Sim Racing Success Stories of Trailblazing Women

This International Women’s Month, we’ve been celebrating the fearless, trailblazing women making waves in motorsports—on real-world tracks *and* in the fast-growing world of sim racing. We’ll dive into the journeys of Tatiana Calderon, Brenna Schubert, Nina Hahn, and Sally Mott chatting about their challenges, and the adrenaline-fueled passion that keeps them pushing for the podium. From real-life racers breaking barriers to sim drivers redefining the competition from behind the screen, these women are proving that racing isn’t just a man’s game—it’s anyone’s race to win!

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00:00 Meet the Panel! 01:12 Origins: How They Got Into Motorsports 03:08 First Sim Racing Experiences 05:35 Preferred Sim Racing Platforms 10:15 Realism in Sim Racing vs. Real Life  18:38 Mental Preparation and Pre-Race Rituals 20:58 Inspirational Women in Motorsports 26:46 Challenges and Misconceptions in Motorsports 32:13 Facing Gender Bias in Racing 36:19 Setbacks and Lessons Learned 38:17 Promoting Women in Motorsports; Sim Racing as a Pathway? 49:43 Advice for Aspiring Female Racers 53:03 Future Goals, Aspirations and Shoutouts

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This episode was sponsored by The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), The Society of Automotive Historians, The ACO USA, Women In Motorsports North America in partnership with The Motoring Podcast Network.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The following episode is brought to youin part by Women in Motorsports North
America, a community of professionalwomen and men devoted to supporting
opportunities for women acrossall disciplines of motorsport by
creating an inclusive and resourcefulenvironment to foster mentorship,
advocacy, education, and growth,thereby ensuring the continued strength
and successful future of our sport.

(00:23):
This International Women's Month,we've been celebrating the fearless,
trailblazing women making waves inmotorsports, on real world tracks, and
in the fast growing world of sim racing.
We'll dive into the journeysof Tatiana Calderon, Brenna
Schubert, Nina Han, and Sally Mott.
Chatting about their challenges and theadrenaline fueled passion that keeps
them pushing for the podium from reallife racers Breaking barriers to sim

(00:47):
drivers redefining the competition frombehind the screen These women are proving
that racing isn't just a man's gameIt's anyone's race to win and with that
I'm your host crew chief Eric from themotoring podcast network and filling in
for Lauren Goodman from the Revs InstituteWe have Mike Noss from Innit Esports as
our co host welcoming everyone to ourcenter conversation So Tatiana, Brenna,

(01:07):
Nina, and Sally, welcome to the show.
Hello.
Thank you.
Thanks for having us.
Like all good stories, there'salways a super heroine origin.
So let's briefly talk about howeveryone got into motorsports.
And let's answer the question.
What came first?
The Sim?
Or the racer.
So who wants to take that on?
I guess I'll go first.
For me, the racer came first.

(01:30):
Me and my dad were at a miniature golfcourse when I was nine years old, and
they had these rinky dink little go kartsthere, and I begged my dad to try them.
He was not too keen about it, but Iwas persistent, so I hopped in the go
kart, and as soon as my foot hit the gaspedal, I was hooked to the adrenaline.
So that's kind of where it started for me.
Nina, how about you?

(01:50):
So as a kid, we went like acouple of times to karting
tracks and that was really cool.
And I really enjoyed it.
And for just being a kid, I wasn't thatbad, but then for a long time, it just
died down because my family wasn't reallyinto like motorsports or cars in general.
And then through video games, Istarted playing just some normal

(02:10):
games and then getting a simand getting into it that way.
Sally?
For me, the driver came first.
Kind of similar to Brenna's story.
Got in a go kart at eight years old.
Did my first race, gothooked, and here I am.
Tatiana, how about you?
Yeah, back when, when I started, therewas not such thing as simulators.
So, um, I started also like in a gokart rental that was near my house.

(02:33):
My sister took me, she'sseven years older than me.
I got the buck straight away.
Like I love the adrenaline, the speeds.
Nobody in my family has ever raced.
It was just the two girls.
I have a younger brother whonever was really interested.
He was like, Oh no, this is for girls.
So for me, it was like.
Okay, I'm going to try this out becauseI really love being behind the wheel and

(02:54):
quickly it went into karting and thenI can't believe I've been here for over
20 years so lucky to call this my job.
I'm starting to noticea common thread here.
Karting.
Everybody starts in kartingand that's really interesting.
So does that mean that your first, andI'm going to use the term loosely, sim
was then some sort of karting game?
Maybe it was Mario Kart,maybe it was something else.

(03:15):
Let's talk about your first experience.
What was the game that got you inor the title that got you deeper
into motorsport and made you morepassionate about motorsport and
started using that as a tool?
I actually got hooked with GranTurismo 3 on my PS4, I think it was.
My dad actually made a woodensimulator, like a chassis.

(03:36):
He put a go kart seat.
It was literally like a gokart, but it was a simulator.
It had wooden stuff.
He just nailed plywood together.
And I would sit on that thing for hours.
And just try to focus as hard asI could for an hour straight and
then go to the go kart track andI would just be that much better.
It really, really helps my performance.
But for me, it was Gran Turismo 3.
I think Gran Turismo 4 on the PlayStation2 was my first, but it might also have.

(04:00):
Spin Nitro Speed underground too.
It's one of the few games that I had forthe PlayStation and then I just played
them a lot when I really got into what Iwould call like sim racing with a wheel
and stuff was with Dirt Rally because Isaw it at a Friend's and yeah, and just
really was fascinated by the Pace Notesand started to learn that and drive that.
And from there I progressedonto like air racing and stuff.

(04:23):
For me, I guess the first eversim would probably be Mario Kart.
My parents were never really big onvideo games when I was growing up.
So I didn't really have accessto anything like that other than
when I was at a friend's house.
But then more recently was when I actuallygot into sim racing and the mobile game
street cars on my phone was how I gotmy prodigy pass into racing prodigy.

(04:48):
So that was also go cart.
involved as well.
But now I'm lucky enough that Iactually live with three other
race car drivers and they allhave super nice racing simulators.
So now I actually get to playwith the real deal a little bit.
But similar to Brenna, I neverreally, uh, I sucked at video games.
The only thing I actuallyliked was Mario Kart.
I think it was like quickly throughthe pandemic that I really got into

(05:12):
understanding sim racing and how muchit translate into the real racing and
really Got excited about it and fascinatedby how much it has evolved since then.
So I think it's a amazing tool thatany racing driver, any aspiring race
car driver should be doing, and I'vebeen impressed because I've been

(05:32):
coaching and prodigy with TC racing and.
Honestly, like I can see like sim racingbeing a huge tool that I have been
incorporating more for my racing as wellSo nina hit on something, you know She
talked about her first sim sim dirt rallyis actually a really good example of that
because that was a step away From the dirtseries and some of the more simcade games

(05:54):
like gran others that exist out there Soi'm wondering now fast forward you all are
using Sim as a tool for being on track.
And Nina, you spend a lot moretime doing sim racing as well, you
know, weekly, daily, et cetera.
What Sims are you gravitatingtowards like proper Sims?
And I know there's a limitednumber of titles there.
We could talk about iRacing,Assetto Corsa, things like that,

(06:16):
but what is your go to for training?
My go to is definitely iRacing.
I just feel that the physics arereally, really good and they constantly
keep improving on it, because, youknow, it's subscription based, so
they regularly bring like big updatesand always making it better, scanning
new tracks, reworking old stuff.
Yeah, that's definitely my goto, but for stuff like GT3s, I

(06:39):
actually prefer ACC, for example.
I just feel like I understand more whatthe car is doing, and I understand more
what the tires are doing specifically,like the GT3s and iRacing are just always
a bit vague for me, for my feeling.
It's more about like drifting than alsothe original Assetto Corsa is great for
like simulating drifting on street tires.

