EFRA Celebrates International Women's Day

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Tyler Hooks

0 March 8, 2019, 10:51 a.m.

By Tyler Hooks
LiveRC.com

Press Release from EFRA:
www.efra.ws

In every country there are great women in our sport, in the pits, the pit lane and on the rostrum. From the young up-and-coming stars of the future, to media creators, to organization officials, women are a big part of the future of RC. So today, International Women’s Day, we want to celebrate the International Women of RC! In fact, there’s so much to celebrate, that this just a kick-off! We’re devoting an entire week to getting to know just a few of the great women at the heart of our sport. So, be sure to keep an eye out for the profiles we’ll be releasing each day.

We’ll talk to section 1:10 IC chair Julie Thurston who now oversees this class of racing in Europe many years after getting the whole family into the sport!
“I brought my husband a ready to run on road car for Christmas, he enjoyed it and went on to find a local track. At the age of 3 my son started to go with his dad to the track and started playing with a Mardave. Then at the age of 5, he moved on to a Serpent Impulse. It was at this stage I knew if I wanted to see them both at weekends. I was going to have to go with them! This was my start in RC.”

Family seems to be very much the theme as Jessica Pålsson has her dad to thank.  
“Since I was in mom`s belly RC was part of my life, my dad Micke drove RC, competed with RC almost all his life. I was often at RC tracks, listening to nitro engines, playing with dad`s RC cars.” Jessica can now be seen battling up the time sheets at EFRA European Championship level.

And no stranger to the pressures of top-level team competition, Jill Salven is now the woman behind the world champion behind an entire brand, and she describes her first memories of being at the track: “First I found everything quite strange. But later I could see the passion and the motivation involved. I also enjoy it when we work hard on the car and actually improve it. And when Michael asked me to be his pit women, I was first quite sceptical, but I enjoy it a lot now.”

As Silvia Pietroforte sums up, with the things you can learn through an interest in RC – the sky’s the limit!
“I have grown up racing on weekends, studying on Saturday or Sunday between two rounds of qualifying... so when I had a choice about my career, I chose of course something around racing! I have started automotive engineering, so I suppose it is almost clear what kind of girl I am. I feel free to say, for me racing and cars have never been just little machines, but I have always believed there is something beyond it. So whether boys or girls, young or old, I think we should all follow what makes our heart beat in a different way.”

This is just a taste of the interesting interviews we’ve got in store for you! You’ll meet them all, featuring a new profile every day, starting tomorrow with nitro on-road expert Sabrina Lechner.

So, ladies and gents, the next time you think about introducing your son or your male friends to the joys of RC racing… be sure to bring your daughter or female friend along as well! They may very well enjoy it just as much, or more!  EFRA takes great pride in celebrating International Women’s Day 2019 and their #balanceforbetter campaign and we very much hope you do too!