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WRC – Young girls get an insight into World Rallying

28.10.16

One hundred young schoolgirls enjoyed a rare insight into the world of rallying when they were welcomed into the Wales Rally GB service park by the manufacturers in the FIA World Rally Championship courtesy of FIA Women in Motorsport Ambassador Susie Wolff and her Dare to be Different campaign.

FIA, Motorsport, Mobility, Road Safety, F1, WRC, WEC, WTCC, World RX

In line with the missions of the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission, the campaign aims to encourage female participation in all areas of motor sport and has toured the United Kingdom in its inaugural year. This week, the campaign travelled to Deeside in north Wales – home to the penultimate round of the FIA World Rally Championship – where the young girls were given an in-depth tour of the of the Rally Village as they had their eyes opened to the wealth of opportunities available to them in professional motor sport. 

Amongst the highlights were visits to the Volkswagen Motorsport, Hyundai Motorsport and M-Sport World Rally Team service areas, with the delight and sheer sense of awe evident on the faces of the girls as they got a chance to sit inside the cockpit of some of the most powerful and spectacular cars on the planet.

Also on the agenda were media tuition and interview skills with one of motor sport’s respected and experienced presenters, a fitness and nutrition workshop, a tyre-changing pit-stop challenge and an engineering exercise with Toyota – offering the girls a comprehensive overview of the pinnacle of international rallying.
 
“This marked a fantastic opportunity to introduce our Dare To Be Different girls to the exciting and challenging discipline of rallying,” enthused Wolff. “It is the first time we have been able to incorporate rallying into our programme and it was a real privilege for the girls to get so up close and personal to rally teams operating at the very top of their game.

“I must admit I felt a tinge of jealousy that some of them had the opportunity to sit inside the world championship-winning Volkswagen Polo R WRC – having enjoyed a passenger ride in one of Citroën’s DS3 WRCs last year, I know just how incredible these cars are! A huge thank you to all the teams and everybody at Dayinsure Wales Rally GB for making this possible.”