Tag Archives: Shea Holbrook

OPINION: Why Sir Stirling Moss has it wrong, by Shea Holbrook

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Pirelli World Challenge racer Shea Holbrook weighs in on the racing legend’s recent negative assessment of female drivers’ aptitude for Formula 1.

I don’t have the traditional motorsport story. I wasn’t born into racing. No one raced nor watched racing in my family. I didn’t start karting from the moment I quit wearing diapers. I didn’t come from a rich family and I’m not my father’s son. When motorsport came into my life at age 16, I had about 11 years to catch up on. I can humbly say this sport is extremely tough and many drivers have to overcome some of the same obstacles.

But, apparently, there is still another hurdle that I and others have to overcome. I wanted to compete with the boys just to say I could, and when I beat them I didn’t say anything at all, because it wasn’t necessary. Why? Because I respect my rivals, male or female. It’s an honor to share the racetrack with well-regarded competitive drivers of either gender. Yes, I do think having more women in racing is fantastic because it will help the future of the sport, and that’s why I started the #SteelOvaryNation campaign, but I am not a “let’s get our pom-poms” kind of girl. I just believe racing is one of the sports in which females and males can compete on an equal footing.

Apparently, not all agree. Legendary former racing driver Sir Stirling Moss was quoted during a recent BBC radio documentary saying, “I think they [women] have the strength, but I don’t know if they’ve got the mental aptitude to race hard, wheel to wheel.”

He went on to add: “We’ve got some very strong and robust ladies…. [‘Robust' isn't really a flattering word, Sir. Just saying…] But, when your life is at risk, I think the strain of that in a competitive situation will tell when you’re trying to win…. The mental stress I think would be pretty difficult for a lady to deal with in a practical fashion. I just don’t think they have the aptitude to win a Formula 1 race.”

I can assure anyone that not once have I ever gotten into a racecar and thought, “My life is at risk.” OK, I’m not driving F1 cars but, come on, the “risk” is something all racers marry from the moment they decide to take their racing career seriously. And so, despite having the utmost respect for Sir Stirling’s amazing achievements in the cockpit, his comments regarding women racers are utterly ridiculous, offensive and have more than a hint of ignorance. While Moss is absolutely correct in saying it takes mental strength to be a racing driver, his comments basically state that female drivers aren’t equipped to deal with this.

There’s a difference between thinking you can win and believing you can win and, even for natural champions, this can be one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome. That’s why so many drivers go through sports psychology, a.k.a., mental training. That includes F1 drivers. That includes male drivers.

I understand Moss is from a different era but in today’s world there’s a difference between tradition and equality. I can handle “old-school” mentality but his comment, whether he intended it to be this way or not, was absurdly sexist and badly thought through. Motorsport is male-dominated and while there are still so few female racers in the world (relatively speaking), how can anyone possibly pass judgment on whether female drivers have what it takes? There have been only five female drivers in the history of Formula 1! Five!! So what stats is he basing his opinion on? To me, and I hope thousands of others, Sir Stirling’s comment is a generalization of the most ridiculous magnitude and should be dismissed.

For the past three years, I’ve seen women in the industry making larger impressions than ever before because they are finally getting the chances they’ve earned. Needless to say, they must work hard to gain respect but that’s true for male racers, too. And that is my point: women racers aren’t (or shouldn’t be) asking for favoritism because of their gender. But it certainly is right for us to be regarded as equals from the outset, so that we, like men, then have the chance to succeed or fail based on our performances on and off the track. We should not have to flaunt our #SteelOvaryNation credentials outside the racecar, just to overcome the prejudices of the ignorant.

Sir Stirling Moss, I think it’s time you welcome us. And respect us.

Shea Holbrook drives the TrueCar Racing Honda Civic in the SCCA Pirelli World Challenge.

Original article posted on Racer.

HOLBROOK OVERCOMES CHALLENGES TO TAKE TOP-10 FINISH AT MID-OHIO

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SANTA MONICA, Calif., August 6, 2012 – Shea Holbrook piloted her No. 67 TrueCar/Virgin Honda Civic Si to her ninth top-10 finish of the season despite challenging conditions both on and off the racetrack. In this past weekend’s doubleheader Pirelli World Challenge at Mid Ohio Sportscar Course, Holbrook overcame mechanical difficulties in qualifying as well as a slick race track in round 2 to come away with one top-ten finish and maintain her fourth place points in the Championship.

“Mid Ohio is one of those races you never know what to expect. Track conditions constantly change and weather is unpredictable,” said Holbrook.

After finishing on the podium twice at her previous race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, the 22-year old TrueCar Racing Women Empowered initiative driver was hoping to continue that momentum into rounds ten and eleven at Mid Ohio.

During qualifying for race one Holbrook had an incident on the exit of turn seven which damaged the car beyond repair forcing the Team to prepare the back-up car.

“After qualifying we deemed our primary car un-drivable,” said Holbrook. “However, thanks to the relentless efforts of our crew they were able to prepare our backup car for the rest of the weekend.”

Because of the new car entry Holbrook was forced to start from the back of the field (15th) on Saturday. Saturday’s race was dry and humid and Holbrook looked to be very comfortable in the backup car as she charged through the field finishing sixth. “Every time we go on track the crew amazes me. We’ve really come a long way,” Holbrook said with arms around her team.

Forecast showed rain for Sunday’s race and as predicted the rain came. Based off her fastest lap time of race one Holbrook started fifth on the grid. “Track conditions were extremely tough and even the rain line had very limited grip. I was actually pleased with our performance in the rain as we had implemented overtaking strategies in very wet conditions. But to win that race we needed to stay on track.” Towards the end of the race Holbrook went off in turn eleven and when reentering the track she found herself caught in the GTS field making the situation hard to catch the TC field. Holbrook finished eleventh in the rain.

