side of it than maybe some other e sports might.
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You know, one thing also we often talk about here with sim racing and
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the differences between real life and virtual, I know, especially
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we have some here that are quite.
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Expertise in a, in MX fives in particular.
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So this is one in specific when it comes to the SIM versus real
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life in the G force department.
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Some people often say, Oh, this isn't a realistic feeling
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because you don't have the G's.
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You don't have the leaning through the corners or the bumps necessarily to.
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But I'm curious to hear on your guys perspectives.
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So, uh, why don't we start off with Sally?
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Because I'm very interested to hear her perspective on that as well.
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I get that question a lot.
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I actually feel like the braking and the gears are very, like, dead on accurate.
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I feel like the car handles more like a spec Miata.
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It doesn't really handle like a cup car just because of the way that The
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rubber bushings in the back cause it to transfer weight more abruptly.
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You can kind of manipulate that with your footwork on the Sim.
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I feel like the handling could be more realistic.
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It's pretty good, but I would say the GR cup as well on iRacing
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feels pretty similar to the MX 5.
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Kind of a combo of both would be perfect.
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But they got the gearing and the braking, like, dead on.
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I mean, it's helped me so much.
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Like, when I show up to a track that I've been practicing on in iRacing, I
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got the gearing, I got the braking down.
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Now it's about getting the feel and really understanding the weight
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transfer, because you don't have that in a sim if it's not a motion sim.
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I'd say it's pretty realistic.
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I mean, I'm not sure exactly about The G forces.
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I mean, of course, you're only really going to feel that on the racetrack, but I
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always try and make sure that I'm setting my force feedback as high as possible.
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So it's similar to the radical because the radical takes a
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lot of upper body strength.
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You know, if my steering wheel is too soft, I'm like,
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Nope, we got to bump this up.
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Got to get my arm pump going.
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I come from a single seater background and most of those cars had no power steering,
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so I can identify myself with going up with the force feedback on the steering.
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They're on the single seaters.
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The G forces are such a big part of driving it.
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Right?
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So for me, like if I, if I drive a GT on the same or sports cars, it feels a
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little bit more similar to what I would do in, in real life, still missing a
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little bit of that braking deceleration.
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It's hard for me to feel in the, in the same, but I think the gearing and exactly
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where you, or where I struggle in the.
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Sim, it relates to where I'm struggling at the track most of the time.
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So I think it's a good indication of what you would probably struggle with
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and how you're going to adapt or improve.
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You have a bit more time to think about it before you hit the track.
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So I think that's a great tool from the same, but I still definitely miss
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a little bit of that GeForce feeling.
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Makes sense.
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And, uh, and lastly, Nina for this one.
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Very similar to the others.
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My real life racing time has been somewhat limited and I usually like to
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compare it to my Formula Student days because it's also open wheel and stuff.
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Since the tracks were so tight and had so many corners and stuff and you quite
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frequently pulled like two or three G's in the corners, it did fatigue your legs
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and arms way quicker than sim obviously.
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But in sim racing, I think what's really impressive is more like the mental
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endurance that some top drivers really put forward because the top drivers are really
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good at just putting out the same lap time for an hour straight or something.
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And that is definitely very impressive.
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Do you guys think that gear makes it better?
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Do you think you need a Logitech G920 versus the Fanatec CSL elites
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versus the top of the line motion?
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Simulators, I'm curious on what your guys takes are from the top all the way
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down to the bottom of those it definitely matters If you have better equipment, it's
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gonna be easier to feel like on iRacing.
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Okay Sebring, for example I started with the 29 Logitech I now have a
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Simagic wheelbase and just better equipment everything pedals like
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overall it's an investment but I'm taking my racing career more seriously.
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So it's more of a tool.
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I can feel the track way more better.
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Like just talking about Sebring, cause there's so many bumps.
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The force feedback is insane and it's so realistic.
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So I want to be able to take advantage of it.
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So I think it definitely matters.
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You have to get the best equipment if you're going to take it
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seriously, cause it's realistic.
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Good equipment is important if you want to really get to the top, but
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it's also that like, you need to.
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No, your basics, the equipment alone is not going to make you faster.
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So you still have to practice.
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And it's not as easy as just saying, Oh, I'm going to buy the most expensive wheel.
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And that will make me faster.
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It will at a point, but getting the fundamentals of breaking while
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turning and everything beyond that, yeah, absolutely makes sense.
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And Tatiana, I know you had something that you wanted to add.
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For me, it's like more like the closer you get to like feeling like the real
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car, the more you'll straight away jump in the car and be quick straight away.
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But I think.
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For me, it was very difficult when I didn't have a good enough equipment
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to really be learning something.
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Cause I was like treating it like a game more than a training session.
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So I think for me personally, it really did make a big difference once
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I got some proper stuff with feedback and especially the pedals as well.
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So it's like your brain treats this a little bit
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differently as a more realistic.
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for where you're going, rather than a game.
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Has anyone here, does have anything on motion, Brenna?
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I've had a little bit of experience with motion sims.
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I actually kind of just prefer a really good simulator over a motion simulator.
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In my opinion, I feel like the motion simulators.
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Weren't that accurately, you didn't really add much to the experience for
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me, you know, I'd much rather just jump in a SIM and be like, wow, this
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is the best similar I've ever been in.
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You know, it works with my driving style in real life because that's always
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something that I've struggled with is like, since I didn't start out SIM racing,
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I feel like sometimes it's harder for race car drivers to be fast on the SIM.
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If they started on real life, because the skills don't translate as well that way.
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So I'll be honest, I am not the best sim racer here by far, but you know, I try
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my best to prepare for my races, but it's really important for me to jump in a sim.
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And.
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Have it feel similar to what I feel in real life, or else I'm
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just going to get too frustrated from spinning out all the time.
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And then I'm just like, quit.
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Yeah.
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What you said is extremely important.
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So I want to pull on that thread, Brenna, and I want to pull on another
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one that Sally laid out before we transition to our next section.
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And as Sally said, talking about Sebring or VIR, Watkins Glen, or any
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track, you know, like the back of your hand, you get back on the sim
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and you're like, Oh, that car doesn't do that like that in that turn.
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I've driven this track a hundred times.
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Sebring and I racing.
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Let's talk Brasstacks full honesty versus Sebring in your car.
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How realistic is it really?
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And how close are the sims to what you're really doing on track?
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If I had to put it on a scale of like one to ten, if we're talking
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about MX5 Cup Sebring, because I just recently tested there and I
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can also get on the sim and do that.
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I've been practicing for that test.
