Ride With Me

"Can women be successful in Formula One?" Well, veteran McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa seems to think women might just not be strong enough to deal with the rigors of the track. Danica Patrick, 26, made history after winning the IndyCar race in Japan. While she’s busy posing for Sports Illustrated, some are questioning whether a woman’s physical strength is an obstacle for being a competitor in F1 racing.

With the entire buzz over Danica Patrick wiping the floor at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan, it's easy to forget there's other talented females engaged in various forms of motorsport across the world. Just look at Michèle Mouton's rally career — multiple wins in her Audi Quattro and finishing a close second place in the 1982 WRC championship. So you know that the girls can go just as fast as the boys.

According to F1-Live, the 37-year old de la Rosa said:

"There are less and less obstacles because there are now many women in kart racing ... The base of the pyramid is expanding ... I would be delighted to see it happen sooner or later, but it is more difficult for women because of the important physical elements of racing in Formula One,"

We wonder what Danica has to say about this. What’s your take?

Although we wonder what Danica would have to say about that, we're pretty sure she's too busy on a Sports Illustrated or FHM shoot to dignify it with a response. Of course as soon as she's done with that, she'd probably point out to de la Rosa that she managed to do pretty well against Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon and Tony Kanaan. Of course none of them were in Formula 1, but who's counting.

Source: F1Live

Woman driver can be an admirable role model to inspire young women in all corners of the universe, as well as creating a center of attention to the sponsorship from a wider market.

Steve Fossett World Land Speed Racing Team is searching for a woman. The team is after a woman driver to operate their 48-foot long, jet-powered car to achieve the Absolute Land Speed record at speeds in excess of 800 mph. The streamlined Fossett racer is powered by a single, 40,000 HP S&S Turbine LM-1500 jet engines and is said to have less than 1/4th the drag of the current record holder, Thrust SSC.

The team’s program manager Eric Ahlstrom said: “We believe there are a number of women active in motorsports and aviation who are qualified to drive our jet car through the sound barrier and beyond. A smaller driver will have advantages in entry/exit, visibility, and control. The driver will be expected to provide detailed feedback data, run-by-run, that will build to the World Record. We’re doing something that’s never been done before.”

All driver candidates – it should be noted that the team has not ruled out small men – must have sponsorship and a gamut of experience before the team will let them cruise in its multimillion dollar auto.

To handle the job, the ideal candidate will have reactions and judgment proven in the top ranks of professional racing, aerobatic and experimental test flight. Physical and Mental fitness, not gender, favors the driver who will be exposed to a combination of G-loads and visual distortion greater than any other person has ever experienced.

In a sport dominated by men, it is refreshing to see someone like Danica Patrick pushing the pedal to the metal and racing with the bets of them.  Danica, we all know by now burst into the IRL scene in 2005 when she qualified fourth for the 24 Hours of Daytona where she eventually finished fourth.

This year, Danica will be on her fourth season in IRL and she is excited about the chance of finally sealing a win. For three years, Danica has come close but never had the chance to win a race.  In fact, she is being compared to retired tennis player Anna Kournikova who never won a major title.

The native of Illinois though is positive that she would finally stand atop the podium this season. Last year's champion Dario Franchitti is now in NASCAR and other notable drivers has defected to stock car racing.  This means that Patrick will have an easier time driving to get that W.

Danica, voted most popular IRL driver of the year said she feels no pressure which makes a huge difference in her bid to win a race or even a championship this season.  "It would be such a big relief. I want to do it for me and my family and for the fans who have been so loyal to me," said Danica according to TribStar.com.

The driver also said that she is in favor of Champ Car and IRL finally settling their disputes.  It’s about time … I hope it brings new birth (and) sponsorships. It will be best for the fans. It will be a win-win-win situation," said Danica of the possible merging of the two open-wheel series.

Hopefully, she finally gets a win this season which is not really that easy as she will not be competing with some MDX with its hood lift and whatnot.

  

Women drivers are on the verge of losing their driving privileges in Saudi Arabia. Telegraph.com.uk reported that Saudi Arabia is to raise its veto on women motorists in an effort to limit the country’s increasing suffragette-style movement in an extremely traditional status. Saudi’s administration has announced the landmark resolution. The government also plans to issue an order by the end of 2008.

The government’s action is intended to prevent movements for superior freedom by women. Campaigns have incorporated protesters driving vehicles through the Islamic condition in disobedience of a warning of custody and forfeit of livelihood recently. Declaring the step did not have full support from the public, the royal family has started at endowing women driving permits earlier. Even though the government line has destabilized recently, the driving ban gets back to the year 1932 were the establishment of the state took place.

"There has been a decision to move on this by the Royal Court because it is recognised that if girls have been in schools since the 1960s, they have a capability to function behind the wheel when they grow up," a government official told The Daily Telegraph. "We will make an announcement soon," says Abdulaziz bin Salamah, the deputy information minister.

