Montreal F1 WIMCanada Intro
Women in Motorsport Canada (WIMCanada), recently held a successful official launch event at the Montreal Formula 1 race, hosting an interactive exhibit in the Fan Zone inside the F1 circuit.
The WIMCanada “Girls’ Zone / Zone des Filles” included a girls only kart simulator, a kart build activity for girls to learn about kart mechanics, and an autograph table with several autograph sessions throughout the weekend. WIMCanada’s launch event was immensely successful, attracting a regular flow of visitors to the booth all weekend, despite uncooperative weather at times.
Over 225 girls and women were able to experience the racing simulator. Exhibit attendees were provided with FIA WIMC “Your Career in Motorsport” and “Your Career as a Motorsport Volunteer & Official” booklets, and information about getting involved in their local racing community in Canada. Simulator participants also received a WIMCanada drawstring backpack with a Lego kit and a Lego brochure highlighting girls and Lego vehicles.
Exhibit operations included a team of around 15 volunteers, all of whom were girls and women in motorsport in various capacities, and able to share their knowledge and experience with visitors. WIMCanada completely sold out of “Racing is for Everyone” T-Shirts during the event, and since then has received several emails from girls and women wanting to continue their involvement in motorsport.
As a result of the event’s success, WIMCanada has also attracted the attention of other sanctioning bodies, race promoters, and corporate partners across Canada. We look forward to encouraging more and more women to get involved in motorsport, in all capacities, and perhaps considering motorsport as a fun and rewarding STEM and sporting career path.
The Montreal F1 race is Canada’s largest sporting event and generated record attendance in 2022 with over 300,000 attendees on site, including the most female attendees ever (based on onsite polling).