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It's hard to say.
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I mean, it's at least in like the seven, it's a, it is a, it's a good
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seven, I'd say It's very realistic in terms of the gearing, the braking,
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and they do have the bumps down.
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I mean, they've laser scanned every track, obviously.
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I would say the thing that it's missing is.
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The handling of the car specifically, and then obviously when you're in the
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car, you're feeling the force feedback of like, okay, you're in the middle of the
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corner, the steering wheel gets light, or it gets tight, especially in the MX
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5 coupe cars, we have power steering, so in the middle of the corner, it gets
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really light, and you're like, whoa, and for my sims specifically, I don't
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feel that, it's just Linear the entire time, which might be a setup thing.
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I mean, it could be changed, but it's good enough.
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I obviously prefer real life, but it definitely is good for the mental.
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And like Nina was saying, like if you can do consistent laps on the SIM driving
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in real life, in my opinion is easier.
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So when you drive in real life, you're just going to be very, very good.
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I would rate it a 7.
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And I'm glad you said that, and it goes also back to something
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that Brenna said about motion.
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Like, I've said it publicly, I'm not a huge fan of motion, because you
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get into a motion sim, and again, you're like, the car doesn't do this.
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A car does not move you a foot in the air when you accelerate.
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The motions are very slow.
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Subtle of a car, the suspensions on a race car are very taut,
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especially in open wheel racing.
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I mean, they're very, very stiff.
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So you feel a lot through the steering wheel.
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You feel a lot through your butt as you're sitting in the seat, but the car
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itself, there's a little bit of body roll there, but it's not as exaggerated again.
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It's not an arcade game.
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So I struggle with that too.
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But again, if we take this under the auspices that it's a teaching
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tool and it's a learning tool and it's a gateway to other things.
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Well, now we can continue the conversation, right?
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One of my favorite questions to ask any driver in general, regardless of it's
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sim racing or real life, is your mental preparations, either pre events, post
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events, to lead up to calm those nerves, especially, and I know some drivers have
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some weird routines, so if you do have any weird routines, kind of fun things,
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do share, but even if it's just a more normal one, what are those kind of pre
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race rituals that you guys do have?
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Oh, good question, you know, I think it varies.
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It has varied.
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For me, at least, how do I switch my mind into like a race mode and calm
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myself down, but also be super focused.
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So for me, like listening to music before I jump in the car, having my
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warmup routine with some like tennis balls as well for some coordination
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reaction, which is usually with my sister.
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So it's a way to understand like how you're feeling and if
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you're too quick catching a ball or if you have to calm down.
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I think it's about just self awareness, what I try to do, but
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yeah, it has varied through the years.
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I used to also like just wear the same pair of underwear or same, you know,
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it was the same pair of of booze or stuff like that, but then I grew up
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and started to do this a bit more, but it involves having that dopamine
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of physical activity and relaxing your mind or activated with music.
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I love the juicy details to Nina, why don't you go next?
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I meditate quite regularly when I do start feeling the stress
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before a big race or something.
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I just use some deep breaths to get myself into like that focus state for meditation.
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Yeah, I use that to calm down and start being focused.
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Awesome.
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Sally?
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For a race, I also, I like to meditate.
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If I'm like really nervous, I like to jump rope and kind of get some
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energy out and try to like calm myself because I do the best whenever I am
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just like very centered and very calm, not thinking about anything else.
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So jump roping and meditating and, and some music.
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Sometimes I listen to California girls by Katy Perry.
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That's my free race ritual.
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I discovered it at homestead because my crew chief played California
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girls before I went out and then I podiumed in the practice.
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So I was like, yep.
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That's going to be my ritual from now on, but that's your song.
20:49
Before we get deeper into that, let's kind of switch gears a little bit and
20:53
talk more about your experiences in motorsport since we're celebrating
20:57
international women's month.
20:58
I want to take a moment just to talk about some women that have.
21:02
Inspired you in racing, either in the virtual world or in the real world.
21:06
When I started like 20 years ago, I think obviously, you know, you get a look at
21:11
somebody like Danica Patrick who won an IndyCar race at that time, it was Maria
21:17
de Villota was testing in formula one.
21:18
And I was really close to formula three when she started testing.
21:23
So I think she was a reference, but before, you know, Michelle
21:26
Mouton, Linz and James.
21:28
I think they all in their field really inspire us to know that it was possible.
21:32
But when, when I started, there were not that many women actively
21:36
racing in the highest category.
21:38
So I think that's been sort of a trend.
21:40
I think we have to see it to believe it.
21:43
And it's great that today with social media, with.
21:46
All the documentaries and everybody pushing for women in sport in general.
21:51
We're finding out about these incredible stories.
21:53
So yeah, hopefully more to come.
21:56
When I was younger and started out in carding, I honestly
21:59
was just happy to be there.
22:01
Whether there were other women or not, but I think now that I'm older, it's so
22:06
much more inspiring when I see women who are in professional series higher than
22:11
me, just people that I can look up to now.
22:14
For example, just.
22:15
Tatiana, the fact that she's here at these races, coaching
22:19
us at Prodigy is just amazing.
22:21
And Catherine Legge is there as well.
22:24
So it's really cool to be in the same atmosphere as these people on
22:28
a regular basis and just trying to take in the knowledge from them.
22:31
As I mentioned, I really started to get into it with third rally, obviously
22:36
Michelle Mutton, but also when I was racing as a kid in the rental cars,
22:40
similar to Brenna, I didn't really.
22:42
I noticed myself as like different because when you're in the cart,
22:46
everyone has a helmet on and you might see some long hair under the helmet.
22:51
But apart from that, it's like a helmet and a lap time.
22:54
My goal was always just to faster than ideally everyone
22:57
else, especially this year.
22:59
My biggest inspiration is the Iron Dames.
23:02
I've actually modeled my livery this year and my suit, my whole theme
23:06
after them, because they inspire younger women to pursue their dreams.
23:11
And their slogan is, Every Dream Matters.
23:13
They actually invited a bunch of younger girls, like in STEM, to actually
23:17
write on the car what their dream was.
23:19
There was a lot of them like, I want to be a race car driver.
23:22
I want to be an astronaut or I want to be the president.
23:24
And it was really inspiring to me.
23:26
And so I look up to them because they are just badass all around.
23:30
They're repping the pink, which is something that I've been doing for
23:33
a while, trying to set myself aside.
23:35
But the coolest thing is that they're giving back and that they're inspiring
23:39
younger women to come up and just.
23:41
do what they want to do, whatever their dream is, regardless
23:43
of what society tells them.
