P106
CN
III TRACKSIDE
BY ANDREA WILSON
G
rid girls, umbrella girls,
trophy girls… they've been
a part of racing for genera-
tions. A welcome sight amid the
grease or dirt and the thrill of man
and machine working together to
compete for the ultimate prize—on
top of the box standing next to
the aforementioned grid girls.
That was until last week when the
World Endurance Championship
(WEC)—runners of the Le Mans
24 Hours sportscar classic—an-
nounced that they were getting rid
of grid girls.
That decision to nix the
series' grid girls was explained
by a piece in Reuters (see link),
where WEC chief executive
Gerard Neveu, said: "For me
that is the past. The condition
of women is a little bit different
now."
Neveu also said that the deci-
sion was made to cater to a new
audience, to bring the focus
back to the sportscars and the
drivers.
The debate fanned across the
industry, should other motors-
ports series follow suit?
Now, I don't follow the WEC
series at all, but apparently the
grid girls were drawing attention
away from the sport and its ath-
letes. I guess I didn't realize the
power of scantily clad women
was that strong? And what ex-
actly is the "condition" of women
these days?
All joking aside, I understand
the sentiment of wanting to
keep a sport down to its fun-
damentals. To strip away all
the extra gloss and get back
to the basics—racers lining up
against their competitors and
racing to the checkered flag. For
many purists, the sideshows,
the fireworks, and, yes, scant-
ily clad women (although, until
A CHEEKY TOPIC
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
