A young generation of female riders and racers have happily thrown themselves into the deep end...
It is easy to dismiss the participation of women in motorsport, particularly young and inexperienced ones, as little more than a gimmick to boost their social media. To be perfectly honest, I was of this opinion for a while as well. Particularly when I saw how the amount of social media engagement far outstripped some of their actual achievements. Yes, there are some female participants who do claim to have achieved something that they never did. But I can’t really say that for people like Aishwarya Pissay, Mira Erda or even Anam Hashim.
Twenty-two-year-old Pissay’s fourth place in the group B class of the Raid de Himalaya is a testament to her talent as a cross-country rider with plenty of room for improvement given her age. Eighteen-year-old Mira Erda has a solid national karting record and has made the jump to the Euro JK series where she has not tried to oversell herself. The going has been tough for her and she is a long way behind leading drivers like Vishnu Prasad and Anindith Reddy, but she also has time on her side.
Both these young women do get some disproportionate amount of media coverage on account of their age and gender, but there is little doubt among their peers that they are at least worthy of the shot they have been given.
And as for twenty-two-year-old Hashim? Well, she chose a path that is completely off the beaten path, not literally though. She has been more of an entrepreneur, trying to legitimize stunt-riding in India and eventually starting a national series, as well as a competitor, too. She has competed in stunt riding competitions in South-East Asia and enjoyed some success as well. Stunt riding doesn’t strike one as pure motorsport as there is no battle against a fellow rider or against a stopwatch. It does, however, require one to be something of a gymnast as points are given for style and control. Much like gymnastics in the summer Olympic Games.
Hashim has often spoken of her desire to break the stereotype of a stunt rider as an irresponsible biker who is out looking for trouble and a hefty medical bill. Perhaps that and her accomplishments as a rider has led to Alpinestars making her one of their sponsored athletes in the country.
There will always be a novelty factor driving the coverage of these three women as well as for those who have come before and will follow. But that is purely because of the novelty of motorsport being one of the few sports in the world where men and women compete equally. There has been much talk of a need for separate racing series across the board and that is already the case among one-make racing. But both on the international stage as well as in India, the women know that ultimately, they want to be measured against the best.
It may be fine and good to have thousands of followers on social media and plenty of coverage simply due to their gender, but results count at the end of the day. Having spoken to all three of these young women, I can say with confidence that this is the case with them. And it makes me glad as it means that they don’t just see their time in motorsport to be some big publicity stunt.
Hopefully 2018 will bring more such women into the motorsport fold, and those around them will be both pragmatic and encouraging depending on how they perform.
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