23:45
And so I would say that's been my biggest inspiration for a couple of years now.
23:49
I'm glad you went there because I want to highlight the fact that
23:52
we've been very fortunate to have many female pro drivers on the show.
23:55
And there's also this sort of category that's been coming up in
23:59
other shows, you know, history's forgotten female racing drivers.
24:02
So Cindy Sisson likes to call them she rows.
24:04
I know Lynn does as well.
24:05
So I'm sort of wondering, is there a Shiro out there that you would like to
24:09
sit down and have a cup of coffee with and talk about racing or learn from them?
24:13
Who would that be?
24:14
I've been fortunate enough to like be able to sit down and talk to them.
24:19
You know, I think there's still a lot of barriers in the
24:21
sport for women in motorsport.
24:23
And we need to work together towards change because there is a reason why we
24:29
haven't had many chances in this sport.
24:31
Just to be able to sit down with them and discuss and compare what
24:35
happened like 20 or 30 years ago.
24:38
Is it still happening today?
24:40
How do we address this?
24:41
How do we change this?
24:43
And I think we have incredible like role models that are really
24:46
trying to change the game for us.
24:48
Uh, I was fortunate enough to be at the commission of the women in motorsport
24:53
when Michelle Muldoon was there, I've been talking to Lynn and to Cindy about it,
24:58
even with Susie Wolf, and it's great that we can all like come together and try to
25:04
change it for the next generation, for the sport to be a bit more accessible for us.
25:08
There's not been that many women, unfortunately, but we will change that.
25:12
I actually want to give a shout out to Margie Smith Haas.
25:15
She is a legend.
25:17
I actually met her at the San Diego, um, ACO club.
25:20
She's on this call, actually, and she is someone I look up to because
25:24
she was one of the first, and she is overall badass, and she's amazing.
25:29
She is definitely an inspiration.
25:31
Miss you.
25:32
Yeah, I'm going to say her.
25:33
I would have to say Michelle and Tom because I love her quote where she
25:37
said, you know, somebody asked, what does she feel before she gets inside
25:41
a race car when she's in a race car?
25:42
And she said, I feel nothing.
25:43
And I feel like that really resonated with me because I kind of felt
25:47
the same for a really long time.
25:49
And right now I'm trying to get back to that because when I felt that
25:53
way, I was winning all the time.
25:54
And now I've kind of lost that confidence and I kind of think
25:58
too much when I'm in the car now.
26:00
So I'm trying to get back to that point.
26:02
So maybe she would be able to help me with that.
26:04
Similar.
26:04
to what Brenda said, like Michel Motard, but also maybe one of the earliest, or
26:09
the earliest, I'm not 100 percent certain on that, like Helene Nys, and also with
26:14
what Tatiana mentioned, is to ask like, okay, what were their biggest struggles
26:19
back in those days, and to compare that to what the struggles are today.
26:24
On the one side, appreciate what maybe has gotten better, and what has changed,
26:28
but also to just emphasize what problems are still there after all these years.
26:33
Would be very interesting to talk about those different types of motorsport.
26:37
I'm actually really glad that you did bring that up as well as both you,
26:41
Nina and Tatiana making that comment.
26:43
Cause this is something of course, that we would love to talk about here as well.
26:46
What challenges have you faced as a woman in motorsports?
26:49
And what are some of the ways that we can address those moving forward as well?
26:52
Well, I know for me, I've gotten in my head a lot because I don't want to.
26:59
Prove the stereotype right.
27:00
I want to prove the stereotype wrong.
27:02
But there's always that pressure that it's like, as a girl, you have to
27:06
perform well, because all the eyes are on you looking for you to mess up.
27:11
If a guy doesn't perform well, nobody bats an eye, but they just had a bad race.
27:15
But a girl could be performing well on multiple occasions, but people only
27:19
remember how bad she did that one race.
27:22
It's really hard to get past that personally and just keep my head
27:25
clear and keep that confidence that I used to have when I was younger
27:28
when I didn't think about what it means to be a woman in motorsport
27:32
because I was just a little kid.
27:33
So I'm trying to get back to that mindset.
27:36
I want to piggyback off of that because Last season, especially,
27:39
there was only two of us.
27:40
It was myself and Heather Hadley, and we had a whole docuseries on us.
27:44
And so it was kind of like 10 times the amount of eyes and pressure.
27:48
And since I was one of the only girls, I felt like if I messed up, it's
27:52
going to be the end of the world.
27:53
And people are just going to be like, Oh yeah, just another girl driver who sucks.
27:57
Everything in me wants to prove them wrong, because at the end of the day,
28:01
the car doesn't know who's driving it.
28:02
It's extra motivation, to be honest.
28:04
I let that fuel me, but sometimes I do get in my head, and then
28:09
I will make a mistake, and then I'm like, why did I do that?
28:11
I just proved them right.
28:12
So at the end of the day, it is more motivation, but it is something that
28:15
I do struggle with every now and then.
28:16
I love, as well, bringing up that Lindsay James quote as well.
28:19
Of course, it's not the car that knows whether you're male or female.
28:21
It just cares if you hit your braking markers at the end of the day.
28:24
So no, absolutely.
28:25
I love that.
28:25
Why don't we go to Nina next?
28:27
With the previous two, but also finding racing gear for women.
28:31
That's cut for women, especially fireproof bras.
28:35
I think there has to be more gear available because we aren't just
28:40
this very like niche thing anymore.
28:43
Like there are lots of women who need race suits and not just race suits, but also
28:48
mechanic suits, you know, working in pits, for example, on the side of the racetrack.
28:53
I would really appreciate.
28:55
if there was a bit more, let's say, entry level priced stuff for women.
28:59
Very interested here, Tatiana, to hear exactly what you can say, as well as, like
29:03
I said, when it comes to some of the ways that we can move forward in improving it
29:06
as well, because somebody who's been in the scene for such a long time, I feel,
29:10
might have some pretty good insight here.
29:11
Oh, thank you.
29:11
I think it resonates with what we're discussing, right?
29:14
Like, just even the gear, it's a big topic, but if you go beyond that, it's
29:19
like The cars are all designed with male measurements, you know, even in
29:24
like a road car, you're more likely to get hurt if you're a woman because they
29:28
take the base measurements of male.
29:31
We have to train in a different way because we have a period
29:35
every month, so our hormonal system is very different to men.
29:39
The way we see the world, our vision, the way we feel the car, our muscles,
29:43
the way we break, there are differences, but everything has been designed to suit.
29:48
Men's nature and not woman's nature.
29:51
And when you're looking for tenths of a second, that's the difference
29:54
in any category these days, you got to take those into account.
29:58
So I feel like we've always been on the back foot naturally.
30:02
It was not really our fault, but it's our responsibility to make
30:06
sure that people are aware of.
30:08
The changes that need to be made in order for us not only to be safer, but
30:13
to be able to show our full potential.
30:15
So the way you set up a car for a man, I mean, everybody is a bit different,
30:19
every driver, but there are certain characteristics that a woman needs.
30:24
In order to be quick because our thought process also is different.
30:28
So I feel like there's so much research to be done on that area.
30:32
And sometimes that's why we're being judged so quickly, right?
30:35
They give you two races and otherwise you're out.
30:38
It takes me longer to get up to where I feel the car is comfortable and I can
30:43
drive it and convince those engineers and convince people to make those changes.
30:47
It takes longer for us.
30:51
So I think there's so many things that still need to be changed
30:55
for women not to participate, but to have the possibility to win.
30:59
And that's the game changers.
31:00
I'm very passionate about trying to do some studies with even Purdue University
31:06
with other different aspects to make sure that they're taking us seriously.
31:11
Seriously in the design of cars and in so many other ways.
31:15
Makes sense.
31:15
And I think this is actually a really good segue to get us into some of the
31:19
misconceptions that you guys have faced throughout the years of sim racing,
31:23
racing in general, of course, with females just being involved in the scene.
31:26
There's some flack that's been thrown in the way and obviously
31:29
some ways to deal with that as well.
31:30
So I'm curious to hear on some of the stories that you guys have had regarding
31:33
that and again, ways that we can improve that as well, moving forward.
31:36
So why don't we start off with Nina?
31:38
difficult to put, like, all the stuff into words.
31:41
What I sometimes felt like is that people think that women are, like,
31:45
less interested or less motivated to, like, even just learn about the cars
31:50
and learn about the physics and are only there because our parents said us.
31:55
down into cars as kids or something.
31:58
The reality is we all fell for the love of speed just as any man.
32:02
Yeah, I think there's like some misinformation about
32:05
women that it's out there.
32:07
Oh, you're never going to be able to risk as much as the guys
32:11
or you're never going to be as.
32:12
Strong as them.
32:13
So you're never like the winning horse in a team.
32:16
And you're always like not being taken seriously in a way.
32:20
So I think that's like the most frustrating, but at the same time,
32:24
motivates you to like prove them wrong and prove that doing your way,
32:28
you can do a lot of great things, but you're never taking that seriously.
32:32
And they tell you that for a girl, you're doing really good.
32:35
And it's like, I don't care.
32:38
I want to meet all these people.
32:39
That really is a coin that can bite on both ways.
32:43
I feel like at the track, especially when I'm getting coaching, for example,
32:47
and we're looking at data and we're overlaying with my teammates who are
32:50
top five or even winning the race.
32:52
And we're looking at data and maybe I'm struggling and the coaches are almost
32:56
like, they're talking down to you in a way because they're like, Oh, you're a girl.
32:59
Like we have to be more sensitive and we can't be like, all right, you suck here.
33:03
Like.
33:03
pick it up.
33:04
I have to tell them.
33:04
I'm like, Hey, tell me like bluntly be as blunt as possible.
33:07
Like you suck.
33:08
You need to do better here because that's how I learned.
33:10
And if they sugarcoat it because I'm a girl and I can't take it,
33:14
then I'm never going to get better.
33:15
I just feel like sometimes you have to be like very assertive
33:19
with how you want to be talked to and how you want to be coached.
33:21
Because I agree with what Tatiana said.
33:23
Sometimes they'll be like, well, you're doing good for a girl.
33:26
And that's not why we're here.
33:27
We're not here to be top finishing female.
33:29
We're here to be the best, not the best girl.
33:31
And so that's something that I think a lot of the mechanics, even the
33:34
mechanics and the coaches and my crew chief, I have to be like, Hey, you
33:37
need to talk to me like I'm a boy.
33:38
Just tell me how it is.
33:40
That's something that I think is very prevalent.
33:42
I've always found that, you know, there's always an excuse if we do perform well.
33:47
Also, I mean, when I was growing up, when I was younger and carding, everyone
33:51
would be like, Oh, well, you know.
33:52
You weigh a hundred pounds less than I do.
33:54
I'm five foot 11 and I weigh 190 pounds.
33:57
So I don't really think that that's accurate, but you know, things like
34:00
that, like it was just, there's always an excuse to everything if
34:04
we do happen to perform better.
34:06
And I think it's also when we do start performing well, then.
34:11
People start getting threatened as well, kind of get intimidated.
34:14
There's never a happy balance because people are hating on you.
34:16
If you're not performing well, and then if you are performing
34:19
well, they get threatened.
34:20
I feel like again, another great segue to, uh, the next topic that we have here is
34:24
maybe a little bit lighter form of topic here for some of the moments that you guys
34:27
have had in your career, maybe setback.
34:29
That have pushed you forward and gotten you to be better off
34:33
where you are and made you kind of the person that you are today.
34:35
I was going through a lot of social media hate about two years ago from
34:40
actually my direct competitors in carding.
34:43
It was pretty devastating.
34:44
I mean, they were making full on hate pages about me with like
34:47
photoshopped pictures and everything.
34:50
And it was interesting to get that from not just random people on the internet,
34:55
but from your direct competitors.
34:57
I actually ended up having to get the series involved and things like that.
35:01
But I've kind of now just realized that there's nothing really that I can do about
35:07
any of that stuff other than to just try and block it out and just do my best.
35:12
So I'm just, again, trying to get that confidence back into my system
35:16
to just know that I belong here.
35:18
I'm not an imposter.
35:19
I deserve to be here just as much as anybody else.
35:22
Actually, last year, my first year in MX5 Cup.
35:25
Especially at the beginning, getting Top Finishing Female Award even
35:29
when, you know, I finished 18th or 19th because I'm so new and I was
35:33
trying to figure everything out.
35:34
I remember specifically one time I posted, I worded the caption wrong.
35:39
I said, Podium and Race 1 or whatever it was and it was a picture of me
35:42
holding Top Finishing Female Award.
35:44
And then there was just hate comments like, oh wow, like, you know, it was like
35:46
18 people finished ahead of you and I was like, you know what, you're right.
35:49
But that clicked for me.
35:50
I was like, you know what?
35:51
This isn't something that I'm striving for.
35:53
I'm not striving to be top finishing female.
35:55
I'm striving to be the best.