"In terms of women driving, we don't have it now because of the reticence of some segments of society," he said. "For example, my mother wouldn't want my sister to drive. It's something she cannot grapple with. But there is change on the way. I think the fair view is that one can be against it but one does not have the right to prevent it."

"When it was first raised, the extremists were really mad," he added. "Now they just complain. It is diminishing into a form of consent."

The country preserves a firm isolation of the sexes outside the family home. A woman by herself must shop behind curtains and she cannot call a taxi. Critics considered that giving women the privelege to drive would be the first step towards a continuing change of the kingdom's modesty decrees.

This law is kind of ridiculous. But it’s their own business, so let’s just leave the Arabs alone and step on your brake pad set instead.

I’d like to call these babies car babies. You know what car babies are? Well, they are those who have been born in a vehicle. And what situation could make your body pump more adrenaline into your system than having a passenger giving birth in a car while you try to rush to the hospital. Now that is some road trip that you’d never forget.

Just like what has happened to Jessica Linde-Escobar as reported at The Age. She gave birth to her first baby in her vehicle. It was not disclosed whether she rode a Ford Explorer or any other vehicle model. The thing was, she was already in the hospital car park when the baby went right out into the world.

Now, she has given birth to a second daughter in her vehicle. Again. What happened was that she and her husband were already on the way to the hospital. Upon arriving, she had been asked for some documents. She was not feeling anything at that point so the couple decided to go back home to fetch the documents.

On the way back to the hospital with the documents at hand, Jessica suddenly felt contractions. Just as her husband was pulling over, their second daughter came out. The mother and the daughter were in good health though.

Remember the movie “The Fast and the Furious”? Well, that’s exactly how fast Asian girls run on the streets of Los Angeles. These teens lead a very dangerous killer craze…

“Cops are too smart to chase me, but these Universal boys are my favorites. They have the Porsche, but they don’t have the balls to beat a real angry Asian chick,” said the 16-year-old Jackie Q, a veteran of “cutting up” contests which is an illegal street race. “I managed 90mph along Sunset Boulevard, blowing off Lindsay Lohan and her paparazzi posse at 3am. My parents thought I was staying with friends. But those days are over.”

“The Asian girls are a new thing,” said Chris Ortell, a police sergeant in east Los Angeles. He is dealing with a 17-year-old Asian girl who raced her Ford Focus through a crowded street at 80mph before striking another car and killing its teenage occupant.

“The Asian girls are not copying Hollywood movies,” Ortell said in an interview with Times Online. “They were raised playing their brothers’ video games, a dozen titles which feature street races, and believe that they can hit a wall and walk away. In the past they would have Nadine Toyoda, above, has gone legit but - along with characters such as Daisy Duke, right, played by Jessica Simpson - is a big influence on illegal racers been spectators, but now they are drivers. And they are killing themselves and others.”

Their cars are equipped with cutting-edge auto parts such as Lakewood 50/50 Street And Strip Series shock absorbers but their passion kills.

“We can usually spot a racer. But if two teens insult each other and take off down a busy street like Sunset Boulevard, racing for pinkies [pink car-ownership papers], then we are going to be cautious about chasing them,” said one veteran traffic officer. “Sometimes all you can do is pray these children, who often don’t even have a driving license, run out of gas before they kill someone.”

Never underestimate the capacity of a woman… She may let you eat her dust and leave you with a smashed ignition coil! It is possible that women can outdo man in various fields. The world of racing is one good example where in some occasions, women took charge over men. Too bad!

Here’s an incomplete list of "firsts" women and their accomplishments when racing against men, courtesy of Menstuff. Believe it!

• Aitken-Walker, Louise - 1979 - The first woman to win a national championship round in Britian.
• Aldred, Anna Lee - the first woman in the United States to be given a professional jockey’s license.
• Beckers, Christine - NASCAR - First time since 1949 that three women competed in a race together: Janet Guthrie, Lella Lombardi, and Christine Beckers
• Christian, Sara - First women to compete in NASCAR which took place in Charlotte.
• Cuneo, Joan Newton - first female driver in the first Glidden Tour, won several races in the middle of 1905-1908, won a national amateur championship- 1909, smashed speed records at the Marti Gras races. Cuneo stopped racing in 1909 when women were forbidden to  join AAA events.
• de Balanza, Julia - first woman to race Formula One since the launching of the World Championship in 1950.
• Duno, Milka - The first Latin American women driver ever to be graded "expert" First woman to win overall major international sports car race entirely in North America in 24 years since she won in the second round of the 2004 Grand American (GrandAm) Sportscar Series at Homestead on 28 February 2004.First woman to win twice overall on major sports car race in North America.