(07:01):
So every different simulator hasits little thing that it does best.
All of them are really great toolsand depending on what you want,
you can use them effectively.
Kind of similar to Nina, likewe drive on the sim a lot.
I like iRacing.
I feel like it's super duper realistic.
Like she said, they laser scan the tracks.
And for me, it helps me with gearingand braking going into race weekends.

(07:24):
Like how I'm going to arace weekend this weekend.
I've been on the sim a lot andit's definitely translates.
To the real world I think, andwe'll talk about that a little
bit more as we go along here.
So Tatiana, what about you?
What's your sim of choice?
I have to say I racing, since Istarted doing more races in the US
I feel like the tracks are reallyaccurate and I really enjoy I racing.

(07:45):
I also have like a BL race tech,they're collaborating with me.
They're develop sort of a platformfor racing drivers so we can do like
even set up with our own engineers.
A bit more, you'll be using like sort ofthe parameters that you use in the car.
Real for real.
So I think it's, it's justevolving towards being able to

(08:06):
work with your race team as well.
But yeah, my, my go-to for now at myhome sim is, uh, I racing, I would
have to say I racing, but I alsoreally like a set of corso because
it has a lot of different mods fortracks that aren't found on iRacing.
For instance, when we go to NolaMotorsports Park, that's not on iRacing.
Atlanta MotorsportsPark is not on iRacing.

(08:28):
So this season I've had to usea set of Corso a lot to prepare.
For the folks that are listening to thisat home and they're thinking about, you
know, oh, you know, racers and sim racing,using it as a tool and things like that.
Sims are still categorizedin the world of eSports.
Prodigy Racing League is eSports.
Innit eSports, right?
Is iRacing, Assetto Corsa, all theracing titles, are they still considered

(08:49):
a niche compared to what a lot ofother gamers classify as eSports?
You know, we're talking like Fortniteand League of Legends and Dota 2
and stuff like that where it's likeracing, that's not really eSports.
That's something else.
Let's talk about that a little bitand what the world of sim racing
looks like versus the rest of eSports.
Well, it's probably Similar to othercategories of sports in real life,

(09:11):
where you also have like the big oneslike soccer or American football or
those kind of things, but then youalso have like the smaller ones and it
doesn't make them any less of a sport.
And in the same way, I justthink that eSports in terms
of racing, it's still eSports.
because you use a computer andrace or compete against others.
But it's still like a niche becausethere aren't that many people in it yet.

(09:33):
And also, since for most games, the onlything you need is kind of a keyboard and
a mouse and you can already start playing.
But for Sim, You need to actively decideto go out and buy a steering wheel and
sets of pedals or something like that.
Even though the entry barrier forsim racing is significantly lower
than for real life motorsports,it is still higher than for a

(09:53):
lot of the other eSport variants.
I mean, I'm not super familiar witheSports in general, so excuse my
ignorance, but I feel like sim racinghas a lot more physicality involved,
even though it is still electronicsport, but it teaches you more valuable
lessons for the real life side of itthan maybe some other e sports might.

(10:15):
You know, one thing also we oftentalk about here with sim racing and
the differences between real lifeand virtual, I know, especially
we have some here that are quite.
Expertise in a, in MX fives in particular.
So this is one in specific whenit comes to the SIM versus real
life in the G force department.
Some people often say, Oh,this isn't a realistic feeling
because you don't have the G's.

(10:36):
You don't have the leaning through thecorners or the bumps necessarily to.
But I'm curious to hearon your guys perspectives.
So, uh, why don't we start off with Sally?
Because I'm very interested to hearher perspective on that as well.
I get that question a lot.
I actually feel like the braking and thegears are very, like, dead on accurate.
I feel like the car handlesmore like a spec Miata.
It doesn't really handle like a cupcar just because of the way that The

(10:59):
rubber bushings in the back causeit to transfer weight more abruptly.
You can kind of manipulate thatwith your footwork on the Sim.
I feel like the handlingcould be more realistic.
It's pretty good, but I wouldsay the GR cup as well on iRacing
feels pretty similar to the MX 5.
Kind of a combo of both would be perfect.
But they got the gearing andthe braking, like, dead on.

(11:20):
I mean, it's helped me so much.
Like, when I show up to a track thatI've been practicing on in iRacing, I
got the gearing, I got the braking down.
Now it's about getting the feeland really understanding the weight
transfer, because you don't have thatin a sim if it's not a motion sim.
I'd say it's pretty realistic.
I mean, I'm not sureexactly about The G forces.
I mean, of course, you're only reallygoing to feel that on the racetrack, but I

(11:40):
always try and make sure that I'm settingmy force feedback as high as possible.
So it's similar to the radicalbecause the radical takes a
lot of upper body strength.
You know, if my steeringwheel is too soft, I'm like,
Nope, we got to bump this up.
Got to get my arm pump going.
I come from a single seater background andmost of those cars had no power steering,
so I can identify myself with going upwith the force feedback on the steering.

(12:05):
They're on the single seaters.
The G forces are such abig part of driving it.
Right?
So for me, like if I, if I drive a GTon the same or sports cars, it feels a
little bit more similar to what I woulddo in, in real life, still missing a
little bit of that braking deceleration.
It's hard for me to feel in the, in thesame, but I think the gearing and exactly

(12:27):
where you, or where I struggle in the.
Sim, it relates to where I'm strugglingat the track most of the time.
So I think it's a good indication ofwhat you would probably struggle with
and how you're going to adapt or improve.
You have a bit more time to thinkabout it before you hit the track.
So I think that's a great tool fromthe same, but I still definitely miss

(12:47):
a little bit of that GeForce feeling.
Makes sense.
And, uh, and lastly, Nina for this one.
Very similar to the others.
My real life racing time has beensomewhat limited and I usually like to
compare it to my Formula Student daysbecause it's also open wheel and stuff.
Since the tracks were so tight and hadso many corners and stuff and you quite

(13:08):
frequently pulled like two or three G'sin the corners, it did fatigue your legs
and arms way quicker than sim obviously.
But in sim racing, I think what's reallyimpressive is more like the mental
endurance that some top drivers really putforward because the top drivers are really
good at just putting out the same laptime for an hour straight or something.

(13:29):
And that is definitely very impressive.
Do you guys think thatgear makes it better?
Do you think you need a LogitechG920 versus the Fanatec CSL elites
versus the top of the line motion?
Simulators, I'm curious on what yourguys takes are from the top all the way
down to the bottom of those it definitelymatters If you have better equipment, it's
gonna be easier to feel like on iRacing.

(13:50):
Okay Sebring, for example I startedwith the 29 Logitech I now have a
Simagic wheelbase and just betterequipment everything pedals like
overall it's an investment but I'mtaking my racing career more seriously.
So it's more of a tool.
I can feel the track way more better.
Like just talking about Sebring,cause there's so many bumps.
The force feedback is insaneand it's so realistic.
So I want to be able totake advantage of it.

