On March 23rd, 2019, a truly historic and heartwarming event happened in the motorsports world. It was a day to remind us never to give up, no matter how tempting it is to quit.
Never give up: The legendary moment
This past March, onto the Nürburgring racetrack stepped the first all-female (both drivers and crew) racing team ever to race there. Nürburgring is a complex dedicated to elite motorsports in Germany; it has been featuring Grand Prix races since 1984, and other races for longer than that.
This moment was groundbreaking for a few reasons. The female team raced one of the fastest laps ever seen on the Nürburgring track and beat out over 80 other teams in the process—proving for once and for all that racing was no longer just a man’s sport.
This was a moment when the “Giti Angels,” originated by Giti Tire, a leading tire manufacturer out of Singapore, were began to make waves.
In that seminal race, the Giti Angels placed #34 out of 157. It was a truly impressive showing for a new team.
One of the reasons they likely performed so well was because of the brand-new optimized-for-racing tires on their vehicle. Specifically, the GTR1 GitiComplete tires. Designed for high-speed racing, these tires come in both dry-land and enhanced-for-wet-roads versions.
About Nürburgring
Nürburgring was seen as the track-to-beat for several reasons. Its nickname is the “The Green Hell”—and it certainly deserves that moniker.
The race track weaves in and out of the surrounding flora and fauna in an impossibly roller-coaster-esque manner that makes staying on the track very difficult. It began in 1927 and has been one of the hallmarks of classic racing ever since then.
Wow, what an awesome first barrier to break down for the very first all-female racing team who were determined to never give up!
However, as perfect as Nürburgring was for this reason, it posed obstacles for other reasons. First and foremost, Nürburgring presented technical issues that would make it difficult for any team to race in—no matter how groundbreaking.
The Giti Angels, along with their entire team of engineers and the experts at Giti tires, decided to take this challenge in stride—which is an inspiring action that any of us can take at any time.
The climate around Nürburgring is famously finicky, with weather rumored to change as often as every 20 minutes. This fluctuation makes figuring out how to prepare your car for the event a very tricky thing. Wet and dry asphalt require different types of tire treads to stick to the road safely and avoid hydroplaning.
This can, of course, be a huge safety issue—but in a huge race, where drifting is a key strategy and every second can count—it wasn’t only a safety issue, but very possibly the difference between winning and dying. Giti’s wet-and-dry tires were a great tool that helped the Giti Angels succeed so well in this challenging area.
More about the Giti Angels
The Giti Angels refer not only to the three drivers who smashed the race so definitively, but also to the vehicle’s crew, including both the technical and track divisions. Those behind the scenes are crucial in this team sport.
A true STEM accomplishment, the women both in the cars and expertly servicing them brought all of their education and experience to the race. Their efforts and accomplishments sent the powerful message to never underestimate females in the motorsports sector and never give up.
The fact that they made this move beginning with one of the most difficult races at one of the most hard-to-beat tracks in the world made their accomplishment all the more stunning. Truly, the Giti Angels are inspiring for women even outside of the window of car racing—they let all of us know that we should keep on going in pursuit of our goals, no matter what the obstacles are in our paths.
After their strong showing at Nürburgring, the all-female team (led by a female team chief, as well) has gone on to say that they will continue to race together—including a triumphant return to the Nürburgring track for other races, such as the fabled 24-hour race at Le Mans. The 24-hour race is precisely what it sounds like: twenty-four full hours of racing, with pit stops for driver changes and to switch out tires.
The takeaway to never give up
After their first race at Nürburgring, the Giti Angels felt empowered to stop at nothing to achieve what they set out to do. For an all-female team to have gotten as far as they did was already an historical event. The fact that they decided not to stop there was a testament to how close they had gotten as a team—and how far they had gotten for women overall.
Giti Tire has a mission to inspire and feed this sense of ingenuity, inclusivity, and innovation. They’ve been practicing these virtues themselves for years, including sponsoring an “Empowering Our Female Truck Drivers” campaign last year that was meant to help reach out to female auto industry consumers and participants.
As one of the few auto industry manufacturers to stress this kind of campaigning, Giti Tire is beginning to grow in popularity, which is a great sign for women everywhere. The “Girls-Only” Giti Angels were only the start; but it was an important start to have. Young women everywhere can look to the example of the Giti Angels to realize that they, too, have a place on the racetrack.
Top photo: The Giti Angels drivers and crew. Image courtesy of Giti Tire.
Hats off to the Giti Angels…well done to them.
When I worked in a car dealership ,a girl came in on a work experience,she picked up working on a car very quickly but was knocked down by other mechanics & workshop supervisor. I told her to ignore them & she could do the job just as good. Wonder what she’s doing now …..
She sounds like she is naturally gifted with auto repairs, Pete. It’s great that you offered her support when it was lacking in the workplace for her. Thanks for being here.