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Motorsport is as much about the drivers as it is about the cars. Yassmin and Michael visit the Confederation of Australian Motorsport’s karting academy to discover whether or not Yassmin can hack it mentally and physically.
“The levels of fitness they need to do their job is incredible. It blew my mind,” says Yassmin. The very first test is planking. Yes, planking.
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Yassmin kicks Michael out of the studio to make room for 19-year-old racing driver Chelsea Angelo and Women of Australian Motorsport founder Belinda Taylor. Women in motorsport definitely feel the pressure of being in such a male-dominated field, but as more get involved, they hope to be driving as themselves and not constantly as a representative of their gender.
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Yassmin and Michael go under the hood to learn how important high tech ‘tinkering’ — AKA engineering — is to making cars go faster. Our aerodynamic duo visit the almost sci-fi workshop of Melbourne’s Monash Motorsport. The university team are world leaders in the development of Formula SAE racing cars, a rich training ground for the world of Formula One.
Along the way they learn about a CSIRO-developed electron beam, meet an aerodynamics expert and get blown away walking through a wind tunnel. Sometimes it sounds more like an episode of Dr Who than a motoring show.