More than 50 female competitors, marshals, officials and volunteers gathered at Silverstone, home of British motor sport and the 2010 Santander Formula 1 British Grand Prix, to support the Motor Sports Association’s Women in Motorsport Group and to highlight women’s importance to motorsport.

Women in motorsport visit Silverstone for International Women's Day

According to the Motor Sports Association (MSA), the UK’s official governing body, motorsport is one of the few sporting activities in which men and women compete alongside each other on an equal footing.

Yet, as they make up only 8 per cent of registered licence holders, women are hugely under-represented among motorsport drivers.
 
There are nevertheless an estimated 50,000 women actively involved in British motorsport. Their roles include organising events, heading teams, running clubs and associations, timekeeping, marshalling and fulfilling a host of other support roles without which the sport itself could not continue.

As a director of Onlineability, Lisa is a supplier of web services to drivers and management companies, and a team sponsor through the company’s support of the YourRacingCar programme. She is also co-owner of the well-regarded Brits on Pole website, which reports on British drivers in open-wheel racing worldwide, and a supporter member of the British Women Racing Drivers’ Club (BWRDC).

Lisa at Silverstone

She said: “The most impressive thing about the day was the sheer range of women that attended. Racers in their 60s were lining up alongside teenagers. Every kind of car from karts to dragsters was represented.

“And it’s not only the women behind the wheel – it was inspiring to meet the marshals, officials and volunteers who keep the whole show on the road and give racing fans so many hours of enjoyment.

“I’m expecting the profile of women in motorsport to get dramatically higher over the next few years. Girls now take up karting before the age of ten, exactly as boys do, and are graduating in increasing numbers to junior open-wheel racing formulas – and many other kinds of racing.

“It should be an exciting time for motorsport and we are looking forward to reporting on these young women’s successful racing careers on Brits on Pole.”

Attending the event were Go Motorsport ambassador and ITV’s British Touring Car Championship presenter Louise Goodman, reigning Ginetta Junior Champion and 2009 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year long-list nominee Sarah Moore – the first female driver to win a major British motor racing championship – and Formula Renault UK competitor Alice Powell.

Goodman said: “It was a fabulous experience to come together with all these other women involved in the sport to show that motor sport is not just for the men. I really hope that this inspires more girls to consider the sport; one of them might just turn out to be the new Jenson Button!”

Sue Sanders, Chairman of the MSA Women in Motorsport Group, said: “This has been a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate the diverse range of roles that women undertake within the sport at all levels.

“We believe that motor sport is truly fair and equal but there is plenty of room for more women. We hope that this gathering will celebrate those already involved and stimulate others that may be interested in getting started.”

MSA Chief Executive Colin Hilton said: “Motor sport still tends to be seen as a male-dominated activity, so we need to create female role models to inspire the next generation.

“We are seeing a substantial increase in female participation among the junior ranks, especially with the Let’s Go Karting initiative that gives young people a first experience of karting for just £5. Similarly, the Go Motorsport message that we are taking to schools across the county is aimed equally at girls and boys.”

• For more information on getting involved in motorsport, as a competitor, volunteer or spectator, visit the Go Motorsport website.

Sam Bird at Sakhir Circuit, Bahrain. Credit: Bridgestone

Onlineability, the Hertfordshire-based communications agency that powers the highly-regarded Brits on Pole motorsport site, will be working in 2010 to keep Sam’s website updated as he takes to tracks around Europe as part of the prestigious GP2 series. Visit the website here.

Sam’s early career saw him race in a number of well-regarded junior open-wheel series including Formula Renault UK and British F3 International with top team Carlin, as well as qualifying on the front row for the Macau Grand Prix, Formula Three’s all-star race.

In 2008-09 he graduated to Formula 3 Euro Series as well as testing with the Williams F1 team. He is now driving for reigning GP2 Series champions ART Grand Prix alongside Jules Bianchi, recently signed to Ferrari’s driver development programme.

One of a clutch of young Brits driving in GP2 after a spell during which little home-grown talent featured in the series, he is currently a bright prospect to follow drivers like Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Timo Glock and Nico Hulkenberg into Formula One.

The GP2 series was set up in 2005 to provide an affordable training ground for talented young drivers wanting to make a career in Formula One. So far four of its five champions and numerous runners-up have made the step up.

