Extreme E aims to keep expanding opportunities for female racers

Extreme E has shown that female drivers can compete at a high level alongside males, and now it's up to the rest of the motorsport world to provide the same sort of opportunities to help grow the talent pool, says the series’ managing director Ali Russell.

In its first three seasons, the all-electric off-road series has shone a light on the world's most talented female racers, but while Extreme E has been able to that at a high level -- by mandating one male and one female driver per team -- Russell feels more can be done at a grassroots level to further improve female talent.

“I think we've got a responsibility to really talk about that,” he said. “I think we sometimes focus so much on sustainability that we forget that we are the only championship with the male-female split.

“When we started the championship, there was a significant differential between the male and the female times, and what's happening now is the times are coming down significantly in a very short amount of time. As a consequence, what we're getting is females beating males now on a consistent basis, and I think that's fantastic.”

Earlier the season the championship reported a 26 percent improvement in female driver lap times, highlighting how providing a platform for women to race at a high level against men has aided their improvement, but it's a gap that Russell believes could be reduced further if females got better opportunities to compete at lower levels.

“If you give females access, and if you give them proper coaching, you get success in a very short amount of time,” he added. “Can you imagine if these females have access and coaching for the last 20 years, how good they would be? And that I think is a big step forward from motorsport.”

In recent years, the increase in coverage for womens’ sports -- particularly soccer in Europe -- has inspired many, but unlike those other sports, motorsport offers females the chance to race on an equal footing with men.

“We've all been inspired by the Lionesses (the England womens’ soccer team) this year -- even as a Scotsman, I was inspired by the Lionesses,” Russell said. “[But] what we've got here is men ‘playing’ against women on an equal playing field. That is something other sports cannot do.

“And that's our biggest strength. I don't think motorsport has really recognized that as an opportunity, and I think what we're showing here is, it's a massive opportunity engaging with a much bigger audience.

“This is something that we should be shouting from the rooftops about, that we've actually got some amazing female talent that are not just competing, but actually beating [the males]. That's something I feel very, very proud about.”

As the performance levels continue to equalize between male and female racers, Extreme E’s Russell is keen to see head-to-head battles between them too. Sam Bloxham/Motorsport Images

Despite the rapidly shrinking performance gap in Extreme E, there has still been a tendency for teams to pit male drivers against males and females against females. But Russell has said the series is looking into ways that could be mixed up in future.

“We want them mixed up for racing,” he insisted. “It's far more exciting, far more engaging, and far clearer in our messaging for that to happen.

“We've obviously left that to natural devices, and … it's actually happening more, but what we want to do is mandate that. That's something that we're really looking out for, because we think it adds to the show and adds to the messaging as well.”