May 26th, 2010

Meet Lucky Lucy, a Female Stunt Driver from the 50s

May 25th, 2010

16-Year-Old Elena Myers Wins AMA

16-year-old Elena Myers just became the first woman to win an AMA Supersport Class race. She’s sponsored by Suzuki who couldn’t be more proud. They celebrated by turning their homepage pink. They’ve promised to keep turning their homepage pink every time she wins!

Myers started riding and racing at age 8. She raced a GP bike for the first time at age 11 and won the race. This girl is a superstar!

“She has a lot of heart, a lot of talent, and now this amazing win to show the world she’s a tough competitor,” said American Suzuki Motor Corporation’s Communications Manager Steve Bortolamedi. “We at Suzuki are proud of her, and glad that she’s riding a Suzuki GSX-R600. Changing our Suzukicycles.com homepage pink in her honor is our way of supporting her young and promising racing career.”

While we’re sort of over the pink = female equation we love the fact that Suzuki is so supportive of female racers. A big congratulations to Elena and to Suzuki!

May 24th, 2010

Susan Docherty Announced GM VP of Intl Opertational Sales, Marketing and Aftersale

Susan Docherty’s new title is announced: Vice President of International Operational Sales, Marketing and Aftersale at GM.

“Growth in China and other emerging markets is important to the company’s future,” said GM Chairman and CEO, Ed Whitacre.  “We are counting on Susan to make a significant contribution and I am glad to have her running this critical part of our business.”

Indeed car companies are all fighting over China and looking for new opportunities overseas and outside the US and European markets. Best of luck Susan!

May 23rd, 2010

A Record 4 Women on the Grid at Indy!

Sarah Fisher will start 29th at Indy. While Fisher must be happy about qualifying, she is also a co-owner of the team and her other driver, Jay Howard failed to qualify. The team made the decision to withdraw his time and run again to attempt to better his time but the gamble did not pay off as his time was slower. If he had kept his original time he would have qualified.

Unfortunately, after three attempts Milka Duno failed to qualify. While it won’t be 5 women on the grid on May 30 the fact that 4 women will be racing marks a new record!

May 23rd, 2010

Rookie Ana Beatriz Qualifies Well at Indy

Ana Beatriz will start 21st with Silmona de Silvestro at 22nd and Danica Patrick at 23rd. This is how the women look for now in the provisional starting lineup.

Patrick did not have a good qualifying run and was actually booed by the crowd. She claimed the car had no grip and blamed it on the set up of the car. All three women have now qualified.

Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno will now try to qualify today which would make an historic five women racing in Indy. Three-time Indy winner Helio Castroneves is on pole.

Tune in to watch the Indianapolis 500 on May 30.

May 22nd, 2010

Zoe Says No-Go to the Zoe Renault

Renault would like to name its new all-electric car the Zoe ZE (Zero Emission), which will launch in 2012. But not if one Zoe Renault, 23, has anything to do with it. Zoe Renault, the person (and no relation to the car company) is not happy about having the car named after her.

“I could not bear to hear: ‘Zoe’s broken down’ or ‘We need to get Zoe overhauled’,” she said. Renault, who lives in Paris, has a lawyer who is representing her and the other Zoes out there to try to prevent the car company from using their name.

A Renault spokesman said that giving a car a female name was not a new concept but that they have not definitively decided on that name yet. However, Renault has already started using the name on its website. Clearly this little car is being marketed to women and they even partnered with L’Oreal to create a system that flows particles into the car that hydrate the skin. It will be interesting to see which Zoe wins out and what this means for the future of naming cars after women.

May 21st, 2010

Ana Beatriz Looking Competitive at Indy

After some practice days at Indy Ana Beatriz, 25, is shining through among the field. She ran the fastest laps among the rookies, and among the more experience female drivers, and she’s never even driven an oval during an Indy race (though she has raced Indy Lights).

Her fastest lap was 224.263. Tony Kaanan had the fastest lap at 226.775.

The Indy 500 could see a record 5 women on the grid this year. This could include: Danica Patrick, Silmona de Silvestro, Sarah Fisher and Milka Duno.

But could Beatriz be the dark horse here? We will find out next week on May 30.