If you can help?

[Hope-Elise]

Hey,

I'm new to this forum and i've found quite a few forum which have really helped me, so sorry if you're a member of the others and you've already seen my messages.

I'm 16 and currently doing my A levels (in my first year) at Colchester County High School Sixth Form. I'm studying Maths, Physics, French, Spanish and Critical Thinking. I love motorsport and have been going racing since I was 4, i'm part of a Ministox and National Hot Rod team and hopefully a Superstox in the summer. I try and help out wherever I can and travel across the country with them whilst learning on the way. I also took part in the Greenpower Car Formula 24 racing with my secondary school, as team leader, we reached the finals for the 4 years of racing, and i thoroughly enjoyed my time doing so. Although i've left the school i'm still staying part of the team and going to help out, but i'd love to start a Formula 35 race team, but my college isn't really interested.

I have wanted to do Motorsport Engineering at university for as long as i can remember and would love to have a career in Formula One, one day in the future. I know Engineering is a difficult career to enter, especially for women, and i'm worried how the boys will react, whether they'll be helpful or say "this is a man's course" but i want a career in something i have a real passion for and something that is always challenging. As many other people i'd love to work in Formula One, and i'm determined to pursue my dream however hard this means i have to work.

I'd love to race for myself one day, but at the moment, trying to juggle A Levels and a race car, as well as trying to convince mum and dad "it really isn't dangerous" or "it's just as dangerous as horse riding" really isn't working in my favour.

I have applied for a "Headstart" Engineering course which takes place at the end of June/Beginning of July where you spend 4 or 5 days at a university exploring the different aspects of engineering and hopefully this will help me decide which areas i would enjoy working in the most. By doing as much as i can to do with Motorsport, i'm hoping the university i would like to go to will realise that just because i don't race myself it's not through lack of passion or trying and that i'm willing to give up my time and effort to achieve what i want.

As well as looking for work experience, i've had a few offers and am going to follow them up, i'm looking at universities, and i know there are a lot of people at Oxford Brookes but i think that's a bit too clever for me, i was looking at Brunel, Hertfordshire, Birmingham, Bristol and Southampton. Does anybody know which ones are best or have any advice?

I am off for my first Grand Prix in August this year to Valencia and hopefully this will fuel my enthusiasm and passion for Motorsport.

I'm sorry this is so long =[

My email/msn is x_x_bladie_gurl_racer_x_x@hotmail.co.uk if anyone has any suggestions.

Thank you =]


Hope-Elise ♥
X

[mahesh248]

racing is not the only thing in life , your online 16 , then please enjoy your Teen age ..

[Hope-Elise]

Don't get the impression that my whole life revolves around racing because it doesn't, i just really enjoy it and want to make a career out of it, and am just looking for people to give me advice.

Hope-Elise x

[Giblet]

Don't listen. If this is your passion then follow it. People don't get into F1 by having a passing interest and falling into it.

There is a book you can get which has all the contact numbers in F1 compiled so getting the info you need will be easier.

[Tom]

Well Brookes has some very clever people attending but its not exclusively for people with an IQ of +140. Hell I got in there and I've never considered myself particularely smart.

You've got experience which I found was a huge boost, there are many people who goto study Motorsport who got 'real jobs' back when they were 14 and have earned a small ammount working in Tesco or delivering newspapers. They get here and they discover that the money is all very good for paying rent and fees, but it doesn't gaurantee a pass while someone who got experience will feel much more at home and have a better understanding of the concepts explained.

There are a few girls here who seem to have fit right in, you've got to be prepared for the odd arsehole but at the end of the day a good team won't care if you're a Mongolian transvestite with no eyebrows as long as you can fix the car!

Take a look at this topic started last week: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5007

Good luck

[manchild]

Sir Frank Williams left school when he was 16

Just kidding. Welcome to the forum.

I understand your passion for racing. That's like Rock&Roll - a way of life, a philosophy. So, there's no need to "panic" university-wise and career-wise. Just look, listen and learn, live your life and things will fit in their place.

You have plenty of time to choose and tune up your goals so don't rush into locking a rocket on target that now seams like one but might not in years to come. Let it cruise and than pick one most suitable one when the time comes.

[Ciro Pabón]

Hope-Elise, yours is one of the nicest posts I've seen in a long time.

I cannot give you useful advice, I'd listen to Tom.

Just a couple of things:

Apply for the best university you can. It's like buying a house: if you try to cut corners, you end spending a lot of time and effort in a thing that won't make you completely happy. The largest the investment, the better the quality you had to look for.

Second: a man's course? Don't make me laugh. Women are smarter, cleverer and have the patience and the internal organization most men don't have. A girl can do ANYTHING a man can do. Boys, on the other hand, cannot do all what girls do. Sorry if that sounds sexist, but it's true for me: most of my small staff is composed of women engineers because they're more responsible (not to mention they're a joy to my old eyes , but this is a bonus, not a guiding principle for hiring them).

More seriously, a strong principle of engineering and science is that you cannot argue from authority. This takes you, after a while, to despise people that alleges that "they know", either from experience or from any kind of personal status, including race, sex or salary. If somebody tells you that something, anything, besides the logic of your arguments counts in a discussion on science, they are studying the wrong career. I cannot imagine a poorer engineer (well, maybe the Mongolian transvestite Tom mentions would be a hard choice, but it's not what you are, is what you're able to do).

A man's course? Next thing they say will be "white man's courses"... Sorry, my latin engineering blood is boiling, by hearing that kind of things.

There are no impossible things, only unable persons.

[Fiero Brick]

I can't really offer much advice except that you shouldn't worry about what anyone thinks of you for taking a "man's course." Anyone, male or female, who looks down on your choice is of suspect intelligence and their advice and opinions are equally questionable.

[manchild]

I forgot to make a remark regarding "man's course". Just ignore such backward statements from backward people. Most of such "man" would require a diapers to appear as co-drivers to this "woman driver"
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaRoyP4DEi8[/youtube]

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2630

[West]

You should probably aim for a job w/ a lower formula, like Formula Renault or A1GP or something similar; this will give you much experience going into F1. Renault F1 gave me advice along similar lines. There was someone here who got an internship w/ Team Modena. It's not F1, but it's a start, and they did compete in Le Mans this year.

Just make sure that you REALLY, REALLY are into engineering, and that it isn't forced upon you (which happened to me by my parents, but I don't regret it). Remember that motorsports will not pay very well, and you will work quite a lot.

As for a "man's" job... Antonia Terzi was head of aero for Williams for a while; I think for Ferrari as well

[millerjam]

Hey,
The main thing is to get to a good University, don't be put off by what you percieve as somewhere being too clever for you, that's never the case.
I'm just coming to the end of my degree now. I also took part in Headstart in 2002 at Coventry Universtiy and can safely say it was one of the reasons I went on to study Automotive Engineering at University.

Another point to consider, if a little cynical is that as in most industries it's very much about building up your contacts with people, therefore I guess it stands to reason the Unis with motorsport courses will have more contact with the industry, which has got to be good in your case.

I reckon your uni list is pretty good, very aero or motorsport orientated but at least you know what you want to do. Also don't rule out other Unis because they don't offer a motorsport specific course, most of them now at least run a Formula Student team, but the most important thing is to go and have a look round at all of your choices!

[Hope-Elise]

Thank you for all your help, it's all been taken on board.

I've wanted to do Motorsport Engineering for a long while, and it's more against my parents than it is their choice, but i've done my languages too as a back up =D. I'm sure wherever you go there will be people saying "it's a man's course" but I'll just forget about them..

I'm applying for the Headstart course and hopefully i'll be able to find which areas i'd enjoy the most. Im also going to the automotive show at the NEC and i thik the Uni's are there so will be good to look round a year early and all in one place.

I know i've got to work to achieve my dreams, so i don't want to sit back and relax because i know i won't get what i want, so i worked hard and got into a really good college, which will hopefully have the same effect and i could get into a good university.

As for building a network of friends, at racing at the moment, considering i don't race, everyone knows who i am (for the right reasons..) and what i'm aiming to achieve so hopefully that will help as well.

Thank you for all your help and support.

Hope-Elise x

[checkered]

Hope-Elise, my perception

is that you haven't put a foot wrong in your attempt to get into racing. It all sounds very impressive. If gender is a non-issue to you, then that's what it'll be no matter what someone else is thinking. About your parents, the more you know about motorsports and engineering, the better you can explain yourself to them. Obviously, they're looking out for you, so count your blessings for that. Great careers tend to make for great stories too. You've written a beginning chapter as good as anyone's.

[manchild]

EMILY ANDREOLI
Nationality : italian
Date of birth : october 7, 1979
Main fields of activity : fluid dynamics, injection and combustion

2005 : graduated in mechanical engineering, automotive counselling
2005-2006: engineer in quality and homologation department > Ferrari Group
2006-2007: senior engineer in fuel components department, experimental analysis of F1 and MotoGp injectors'spray > Magneti Marelli Motorsport (F1, MotoGP)

ANDREA BENEVENTI (I hope this is female Andrea not male like Andrea de Cesaris )
Nationality : italian
Date of birth : september 7, 1966
Main fields of activity : electronic

1995 : graduated in electronical engineering from Bologna University
1995-1996 : development engineer on vision systems > Datalogic
1996-1999 : software and controls development engineer > Magneti Marelli (Alfa GT, F3, Rally, F1)
2000-2007 : head of electronic testing activities > Ferrari (F1)

ANTONIA TERZI
Nationality : italian
Date of birth : april 29, 1971
Main fields of activity : chassis

before 1998 : graduated in aerodynamcis from the Modene University
1998-2001 : aerodynamicist > Ferrari (F1)
2002-2004 : chief aerodynamicist > Williams (F1)
2005-2007 : engineer > Delft University of Technology

[mahesh248]

Well I hope you have the same motivation and interest when you are 20 years old ..