(14:12):
So I think it definitely matters.
You have to get the best equipmentif you're going to take it
seriously, cause it's realistic.
Good equipment is important if youwant to really get to the top, but
it's also that like, you need to.
No, your basics, the equipment aloneis not going to make you faster.
So you still have to practice.
And it's not as easy as just saying, Oh,I'm going to buy the most expensive wheel.

(14:32):
And that will make me faster.
It will at a point, but gettingthe fundamentals of breaking while
turning and everything beyondthat, yeah, absolutely makes sense.
And Tatiana, I know you hadsomething that you wanted to add.
For me, it's like more like the closeryou get to like feeling like the real
car, the more you'll straight away jumpin the car and be quick straight away.
But I think.
For me, it was very difficult when Ididn't have a good enough equipment

(14:54):
to really be learning something.
Cause I was like treating it like agame more than a training session.
So I think for me personally, itreally did make a big difference once
I got some proper stuff with feedbackand especially the pedals as well.
So it's like your braintreats this a little bit
differently as a more realistic.

(15:14):
for where you're going,rather than a game.
Has anyone here, does haveanything on motion, Brenna?
I've had a little bit ofexperience with motion sims.
I actually kind of just prefer a reallygood simulator over a motion simulator.
In my opinion, I feel likethe motion simulators.
Weren't that accurately, you didn'treally add much to the experience for

(15:38):
me, you know, I'd much rather justjump in a SIM and be like, wow, this
is the best similar I've ever been in.
You know, it works with my drivingstyle in real life because that's always
something that I've struggled with islike, since I didn't start out SIM racing,
I feel like sometimes it's harder forrace car drivers to be fast on the SIM.
If they started on real life, because theskills don't translate as well that way.

(15:59):
So I'll be honest, I am not the best simracer here by far, but you know, I try
my best to prepare for my races, but it'sreally important for me to jump in a sim.
And.
Have it feel similar to what Ifeel in real life, or else I'm
just going to get too frustratedfrom spinning out all the time.
And then I'm just like, quit.
Yeah.

(16:19):
What you said is extremely important.
So I want to pull on that thread,Brenna, and I want to pull on another
one that Sally laid out before wetransition to our next section.
And as Sally said, talking aboutSebring or VIR, Watkins Glen, or any
track, you know, like the back ofyour hand, you get back on the sim
and you're like, Oh, that car doesn'tdo that like that in that turn.
I've driven this track a hundred times.

(16:40):
Sebring and I racing.
Let's talk Brasstacks full honestyversus Sebring in your car.
How realistic is it really?
And how close are the sims towhat you're really doing on track?
If I had to put it on a scale oflike one to ten, if we're talking
about MX5 Cup Sebring, because Ijust recently tested there and I

(17:01):
can also get on the sim and do that.
I've been practicing for that test.
It's hard to say.
I mean, it's at least in like theseven, it's a, it is a, it's a good
seven, I'd say It's very realisticin terms of the gearing, the braking,
and they do have the bumps down.
I mean, they've laser scannedevery track, obviously.
I would say the thingthat it's missing is.
The handling of the car specifically,and then obviously when you're in the

(17:22):
car, you're feeling the force feedback oflike, okay, you're in the middle of the
corner, the steering wheel gets light,or it gets tight, especially in the MX
5 coupe cars, we have power steering,so in the middle of the corner, it gets
really light, and you're like, whoa,and for my sims specifically, I don't
feel that, it's just Linear the entiretime, which might be a setup thing.
I mean, it could be changed,but it's good enough.

(17:43):
I obviously prefer real life, but itdefinitely is good for the mental.
And like Nina was saying, like if youcan do consistent laps on the SIM driving
in real life, in my opinion is easier.
So when you drive in real life, you'rejust going to be very, very good.
I would rate it a 7.
And I'm glad you said that, andit goes also back to something
that Brenna said about motion.
Like, I've said it publicly, I'm nota huge fan of motion, because you

(18:04):
get into a motion sim, and again,you're like, the car doesn't do this.
A car does not move you a footin the air when you accelerate.
The motions are very slow.
Subtle of a car, the suspensionson a race car are very taut,
especially in open wheel racing.
I mean, they're very, very stiff.
So you feel a lot throughthe steering wheel.
You feel a lot through your butt asyou're sitting in the seat, but the car
itself, there's a little bit of body rollthere, but it's not as exaggerated again.

(18:27):
It's not an arcade game.
So I struggle with that too.
But again, if we take this underthe auspices that it's a teaching
tool and it's a learning tool andit's a gateway to other things.
Well, now we can continuethe conversation, right?
One of my favorite questions to ask anydriver in general, regardless of it's
sim racing or real life, is your mentalpreparations, either pre events, post
events, to lead up to calm those nerves,especially, and I know some drivers have

(18:51):
some weird routines, so if you do haveany weird routines, kind of fun things,
do share, but even if it's just a morenormal one, what are those kind of pre
race rituals that you guys do have?
Oh, good question, youknow, I think it varies.
It has varied.
For me, at least, how do I switch mymind into like a race mode and calm
myself down, but also be super focused.
So for me, like listening to musicbefore I jump in the car, having my

(19:15):
warmup routine with some like tennisballs as well for some coordination
reaction, which is usually with my sister.
So it's a way to understandlike how you're feeling and if
you're too quick catching a ballor if you have to calm down.
I think it's about just selfawareness, what I try to do, but
yeah, it has varied through the years.
I used to also like just wear the samepair of underwear or same, you know,

(19:40):
it was the same pair of of booze orstuff like that, but then I grew up
and started to do this a bit more,but it involves having that dopamine
of physical activity and relaxingyour mind or activated with music.
I love the juicy details toNina, why don't you go next?
I meditate quite regularly whenI do start feeling the stress

(20:01):
before a big race or something.
I just use some deep breaths to get myselfinto like that focus state for meditation.
Yeah, I use that to calmdown and start being focused.
Awesome.
Sally?
For a race, I also, I like to meditate.
If I'm like really nervous, I liketo jump rope and kind of get some
energy out and try to like calm myselfbecause I do the best whenever I am

(20:21):
just like very centered and very calm,not thinking about anything else.
So jump roping and meditatingand, and some music.
Sometimes I listen toCalifornia girls by Katy Perry.
That's my free race ritual.
I discovered it at homestead becausemy crew chief played California
girls before I went out andthen I podiumed in the practice.

(20:44):
So I was like, yep.
That's going to be my ritual fromnow on, but that's your song.
Before we get deeper into that, let'skind of switch gears a little bit and
talk more about your experiences inmotorsport since we're celebrating
international women's month.
I want to take a moment just totalk about some women that have.
Inspired you in racing, either in thevirtual world or in the real world.

(21:06):
When I started like 20 years ago, I thinkobviously, you know, you get a look at
somebody like Danica Patrick who won anIndyCar race at that time, it was Maria
de Villota was testing in formula one.
And I was really close to formulathree when she started testing.
So I think she was a reference,but before, you know, Michelle
Mouton, Linz and James.

(21:28):
I think they all in their field reallyinspire us to know that it was possible.
But when, when I started, therewere not that many women actively
racing in the highest category.
So I think that's been sort of a trend.
I think we have to see it to believe it.
And it's great that todaywith social media, with.
All the documentaries and everybodypushing for women in sport in general.