The series races at all the European grands prix giving its drivers a chance to show off their abilities in front of the sport’s movers and shakers on classic tracks such as Monaco, Silverstone, the Nurburgring and Spa-Francorchamps.

Onlineability director Andy Darley said: “After two years of writing about motorsport and the careers of British drivers at BritsOnPole.com, it’s a trememdous thrill to be able to announce this partnership with Sam Bird.

“Talent is only half the battle for young drivers. To be able to market themselves to fans and potential sponsors is crucial, and this is where having an engaging and up-to-date website comes in.

“Sam already has one of the best-looking websites on the grid. Our aim, now we are responsible for its maintenance, is to ensure it’s similiarly on pole position for quality of content, speed of updating and ease of use.”

• For more information about how we can help you make the most of your web presence, contact us.

Brits on Pole reports mostly on the fortunes of British drivers competing in open-wheel racing around the globe. When we heard the YRC story we knew it was one we wanted to cover even though the team races touring cars and is therefore a little off our usual beat.

We were impressed by the story of team principal Hannah James, who decided just over a year ago to try funding a racing team through fan power. This means that, rather than relying on the fickle marketing budget of a large company, she sought many small contributions from fans instead.

Read Brits on Pole’s full interview with Hannah here, and our YRC news story here.

Hannah also runs sponsorship plans for small and medium-to-larger businesses that include a concrete return on their investment with services like networking and hospitality.

As a result the team was able to field an entry in the 2009 Ginetta G50 Cup, a support race to the ever-popular British Touring Car Championship (BTCC). Driver Fulvio Mussi came fourth overall. In 2010 Fulvio and YRC will be tackling Renault’s Clio Cup, again as a support race for the BTCC.

Onlineability director Lisa Hutchins said: “Having interviewed Hannah, and been impressed with her creativity and professionalism, we realised that YRC would be the ideal way for Brits on Pole and Onlineability to take their first steps in motorsport sponsorship.

“We believe this is an incredibly worthwhile thing to do because of the importance of performance engineering to the British economy and because innovations developed for the racetrack so often mean your road car is both safer and greener.

“Hannah makes it easy for small businesses like ours and, as supporters of YRC’s Rockingham round to be held at the Northamptonshire racetrack on April 24-25, we’re very much looking forward to going along, meeting the team and enjoying the racing.”

YRC's Fulvio Mussi is interviewed by motorsports broadcaster Louise Goodman

Hannah said of the partnership: “Brits on Pole is another media portal that epitomises the very passion that drives (excuse the pun) people in motorsport. In an age where there are infinite motorsport resources to draw on to find out who’s doing what with whom, it’s incredibly refreshing to come across a site dedicated to the exploits of British racers and teams across the globe.

“It’s no surprise to discover that behind BritsonPole is a very accomplished web outfit. It’s no good just having a news portal, you’ve got to get people to it, keep it current and write stories that people want to read.

“So what is it that sets Brits on Pole apart from the others? These people actually write stories! They join an esteemed group which includes Crash.net and BTCCCrazy in this respect. They don’t regurgitate stylized press releases, opting instead to talk directly to the subject and find a unique angle.

“It’s for this and many other reasons that we’re proud to carry the branding of Brits on Pole and their mothership, Onlineability this season. They have embraced our story, reported it brilliantly and joined our Deals on Racing Wheels scheme.” Read her full take on the tie-in here.

• For more information on YourRacingCar.com and the packages available for individuals and companies, visit its website here.

• Click here for more information on this year’s BTCC schedule. To buy tickets to any round, and catch YRC in action, visit the website of the circuit hosting it – all accessible from the above page.

The Brits on Pole All-Star League compares the performances of 43 British drivers in 12 different championships world-wide by factoring in length of season, strength of opposition and finishing position.

This year’s standings included drivers from all around the UK, from fresh-faced rookies to grizzled veterans – of whom, all but five broke their All-Star duck by recording a point-scoring top-eight race finish.

The top positions were decided a few weeks ago with Scot Dario Franchitti’s victorious IndyCar season for Target Chip Ganassi Racing providing the highest-scoring 2009 performance.

F1 World Champion Jenson Button’s safety-first approach to the second half of the F1 season meant he kept a tight grip on the world championship for his Brawn GP team – but only scored enough top-eight finishes for the All-Star League runner-up spot.

