They feel the need, the need for speed - and their gender’s not going to stop them. Sure they could be out shopping but they’d rather be out racing with the boys. Adam McCulloch goes along for the ride.
Firstly, let’s get the jokes out of the way. Women don’t motor-race because:
they can’t navigate their way to the track; there’s no vanity mirrors; there’s no back seat to drive from in race cars. Very funny. The truth is there’s no good reason why women can’t race. The only prerequisites are fast reactions and nerves of steel. Meet three Australian women from vastly different motor sports who are showing they have what it takes - and more - to beat men at their own game.
Rachelle Splatt - Top Fuel Drag Racing.
With a name that is a constant reminder of the perils of her sport, Rachelle Splatt was the first woman in the world to exceed 300 miles per hour (300.2mph in 4.88 seconds). It’s a speed few people have experienced.
Her father, Ian Splatt, was almost killed when, while spinning his wheels to warm up the tyres, one took hold lifting his dragster into the air. When it came down the unconscious Splatt catapulted down the tarmac, hit a wall and burst into flames. Two years later, when 21year old Rachelle said she was going to start racing, he was less than enthusiastic. ” Oh, that’s nice,” she recalls him saying. That was 14 years ago.
A regular dragster will make it down the 400-meter track in ten seconds. Just enough time to press the accelerator, steer and pop the parachute. “Top fuel dragsters,” Splat explains, “Are the fastest accelerating thing in the world. A plane has a higher top speed but a dragster accelerates quicker. You don’t even have time to think,’ Oh, the car’s going sideways”.
Unlike many slower forms of motor sport, intuition plays a far greater role in top fuel dragsters. “Learning what to do before the race and after you hit the finish line is really important. I learnt by sitting in the car and going through the controls,” she says. “The race itself is so fast you’re just driving on instinct.”
“Basically, you’re teaching yourself how to stay really relaxed.” That’s where being a woman can have its advantages. “Many guys just go hell for leather regardless of the consequences. They blow up engines and risk a lot more damage.” Splatt is happy to back off if her intuition tells her it’s not right. Having said that she freely admits to competing in races where both competitors’ engines are on fire as they hurtle down the drag strip.
Few things stop her from racing but two days before one race she found out she was five weeks pregnant. While racing, the force on her body is four times the force of gravity. “We have our heads strapped down so we can see straight ahead while accelerating,” she explains. Stopping is no gentler either. “Our seatbelt is done up so tight, we struggle for breath. When the parachute stops the car, your body flexes like someone in a car accident. If the belt isn’t tight enough you get thrown out of your seat,” she says. She contacted doctors from the Royal Australian Air Force who had performed extensive studies on fighter pilots to see if racing would effect a
five-week-old foetus. They gave her the all clear - saying the baby wouldn’t feel a thing.
Motherhood has changed her approach to racing and vice versa. “When I was racing I wanted to be with the kids and when I was with the kids I was worried I wasn’t spending enough time with the car. I felt really torn,” says Splatt.
To solve the dilemma she’s come up with the perfect solution: she’s bought a brand new car from the United States that looks set to take her beyond the 300mph barrier once again. But more importantly, she says, “We’re setting up a home workshop and building a trailer with a lounge and a kitchen for when we go away. That way we can race as a family.”
Kristy Flett - Lawn Mower Racer
Your average formula one team spends around a million dollars per race. Kristy Flett - driver, owner, and pit crew in one - spends around five dollars on petrol.
They might be lawn mowers by name but with 250cc motorcycle engines inserted into their light weight chassis, the super-modified class of lawn mowers are anything but languid in nature. Mower blades are removed and, to keep speeds down, the dirt circuits are full of twists and turns. The longest straight - around 100 meters - still sees competitors approaching 100kmph.
The sport’s only been alive in Australia for around ten years so with only a couple of years experience, 21 year old Flett has found herself the secretary of the Australian Ride On Lawn Mowing Association and is almost considered a veteran of the sport. She regularly races against (and beats) the men, but her greatest satisfaction is getting others involved in the sport. “Trevor Ewit from Kraft’s maintenance department got me into it and now there’s five of us from the factory Strathmerton who are all racing,” she says. “It’s all about just having a good time. We don’t have the resources to do lap times and all that,” she adds.