(21:51):
We're finding out aboutthese incredible stories.
So yeah, hopefully more to come.
When I was younger and startedout in carding, I honestly
was just happy to be there.
Whether there were other women or not,but I think now that I'm older, it's so
much more inspiring when I see women whoare in professional series higher than

(22:11):
me, just people that I can look up to now.
For example, just.
Tatiana, the fact that she'shere at these races, coaching
us at Prodigy is just amazing.
And Catherine Legge is there as well.
So it's really cool to be in thesame atmosphere as these people on
a regular basis and just trying totake in the knowledge from them.

(22:31):
As I mentioned, I really started toget into it with third rally, obviously
Michelle Mutton, but also when I wasracing as a kid in the rental cars,
similar to Brenna, I didn't really.
I noticed myself as like differentbecause when you're in the cart,
everyone has a helmet on and you mightsee some long hair under the helmet.
But apart from that, it'slike a helmet and a lap time.

(22:54):
My goal was always just tofaster than ideally everyone
else, especially this year.
My biggest inspiration is the Iron Dames.
I've actually modeled my livery thisyear and my suit, my whole theme
after them, because they inspireyounger women to pursue their dreams.
And their slogan is, Every Dream Matters.
They actually invited a bunch ofyounger girls, like in STEM, to actually

(23:17):
write on the car what their dream was.
There was a lot of them like,I want to be a race car driver.
I want to be an astronaut orI want to be the president.
And it was really inspiring to me.
And so I look up to them becausethey are just badass all around.
They're repping the pink, which issomething that I've been doing for
a while, trying to set myself aside.
But the coolest thing is that they'regiving back and that they're inspiring

(23:39):
younger women to come up and just.
do what they want to do, whatevertheir dream is, regardless
of what society tells them.
And so I would say that's been my biggestinspiration for a couple of years now.
I'm glad you went there becauseI want to highlight the fact that
we've been very fortunate to havemany female pro drivers on the show.
And there's also this sort ofcategory that's been coming up in

(23:59):
other shows, you know, history'sforgotten female racing drivers.
So Cindy Sisson likesto call them she rows.
I know Lynn does as well.
So I'm sort of wondering, is there aShiro out there that you would like to
sit down and have a cup of coffee withand talk about racing or learn from them?
Who would that be?
I've been fortunate enough to likebe able to sit down and talk to them.

(24:19):
You know, I think there'sstill a lot of barriers in the
sport for women in motorsport.
And we need to work together towardschange because there is a reason why we
haven't had many chances in this sport.
Just to be able to sit down withthem and discuss and compare what
happened like 20 or 30 years ago.
Is it still happening today?

(24:40):
How do we address this?
How do we change this?
And I think we have incrediblelike role models that are really
trying to change the game for us.
Uh, I was fortunate enough to be at thecommission of the women in motorsport
when Michelle Muldoon was there, I've beentalking to Lynn and to Cindy about it,
even with Susie Wolf, and it's great thatwe can all like come together and try to

(25:04):
change it for the next generation, for thesport to be a bit more accessible for us.
There's not been that many women,unfortunately, but we will change that.
I actually want to give ashout out to Margie Smith Haas.
She is a legend.
I actually met her at theSan Diego, um, ACO club.
She's on this call, actually, andshe is someone I look up to because

(25:24):
she was one of the first, and she isoverall badass, and she's amazing.
She is definitely an inspiration.
Miss you.
Yeah, I'm going to say her.
I would have to say Michelle and Tombecause I love her quote where she
said, you know, somebody asked, whatdoes she feel before she gets inside
a race car when she's in a race car?
And she said, I feel nothing.
And I feel like that really resonatedwith me because I kind of felt

(25:47):
the same for a really long time.
And right now I'm trying to get backto that because when I felt that
way, I was winning all the time.
And now I've kind of lost thatconfidence and I kind of think
too much when I'm in the car now.
So I'm trying to get back to that point.
So maybe she would beable to help me with that.
Similar.
to what Brenda said, like Michel Motard,but also maybe one of the earliest, or

(26:09):
the earliest, I'm not 100 percent certainon that, like Helene Nys, and also with
what Tatiana mentioned, is to ask like,okay, what were their biggest struggles
back in those days, and to comparethat to what the struggles are today.
On the one side, appreciate what maybehas gotten better, and what has changed,
but also to just emphasize what problemsare still there after all these years.

(26:33):
Would be very interesting to talk aboutthose different types of motorsport.
I'm actually really glad that you didbring that up as well as both you,
Nina and Tatiana making that comment.
Cause this is something of course, thatwe would love to talk about here as well.
What challenges have you facedas a woman in motorsports?
And what are some of the ways that wecan address those moving forward as well?
Well, I know for me, I've gotten inmy head a lot because I don't want to.

(26:59):
Prove the stereotype right.
I want to prove the stereotype wrong.
But there's always that pressure thatit's like, as a girl, you have to
perform well, because all the eyesare on you looking for you to mess up.
If a guy doesn't perform well, nobodybats an eye, but they just had a bad race.
But a girl could be performing wellon multiple occasions, but people only

(27:19):
remember how bad she did that one race.
It's really hard to get past thatpersonally and just keep my head
clear and keep that confidence thatI used to have when I was younger
when I didn't think about what itmeans to be a woman in motorsport
because I was just a little kid.
So I'm trying to get back to that mindset.
I want to piggyback off of thatbecause Last season, especially,
there was only two of us.

(27:40):
It was myself and Heather Hadley,and we had a whole docuseries on us.
And so it was kind of like 10 timesthe amount of eyes and pressure.
And since I was one of the only girls,I felt like if I messed up, it's
going to be the end of the world.
And people are just going to be like, Ohyeah, just another girl driver who sucks.
Everything in me wants to prove themwrong, because at the end of the day,

(28:01):
the car doesn't know who's driving it.
It's extra motivation, to be honest.
I let that fuel me, but sometimesI do get in my head, and then
I will make a mistake, and thenI'm like, why did I do that?
I just proved them right.
So at the end of the day, it is moremotivation, but it is something that
I do struggle with every now and then.
I love, as well, bringing upthat Lindsay James quote as well.
Of course, it's not the car thatknows whether you're male or female.

(28:21):
It just cares if you hit your brakingmarkers at the end of the day.
So no, absolutely.
I love that.
Why don't we go to Nina next?
With the previous two, but alsofinding racing gear for women.
That's cut for women,especially fireproof bras.
I think there has to be more gearavailable because we aren't just
this very like niche thing anymore.

(28:43):
Like there are lots of women who need racesuits and not just race suits, but also
mechanic suits, you know, working in pits,for example, on the side of the racetrack.
I would really appreciate.
if there was a bit more, let's say,entry level priced stuff for women.
Very interested here, Tatiana, to hearexactly what you can say, as well as, like
I said, when it comes to some of the waysthat we can move forward in improving it

(29:06):
as well, because somebody who's been inthe scene for such a long time, I feel,
might have some pretty good insight here.
Oh, thank you.
I think it resonates withwhat we're discussing, right?
Like, just even the gear, it's a bigtopic, but if you go beyond that, it's
like The cars are all designed withmale measurements, you know, even in
like a road car, you're more likely toget hurt if you're a woman because they

(29:28):
take the base measurements of male.
We have to train in a differentway because we have a period
every month, so our hormonalsystem is very different to men.
The way we see the world, our vision,the way we feel the car, our muscles,
the way we break, there are differences,but everything has been designed to suit.

