think you maybe onto something here chap!, To get an extra edge over the other female rivals though… do you think if a guy got “The Op” done he/she could compete in womens motorsport??.. Legally these days guys that become a woman are classed as… well, a woman!! 
You can try that one out mate…My woman would kill me if I chopped Le Coch off…She wouldn’t stick around either 
I think youve covered most of it: a numbers game, and the racers youve mentioned. Steph Waddelow (going from club to BSB paddocks) will be particularly interesting in the next couple of years, Jenny Tinmouth was very good and caned the blokes at club level when she did a thundersport GB round this year at brands (I think the quote was: “first time Ive ever been beaten by a woman!”). Maria Costello is another one of course, who was supposed to do the Triumph Triple Challenge this year but crashed badly at Donington and then pursued her Trophy Ltd company.
Personally, I think there are a number of factors that have hindered me, for example:
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women are socially conditioned NOT to be agressive (especially given my height, Ive always been excluded for being boystrous - I think other, older, women and men felt threatened)
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women are socially conditioned NOT to be competitive - thats for you guys to be only
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women are not actively encouraged into motorsport - we should play netball and tennis only and very few schools will allow women to play football or rugby for example - my Dad never let me NEAR an engine - in fact I never even knew he rode a bike til after he passed away
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a lot of women simply dont have the confidence (because of the above)
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a lot also feel that they arent strong enough or tall enough/cant touch the ground
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at the circuit I am often not taken even remotely seriously - no eye contact on the grid etc lol when they dont know me to talk to - especially if they are a bit young - and when a girl doesnt do so well, its because she is a girl - if she does well, its the bike - Steph Waddelow used to get ignored by most of the blokes in her class - they just didnt know how to handle a female - you wouldnt BELIEVE the number of guys who have a big chip on their shoulders about being beaten in a race by a girl
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we are considered sex objects at the circuit, too - partly because there is a precident of ladies draping themselves over the bikes and on the riders
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female club racers often decide to give up and go and pursue other things before getting anywhere: Cherie (Christian, from this site) is pursuing other things at the moment, Kat Prosser (a friend of Sammo’s) decided to go and have a baby and give up racing, Susie Grayson retired last year and moved abroad, the list is endless. These are all talented ladies that either got fed up with the constant bashing of one’s head against the wall or just decided that they had other priorities.
There was a ladies only race earlier this year - the one that Jenny won and then went on to beat the guys outright too. I refused to enter that race exactly for the reason that women should not need their own race. Why would we need one? Is it that we cannot compete against the blokes? Jenny entered it for the right reason - because she is good enough to beat the blokes too.
Every track day I am on, I am the only girl and Im most certainly the only girl in the fast group. Until we are taken seriously, there will be no change. I just hope I dont have to ride in just my bra and hotpants to prove it! You would not believe the abuse I have received as a result of being female in this game. It is part of the reason I got kicked off that other site. Some REALLY nasty comments have been made on various forums, which is why I didnt really talk about it here. Some people change when they realise what I do - I become “The Enemy” somehow and there is this constant battle for them to prove themselves better than me. You wouldnt believe the number of accidents Ive caused at track days, just by BEING there. It especially pisses blokes off when they are on their tricked up R1s and Im going round the outside of them at Gerrards, knee down. The last bloke I can remember then decided to try and outbrake me into the chicane and low sided. I was the one that helped him put it back together in the paddock while his mates all stood round “directing”.
Its a catch 22 situation (prove results, results to prove). But I have a plan to help change that, so watch this space 
(sorry for the rant - probably my specialist subject lol)…
Jenny Tinmouth is destinated for a lot I think. We’ve watched her on Men & Motors programs and she’s seriously impressive. She’s kicked the ass of a lot of guys. There is no sex when the lids are on, it’s just talent and commitment that win the races.
I think it’s a generation thing, we’re getting to the point now where social perception and opportunities are improving to the point where if a girl wants to do this, she can. Now all that’s needed is a good pool of talent and the inclination of team managers to hire.