“This weekend was a learning experience for all of us. We faced our challenges and ended up with one top-ten and maintaining our position in the Championship. I’m proud of the entire TrueCar Team because we can walk away knowing we all gave 100% and gained additional on-track experience. We are confident that as we continue to gain on-track experience we will continue to improve. But Mid Ohio sure does have true love for TrueCar, thank you race fans!”

Holbrook currently sits fourth in the Touring Car Championship with 881 points. Watch the Pirelli World Challenge races from Mid Ohio on NBC Sports, Saturday, August 25th at 1:30-3PM eastern.

The season comes to an end with an exciting tripleheader weekend at Sonoma Raceway August 24-26, 2012 alongside the IZOD IndyCar Series.

Continue watching Shea Holbrook’s live in-car video during all race weekends and revisit Mid Ohio right from her cockpit on Livestream.com.

Special thanks to the fans, TrueCar, Virgin, Lucas Oil, Premier Capital, HPD/Honda Racing, Shea Racing, Compass360 Racing, Eibach Springs, Bell Helmets, K&N Filters, Penta Water, and Cool Shirt.

UCF Commencement on Saturday featuring Shea Holbrook

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From www.MyFoxOrlando.com

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) – A professional female race car driver, a kid who wasn’t expected to live past her fourth birthday, identical twins who have taken care of their grandmother since her onset of Parkinson’s disease, and a drummer who grew up performing at his hometown church will earn their bachelor degrees at the University of Central Florida this week. Continue reading →

Five Drivers With Women In The Winner’s Circle Ties Selected For Truecar ‘Women Empowered’ Initiative

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FROM PADDOCKTALK.COM

The recently unveiled “Women Empowered” initiative from TrueCar, Inc., which provides sponsorship to six female racers at various levels of North American motorsport, includes five drivers with strong ties to the Women in the Winner’s Circle Foundation.

IZOD IndyCar Series driver Katherine Legge, Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear driver Ashley Freiberg, Cooper Tires presents the USF2000 National Championship powered by Mazda racer Shannon McIntosh, Pirelli World Challenge Championships driver Shea Holbrook and Rally American Series driver Verena Mei are associated with the Women in the Winner’s Circle Foundation established by Lyn St. James to help women achieve their goals in motorsports.

“I want to congratulate TrueCar, Inc. for creating this remarkable motorsports campaign with its sponsorship of six women racers in six different professional racing series,” said St. James, the 1992 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year. “After watching so many women racers struggle to secure funding just to get in a race car, now these drivers know they have the support to run a full season with proper race teams, which is history making. Too often, women drivers are only able to secure short term deals, and generally aren’t funded well enough to have a competitive effort.”

Appropriately, the new program launched in March, which is “Women’s History Month.” McIntosh opened her 2012 season at Sebring International Raceway on March 13-17, while Legge, Holbrook and Freiberg opened their respective seasons last weekend at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. All six of the “Women Empowered” drivers, which also includes SCCA Pro Racing Playboy MX-5 Cup Series driver Emilee Tominovich, participated in a meet-and-greet and autograph session during the weekend at St. Pete.

Three of the drivers – Freiberg, McIntosh and Holbrook – are graduates of the Women in the Winner’s Circle Foundation’s Complete Driver Academy, which is the most comprehensive educational and training program of its kind for talented women race drivers who aspire to the professional levels of motorsports. The Academy’s two-fold purpose is to identify potential champion women drivers who have demonstrated success on the track and have a desire to pursue a career in professional motorsports; and create an experience that will provide the tools to further women drivers’ careers in motorsports as well as enhance their lives on and off the track.

“It’s ironic how things turn full circle,” said Holbrook, who claimed her first World Challenge victory last year at Long Beach. “At the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, I was talking to a group of kids about how important it is for anybody in any profession to find confidence, knowledge about the industry, have an elevator speech, and business cards! All of those things I learned at Lyn’s Women in the Winners Circle development program. Lyn’s program helped give me the foundation I have today. Without it I wouldn’t be where I am today nor would I have accomplished everything I have so far. Having passion and perseverance really does go a long way. I feel very fortunate to have Lyn as a mentor and friend.”

Freiberg, McIntosh, Holbrook, Mei and Legge have all been featured at the annual Women in the Winner’s Circle awards celebration, and Legge, Freiberg and McIntosh are featured in the organization’s traveling exhibit. St. James and Legge, who is driving the TrueCar Lotus/Dallara for Dragon Racing in the IZOD IndyCar Series, have a relationship that dates back to Legge’s earliest efforts to launch a racing career in North America.

“Lyn has been an inspiration and a role model for myself and many other young drivers both male and female,” Legge said. “She has opened many doors before us and continues to help and support the up and coming young talent in the racing arena. She was the first person I called when I came to the USA and is still the first I call when I need guidance. She is a rock star!”

McIntosh and Legge are back in action this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park, while Holbrook’s next event is a tripleheader at Miller Motorsports Park on April 27-29. Mei returns to action at the Oregon Trail Rally in Portland, Ore. on May 4-6, and Freiberg’s next event is the prestigious “Night Before the 500″ at Lucas Oil Raceway near Indianapolis on May 26.

“I look forward to watching them as the season progresses,” St. James concluded. “I know they’ve worked hard and are prepared for the challenges ahead. Without having this opportunity, they know they might be watching from the sidelines, or just struggling to get on the racetrack.”