At a time when cries of parity are resounding in sport and the goal is to match it in terms of competitiveness and audiences, there are still some disciplines in which gender is not a priority. In sailing, shooting, horse riding or motor racing, men and women compete together without major problems. However, in relation to gasoline, it is more difficult for the latter to stand out than their peers. The reasons range from cultural to economic, since it is not cheap to have vehicles and equipment, and that is where the illusions of many of them end. Cristina Gutiérrez (31 years old) is one of the few examples of professional women in racing. The woman from Burgos has years of experience and has already achieved important successes, such as a stage win in the Dakar and a third place as a member of the Red Bull team. Accustomed to hard work, she does not consider that being a woman has been a brake on her. «Perhaps at first she noticed more problems to make me believe and for people to see that I was capable of doing a competition like the Dakar. Both men and women have always welcomed me with open arms. Young people in the world of motorsport are always needed and even more so in my discipline of ‘cross country’ », she affirms. Related News Valencian community gp standard No Augusto Fernández, Moto2 world champion Sergi Font Ogura crashed with 17 laps to go when he was riding third and put the World Cup on a plate for the Mallorcan, who finished second. The race was won by Pedro Acosta «The fact that a woman is in the elite and manages to win, because we are on equal terms, draws attention; the number of women in general is lower and, statistically speaking, it stands out. People are usually overjoyed when someone achieves some milestone. Great advances are being made within the sector », he adds to ABC. Cristina Gutiérrez ABC A case of great projection, although focused on circuits, is that of Marta Ariza (25). The Zamoran is more than seasoned in karting and now she stands out in the Spanish Touring Car Championship, apart from having done a test with the Formula 4 of the Ferrari academy. She does not attribute the shortage of women to any discrimination. «My family and friends have always supported me and I have not cared what anyone around me said. At a high level they have always treated me well, those who are bothered that a woman reaches the top is rather because they are resentful that they have not achieved anything. Ariza agrees with Gutiérrez that, being less competitive, the successes of women attract more attention. “They are valued more because people comment on it, the media give more repercussion and in the end they talk more about us,” she adds. When these questions translate to two wheels, the answers don’t vary much. Sara Sánchez, a 24-year-old from Barcelona, explains that when it comes to competing she prefers to do it against men «because for me it has always been normal to run with the boys, because I have verified that I can be at their same level». Women’s events However, this does not mean that in the strictly women’s competitions in which she has participated she has stood out to the fullest. Sánchez has won the Ibero-American Championship in Mexico and has finished runner-up in the European Championship in Mugello. Cristina Gutiérrez, from her greatest experience, affirms that «in the motor world, luckily, we have a machine with wheels that drives us, so gender does not imply any advantage or disadvantage. On the other hand, I don’t see the fact that there are entirely female competitions, because it is a platform to give visibility to other women and to launch them into absolute categories, such as Formula 1. Marta Ariza ABC In the same way, Marta Ariza thinks: «I am anti-feminine categories, because, under equal conditions, we have proven to be equal; but the ‘W Series’ is also needed so that girls (and not so girls) see that this can also be a women’s sport, as we have been demonstrating for so many years». That is why, for her, dissemination is important and that «they can see on television that the pilots are an example to follow. That’s where the hobby is really created. The problem comes when you have to make the races profitable. Sara suffers when she remembers that “the doors have been opened to me in Italy for the second year, and they have bet on me as they had never done in Spain, here it is much more difficult to live from this.” “In all these years, support for women’s sports has come to me in a trickle, not even to cover indirect costs,” she laments. To do this, Cristina proposes a solution, albeit a somewhat idealistic one. “Among all we should support minority or less visible sports more and thus generate that awareness of supporting other minorities.” Hopefully they get to see the change.
