The second edition of Motorsport Australia’s online FIA Girls On Track program has been completed with carsales Consumer Editor Nadine Armstrong hosting a successful one-on-one chat with Erebus Motorsport Managing Director Shannen Kiely.

 

The live chat was hosted on Motorsport Australia’s Instagram channel and the duo discussed a range of topics, highlighting women in motorsport.

“I think people potentially see that (barriers in motorsport for women) but I feel that if girls have belief in themselves and they want to do it, they can,” Kiely said.

 

“There is no reason they can’t. It’s just about belief in themselves to want to go and do it.

 

“I think that even though my role is my role and we are smaller in numbers in the current climate, I have been doing everything to help the team in any way that I can. Whether it’s running to the truck to get a part that I have no idea about, or helping the team in the garage.

 

“First you start believing in yourself and then others will believe in you.

 

“I think you can never be too old to do something in motorsport. Whether you want to compete as a driver at a young age or an old lady who wants to volunteer at Winton at the local state round. There is always an opportunity, you just need to find it.”

 

With the Girls on Track initiative introducing different aspects of motorsport to young girls around the country, Kiely also highlighted the amount in women of the sport who aren’t in the spotlight.

 

“I certainly see girls around the paddock, whether that is as club level or national level,” Kiely added.

 

“I think with a program like Girls on Track, you are seeing more of those girls as a face because they are getting to see more behind the scenes

 

“The engineers and drivers are the face of the teams but there are so many people behind the scenes. Especially with my team, I think we had 27 people in Adelaide this year and seven of them were women, so the percentage is actually alright.”

 

Armstrong and Kiely’s one-on-one chat was the second chat as part of Motorsport Australia’s online FIA Girls On Track program, with 2016 RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Champion Molly Taylor and Triple Eight Racing’s Jessica Dane featuring last month.