In 1977, Janet Guthrie became the first woman to race in the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500. Shirley Muldowney became the first woman to win a major racing championship, earning the NHRA Top Fuel title.
Almost 32 years have passed since those historic days, but how much really has changed?
More women are competing in motorsports, but Guthrie and Muldowney say real success at the tops levels of racing remains elusive for women.
“I think the doors are wide open for these ladies,” Muldowney said last week … Details
A ‘new’ team that only just made it to the Melbourne grid may be the surprise package of 2009 – thanks to some of F1’s oldest heads.
Take some Brawn. Add a large quantity of brains. Throw in a Button. Finish with a dash of Barrichello. Mix well… and you may well have the equation that throws up a successful Grand Prix team.
The final flurry of F1 testing in Spain in early March revealed two familiar names at the top of the unofficial timesheets: Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. But the old-timers were in an unfamiliar setting: the ‘new’ F1 team known as Brawn GP, in a car powered by Mercedes-Benz engines and christened BGP001.
Brawn GP rose like a phoenix from the ashes of Honda, whose withdrawal rocked the Formula One world late in 2008.
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