PMSL
I would have paid good money to see that…Especially the look on the bloke’s face, before and after the bike was sliding down the track.
Ahh well mate…If you can continue despite that crap, more power to you.
Incidents like above must make you smile a little bit though…C’mon 
Would it be wrong for me to say I wouldn’t mind an attractive girl beating me at the track if only so I could follow and admire? 
It’s only natural I figure 
I’d like it if she used fresh Birch :w00t:
Jenny is awesome. But Im afraid we arent really at that socially progressive point, yet. I still get comments like: “I didnt know they allowed women to race” and “oh so you must only race against women then” (the inference being that women are crap on bikes) - thats if I dont just get a grunt and if the person will even look at me. But to also be fair, not EVERYONE is like that. A lot of guys will be supportive and even treat me as an equal - but that’s only once we have spoken and they can see Im not a total airhead.
It can also get very nasty near the top. I recently stepped into territory of a couple of blokes who really didnt want me there (top 6 finishers) and I got a proper dressing down afterwards. In fact, one guy came up to me following a practice session and laid into me telling me that I was trying to kill him. What had happened was that he hadnt expected me to use all of the width of the circuit and being behind me, had somehow expected me to know he was there. He then ran onto the grass because he didnt want to brake. The fact is that the person in front has right of way - if you are behind and you cant get past, thats your own ineptitude…
Bahhhh humbug ! There are so few women that are interested in racing that it takes a long time for one of them to filter through to be good enough to get to the front.
There have been some very good women car drivers, Lella Lombardi in F1, I think Davina Galica but not sure she did very well, in rallying there is Pat Carlesson, I think she was Sterling Moss’s sister or relative so had a leg up but won the European championship in the 70’s racing against men so had to have the raw skill do win plus the determination.
My view is that it takes complete dedication to get to the front of any sport, to be good enough to race at the top you need more than just taking part.
Look at athletics, running, shooting, especially swimming, there are loads of women who are very good and as good as the men (given physical differences between men and women) but they have had to (like the men) dedicate themselves to the sport for years.
I had a mate years ago who swam and was a possible Olympic hopeful, but he got up at 6am each morning and swam for a couple of hours, he swam after school, he swam at the weekends, he did hardly anything that we did but that’s what it took for him to be that good.
I suspect the women who have got to the front, like the men, have been in a sitiuation where they can dedicate their lives to racing and as there are so few women interested in racing in the first place, unike blokes where almost all of us would like to have a go, it takes years for one to come along who is good enough.
This is a fair point, Steve, but why do you think that this is the case?! Why is it that a lot of women are not interested?
Because boys like playing with engines and soldiers and girls like playing with dolls and prams . . . from birth, not social conditioning. Try giving a girl an angine to play with or an old electric motor. Boys can be kept happy for hours taking things like old TV’s apart, girls like different things completely, even from very young. Boys like technical, factual things and girls like things that include emotion and feeling. OK, there will be the odd boy who likes dolls and the girls who like engines, but on the whole, 99% of girls like girly things and 99% of boys like boys things, it’s just how the majority of life is.
If I had the funds, I’d come racing with you Gabs
On my track days I always get suprised comments from fellow track dayers, marshalls and other people around. Even off track, the comments are plentiful. First assumption is that I’m a pillion, 2nd assumption is that I ride a small bike and the 3rd assumption is that I can’t possible ride a bike quickly :rolleyes:
well get it together then chick!
oh and dont forget to bring yer dolly and my little pony collection
None of you guys seem to have mentioned the fact that not so long ago we had a woman World Champion.:w00t:
wasnt that a sidecar pillion in like 1950 or something?
or do you mean Katherine Prumm?
Do you guys need a brolley blokey?
ONLY if you wear a pink tutu and ballet shoes with a low cut top.
really? ****! i must be blind!!