#March 8 - Romania's Motorsport Federation establishes national board of women

Romania's Motorsport Federation (FRAS) announced on Friday the establishment of a national board of women, a body that will actively take part in promoting and encouraging the presence of women in FRAS competitions, and to show that women can be part anytime of all areas of motorsport. The FRAS Federal Council unanimously approved this week that Mirela Bucovicean, entrepreneur and a pilot in the Dunlop National Rally Championship, will be the first chair of the national board on women. In the past, the presence of women in motorsport races was considered a rarity. Against 2014, the total number of women competing in the FRAS competitions increased by 150pct and the trend is upward. In the 2018 season, no fewer than 50 ladies and young ladies ran in the championships organised under the aegis of FRAS. There are also 44 women in FRAS colleges of referees. "It's an honour and a great responsibility to be the first to hold this position. Certainly, the voice of women in motorsport in recent years has become stronger; evidence to that are the results they achieved. That is why our goals include promoting the results of women in motorsport, thus demonstrating that performance is at the highest level. Motorsport does not just mean participation as a pilot or co-pilot, but also a presence in other areas such as team leadership, refereeing, mechanics and team marketing. We want to create models to follow through the personal example of the members of the board, to develop educational programmes and collaborative relations with the counterpart federations of other countries,"said Bucovicean, who represented Romania this year at the Monte Carlo Historique Rally. ''It is not by chance that we have chosen this date for the official announcement. We have been working on this project since the beginning of the year and we are glad to unveil it officially on a special day like March 8. There is an increasing number of successful women in motorsport, but, at the same time, we have to invest in the future and prove that opportunities are equal. Just last year there were 13 women on the podiums in final stages of the Champions Gala, and that only makes us happy and want to further encourage this phenomenon. Happy Women's Day, and see you on the racetrack!," FRAS chair Norris Mageanu stated. Women have ran in Romania's National Rally Championship since its inception in 1969, when two exclusively female teams made up of Simina Mezincescu /Ileana Sassu and Argentina Sclia / Marilena Negulici, were already competing, while Iuta Heitz, as co-pilot to her husband Max Heitz, finished second in the Bucovina Rally in the same year. In 1993, Gabriela de Reu Stroescu became the first national motor rally champion, as co-driver to her husband Ladislau Balint, an achievement that was repeated by Carmen Poenaru in 2017 on a racecar driven by Bogdan Marisca. AGERPRES (RO - editor: Mihai Tenea; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Rodica State)