St James: More Women Needed
Former IndyCar driver Lyn St. James believes that Danica Patrick's performance in qualifying for this year's Indy 500 is not yet enough to prove that women have been accepted into the sport
St James, whose foundation supports female motor racing talent, believes that although Patrick is capable of winning this weekend's race from fourth on the grid, many more female drivers are needed for motor racing to be accepted as a multi-sex sport.
"We need are more team owners like Bobby Rahal and Dick Simon to step up when female drivers are younger," St. James said.
"What we need is to focus on is her not being accepted as one. Not just to say 'we don't have to worry about this anymore because we have Danica'. We have to have more than one female carry the banner if we're going to get sponsors and fans to flood our gates to show that this sport is really open to women and other minorities.
"Currently, the one we have has to do an extraordinary job. She's capable of winning, but the racing gods have to be in her corner that day. If she doesn't win it this year, I think she will be a future winner."
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments