Suzuki to host ladies track day

Following the successful launch of the all-new 'Girl Torque' microsite from Suzuki last month, Suzuki GB will host its first ever ladies-only track day in September (14th) at Donington Park in Leicestershire.



Taking place the week following the British Superbike (BSB) round at Donington, Suzuki GB welcome all lady riders along to the event, regardless of make of machine owned, to celebrate everything that is great about bikes.







With the day run in association with Focused Events and with the Relentless Suzuki by TAS Racing team in attendance with Josh Brookes and Alastair Seeley, attendees will have the luxury of sessions organised by ability, allowing all to enjoy track action at their own pace, while sharing the track with the racing stars too.



Suzuki GB racing director and three times BSB champion, John Reynolds, commented, "I'm absolutely delighted to be part of Suzuki's first ever ladies track day. Since I retired from racing, I now spend a great deal of my time on-track instructing at various track days. In my experience there's an increasing number of lady riders and although I probably shouldn't say this, in general make the best pupils too, with a real interest to learn and improve as riders."



To be part of this special day, riders are advised to visit the My Suzuki and Girl Torque sections of www.suzuki-gb.co.uk or can book directly at www.focusedevents.com. The price for the day is £105.00 and included in the price will be lunch and refreshments, a special limited edition T-Shirt and Goody bag, free suspension set-up and advise from experts, KAIS, technical assistance from Suzuki GB, as well as some famous female riders in attendance at the event too.



On top of this, if you're attending and have a friend that doesn't ride but wants to, then why not bring them along too. While you're enjoying the action on track, the Get On team will be on-hand to chat with budding bikers while offering free demonstration rides too.



| Suzuki

Sisters and engineers of BMW and Audi

British sisters Leena and Teena Gade have two of the most important jobs in world motorsport.

Leena Gade is the No. 1 engineer responsible for this year’s Le Mans 24 Hour race-winning Audi R18 TDI; while her younger sister, Teena, is in an identical role, engineering Kris Meeke’s MINI John Cooper Works WRC in the World Rally Championship.

As the cars would never meet on the race track or rally stage, the sisters brought their two very different cars together at the Goodwood Festival of Speed to compare notes and highlight their respective roles as part of National Motorsport Week’s ambitions to inspire the next generation of world class engineers, both male and female.

Leena Gade, 35, made history this year when she became the first female race engineer to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which gave Audi its 10th victory at the classic endurance race. Teena, 31, is now looking to emulate her sister’s achievement by helping Kris Meeke and MINI to win their first ever event in the World Rally Championship.



“It was an amazing achievement for Leena. Le Mans is probably the toughest motor race in the world,” said Teena. “She had to remain totally focussed for the whole 24 hours, monitoring every aspect of the car and ensuring her race strategy was faultless. In the end, after a whole day of intense racing, she won by just 13 seconds. I have the upmost respect for what she did and am amazed she has any finger nails left.”

While both sisters perform the same role, acting as the interface with the driver and interpreting what they want out of their cars, the MINI WRC is a very different animal to the Audi R18 TDI.


“I am lucky that my races are always over in 24 hours, and sometimes as little as 6 hours; for Teena her rallies often start on a Thursday evening and finish three days later,” said Leena. “She also has to engineer a car that can run over almost any surface from smooth tarmac roads to rough mountain tracks at speeds of up to 130 mph.”

The sisters grew up in Wembley, West London. Their interest in engineering led Leena to study aerospace engineering at Manchester University, while Teena chose to study mechanical engineering at UCL, before going on to complete a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering at Imperial College.

Teena has worked for Prodrive, which runs the MINI WRC Team, for three years, while Leena joined Audi Sport Team Joest in 2006. However, their cars the Audi R18 TDI and MINI John Cooper Works WRC made their competitive debuts on the same weekend in May this year.




| National Motorsport Week