Her fiercest competitor Megan Kirkwood-Hackett is also her greatest ally - both girls regularly compete in nail biting duels but look out for each other when they’re off the track. “Megan and I were at this big track day at Nathalia,” she recalls. “A couple of blokes were hanging a fair bit on us and they asked if we wanted to have a go around the circuit. They thought we’d just drive around sedately. We were racing full on and after that they realised we were just like them. From then on we got all the help we needed.”
As yet no major sponsor has picked up on the fast growing popularity of lawn-mower racing in rural areas. Until they do racers like Flett will act as ticket salespeople, track marshals and accident investigation. “At Swifts Creek,” Flett recalls, “I guess I hadn’t had enough practice. I gave my mower the berries [accelerated quickly] and rolled it. The other blokes came over and gave me a hand and lent me equipment and got me back on the track.” The only thing damaged was her pride. Other competitors aren’t so lucky. “One day Royce O’Brien rolled it really bad,” she recalls with a laugh,”The front end of his mower was smashed up completely. We went running over. When we got there he actually had a tyre mark across his forehead. It was pretty funny.”
Racing lawnmowers is the dirt version of racing go carts which is exactly where drivers like Formula One’s Mark Weber and V8 Supercar champion Mark Skaife earned their stripes. “I think the supermodified class is enough power for me,” says Flett, later admitting, “If the chance to drive in another class came up I’d have a go at it for sure.”
The most challenging part of the sport for Flett is the maintenance. “Being a mechanic must come naturally to most blokes. As a girl I think we’re better at cooking and cleaning,” she says, playing down her skill. When pushed further she admits, “There’s no reason girls can’t get into motorsport. Physical strength doesn’t really matter - after all, plenty of women drive cars. To say it’s too dangerous is a cop out too. “Flett sees the main problem as being one of education. “I think women don’t have a clue how to find out about it,” she says, suggests people contact www.mowerracing.com or CAMS www.cams.com.au for other racing styles.
Erin Normoyle - Super Motocross
21 year old Erin Normoyle frequently has some explaining to do. As a full time model and Super Motocross rider, the bruises and cuts she frequently receives need to be covered with make-up or fixed in Photoshop. “The scars are a little more difficult,” she says.
For example, consider the time she started mid-field and fell at the first corner. “I got run over and broke my collar bone,” she recalls, clearly amused by the seriousness of the injury. “It was a little hard getting back on the bike after that,” she admits.
Growing up with two fanatical motorcross brothers taught her two things: how to ride well enough to start competing at age fifteen, and how to win the respect of male riders. “At first they try and run you down,” she says. Adopting a macho attitude to pain very quickly made guys treat her differently. “Pretty soon I was treated as one of the boys,” she recalls.
One of the main obstacles for women in motorsport is attracting sponsorship, which is where Normoyle’s modelling appeal works a treat. Why spend money on beautiful flag girls to attract a male audience when sponsors can put girls like Erin Normoyle on the motorcycles themselves. With a little help from Jim Beam she set up Jim Beam racing - a three girl team of women’s motocross riders.
Normoyle regularly finishes in the top five in the women’s events and places solid performances among the men in open classes. Even so, achieving her greatest ambition (to race in the Women’s AMA Championship in America) will involve conquering her greatest fear: she’s terrified of flying.
Normoyle feels she doesn’t take motorcross as seriously as the guys (her ruptured kidney might disagree), declaring, “Guys are more hard core.” She sees her career leading more towards TV presenting than following in the footsteps of Australian motorcross legend Chad Reed. Either way her motorcross experience will give her enormous credibility.
The humble, girls-just-want-to-have-fun attitude of these drivers belies the growing integrity of women’s motorsport. With women like these three at the wheel, one day motor racing enthusiasts may just be cheering on a long haired Michelle Schumacher.
Words by Adam McCulloch. Originally published in Sunday Magazine. The format has been altered to suit Tumblr.