35:57
And so I kind of stopped promoting that because I was like, you know what?
35:59
It doesn't mean enough to me for me to like push it out there.
36:03
If I get a top 10 or if I get a top five, that's when I'm going to be super excited.
36:07
But.
36:07
Just the comments were like, wow, like, that's what you're happy about?
36:10
Like finishing, you know, 18th and 19th.
36:11
And I was like, you know what?
36:12
No, just because I got this check.
36:14
Cause I meet one other person.
36:16
It's not good enough for me.
36:17
Kind of pushed me to be better and have a different mindset.
36:19
Yeah.
36:19
Well, one setback that is still sometimes on my mind is.
36:23
In the Formula Student times, we always had these driver selections
36:27
each year, because one of our team was then selected driver to be competing
36:31
against the other universities.
36:33
And in the first year that I was part of the driver selection,
36:37
there was like, on the track that they laid out, was like a bump.
36:40
And then they told us, hey, be careful in that bump, like don't break the car.
36:44
I did take it carefully there.
36:46
Everyone else didn't, and I didn't make it into like the last stage because of
36:50
a couple of tenths, which you lost a lot of time if you didn't go full there.
36:54
Basically that switched something in my brain and where I was
36:57
like, I'm just gonna go fast.
36:59
I know it's not gonna break the car, so it's gonna be fine.
37:03
And I'm not going to be held back by some people.
37:06
I don't know, thinking I would break the car there or whatever.
37:09
You do your thing on that one.
37:11
And then of course, Tatiana, lastly for this, and I know you probably have one
37:14
in the back of your mind as well with W Series and everything on that round.
37:17
I'm very curious what you have to say on this.
37:19
I have a strong one.
37:20
Unfortunately, like when I was racing in formula two, my teammate lost
37:25
his life in a, in a big accident.
37:26
And for me, that was like a moment of, wow, you're exposed to a really high risk.
37:31
sport.
37:32
You can really get hurt.
37:34
But also like all we have is the present.
37:36
I think sometimes with the amount of pressure that we put in ourselves because
37:41
we're representing women, because we want to do better, we forget to enjoy what we
37:47
have and make the most out of every race.
37:50
And I think when you enjoy what you're doing, that's when results start to come.
37:54
For me, it was like a hard reminder of you're there because Because you
37:59
enjoy doing it and I will keep doing it because if something happens to me, I
38:04
rather be doing something that I love that is a big reminder every day of
38:08
really enjoying all the opportunities you have and make the most of what
38:12
you have and really don't care about.
38:14
Anything else and the results and everything will come from it.
38:17
One thing we also want to touch on here, which we've already kind of touched on
38:20
a good majority already with the SIM gear and various other things, but let's
38:24
maybe dive into a little bit more with both getting women more involved with
38:28
virtual as well as real life racing series, but sort of just being more
38:31
inclusive as a whole, what are some.
38:34
Massive steps forward that we can take to improve on that.
38:37
I would say getting them started in carting.
38:40
So promoting more women in carting, and that's something that I've done
38:43
some coaching with some like eight year old girls and you know, it's just
38:46
the best thing ever because it almost reminded me of like a little me, right?
38:49
Cause the way that I saw the world was just so different.
38:52
And I was like, Whoa, like I'm driving a go kart and this person is coaching me.
38:56
And I'm just like, I can't imagine, like, if that person coaching me
38:59
was a girl racer who was racing in the highest ranks of whatever.
39:04
One of my personal goals is actually, in the future, create
39:07
a racing school that actually has the ladder system set in stone.
39:10
Because I feel like there could be more of a ladder system.
39:13
And to get young girls from karting into either open wheel,
39:17
oval stuff, or sports car.
39:18
But I would say start at the grassroots level and get them up from there.
39:22
We need more experience.
39:23
I feel like there's a lot of girl drivers out there who just simply did not start at
39:27
the same time that most of the guys did.
39:29
Because they started so young and they thoroughly worked their way up the ladder.
39:32
For me personally, I skipped a lot of steps because of the Women's Initiative
39:35
Scholarship and I wish that I had that extra experience to fill in those gaps
39:39
because I would be a lot better by now.
39:41
True to my heart as well from teaching carding schools.
39:43
I used to do that myself.
39:44
So that's just, I love it.
39:45
Yeah.
39:45
Brenna, curious to hear what you have to say on this one.
39:47
I think a big thing is Just a positive attitude and your engineers, your
39:53
coaches actually listening to you and taking your feedback into consideration.
39:58
I mean, a few of us have mentioned that it's hard for us
40:02
to get them to actually listen.
40:04
Well, what we're saying at the last race at Homestead, I finally had
40:09
that for one of the first times ever.
40:11
I had two amazing coaches, Fittipaldi, and they listened to everything I had
40:15
to say, same with my crew chiefs, you know, listen to every feedback that I
40:19
gave were so supportive, you know, at one point in the new car I was put in, my
40:23
foot was leaning against the brake pedal.
40:25
I would have been dragging the brake the whole time.
40:27
And the first guy that came up, he was like, well, there's
40:29
nothing we can do about that.
40:30
And then Pietro and Enzo were like, absolutely not.
40:32
You're going to change that yada, yada.
40:34
And then magically they were able to change it all of a sudden when
40:37
they, they said they couldn't.
40:38
Just having that positive support is such a big thing.
40:42
Additionally, I don't know if this falls into gear or not, but we definitely
40:45
need women's carding seats because the hip bruises and everything are
40:50
insane in the male carding seats.
40:53
It's just absolutely terrible.
40:54
And that'll probably help with more girls getting into carding.
40:57
Yeah, obviously I agree to the first two, but I really enjoy just be seeing
41:02
way more women on social media doing racing where maybe it wasn't on my
41:07
radar a few years ago, but that was something that really inspired me a
41:11
lot and really made me to really set myself the goal of racing in real life.
41:17
After a while, I just saw more and more women doing this and was like,
41:20
Hey, maybe it isn't impossible.
41:22
Maybe.
41:22
Maybe there are women who do this and there are many cool communities out there
41:27
for specifically women in motorsports or sim racing where you can connect
41:33
with them and it's obviously easier to talk to them about maybe like the same
41:38
issues that you had because you're a woman and then connect that way and also
41:42
maybe have different ways of explaining, different way of understanding stuff
41:45
and just really like how the whole social media and communities are.
41:50
You know, the increase of getting news and getting the exposure that women need,
41:55
I think it's naturally going to inspire more girls in all aspects of motorsport.
