Image via Complex Original
Whether it's competition on two wheels or four that polishes your rims, racing season is upon us. While there will probably always be grid girls in the world of motorsports, there are also currently more talented women racing now than there have ever been before. Skilled speed junkies like Michele Mouton and Ashley Fiolek helped pave the way for the current field. There's even a Facebook fan page dedicated to "the real women of motorsports." We love a good race, as well as anyone fast enough to compete. Without further adieu, here are 10 Women Racers To Watch.
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Susie Wolff
Series: Formula One Development Driver
Where To Watch: NBC Sports
Website: www.susiewolff.com
Facebook: Susie Wolff Official
Twitter: @Susie_Wolff
Instagram: @susie_wolff
Susie Wolff came up through junior racing series, from winning karting championships to competing in Formula Renault. She's currently a development driver for the Williams Martini Formula One team, and she'll get some televised time for the 2014 season during a couple of Friday practice sessions as well. Naysayers claim she's just part of the F1 PR machine, but we've loved the sport for years, and know that everything is a part of the PR machine if it wants to be a part of the F1 world. The real question is, can she race? Here's hoping that she breaks the long drought of women drivers in what is one of the world's greatest four-wheeled racing series.
Molly Taylor
Series: FIA Junior World Rally Championship
Where To Watch: MavTV currently broadcasts WRC, but does not carry JWRC coverage at this time.
Website: mollytaylor.com.au
Facebook: Molly Rally
Twitter: @MollyRally
Instagram: @mollyannetaylor
JWRC is a stepping stone to WRC, and many of the great drivers of the modern era came up through the series. Although her name is sadly not Sebastien (a seeming prerequisite for WRC greatness in the past few years), we hope to watch Taylor cliimb up to challenge modern rally royalty.
Emma Gilmour
Series: Global RallyCross
Where To Watch: NBC with rebroadcast on NBCSN
Website: emmagilmour.com
Facebook: Emma Gilmour Rally
Twitter: @EmmaRallying
Instagram: None
Know who doesn't mess around? Rhys Millen. If he thinks Gilmour is good, Gilmour is good (she just became the first female driver in the GRC Series by signing to Rhys Millen Racing). We're excited to see what she brings to the 2014 GRC season.
Melissa Paris
Series: AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBikes; 2014 CEV Superstock 600 Championship
Where To Watch: As yet unannounced for 2014; has been aired by SPEED (now Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2) in the past. The CEV championship is not currently broadcast in the U.S.
Website: melissaparis.com
Facebook: Melissa Paris 13
Twitter: @Meligirl13
Instagram: @melissaparis13
Paris has competed in previous seasons of the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike series, but has yet to win a race. Not content with the five- (or maybe six-) race AMA season on the calendar for 2014, Paris is also seeking to level up her skills by racing in the 2014 CEV Superstock 600 championship in Spain. If you follow motorcycle racing at all, you know Spain is pretty much the mecca of all things motorcycle-racing-related. Hopefully this means we'll see her owning races from lap one soon.
Ashley Freiberg
Series: IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge
Where To Watch: Fox Sports 1
Website: www.ashleyracing.com
Facebook: Ashley Freiberg 9
Twitter: @AshleyFreiberg
Instagram: @ashleyfreiberg91
Ashley Freiberg is the first woman ever to win a race in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge. Does she have your attention now? If not, this Fall-Line Motorsports BMW driver should be firmly in your sights.
Elena Myers
Series: AMA Pro SuperSport
Where To Watch: As yet unannounced for 2014; has been aired by SPEED (now Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2) in the past.
Website: elenamyers.com
Facebook: Elena Myers 21
Twitter: @elenamyers21
Instagram: @elenamyers21
Daytona looms large in the minds of motorsports fans in the U.S. In March 2012, Myers became the first woman ever, in any form of motorsport, to win a race at Daytona in the AMA Pro SuperSport series. Although the AMA race schedule has been drastically reduced down to 5 races for 2014 (with a possible sixth race pending at publishing time), you may be able to watch Myers in action this season -- if the AMA works out a television contract. 2013 television broadcasts of some races in the series only seemed to go through at the last minute, and fans of motorcycle road racing in the U.S. have been less than pleased. (We're, uh, putting that mildly.)
Ana Carrasco
Series: Moto3
Where To Watch: Fox Sports 1 shows MotoGP, Fox Sports 2 shows Moto2, but neither currently broadcasts Moto3. It has been broadcast in the U.S. in past years.
Website: None
Facebook: Ana Carrasco 22
Twitter: @anacarrasco_22
Instagram: None
Carrasco entered the Moto3 championship in 2013 as teammate to eventual 2013 Moto3 championship winner Maverick Viñales. At only 16 years of age, she became the first female rider to score world championship points in the Moto3 series in the Sepang, Malaysia round. We enjoy watching promising racers climb the rungs to reach the top levels of their sport and hope to one day see her race at the MotoGP level.
Katherine Legge
Series: IMSA Tudor United Sportscar Championship
Where To Watch: Fox Sports 1
Website: www.katherinelegge.com
Facebook: Katherine Racing
Twitter: @katherinelegger or for live track updates: @katontrack
Instagram: None
Legge has spent time behind the wheel in IndyCars, DTM, and won races in the Toyota Atlantic series, just to name a few. She has raced in the Indianapolis 500 a couple of times, and still hopes to live her childhood dream of winning it one day. Currently, she's in her second season of endurance racing with the DeltaWing team, in that revolutionary and instantly unforgettable car. Since driving for DeltaWing, Legge has both podiumed and led races. There's no denying that the DeltaWing is a special car and a fascinating development in the world of racing. There's also no denying that Legge is an intriguing racer. It's no surprise that these two ended up together.
Tarah Gieger
Series: X Games Women's Enduro and Motocross Racing
Where To Watch:
Website: None
Facebook: Tarah-Gieger
Twitter: None
Instagram: @giegsey
No matter where she competes, Gieger can't seem to stop racking up wins and medals. She won the Loretta Lynn AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship three separate times, in 2004, 2006, and 2007. She was the first female rider ever to compete in the Motocross des Nations annual event. In recent years, she's become a fixture at the X Games in Motocross and Enduro events, where she keeps placing well and/or winning medals.
Laia Sanz
Series: Dakar Rally 2014, FIM Women's Trial World Championship
Where To Watch: Not currently broadcast in the U.S.
Website: laia-sanz.blogspot.com
Facebook: Laia Sanz Fan Page
Twitter: @LaiaSanz
Instagram: None
Sanz has won the Women's Trials World Championship a staggering 13 times. She's won the Women's European Trials Championship 10 times. She's won Spanish trials championships, as well as winning at the Trials des Nations on multiple occasions. Oh, and she's contested the Dakar Rally on motorcycles since 2011, where she has consistently won gold in the female motorcyclist class. The Dakar Rally is widely considered the be the most grueling race on the planet.
Just to keep things interesting, Sanz has also done some Enduro competition as well -- and won, including a handful of medals in X Games Enduro events. That's your best bet for seeing Sanz in action, in fact -- she's been invited to compete at X Games Austin, which runs from June 5-8, 2014.