A surprise third came in the form of 20-year-old Adam Christodoulou, the victor in this year’s Star Mazda junior formula in the US as well as a BRDC young driver finalist for the second year.

Christodoulou’s storming season put him ahead of outgoing F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton who nevertheless, with the much-improved second half to his year with McLaren, came fourth after a very rapid climb through the standings.

The final order was hanging on Superleague Formula’s Craig Dolby, in action last weekend in his final races of the season in the Tottenham Hotspur car, and in with a mathematical chance of grabbing fourth off Hamilton.

Craig put in a storming drive to post the best two-race performance of any Superleague driver that weekend – but he fell just short of the double podium he needed to overhaul the 2008 Formula One world champion.

Rounding out the top 10 were Alexander Sims, Richard Kent, Max Chilton, Oliver Turvey and Sam Bird. At the other end of the table Greg Mansell competed 16 times without a top eight finish and so propped up the standings.

Of the other US-based Britons, Star Mazda’s Kent took seventh place, IndyCar rivals Justin Wilson and Dan Wheldon were 13th and 14th, the Atlantic Championship’s James Winslow was 17th and IRL driver Mike Conway was 19th. The best finisher from Indy Lights was Martin Plowman in 20th.

* You can view the All-Star League here. For more information contact Brits on Pole at admin@britsonpole.com

NOTES TO EDITORS

Brits on Pole is a news site covering British drivers in all major forms of open-wheel motor racing worldwide. We’re here to remember the legends and cheer on the Brits in F1, GP2, A1GP, IndyCar and many more series. Brits on Pole is powered by Onlineability and you can visit it here or on Twitter.

Comparing drivers in different series is difficult for a number of reasons – factors such as length of season, strength of opposition and how many points to award all had to be taken into account. Here’s what we did:

• Championships: We decided to include as many open-wheel, international championships as possible, so long as they were broadly summer-based, and pitted driver against driver. This excluded A1GP, since it was a winter team series.
• Points: These had to be equalised, as different series have different policies. One points system produces much the same outcome as any other over a full season, so we chose to apply the F1 system of 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 for top-eight finishes then nothing for 9th place and below.
• Season length: Season lengths vary wildly. And this means that some drivers have many more opportunities to pile up points than others. To address this we used a 17-race season as a base, since this is what both F1 and the IRL ran in 2009, and worked out a coefficient by which to multiply the points in other series so that, across a full season, everyone had the opportunity to earn the same number of points if they won every race.
• Competition: We grouped the series into three bands: the two senior championships of F1 and the IRL, the feeder series of GP2, Indy Lights, F2 and the Atlantics, and the development series. Senior points counted full, feeder series points counted at two-thirds value, and development championships counted half.
• Tiebreaks: We used the number of races competed in, working on the basis that it is a sign of a stronger performance to take fewer races than a rival to reach the same points score. Conversely, the more races run without scoring a point the worse the overall performance. Where this also results in a tie, we use dthe strength of the series in which the driver was competing.

Having worked for roughly 18 months to build upb the site, which supports British drivers in all major forms of open-wheel motor racing worldwide, into a respected and popular destination for racing fans we began to see that work pay off – in spectacular fashion.

We’ve been delighted to work with several prestigious international brands and motorsports names on promotional projects including Vodafone’s viral video campaign with McLaren, Shell’s bid to raise the profile of its V-Power fuel through its work with Ferrari and Philips’ competition run with Williams to put a fan in the cockpit of an F1 car.

Andy said: “This summer Brits on Pole has given us opportunities we never dreamed of – including visiting the Ferrari garage and motorhome during the British Grand Prix, getting to interview Williams’ highly-respected technical director Sam Michael and visiting that team’s private museum.

“It’s fantastic to see all the work we’ve put into Brits on Pole paying off as it becomes a respected destination for fans and a site that marketing professionals feel comfortable working with. We have big plans for its future and are looking forward to seeing it grow.”

Here are more details of some of the things we’ve done this summer:

Behind the scenes at Ferrari during the British Grand Prix

We were invited by Shell to visit the Ferrari motorhome and garage during this year’s British Grand Prix free practice day to find out how the two companies work together to ensure their top-notchracing success. This included a chance to watch the cars in action on the Silverstone track as well as an invaluable opportunity to meet some of the scientists and technicians

Goodwood Festival of Speed podcast

We made our first visit to the iconic British motorsport festival this year, not as press or special guests but as paying customers. We had a great time – and put together our first ever podcast, as a user guide for anyone who wants a taste of what to expect.