41:59
So I think we need to keep pushing for that visibility, but there's still a
42:04
lot to be done in like the sponsorship side of things and really creating
42:08
better support for the young girls.
42:10
starting because, you know, it's a very expensive sport in any way you look at it.
42:15
There's more to be done there.
42:17
As I said before, I think it's great.
42:19
Participation is a big step, but then it comes down to performance as well.
42:23
And I think that's the next step that we need to achieve to
42:26
focus on making sure that women have the right tools to perform.
42:30
It will come, but it just takes a little bit.
42:32
Longer than what we want.
42:33
We're naturally raising drivers, not very patient.
42:36
And I would like to see more change in that and more participation and
42:40
more opportunities with sponsors.
42:42
But I think we're all moving in the right direction with the right organization,
42:46
like WIPNA, like FIA, Women in Motorsport and other various organizations,
42:52
like Nina was saying before.
42:53
So our audience is probably wondering where we're going with this.
42:56
Were we supposed to be talking about sim racing?
42:58
We spent a lot of time in the second segment talking about your personal
43:01
journeys, but we're actually going to circle back to sim racing now in our
43:04
final segment, and you guys touched on something really important and
43:08
that's why we have this discussion.
43:09
You started talking about the feeder series and how we
43:12
bring more women into racing.
43:14
And I noticed something really interesting.
43:16
Maybe it's a generational thing.
43:17
You all, as we said at the beginning, started in carding,
43:20
more carding, more carding, carding has become more and more popular.
43:23
It became less recreational.
43:25
And again, yet another tool, just like sim racing is to get into motorsport.
43:29
But when you talk to a lot of the pro drivers.
43:32
of a previous generation, like Margie, like a David Murray and Andy Pilgrim,
43:36
all those groups of drivers that came up at the same time, they started an
43:40
autocross, a totally different discipline in motor sport, which has sadly sort
43:44
of died off over the years, but it was another cheap way to get into racing.
43:48
When we take all that aside and just put the lens of sim racing
43:52
on top of this, How is sim racing?
43:55
Being used as a pathway into motor sports.
43:59
So I'm going to kick this off with Nina because she's very familiar with this.
44:02
And so how are programs like entity sports and even prodigy racing,
44:06
building SIM drivers into real driver?
44:09
First of all, up SIM in general, it is a great tool because you're just not
44:13
limited to the amount of fuel or the amount of tires that you have on track.
44:17
You can drive as much as you want in the same conditions, day or nighttime.
44:21
Whenever you have time, you don't have to drive to a track in here and there.
44:24
So you just have way more time that you can spend on practicing exactly
44:29
what you need to practice on.
44:31
Yeah, and then obviously if you have these competitions online, these
44:34
feeder series as you call them, you can compare against people worldwide
44:39
and really see, okay, How good am I?
44:42
Or was I just maybe good at my local karting track?
44:45
There aren't that many opportunities yet to really get from sim
44:48
into a car directly, but they start to get more and more.
44:52
And big series, for example, ENA's car, where you have some people who
44:55
start out in sim and then go through the roster and improve and improve.
44:59
And learn basically what the differences are between sim and real life, and then
45:03
become really good racers because they have so much practice, they can quickly
45:07
adapt to like new cars or new tracks and changing conditions in real life.
45:11
So Tatiana, working with Prodigy Racing League and being a coach there, how
45:15
are you building those pathways into motorsports for these young ladies?
45:18
I have to say, I've been hugely impressed with the level of
45:21
performance of all the stuff.
45:23
that are in Prodigy.
45:26
So to me, it was a like eye opener, like I said before.
45:30
So I think it's, it's a clear pathway for young girls to start.
45:34
Like Nina was saying, if you need to go to the track and you put tires and, and
45:38
you need so much money to get started and to really learn the basics and even like.
45:44
From the data points, you can shortcut so many things by training in the same.
45:49
So I think it's going to be making it more affordable.
45:52
There are some sim racers.
45:54
I found out as well, you get paid in certain teams to do the job.
45:59
Sometimes, you know, as a racing driver, you suffer a lot to even
46:02
get a salary sometimes, so it's.
46:05
To me, it has opened a big opportunity to increase the participation
46:10
and the training of young girls.
46:12
Super proud to be part of the prodigy racing league to see them doing so well.
46:17
And I will be pushing from my side as well, to make sure that there's more
46:21
opportunities for female drivers between the series as well, because sometimes,
46:25
you know, if you want to change something and you want to give women a chance.
46:29
You need to invest in it.
46:30
It's a great timing for that.
46:32
So as I turn this over to Brenna and Sally, I want to also add to this, the
46:36
importance of all the STEM programs that are also adopting sim racing as
46:40
part of this larger ecosystem, this feeder pathway into motorsports.
46:45
But I also like to remind people, it's not just STEM science, technology,
46:48
engineering, and math, it's steam science, tech, engineering, arts, and math.
46:53
So I wanted to just address that with your thoughts on STEM
46:56
programs and sim and how that's.
46:59
Well, there's a lot of opportunities within sim racing.
47:02
Like I have a friend who does sim coaching and he literally looks at
47:05
graphs, just like the real world.
47:06
Like, what does your brake trace look like?
47:08
What is your throttle chase?
47:09
And it's like, it's offering jobs to people, especially like Tatiana
47:12
saying race car drivers who need more income, you can actually
47:16
provide coaching services on the sim.
47:18
And you can kind of coach the engineering as well, cause you can create your own
47:21
setups on iRacing, especially, and you can play with how the car is handling,
47:26
how it's feeling with the conditions.
47:27
And that I think ties perfectly into the STEM and the STEAM community.
47:32
It just offers a lot of jobs like that, that are pretty similar
47:34
to real life, but it's just.
47:35
It's on the simulator.
47:36
So I brought up a good point, but you know, even with regards to steam
47:40
with the arts aspect, I'm sure they need people to design deliveries
47:44
in sim racing and stuff like that.
47:46
So all types of aspects that go into sim racing, as far as jobs are concerned.
47:51
Nina had mentioned she was in formula student.
47:54
I was in formula SAE.
47:55
We definitely would use the sim to practice for our yearly competitions.
48:00
A lot of the jobs now in engineering, they pretty much only hire you if
48:04
you competed in Formula SAE, so all of that combined together, I think
48:09
it's definitely opening up pathways for everybody, not just the drivers.
48:13
So I want to close this thread with Nina, who we started with, specifically because
48:17
Init has the Sim4STEM program as well as the Screen2Speed program, which you've
48:22
come through, and so I wanted to get your take on that, what that means, and
48:25
how all of this is enveloped together.
