Women on the rise: Successful FIM and BMW Motorrad Motorsport racing training camp at Brno.
Munich, 30th September 2014. Women are on the rise in international motorcycle racing – this has now been proved once more at Brno in the Czech Republic. For the third time, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) and its Women in Motorcycling Commission (CFM) organised the FIM Women’s Road Racing Training Camp, with the support of BMW Motorrad Motorsport. These training camps give female riders from all over the world the opportunity to train with high-spec motorcycles and professional coaches on a major racing circuit.
As happened in the first two camps, this event at Brno also turned out to be a big success. For four days, female riders were trained in their skills on the Brno MotoGP circuit, being coached by instructors like ex MotoGP racers Simon Crafar and Jürgen Fuchs. BMW Motorrad provided the BMW S 1000 RRs for the training camp and the experts from BMW Motorrad Motorsport were on site to prepare the bikes.
“It was now the third time we have provided our BMW S 1000 RR bikes for the participants and it is always a huge pleasure to be part of these camps,” said Berthold Hauser, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Technical Director. “It is great to see the enthusiasm and ambition of the girls. It is also interesting to see the impact these camps can have on the careers of the participants. One example is Janine Davies, who took part in the first FIM camp. She liked the bike so much that when she got back home to South Africa she bought a BMW S 1000 RR, and became the first girl ever to be on the podium on a BMW in the history of the South African SBK series. It would be great to see more female riders competing at high level racing.”
“We are always looking forward to support the FIM Women’s Road Racing Training Camp. The support of amateurs is very important to us”, added Udo Mark, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Marketing Director. “Besides our commitment in professional racing, where we work with our customers in numerous national and international championships, the support of amateur racers plays a major role in our activities. Our clear goal is to continuously grow the world-wide community of BMW Motorrad riders. Our partnership with FIM is a good opportunity for us to do so. In addition, it is just great for us that can help talented female riders to make their next steps into racing.”
On the third day of the camp there was a race for the FIM camp participants alongside male riders from the Bike Promotion track day. The women showed their speed and skills and history was written: for the first time ever only female participants stepped onto the podium, while the best male rider finished fourth.
Nita Korhonen, the Director of the FIM Women’s Commission, summed up: “We had 26 girls from 11 different countries here, we made history in a mixed gender open race showing that many of the women on the camp are extremely strong competitors, and it would be great to see more women competing at the highest level of Road Racing. And, more importantly, everyone genuinely enjoyed themselves over here.”