(29:48):
Men's nature and not woman's nature.
And when you're looking for tenthsof a second, that's the difference
in any category these days, yougot to take those into account.
So I feel like we've alwaysbeen on the back foot naturally.
It was not really our fault, butit's our responsibility to make
sure that people are aware of.
The changes that need to be made inorder for us not only to be safer, but

(30:13):
to be able to show our full potential.
So the way you set up a car for a man,I mean, everybody is a bit different,
every driver, but there are certaincharacteristics that a woman needs.
In order to be quick because ourthought process also is different.
So I feel like there's so muchresearch to be done on that area.
And sometimes that's why we'rebeing judged so quickly, right?

(30:35):
They give you two racesand otherwise you're out.
It takes me longer to get up to whereI feel the car is comfortable and I can
drive it and convince those engineers andconvince people to make those changes.
It takes longer for us.
So I think there's so many thingsthat still need to be changed
for women not to participate, butto have the possibility to win.

(30:59):
And that's the game changers.
I'm very passionate about trying to dosome studies with even Purdue University
with other different aspects to makesure that they're taking us seriously.
Seriously in the design ofcars and in so many other ways.
Makes sense.
And I think this is actually a reallygood segue to get us into some of the

(31:19):
misconceptions that you guys have facedthroughout the years of sim racing,
racing in general, of course, withfemales just being involved in the scene.
There's some flack that's beenthrown in the way and obviously
some ways to deal with that as well.
So I'm curious to hear on some of thestories that you guys have had regarding
that and again, ways that we canimprove that as well, moving forward.
So why don't we start off with Nina?
difficult to put, like,all the stuff into words.

(31:41):
What I sometimes felt like is thatpeople think that women are, like,
less interested or less motivated to,like, even just learn about the cars
and learn about the physics and areonly there because our parents said us.
down into cars as kids or something.
The reality is we all fell forthe love of speed just as any man.

(32:02):
Yeah, I think there's likesome misinformation about
women that it's out there.
Oh, you're never going to beable to risk as much as the guys
or you're never going to be as.
Strong as them.
So you're never like thewinning horse in a team.
And you're always like notbeing taken seriously in a way.
So I think that's like the mostfrustrating, but at the same time,

(32:24):
motivates you to like prove themwrong and prove that doing your way,
you can do a lot of great things, butyou're never taking that seriously.
And they tell you that for agirl, you're doing really good.
And it's like, I don't care.
I want to meet all these people.
That really is a coin thatcan bite on both ways.
I feel like at the track, especiallywhen I'm getting coaching, for example,

(32:47):
and we're looking at data and we'reoverlaying with my teammates who are
top five or even winning the race.
And we're looking at data and maybe I'mstruggling and the coaches are almost
like, they're talking down to you in a waybecause they're like, Oh, you're a girl.
Like we have to be more sensitive and wecan't be like, all right, you suck here.
Like.
pick it up.
I have to tell them.
I'm like, Hey, tell me likebluntly be as blunt as possible.

(33:07):
Like you suck.
You need to do better herebecause that's how I learned.
And if they sugarcoat it becauseI'm a girl and I can't take it,
then I'm never going to get better.
I just feel like sometimes youhave to be like very assertive
with how you want to be talked toand how you want to be coached.
Because I agree with what Tatiana said.
Sometimes they'll be like, well,you're doing good for a girl.
And that's not why we're here.
We're not here to be top finishing female.

(33:29):
We're here to be thebest, not the best girl.
And so that's something that I thinka lot of the mechanics, even the
mechanics and the coaches and my crewchief, I have to be like, Hey, you
need to talk to me like I'm a boy.
Just tell me how it is.
That's something that Ithink is very prevalent.
I've always found that, you know, there'salways an excuse if we do perform well.
Also, I mean, when I was growing up,when I was younger and carding, everyone

(33:51):
would be like, Oh, well, you know.
You weigh a hundred pounds less than I do.
I'm five foot 11 and I weigh 190 pounds.
So I don't really think that that'saccurate, but you know, things like
that, like it was just, there'salways an excuse to everything if
we do happen to perform better.
And I think it's also when wedo start performing well, then.
People start getting threatenedas well, kind of get intimidated.

(34:14):
There's never a happy balancebecause people are hating on you.
If you're not performing well,and then if you are performing
well, they get threatened.
I feel like again, another great segue to,uh, the next topic that we have here is
maybe a little bit lighter form of topichere for some of the moments that you guys
have had in your career, maybe setback.
That have pushed you forwardand gotten you to be better off
where you are and made you kindof the person that you are today.

(34:35):
I was going through a lot of socialmedia hate about two years ago from
actually my direct competitors in carding.
It was pretty devastating.
I mean, they were making fullon hate pages about me with like
photoshopped pictures and everything.
And it was interesting to get that fromnot just random people on the internet,

(34:55):
but from your direct competitors.
I actually ended up having to get theseries involved and things like that.
But I've kind of now just realized thatthere's nothing really that I can do about
any of that stuff other than to just tryand block it out and just do my best.
So I'm just, again, trying to getthat confidence back into my system

(35:16):
to just know that I belong here.
I'm not an imposter.
I deserve to be here justas much as anybody else.
Actually, last year, myfirst year in MX5 Cup.
Especially at the beginning, gettingTop Finishing Female Award even
when, you know, I finished 18th or19th because I'm so new and I was
trying to figure everything out.
I remember specifically one time Iposted, I worded the caption wrong.

(35:39):
I said, Podium and Race 1 or whateverit was and it was a picture of me
holding Top Finishing Female Award.
And then there was just hate commentslike, oh wow, like, you know, it was like
18 people finished ahead of you and Iwas like, you know what, you're right.
But that clicked for me.
I was like, you know what?
This isn't somethingthat I'm striving for.
I'm not striving to betop finishing female.
I'm striving to be the best.
And so I kind of stopped promotingthat because I was like, you know what?

(35:59):
It doesn't mean enough to me forme to like push it out there.
If I get a top 10 or if I get a top five,that's when I'm going to be super excited.
But.
Just the comments were like, wow,like, that's what you're happy about?
Like finishing, you know, 18th and 19th.
And I was like, you know what?
No, just because I got this check.
Cause I meet one other person.
It's not good enough for me.
Kind of pushed me to be betterand have a different mindset.
Yeah.
Well, one setback that isstill sometimes on my mind is.

(36:23):
In the Formula Student times, wealways had these driver selections
each year, because one of our team wasthen selected driver to be competing
against the other universities.
And in the first year that I waspart of the driver selection,
there was like, on the track thatthey laid out, was like a bump.
And then they told us, hey, be carefulin that bump, like don't break the car.

(36:44):
I did take it carefully there.
Everyone else didn't, and I didn't makeit into like the last stage because of
a couple of tenths, which you lost alot of time if you didn't go full there.
Basically that switched somethingin my brain and where I was
like, I'm just gonna go fast.
I know it's not gonna breakthe car, so it's gonna be fine.
And I'm not going to beheld back by some people.