48:27
Init Esports does certain STEM events.
48:30
And I'm not too much involved because I'm in Germany, so I can't really do much
48:34
stuff like on site in America, sadly.
48:36
But they do go out on tracks or like to schools and just build up a rig
48:41
and give especially young girls a go and just showing them the ways
48:45
around and like all the different destinations within that big field.
48:49
Yeah, and with Green 2 Speed, for example, in 2022, I believe, or 23,
48:55
it was before I joined the program.
48:56
They, for example, had a program in Las Vegas where they flew contestants
49:00
out, and the winner actually got some seat time in a Porsche GT3 or
49:06
Porsche Cup, if I remember correctly.
49:08
As I said, it was before my time.
49:09
But yeah, you can definitely find a lot of info about that on the homepage.
49:13
I have two daughters, both of which have grown up, unfortunately, influenced by the
49:17
world of motorsports, specifically sports car and endurance racing, although my
49:20
favorite discipline has always been rally.
49:23
That said, they've both taken an interest in motorsport and they both do jump
49:27
on my sim from time to time, although they're starting out with fun things
49:30
like Forza Horizon where they can just drive forever and, you know, stuff like
49:34
that, because they're not really ready.
49:35
to do laps, although they've talked about, Hey, dad, when are
49:38
we going to go to the cart track?
49:39
If my eldest walked up to you and said, Tatiana, why do you race?
49:43
What would you say to her?
49:44
What advice would you give to her at almost 11 years old to
49:47
become a female race car driver?
49:49
What do you say?
49:49
Unfortunate?
49:50
No, there's so many barriers that still are there for women.
49:54
But I say that.
49:55
And I, I remember when I was nine years old and I turned on the TV and I
49:58
wanted to become a formula one driver.
50:01
Um, Yeah.
50:01
I've driven a Formula One car coming from Columbia where we had one race track.
50:06
So at the end of the day, it's about how much you want it.
50:10
I could not imagine like my life without racing, even if it's sometimes we
50:14
look at like achievements as trophies.
50:17
It's more than that is.
50:18
How can you just make this world more accessible?
50:21
That is a, is a trophy in itself.
50:24
So my advice would just be like, to really do what you love.
50:27
At the end of the day, you will be able to learn so much from your discipline.
50:32
The, the barriers.
50:33
It makes you a much complete person being in, in a space.
50:37
that challenges you, where communication is so important.
50:41
So I think it's about finding that passion and really going for it and not putting
50:46
any limits because it's all in our head.
50:48
If we want people to define how far we can come, it's in their
50:52
interest to put you limits.
50:54
But you gotta believe in yourself and do the best you can and see how far you come.
50:58
I don't want to ask myself what if I had just tried one more year, you know?
51:03
So I think it's about finding that purpose in life and enjoying what you're
51:07
doing because then everything comes.
51:09
I would just say if it's what you love, you'll know that
51:13
you, you want to do it forever.
51:15
I mean, just like Tatiana said, it's a passion that keeps on giving, even though
51:19
it might hurt us sometimes as well.
51:21
It's something that's just addicting and expensive, but mostly just.
51:27
addicting.
51:28
You know, some people shop when they're stressed.
51:31
I want to, I want to race when I'm stressed.
51:33
It takes away all the outside pain in life and just gives you a purpose.
51:38
It's really the only purpose that I find myself needing to do.
51:43
Nina, what advice would you give?
51:44
Go for it.
51:45
Try it out.
51:46
Sims aren't that expensive.
51:48
You can get into it quite cheaply.
51:50
And just try out what you enjoy because there are many different categories
51:55
from like circuit racing, rally, hill climb, drifting, ovals, truck racing.
52:00
There's so much variety within racing in general.
52:04
Just go for it and take your chances.
52:07
That's How I got to be in a driver selection for an electric F4, I just
52:12
went for it and was like, okay, I'm actually gonna put my effort into it,
52:15
write a proper application, give all my history on it and see how I prepared
52:21
this in that way for it and everything.
52:22
And at the end of the day, this got me into a really, really great
52:26
experience of racing an open wheel car.
52:28
Definitely go for it and realize that if you put your mind to it, it is possible.
52:32
I would say the same thing.
52:34
Go for it because you can do it and it's so empowering.
52:37
To me, it is literally my purpose in life and it brings me so much joy and so much
52:42
happiness and it's like what I strive for.
52:44
It's what wakes me up at 5 a. m. every day.
52:46
I mean, and it's so rewarding.
52:48
The lows are low, but the highs are so high, and I've learned so
52:52
many life lessons along the way.
52:53
So I would tell her to absolutely go for it, and if she loves it, she's going to
52:58
put her all into it, and it's going to be the best thing in the world because it's
53:01
so empowering, and it's very rewarding.
53:03
We've talked a lot here about past presence, but we haven't talked too
53:07
much about The future necessarily.
53:09
So I'm very curious here.
53:11
And why don't we start off with Nina?
53:12
What is the future for you for Nina Hahn?
53:15
When I really started to take some racing seriously, it kind of came
53:19
as just a step to reach my goal, which is to race in the 24 hours
53:23
of Nürburgring on the Nordschleife, which may be coming from Germany.
53:26
Maybe I'm a bit biased, but it's just such a great race.
53:29
And I've been there.
53:31
Last year, for the first time, sadly it was cut short a bit, but
53:34
I do plan on spending quite a bit more time on the track this season.
53:38
And, as I said, my goal is definitely to race in that.
53:41
To get there, you need to do, like, the different licenses, and because
53:45
it's so long and difficult track, you have to get special licenses
53:49
to be able to race in that race.
53:50
And I'm currently still finishing my education, so I need to do that first
53:56
because that's also very important to me, but on the side, like on the weekends
53:59
and everything, I try my absolute best to get as many steps done as possible
54:04
to one day race in the 24 hours.
54:07
And now Tatiana Calderon, what does the future hold for you?
54:10
Well, that's, you know, I've been fortunate enough to race in many
54:14
series, but of course I want to win a 24 hour race, either if that's.
54:18
Daytona or, or LeMans on, on my car.
54:21
And I want to be back here racing in IndyCar.
54:24
I've never had the chance to do the Indy 500 and it's something
54:28
that I'm passionate about.
54:30
And I am still with the energy to hopefully one day make it
54:34
there and make a good impact.
54:36
Love it.
54:37
Sally Mott, what does the future hold for you?
54:39
My dream is to be on the podium at the 24 hours of LeMans.
54:43
That's something that I've always wanted to do.