Superleague Formula at Donington Park

We visited the football-themed racing series, now approaching the halfway point in its second season, as accredited media during its English round at Leicestershire’s Donington Park circuit as well as attending a press day. We were thrilled to watch the powerful V12-powered cars driven by former F1 stars including Enrique Bernoldi and Antonio Pizzonia, as well as GP2 champion Giorgio Pantano.

Behind the scenes at Williams F1

Williams F1 – one of the most iconic racing teams ever to compete in motor racing’s top-flight series. Formed in 1977 by Frank Williams and Patrick Head, it is one of only three teams in Formula One to have won 100 races. It has also taken nine constructor’s titles between 1980 and 1997 and seven drivers’ championships. We were invited by its sponsors Philips to get a rare glimpse behind the scenes at the factory and team museum to help promote a competition it was running.

You can see our in-depth coverage of all these events here >>

From the glamour of the Indianapolis 500 and F1 at Monaco, to the slog of a rainy Sunday at a circuit no-one’s heard of in a series no-one cares about, there are Brits on pole – and Brits among the backmarkers.

But how do they shape up against each other?

We decided to find out, by taking the performances of the 39 British drivers competing in 10 of the top open-wheel racing series, and compare them in one big championship of our own.

It took a lot of number-crunching to find a way of fairly comparing apples with pears, as Jenson Button beats the world’s best in a 17-race Formula One season while eight Brits compete against each other over 20 races in British F3 International.

Jenson Button is top, of course, after his stunning start to the F1 season – but who’s next? And who’s last?

Click through to the Brits on Pole all-star league to find out >>

Brits on Pole aims to be a must-visit destination for fans of British drivers in open-wheel racing series, including Formula One, its feeder series GP2, the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport and IndyCar racing in the US.

And there’s a wealth of talent out there. Apart from Lewis Hamilton’s fantastic bid for the 2008 F1 championship there’s perennial favourites Jenson Button and David Coulthard, up-and-coming GP2 racer Mike Conway and the trio of Dan Wheldon, Darren Manning and Justin Wilson waving the flag in the States.

There’s never been a busier time for Brits on Pole – and, to celebrate the upcoming British Grand Prix held at Silverstone on Sunday July 4, Onlineability has launched a striking new design based on the WordPress Options theme made available by Justin Tadlock and customised by in-house designer Andy Darley.

View the new design here >>

Andy said: “I chose to work with the Options theme as it represented the perfect compromise between getting an original look for the site which we could implement quickly, and the considerable amount of work involved in coding a complex design from scratch.

“I’m really pleased with the result and I think it’s been one of the main reasons why we’re seeing an upswing in readers and subscribers, and are now media accredited by nine international teams, two racing series and a tyre supplier – something that I’m very proud of.

“I’d recommend this method of working to anyone looking for a professional, dynamic and easy-to-manage site with a strong identity, like the one we’ve created for Brits on Pole. It’s something we specialise in here at Onlineability so, if you’re looking to achieve something similar, come and talk to us.”

* If you use a feed reader such as Bloglines or Google Reader to keep up with your favourite blogs then you might like to subscribe to Brits on Pole. Just follow this link to add it to your regular reading list.

This year the site, which follows the fates of British drivers in all forms of open-wheel racing including Formula One and its feeder series GP2, the World Cup of Motorsport (A1GP) and the American IRL series, has been experimenting with lap-by-lap updates during grands prix – a process known as live blogging.

This has won it plenty of new readers and has greatly expanded the range of coverage that it has to offer. And, as a result of the increased interest, these posts will now be on offer as a free ebook at the season’s end.

Onlineability director Lisa Hutchins said: “Brits on Pole has been a great opportunity for us to try out all kinds of tools such as contextual advertising, optimisation techniques and traffic-building strategies – as well as being enormous fun to do.

“We hope that, while offering readers an entertaining and well-written motorsport blog that we enjoy working on, we can also develop and hone our skills in a key area of our business.”

* The Brits on Pole ebook will be issued at the conclusion of this year’s Formula One season after the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos on November 2. If you want to receive it, drop us a line via our contact form.