Is India losing track of its girls on wheels?

Swati Dey

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 3

Two women from India — Mira Erda (18) and Sneha Sharma (28) — will be competing with 58 others from across the world in the inaugural season of the W Series, an all-female Formula 3 racing championship beginning in May. But the two have not received much publicity.

Globally, women racers have had it hard in making their space in the sport where both genders compete with each other. For decades, no woman even qualified for the Formula 1. Being a non-Olympics sport, the 50-50 gender ratio mandate does not apply on motorsport. Realising the gap, two initiatives were independently conceived — the international body (FIA) forming the Women in Motorsport Commission (WIMC) and the W Series.

“At the moment, women racing drivers tend to reach a glass ceiling at around the F3 level, often as a result of lack of funding rather than lack of talent,” said David Coulthard, former Formula 1 driver and an advisory board member of the forthcoming series. 

The selected applicants from the series will be trained by instructors with F1 experience. The top prize of $500,000 for the winner and a total prize fund of $1.5 million will additionally contribute. But winners are not produced overnight. Where does India stand in producing one?

Problem general than gender

As per a notification of the Sports Ministry, dated March 23, 2015, motorsport falls in ‘Others’ category. The categories range from ‘General’ to ‘Priority’ and ‘High Priority’. Sports disciplines in the ‘Others’ category do not get financial assistance. As per the guidelines, to be ‘prioritised’, sportspersons must have won medals or the sport must have mass following or be part of events like the Commonwealth Games or Olympics. Though a non-Olympics sport, F1 Grand Prixs are mega events.

The approach also seems top-down. Are the racers expected to fund themselves while pursuing an expensive sport until they get a podium finish to be eligible for the government assistance? 

Currently, the racers work doubly hard to simultaneously manage their social media presence to attract sponsors in a sport where only the winner gets the coverage, feels former national champion Sarosh Hataria, who fuelled the women-only Ahura Racing team.

Former president of the Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India (FMSCI) Akbar Ibrahim said: “Unlike other sports in India, there are no state associations for motorsport but clubs formed by individuals. Every city does not have the infrastructure the sport requires, nor is there any allocated funding from the government.”

Navaz Sandhu, the Indian representative at the WIMC, said: “Across the world, Motorsport has been the testing ground for every possible automobile invention — better brakes, better handling, suspension, aerodynamics.” 

Sandhu added that the companies that have made the sport expensive and have benefited the most must pay back also. Australia and Japan host F1 with government’s support as it puts the countries on the global map. “If the government can even allocate some land in each city or state, there are enough promoters who can invest to create certain infrastructure, which will be a huge boost to the sport,” said Ibrahim. 

The F1 circuit at Greater Noida remains under-utilised since the Indian GP was discontinued after 2013.

Empowering women?

WIMC recommends the national federations to improve women’s numbers in every capacity, host programmes to detect young talent and driver-sponsor networking. None of it has yet happened in India, Sandhu said. “These things are expensive and need to be worked out with sponsors,” she said. 

On why is WIMC not contributing, she said, “They might give us a grant if we show them potential.”

FMSCI too has not allocated any funding for women despite setting up a women’s commission. Nor has it held any special event to encourage women until the 2018 championship when it let Ahura Racing compete.

FMSCI’s annual report for 2017-18 revealed that except at its women’s commission, no woman is in the key role at any department, which was also confirmed by a federation official. 

FIA funded former Williams F1 test driver and WIMC ambassador Susie Wolff’s programme ‘Dare to be Different’, which aims to increase the number of women in the sport. However, Hataria or others like him have received no funding so far. Perhaps Erda or Sharma’s success could do the trick.