(Steve Swope for Team Penske)
An all-female IndyCar team have announced plans to compete
in next year’s 100th Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway.
Grace Autosport has been set up as a way of promoting
engineering as a career path for women and the team is made up of an all-female
senior management structure. Team Principal Beth Paretta commented by saying:
‘Gender inclusion is an important issue’.
She went on to say that the Brickyard has always been a
place of firsts and that the team are now adding to that.
At the announcement at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on
Friday afternoon it was also confirmed that Grace Autosport will run British
driver Katherine Legge has been signed by the team to race at the Indianapolis
500 in 2016.
IndyCar has a long tradition of female drivers competing
successfully alongside their male counterparts and the news of an all-female
Indy 500 team will come as a major boost for the sport. It is believed that the
team will try to reach a partnership with an existing IndyCar team. The team
have brought in Aerodynamicist and Race Engineer Catherine Crawford along with
Design engineer Jessica Rowe.
Paretta went on to say that the team chose IndyCar due to
the fact that the series has been very welcoming to female competitors.
The new project has also received support from the FIA’s
Women in Motorsport Commission.
© Ben Johnston 2015
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