(37:06):
I don't know, thinking I wouldbreak the car there or whatever.
You do your thing on that one.
And then of course, Tatiana, lastly forthis, and I know you probably have one
in the back of your mind as well withW Series and everything on that round.
I'm very curious whatyou have to say on this.
I have a strong one.
Unfortunately, like when I was racingin formula two, my teammate lost
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.
sport.
You can really get hurt.
But also like all we have is the present.
I think sometimes with the amount ofpressure that we put in ourselves because
we're representing women, because we wantto do better, we forget to enjoy what we

(37:47):
have and make the most out of every race.
And I think when you enjoy what you'redoing, that's when results start to come.
For me, it was like a hard reminderof you're there because Because you
enjoy doing it and I will keep doing itbecause if something happens to me, I
rather be doing something that I lovethat is a big reminder every day of

(38:08):
really enjoying all the opportunitiesyou have and make the most of what
you have and really don't care about.
Anything else and the resultsand everything will come from it.
One thing we also want to touch on here,which we've already kind of touched on
a good majority already with the SIMgear and various other things, but let's
maybe dive into a little bit more withboth getting women more involved with
virtual as well as real life racingseries, but sort of just being more

(38:31):
inclusive as a whole, what are some.
Massive steps forward that wecan take to improve on that.
I would say gettingthem started in carting.
So promoting more women in carting,and that's something that I've done
some coaching with some like eightyear old girls and you know, it's just
the best thing ever because it almostreminded me of like a little me, right?
Cause the way that I saw theworld was just so different.

(38:52):
And I was like, Whoa, like I'm driving ago kart and this person is coaching me.
And I'm just like, I can't imagine,like, if that person coaching me
was a girl racer who was racingin the highest ranks of whatever.
One of my personal goals isactually, in the future, create
a racing school that actually hasthe ladder system set in stone.
Because I feel like there couldbe more of a ladder system.

(39:13):
And to get young girls fromkarting into either open wheel,
oval stuff, or sports car.
But I would say start at the grassrootslevel and get them up from there.
We need more experience.
I feel like there's a lot of girl driversout there who just simply did not start at
the same time that most of the guys did.
Because they started so young and theythoroughly worked their way up the ladder.
For me personally, I skipped a lot ofsteps because of the Women's Initiative

(39:35):
Scholarship and I wish that I had thatextra experience to fill in those gaps
because I would be a lot better by now.
True to my heart as well fromteaching carding schools.
I used to do that myself.
So that's just, I love it.
Yeah.
Brenna, curious to hear whatyou have to say on this one.
I think a big thing is Just a positiveattitude and your engineers, your
coaches actually listening to you andtaking your feedback into consideration.

(39:58):
I mean, a few of us havementioned that it's hard for us
to get them to actually listen.
Well, what we're saying at the lastrace at Homestead, I finally had
that for one of the first times ever.
I had two amazing coaches, Fittipaldi,and they listened to everything I had
to say, same with my crew chiefs, youknow, listen to every feedback that I

(40:19):
gave were so supportive, you know, atone point in the new car I was put in, my
foot was leaning against the brake pedal.
I would have been draggingthe brake the whole time.
And the first guy that cameup, he was like, well, there's
nothing we can do about that.
And then Pietro and Enzowere like, absolutely not.
You're going to change that yada, yada.
And then magically they were ableto change it all of a sudden when
they, they said they couldn't.
Just having that positivesupport is such a big thing.

(40:42):
Additionally, I don't know if this fallsinto gear or not, but we definitely
need women's carding seats becausethe hip bruises and everything are
insane in the male carding seats.
It's just absolutely terrible.
And that'll probably help withmore girls getting into carding.
Yeah, obviously I agree to the firsttwo, but I really enjoy just be seeing

(41:02):
way more women on social media doingracing where maybe it wasn't on my
radar a few years ago, but that wassomething that really inspired me a
lot and really made me to really setmyself the goal of racing in real life.
After a while, I just saw more andmore women doing this and was like,
Hey, maybe it isn't impossible.
Maybe.

(41:22):
Maybe there are women who do this andthere are many cool communities out there
for specifically women in motorsportsor sim racing where you can connect
with them and it's obviously easier totalk to them about maybe like the same
issues that you had because you're awoman and then connect that way and also
maybe have different ways of explaining,different way of understanding stuff

(41:45):
and just really like how the wholesocial media and communities are.
You know, the increase of getting newsand getting the exposure that women need,
I think it's naturally going to inspiremore girls in all aspects of motorsport.
So I think we need to keep pushing forthat visibility, but there's still a
lot to be done in like the sponsorshipside of things and really creating

(42:08):
better support for the young girls.
starting because, you know, it's a veryexpensive sport in any way you look at it.
There's more to be done there.
As I said before, I think it's great.
Participation is a big step, but thenit comes down to performance as well.
And I think that's the nextstep that we need to achieve to
focus on making sure that womenhave the right tools to perform.

(42:30):
It will come, but itjust takes a little bit.
Longer than what we want.
We're naturally raisingdrivers, not very patient.
And I would like to see more changein that and more participation and
more opportunities with sponsors.
But I think we're all moving in the rightdirection with the right organization,
like WIPNA, like FIA, Women in Motorsportand other various organizations,

(42:52):
like Nina was saying before.
So our audience is probably wonderingwhere we're going with this.
Were we supposed to betalking about sim racing?
We spent a lot of time in the secondsegment talking about your personal
journeys, but we're actually going tocircle back to sim racing now in our
final segment, and you guys touchedon something really important and
that's why we have this discussion.
You started talking aboutthe feeder series and how we
bring more women into racing.

(43:14):
And I noticed somethingreally interesting.
Maybe it's a generational thing.
You all, as we said at thebeginning, started in carding,
more carding, more carding, cardinghas become more and more popular.
It became less recreational.
And again, yet another tool, just likesim racing is to get into motorsport.
But when you talk to alot of the pro drivers.
of a previous generation, like Margie,like a David Murray and Andy Pilgrim,

(43:36):
all those groups of drivers that cameup at the same time, they started an
autocross, a totally different disciplinein motor sport, which has sadly sort
of died off over the years, but it wasanother cheap way to get into racing.
When we take all that aside andjust put the lens of sim racing
on top of this, How is sim racing?
Being used as a pathway into motor sports.

(43:59):
So I'm going to kick this off with Ninabecause she's very familiar with this.
And so how are programs like entitysports and even prodigy racing,
building SIM drivers into real driver?
First of all, up SIM in general, it isa great tool because you're just not
limited to the amount of fuel or theamount of tires that you have on track.
You can drive as much as you want inthe same conditions, day or nighttime.

(44:21):
Whenever you have time, you don't haveto drive to a track in here and there.
So you just have way more time thatyou can spend on practicing exactly
what you need to practice on.
Yeah, and then obviously if you havethese competitions online, these
feeder series as you call them, youcan compare against people worldwide
and really see, okay, How good am I?

(44:42):
Or was I just maybe goodat my local karting track?
There aren't that many opportunitiesyet to really get from sim
into a car directly, but theystart to get more and more.
And big series, for example, ENA'scar, where you have some people who
start out in sim and then go throughthe roster and improve and improve.
And learn basically what the differencesare between sim and real life, and then

(45:03):
become really good racers because theyhave so much practice, they can quickly
adapt to like new cars or new tracksand changing conditions in real life.
So Tatiana, working with Prodigy RacingLeague and being a coach there, how
are you building those pathways intomotorsports for these young ladies?
I have to say, I've been hugelyimpressed with the level of
performance of all the stuff.

(45:23):
that are in Prodigy.
So to me, it was a like eyeopener, like I said before.
So I think it's, it's a clearpathway for young girls to start.
Like Nina was saying, if you need to goto the track and you put tires and, and
you need so much money to get started andto really learn the basics and even like.

(45:44):
From the data points, you can shortcutso many things by training in the same.
So I think it's going to bemaking it more affordable.
There are some sim racers.
I found out as well, you get paidin certain teams to do the job.
Sometimes, you know, as a racingdriver, you suffer a lot to even
get a salary sometimes, so it's.

(46:05):
To me, it has opened a big opportunityto increase the participation
and the training of young girls.
Super proud to be part of the prodigyracing league to see them doing so well.
And I will be pushing from my side aswell, to make sure that there's more
opportunities for female drivers betweenthe series as well, because sometimes,

(46:25):
you know, if you want to change somethingand you want to give women a chance.
You need to invest in it.
It's a great timing for that.
So as I turn this over to Brenna andSally, I want to also add to this, the
importance of all the STEM programsthat are also adopting sim racing as
part of this larger ecosystem, thisfeeder pathway into motorsports.
But I also like to remind people, it'snot just STEM science, technology,

(46:48):
engineering, and math, it's steam science,tech, engineering, arts, and math.
So I wanted to just addressthat with your thoughts on STEM
programs and sim and how that's.
Well, there's a lot ofopportunities within sim racing.
Like I have a friend who does simcoaching and he literally looks at
graphs, just like the real world.
Like, what does yourbrake trace look like?
What is your throttle chase?

(47:09):
And it's like, it's offering jobsto people, especially like Tatiana
saying race car drivers who needmore income, you can actually
provide coaching services on the sim.
And you can kind of coach the engineeringas well, cause you can create your own
setups on iRacing, especially, and youcan play with how the car is handling,
how it's feeling with the conditions.
And that I think ties perfectly intothe STEM and the STEAM community.

(47:32):
It just offers a lot of jobs likethat, that are pretty similar
to real life, but it's just.
It's on the simulator.
So I brought up a good point, butyou know, even with regards to steam
with the arts aspect, I'm sure theyneed people to design deliveries
in sim racing and stuff like that.
So all types of aspects that go into simracing, as far as jobs are concerned.
Nina had mentioned shewas in formula student.

(47:54):
I was in formula SAE.
We definitely would use the sim topractice for our yearly competitions.
A lot of the jobs now in engineering,they pretty much only hire you if
you competed in Formula SAE, so allof that combined together, I think
it's definitely opening up pathwaysfor everybody, not just the drivers.
So I want to close this thread with Nina,who we started with, specifically because

(48:17):
Init has the Sim4STEM program as well asthe Screen2Speed program, which you've
come through, and so I wanted to getyour take on that, what that means, and
how all of this is enveloped together.
Init Esports does certain STEM events.
And I'm not too much involved becauseI'm in Germany, so I can't really do much
stuff like on site in America, sadly.
But they do go out on tracks or liketo schools and just build up a rig

(48:41):
and give especially young girls ago and just showing them the ways
around and like all the differentdestinations within that big field.
Yeah, and with Green 2 Speed, forexample, in 2022, I believe, or 23,
it was before I joined the program.
They, for example, had a program inLas Vegas where they flew contestants
out, and the winner actually gotsome seat time in a Porsche GT3 or

(49:06):
Porsche Cup, if I remember correctly.
As I said, it was before my time.
But yeah, you can definitely find alot of info about that on the homepage.
I have two daughters, both of which havegrown up, unfortunately, influenced by the
world of motorsports, specifically sportscar and endurance racing, although my
favorite discipline has always been rally.
That said, they've both taken an interestin motorsport and they both do jump

(49:27):
on my sim from time to time, althoughthey're starting out with fun things
like Forza Horizon where they can justdrive forever and, you know, stuff like
that, because they're not really ready.
to do laps, although they'vetalked about, Hey, dad, when are
we going to go to the cart track?
If my eldest walked up to you andsaid, Tatiana, why do you race?
What would you say to her?
What advice would you give toher at almost 11 years old to
become a female race car driver?

(49:49):
What do you say?
Unfortunate?
No, there's so many barriersthat still are there for women.
But I say that.
And I, I remember when I was nineyears old and I turned on the TV and I
wanted to become a formula one driver.
Um, Yeah.
I've driven a Formula One car coming fromColumbia where we had one race track.
So at the end of the day, it'sabout how much you want it.

(50:10):
I could not imagine like my life withoutracing, even if it's sometimes we
look at like achievements as trophies.
It's more than that is.
How can you just make thisworld more accessible?
That is a, is a trophy in itself.
So my advice would just be like,to really do what you love.
At the end of the day, you will be ableto learn so much from your discipline.

(50:32):
The, the barriers.
It makes you a much completeperson being in, in a space.
that challenges you, wherecommunication is so important.
So I think it's about finding that passionand really going for it and not putting
any limits because it's all in our head.
If we want people to define howfar we can come, it's in their

(50:52):
interest to put you limits.
But you gotta believe in yourself and dothe best you can and see how far you come.
I don't want to ask myself what if Ihad just tried one more year, you know?
So I think it's about finding thatpurpose in life and enjoying what you're
doing because then everything comes.
I would just say if it's whatyou love, you'll know that

(51:13):
you, you want to do it forever.
I mean, just like Tatiana said, it's apassion that keeps on giving, even though
it might hurt us sometimes as well.
It's something that's just addictingand expensive, but mostly just.
addicting.
You know, some people shopwhen they're stressed.
I want to, I want torace when I'm stressed.

(51:33):
It takes away all the outside painin life and just gives you a purpose.
It's really the only purposethat I find myself needing to do.
Nina, what advice would you give?
Go for it.
Try it out.
Sims aren't that expensive.
You can get into it quite cheaply.
And just try out what you enjoy becausethere are many different categories

(51:55):
from like circuit racing, rally, hillclimb, drifting, ovals, truck racing.
There's so much varietywithin racing in general.
Just go for it and take your chances.
That's How I got to be in a driverselection for an electric F4, I just
went for it and was like, okay, I'mactually gonna put my effort into it,

(52:15):
write a proper application, give allmy history on it and see how I prepared
this in that way for it and everything.
And at the end of the day, thisgot me into a really, really great
experience of racing an open wheel car.
Definitely go for it and realize that ifyou put your mind to it, it is possible.
I would say the same thing.
Go for it because you can doit and it's so empowering.

(52:37):
To me, it is literally my purpose in lifeand it brings me so much joy and so much
happiness and it's like what I strive for.
It's what wakes me upat 5 a. m. every day.
I mean, and it's so rewarding.
The lows are low, but the highsare so high, and I've learned so
many life lessons along the way.
So I would tell her to absolutely go forit, and if she loves it, she's going to

(52:58):
put her all into it, and it's going to bethe best thing in the world because it's
so empowering, and it's very rewarding.
We've talked a lot here about pastpresence, but we haven't talked too
much about The future necessarily.
So I'm very curious here.
And why don't we start off with Nina?
What is the future for you for Nina Hahn?
When I really started to take someracing seriously, it kind of came

(53:19):
as just a step to reach my goal,which is to race in the 24 hours
of Nürburgring on the Nordschleife,which may be coming from Germany.
Maybe I'm a bit biased, butit's just such a great race.
And I've been there.
Last year, for the first time,sadly it was cut short a bit, but
I do plan on spending quite a bitmore time on the track this season.
And, as I said, my goal isdefinitely to race in that.

