 | | Dot Levitt |
Women in motorsport has been a controversial topic for many years. When you hear the word motorsport you tend to think men, fast cars and fast bikes. People rarely associate motorsport with women, but in fact there are many women exceeding expectations and challenging the norm in the racing world. Some people may argue that racing is a man’s sport, but they are continually being proved wrong time and time again. Women have been competing against men since the start of the century. So how have these women changed the face of motorsport? Over the next month I am going to be finding out about the history of motorsport, how you can get involved as a spectator and also as a competitor. History Although difficult at first, once women had established their place in motorsport, by proving that they were perfectly capable of handling such fast cars, they built up huge fan bases, and respect with spectators.
 | | Pat Moss, sister of legend Stirling Moss |
Until the opening of Donington Park circuit in 1933, Brooklands was for 26 years the only purpose built motor racing circuit in mainland Britain. The first meeting at Brooklands was held on July 6 but none of the male members of BARC (Brooklands Automobile Racing Club) could be persuaded to let Britain’s first known female racer Dorothy Levitt to take part. During the summer of 1908 authorities relented and allowed women drivers to race at Brooklands, although they were not allowed to compete against men. Unlike in Britain women racing drivers on the continent were being actively encouraged to take part in the sport at every level. Camille Du Gast – the first woman to achieve fame as a racing driver - proved that women did not damage the sports image and was always fearlessly competitive in everything that she did. In June 1901 Du Gast entered the Paris- Berlin motor race, at a time when it was socially unacceptable for women to participate in such events. She drove cautiously and was rewarded with 19th place in the heavy class and 33rd overall out of 47 finishers. Her achievement is stunning when you consider that she was driving a road car while virtually all the other competitors drove specially prepared racing cars. In Britain, the number of women drivers fell significantly after the war due to cultural changes taking place throughout the country. The government launched a PR campaign encouraging women to stay at home in order to get men back to work. If the odds were heavily stacked against women before – they were now even more difficult to overcome… | 
