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In what was once an almost entirely male-dominated MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship racing scene, almost all the women in the paddock were wives, girlfriends or treated as a form of decoration, there has been a gradual shift in the gender balance. It may be gradual, but it is also unmissable. We find out more about the present and future roles of women in WorldSBK.

Easing the career paths, demonstrating what is possible for women in this sport, is also seen as something for the powers that be to get behind. In June 2021, the FIM appointed Pippa Laverty to encourage and support more racing women in her new role as the newest member of the FIM Women In Motorcycling Commission. A truly multitasking entity, Pippa was once a grid girl. But here she is, married to Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW) of course, but a businesswoman in her past and now the focal point, figurehead and heart of aspirant women in WorldSBK in her very own right.

Surprising to some maybe, but Laverty does not see her role as trying to persuade men to be persuaded to accept more women joining in. “We don’t need to. It is clear when you look behind the scenes here, that there are a lot of females already in roles. And the point is that if you ask them it is because they have a passion for the sport. But others, take Silvia Diamanti, from Aruba.it Racing - Ducati. She worked in IT and had no idea that this even existed until she started working for Aruba.it (a huge Italian Internet provider as well as Ducati’s WorldSBK racing partner) and they wanted her to come to races to organise corporate hospitality and passes and everything. Now she is like, ‘Wow, racing!’ and she has a role in motorsport.”

Laverty agreed that there is a greater width and depth of roles that women have in the paddock, and that they are staying around in the sport for longer. And nobody is surprised about that. “That is definitely happening,” said Pippa. “It is also a generational thing, because some people growing up were probably told, ‘OK, girls do this, boys do that.’ That has changed over the last ten to fifteen years. Now people are like, ‘I like motorsport… I am a designer, so I am going to do all the graphic designs for a team. Or I like riding motorbikes and I am going to enter the Spanish championship. OK, I wasn’t great but now I am going to go into race PR.’ I cannot stress it enough; the time is now. People’s opinions are changing.”

Federica De Zottis, the HRC WorldSBK Communication and Press Manager, spent most of her career in MotoGP™, and she explained the way she because one of the most recognisable and respected PR people in our racing world. “I just kind of arrived here by chance,” said ‘Fede’. I was studying at University to become a doctor. It was my third year and I met a guy, working in MotoGP™. He brought me to a race in the paddock - and I said, ‘this is my life, I want to work here…’ This guy Carlo was working for Aprilia at that time, and I was living 30km from their base. His boss was Carlo Pernat and I met him in the paddock, and we spoke. Then one day I went to his office and told him ‘I would like to do this job; do you want to hire me?’ I was bright red with embarrassment, very young. Carlo said to me, ‘Hmm, I only have a very small amount of money, is that enough for you?” I said yes - and I left home to go work in racing. I just started as an assistant to the press officer. Because I had studied classics I could write and I started by being the assistant to the press officer, and preparing sandwiches, etc. I stayed six years in Aprilia, then I went to work for Max Biaggi, and when he moved to 500c he asked me to follow him and I went to work with him as a personal press officer. I worked for Max, then for JTI for three years, then Ducati and after that, Honda.”

Fede is not sure what can be done to artificially bring more women into what a very male-dominated arena is still. She thinks it will just happen anyway, especially now that the biggest ‘job title’ of all - World Champion - has already been achieved by a woman. “I think we are following a normal course; nothing needs to happen. We already have one female World Champion rider, which is unbelievable. I wasn’t sure I would have seen this. For me it was fantastic, really.”

The female World Champion Fede references is 2018 WorldSSP300 Champion Ana Carrasco, who became the first woman to be crowned World Champion in a motorcycle racing World Championship. It was a history-making event in 2018 and continues to inspire women that they become part of motorcycle racing. Carrasco, competing in Moto3™ in 2022, discussed how she has noticed attitudes changing throughout her time competing on the world stage, saying: “I think attitudes have changed a little bit from my first year in the World Championship in Moto3™ to now,” said Ana. “In the beginning it was quite strange for people, the riders, the teams to see a girl racing in the World Championship. But now, after some years here, and also because we are making good results, I think everybody knows I am fast, I can win some races and for them it is like normal to see me on the top of the podium.”

There are many other women doing incredible jobs inside the paddock too including Midori Moriwaki and Ophelie Ponsson as Team Managers are MIE Racing Honda Team and GIL Motor Sport-Yamaha respectively, while Monica Lazzarotti is the FIM WorldSBK Medical Director and plays a hugely important role for riders throughout their time in the paddock.

Luckily, more women are taking up vital roles within the WorldSBK paddock every year, ranging from press and communications, marketing, hospitalities, mechanics and technicians and more, as well as on the organisation and Dorna side of things. It is a trend that has been going on for a long time, and one that will hopefully continue in many roles within the paddock.

Celebrate International Women’s Day on social media using the #InternationalWomensDay hashtag!

Story courtesy of the WorldSBK Official Programme.