(53:41):
To get there, you need to do, like,the different licenses, and because
it's so long and difficult track,you have to get special licenses
to be able to race in that race.
And I'm currently still finishing myeducation, so I need to do that first
because that's also very important tome, but on the side, like on the weekends
and everything, I try my absolute bestto get as many steps done as possible

(54:04):
to one day race in the 24 hours.
And now Tatiana Calderon, whatdoes the future hold for you?
Well, that's, you know, I've beenfortunate enough to race in many
series, but of course I want to wina 24 hour race, either if that's.
Daytona or, or LeMans on, on my car.
And I want to be backhere racing in IndyCar.

(54:24):
I've never had the chance to dothe Indy 500 and it's something
that I'm passionate about.
And I am still with the energyto hopefully one day make it
there and make a good impact.
Love it.
Sally Mott, what doesthe future hold for you?
My dream is to be on the podiumat the 24 hours of LeMans.
That's something thatI've always wanted to do.

(54:45):
Probably, hopefully in a Porsche.
Let's go.
And now last but not least, ofcourse, Brenna Schubert, what
does the future hold for you?
Well, right now I'm just trying tofocus on racing prodigy, trying to
make it to the P2 championship nextseason, eventually, I mean, it's.
It's definitely a big ask.
I'd love to compete in NASCAR at somepoint, obviously I'm shooting high,

(55:10):
but Hey, if I end up a little bitbelow that, that's still a great thing.
Racing anything is, is awesome.
But I just think NASCARis a really cool platform.
I did get a chance to do some legend carracing this season for the first time.
I'm trying to get more experience,more on that path and doing
some dirt racing and oval stuff.
But I'd be happy doing anything.

(55:31):
Well, ladies, we've reached that part ofthe episode where I like to invite all
of our guests to share any shout outs,thank yous, promotions, or anything
else that we haven't covered thus far.
Of course, I definitely wantto thank racing prodigy for all
they've done to get me where Iam sucker punch pickles as well.
And I also, I'm an incorporatingCadillac racing instructor at the Ron
fellows performance driving school atspring mountain motor sports ranch.

(55:54):
So I wanted to give them a little.
Shout out.
It's such a great programthat they have going.
I mean, I've been to a fewdifferent racing schools and this
one's by far the best and mostthought out in their preparation.
So they've helped me a lotwith my driving as well.
Just being able to be in thosecars and talking about what I'm
doing and teaching the students,it's helped my driving as well.

(56:15):
MX5 Cup for the scholarshipand basically changing my life.
I did my first season last year andit has elevated me as a driver, as a
human being, as a proposal writer, as asponsorship getter, as a businesswoman,
as an entrepreneur, everything.
It's literally changed my life and thenbringing this docuseries on is going to
do amazing things for the series as well.

(56:36):
And then I do want to thank mydad because he's my number one.
I mean, he's the reason whyI've gotten this far and he's
pushed me past my limits.
And I never thought that I would be here.
If you told me that I was goingto be here five years ago,
I would just be mind blown.
Then I also want to thankMazda Motorsports as well
for everything they've done.
Of course, all, all my partnersare AV Ray Stick Wonder Studio.

(56:58):
There's a very famous Colombian artist.
Her name is Carol G, and she hasa foundation to empower women.
They're, they've been supportingme for the last two years,
and of course, my family.
for supporting women in motorsport andgiving us access to these platforms.
So yeah, hopefully togetherwe can keep growing and yeah,

(57:19):
thank you for that support.
I want to give a shout out toOlympus Esports, my main Esports
team that I'm racing with.
As well as Innit Esports for numberone, getting me onto this panel.
I got the connection through them and alsojust for connecting with Beits Gewisser,
which I've done like two sim racing eventswith, which has been very insightful,
very cool to race with real life drivers.

(57:41):
And also to the Shift Up Now organization,because I really felt that when
I joined them, they had like somegreat webinars that helped me a lot
personally in how to really do moresocial work and promote myself more.
And I really feel thatthat has made a big impact.
Well, before I turn this overto our title sponsor for a few

(58:03):
closing words, you never know who'sgoing to drop in on the audience.
And I see that Steffi Bau, one of oursponsors from Innit Esports is here.
Steffi, do you want to say a coupleof words before we close out?
Yeah, it's been a pleasure and youladies keep going, never give up.
You know, I used to be a racer as well,and I think sim racing is the way to
go, you know, in regards to openingup more pathways and opportunities.

(58:23):
I'm proud of all of you, andlet's do this all together.
I will turn the mic over to our titlesponsor, the International Motor Racing
Research Center, for a few parting words.
Ladies, I've just sat here in awe of eachand every one of you for the last hour.
It's just been great.
This has been a wonderful series.
I think this has been agreat way to wrap it up.
Hopefully we'll continue with this.

(58:43):
For Brenna, Nina and Sally andTatjana, thank you all for your time.
Thank our associate sponsors, Societyof Automotive Historians, ACO, WMNA,
Racing Prodigy and Innit Esports.
Again, thank you all for taking the time.
It's been wonderful.
Really appreciate it.
Thank you so much.
And I have to give a special shoutout to Mike Noss for filling in for
Lauren Goodman tonight on short notice.
So thank you, my friend, forcoming on and co hosting with us.

(59:05):
And on behalf of everyone here andthose listening at home, thank you
ladies for sharing your stories with us.
And that's a wrap on ourInternational Women's Month coverage.
We celebrated the fearless women pushinglimits in motor sports and sim racing.
A huge thank you to our panel for sharingtheir journey, insights, and passion.
If you loved this conversation, be sureto share it with your fellow racing fans.

(59:28):
And if you want to keep theconversation going, follow us
on social media and Discord.
And let us know, who arethe drivers inspiring you?
You that's right.
And we hope you enjoyed this presentationand look forward to more center
conversations throughout the season.
Be sure to follow subscribe and staywith us for more incredible discussions
from the world of motor sports.
To learn more about upcoming centerconversations, please visit www.

(59:51):
racingarchives.
org and click on events for those details.
And until next time, keep the wheelsturning and the throttle wide open.
Woo.
Thank you.
Thanks for having us.
Yeah.
Thanks for having us.
Thank you ladies.
It was really terrific.
And that's a wrap.

(01:00:12):
Women in Motorsports North Americais a not for profit organization
that began in 2022 known as WMNA.
It is a community that focuses onadvancing, connecting, and enabling with
its many partners, including industryexecutives, drivers, team members,
OEM sponsors, racetracks, and more.
WMNA welcomes all who sharetheir passion for motorsports.

(01:00:33):
The Women in Drive Summit continuesits mission to bring together
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This unique event offers newpathways for individuals to explore
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If you'd like to stay informedabout WMNA and the Women in Drive
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This episode is brought to youin part by the International
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Its charter is to collect, share, andpreserve the history of motorsports.
Spanning continents,eras, and race series.

(01:01:17):
The Center's collection embodiesthe speed, drama, and camaraderie
of amateur and professional motorracing throughout the world.
The Center welcomes serious researchersand casual fans alike to share stories of
race drivers, race series, and race carscaptured on their shelves and walls and

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brought to life through a regular calendarof public lectures and special events.
To learn more about The Center, visit www.
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org.
This episode is also brought to you bythe Society of Automotive Historians.
They encourage research into anyaspect of automotive history.

(01:02:00):
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org.
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