Performance differences between male and female racing drivers

Hardware, lives, military and political objectives.

Of course they would. They've been turned into yet another tool of social engineering.

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I have no idea if there are biological limitations on women racers. For all we know there are advantages. That's the main problem with today's academia/the sciences for laymen: they can't be taken at face value, and no one on the outside has the time to go over the research and arguments. That's on top of the endless stream of reports of 101-level errors and outright fraud in research for a very long time.

 

The math varies track by track...I'm just astonished how he once again manages to talk/praise about Elton about a subject completely unrelated to him. Just more evidence of trolling.

 

So since "women in attack choppers" (as an example) is a good story, we can't trust that they are actually qualified and able to do their job because the research can't be trusted according to you?

It's odd to me that you think research is holding anything back. Motorsports has never been about raw talent at the highest levels. Advancing has just as much to do with financial backing and marketability as it does with talent behind the wheel.

Max Chilton is a good example of someone with the funding and looks, but not the skills. Currently getting destroyed in Indycar in one of the best cars in the field. There are many teams, in many series which could do better with different drivers. They have to balance talent with how much money the driver can bring to the team. I don't know of one other "sport" that is comparable.

 

Haha - I totally read over that and zeroed in on what I thought was not accurate.

The whole weight thing in F1 is stupid anyway. Ricciardo being told not to eat leading up to the US GP last year to save weight in the car? Whoah - so exciting to fans!

 

Where did I say anything like that?

And, yes, in a politicized climate like the one we're "enjoying" today, we can't take things like this for granted anymore. That's one of the issues we were supposed to avoid under limited government.

Where did I say anything like that?

Always good to review the incredibly obvious -- thanks!

 

LOL! Dude, you are hilarious! I love it. More power to you.

Unfortunately, this stuff is not obvious to people that do not grow up in or around racing. People that grow up without money have no idea. They think it's the same as other sports.

 

+1

 

Sophia Flörsch, a name to remember. She hasn't had the results yet but she's a charger.
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The problem is that women only become more marketable when they enter the top flight of racing until then they are actually at a disadvantage and like others have said would need to rely on family money even more so than a guy who could just get regular "traditional" sponsorship to help.

If they were really more marketable at the junior levels we would have a lot more paid women drivers in F1.

 

I think many women think motor racing is pointless, in fact many think sport is pointless, i.e my wife.

So that leaves a very small % who would actually be interested in motor racing in the first place ...
Pete

 

Guys, i guess Michele Mouton is the answer to those who have doubts....she chalenged and beat the very best rally drivers of all times...in equal cars, so she showed a girl can be as good as a guy.

 

Exactly, but he never addresses when someone calls him on his posts. Or when someone dies. Or anything that doesn't have to do with kissing that sub-par drivers butt.

 

Jana drew thew analogy to fighter jets in the quote I cited.

In that context, whether we like it or not, standards are becoming less rigid in the name of political BS.

So, please, enough with the tone -- at least until you bother to take the whole context into account before you shoot off with the tiresomely obvious.

 

For some, a certain degree of amateur sport is acceptable from a discipline and fitness point of view, but the idea of competing is completely abhorrent to them.

Motor racing is all about competing, which some people find pointless.

 

I think racing is pointless and still love it; and for me it is about competing just as you say.

But I would also point out that for many it is about adrenaline. These drivers have a much different mindset in my limited experience.

 

I got the context. I'm super good at reading.

Seinfeld has a hilarious bit about tones; you should check it out.

You can skip my boring posts. Even ignore me! No sweat.

 

Some people get the buzz from driving fast cars at speed, but don't feel the need to compete: track days?

There are also several disciplines where you race against the clock, and not against another competitor too: hillclimbing, time trials, rallies, etc...

 

Just to be clear, I was talking about racers who are self-admitting "adrenaline junkies". Sometimes these people can be discipline enough to be good racers, and sometimes they can't. They are driven by the buzz as you say, but the competition is an essential part of it. They can't get that adrenaline release by just driving the car fast on their own.

It's funny - sometimes track days bring out the worst kind of competitors. Depends on the people and the organization running it. But yah, that is what track days *should* be - people running a pace they feel comfortable with in a group of similar skill/pace. No one should be racing each other. Some people want to get better; some people are content to safely run in the lower groups indefinitely. I started with infrequent track days with zero intention of ever racing; but things change.

The BMW schools and Ferrari experience stuff is also a good option depending on budget for those that just want to feel the sensations of these cars in a controlled environment. But you'll find that they are all run by racers, and they always sneak in some friendly competition.

Likewise many of the people are still competing on some level - against themselves, against benchmarks for their car or from friends, against other participants, etc.

Well, you are still competing - against yourself and against other people's times. Just because the cars don't run at the same time doesn't change the fact that it is a competition.

 

it's got nothing to do with whether women can drive/race or not. As have been pointed out, much of the lack of women on the grids can be explained by statistics. You'll have hundred of pesky little boys in karting series but only a handful of girls. A handful of the boys will go on to race in other series, and the same percentage of the girls will do the same. And then very few of those boys will go to the top series and, again, the same percentage of girls. which leaves us with a couple of girls every decade or so. As it is at the moment.

I do doubt it's about the physical capabilities. Just look at an F1 driver. They aren't exactly body-builders, are they? In other series the capacity for muscle mass might be an advantage to men but while certainly fit I haven't seen one on a level out of reach for women. And women can definitely be just as competition-minded, so that's not a problem either. Neither is pregnancy considering many women wait until their mid-30's before having kids anyway, by which time a F1 driver would be considered way over-age anyway.

**edit: racing now is less about physical ability than it used to be. The same holds true for piloting fighter planes. Less muscle, more brain. Much thanks to fly-by-wire systems required to keep modern fighter aircraft in the air. Thinking women get to be fighter pilots because of politics is just BS, they get to be fighter pilots because they meet and exceed the criteria. A lot of men and women don't meet and exceed the criteria to the same degree and are therefore not allowed to be fighter pilots. /edit**

All that leaves us with is culture. Get more young girls (and women of course) on the track now and in a few decades we will see more women racing professionally.

Also, I think often you need more than just an interest. Many people race karts, some race other verhicles. You really need a lot of support, financially and otherwise, to keep going and get into professional racing. Parents who have raced at amateur levels are more likely to be able to give that support, as are parents who have been heavily into practicing other sports or who have experience chasing sponsors. I'd say most parents are unable to provide the needed support beyond amateur racing. And the absolute majority of very talented drivers can just forget about "being discovered", you need to be at the right place at the right time and have the right connections.

 

Complete BS

 

forget it..he no longer can hear you..wich is a very good thing!!!

 

It's the wheel-to-wheel aspect that some people don't like, because it's based on aggression.

Some great competitions of the past like the Targa Florio, the Mille Miglia or the Panamericana Mexicana, and all rallies are against the clock. The participants rarely ever meet in competition.

 

The same reason there are way more boys in karting than girls. It's not like a bunch of girls wash out of karting at 5 years old because they can't hack it, they just never start.

 

Must be regional, my area is full of kids whose parent's expect their daughter to be the next Danica Patrick.

 

And maybe in 10-15 years we'll see a larger influx of female racers, but it's not going to happen overnight and for sure 15 years ago there weren't a lot of female karters. Locally here there still aren't that many. Maybe more than in years past, but still nowhere near 50/50 (or even 80/20).