54:45
Probably, hopefully in a Porsche.
54:48
Let's go.
54:48
And now last but not least, of course, Brenna Schubert, what
54:51
does the future hold for you?
54:52
Well, right now I'm just trying to focus on racing prodigy, trying to
54:57
make it to the P2 championship next season, eventually, I mean, it's.
55:02
It's definitely a big ask.
55:04
I'd love to compete in NASCAR at some point, obviously I'm shooting high,
55:10
but Hey, if I end up a little bit below that, that's still a great thing.
55:13
Racing anything is, is awesome.
55:15
But I just think NASCAR is a really cool platform.
55:19
I did get a chance to do some legend car racing this season for the first time.
55:24
I'm trying to get more experience, more on that path and doing
55:27
some dirt racing and oval stuff.
55:29
But I'd be happy doing anything.
55:31
Well, ladies, we've reached that part of the episode where I like to invite all
55:34
of our guests to share any shout outs, thank yous, promotions, or anything
55:37
else that we haven't covered thus far.
55:39
Of course, I definitely want to thank racing prodigy for all
55:42
they've done to get me where I am sucker punch pickles as well.
55:46
And I also, I'm an incorporating Cadillac racing instructor at the Ron
55:50
fellows performance driving school at spring mountain motor sports ranch.
55:54
So I wanted to give them a little.
55:56
Shout out.
55:56
It's such a great program that they have going.
55:58
I mean, I've been to a few different racing schools and this
56:01
one's by far the best and most thought out in their preparation.
56:05
So they've helped me a lot with my driving as well.
56:07
Just being able to be in those cars and talking about what I'm
56:11
doing and teaching the students, it's helped my driving as well.
56:15
MX5 Cup for the scholarship and basically changing my life.
56:20
I did my first season last year and it has elevated me as a driver, as a
56:24
human being, as a proposal writer, as a sponsorship getter, as a businesswoman,
56:29
as an entrepreneur, everything.
56:30
It's literally changed my life and then bringing this docuseries on is going to
56:34
do amazing things for the series as well.
56:36
And then I do want to thank my dad because he's my number one.
56:39
I mean, he's the reason why I've gotten this far and he's
56:41
pushed me past my limits.
56:43
And I never thought that I would be here.
56:45
If you told me that I was going to be here five years ago,
56:48
I would just be mind blown.
56:49
Then I also want to thank Mazda Motorsports as well
56:52
for everything they've done.
56:53
Of course, all, all my partners are AV Ray Stick Wonder Studio.
56:58
There's a very famous Colombian artist.
57:01
Her name is Carol G, and she has a foundation to empower women.
57:05
They're, they've been supporting me for the last two years,
57:07
and of course, my family.
57:09
for supporting women in motorsport and giving us access to these platforms.
57:16
So yeah, hopefully together we can keep growing and yeah,
57:19
thank you for that support.
57:20
I want to give a shout out to Olympus Esports, my main Esports
57:24
team that I'm racing with.
57:26
As well as Innit Esports for number one, getting me onto this panel.
57:30
I got the connection through them and also just for connecting with Beits Gewisser,
57:34
which I've done like two sim racing events with, which has been very insightful,
57:38
very cool to race with real life drivers.
57:41
And also to the Shift Up Now organization, because I really felt that when
57:46
I joined them, they had like some great webinars that helped me a lot
57:50
personally in how to really do more social work and promote myself more.
57:56
And I really feel that that has made a big impact.
58:00
Well, before I turn this over to our title sponsor for a few
58:03
closing words, you never know who's going to drop in on the audience.
58:05
And I see that Steffi Bau, one of our sponsors from Innit Esports is here.
58:09
Steffi, do you want to say a couple of words before we close out?
58:11
Yeah, it's been a pleasure and you ladies keep going, never give up.
58:15
You know, I used to be a racer as well, and I think sim racing is the way to
58:19
go, you know, in regards to opening up more pathways and opportunities.
58:23
I'm proud of all of you, and let's do this all together.
58:26
I will turn the mic over to our title sponsor, the International Motor Racing
58:30
Research Center, for a few parting words.
58:32
Ladies, I've just sat here in awe of each and every one of you for the last hour.
58:36
It's just been great.
58:37
This has been a wonderful series.
58:39
I think this has been a great way to wrap it up.
58:41
Hopefully we'll continue with this.
58:43
For Brenna, Nina and Sally and Tatjana, thank you all for your time.
58:47
Thank our associate sponsors, Society of Automotive Historians, ACO, WMNA,
58:51
Racing Prodigy and Innit Esports.
58:53
Again, thank you all for taking the time.
58:55
It's been wonderful.
58:56
Really appreciate it.
58:56
Thank you so much.
58:57
And I have to give a special shout out to Mike Noss for filling in for
59:00
Lauren Goodman tonight on short notice.
59:02
So thank you, my friend, for coming on and co hosting with us.
59:05
And on behalf of everyone here and those listening at home, thank you
59:09
ladies for sharing your stories with us.
59:11
And that's a wrap on our International Women's Month coverage.
59:15
We celebrated the fearless women pushing limits in motor sports and sim racing.
59:19
A huge thank you to our panel for sharing their journey, insights, and passion.
59:24
If you loved this conversation, be sure to share it with your fellow racing fans.
59:28
And if you want to keep the conversation going, follow us
59:30
on social media and Discord.
59:32
And let us know, who are the drivers inspiring you?
59:35
You that's right.
59:36
And we hope you enjoyed this presentation and look forward to more center
59:40
conversations throughout the season.
59:41
Be sure to follow subscribe and stay with us for more incredible discussions
59:45
from the world of motor sports.
59:46
To learn more about upcoming center conversations, please visit www.
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racingarchives.
59:52
org and click on events for those details.
59:55
And until next time, keep the wheels turning and the throttle wide open.
59:59
Woo.
1:00:00
Thank you.
1:00:01
Thanks for having us.
1:00:02
Yeah.
1:00:03
Thanks for having us.
1:00:04
Thank you ladies.
1:00:04
It was really terrific.
1:00:05
And that's a wrap.
1:00:12
Women in Motorsports North America is a not for profit organization
1:00:16
that began in 2022 known as WMNA.
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It is a community that focuses on advancing, connecting, and enabling with
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If you'd like to stay informed about WMNA and the Women in Drive
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This episode is brought to you in part by the International
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Its charter is to collect, share, and preserve the history of motorsports.
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The Center's collection embodies the speed, drama, and camaraderie
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com forward slash GT motorsports, and remember without you, none
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of this would be possible.