OFFICIAL PROGRAMME
Jirsenska , WorldSBK Senior Circuit Relations Manager is one example . She started working for Dorna after an early career in the press office at Brno , in her native Czech Republic . The general feeling and feedback from the vast majority of the women in the paddock is that they notice that there are more and more women working there . But maybe the best person to ask is someone who has been working in the racing world for quite some time ? Federica De Zottis , the HRC WorldSBK Communication and Press Manager , spent most of her career in MotoGP™ , but at the Donington WorldSBK round this year she explained the - frankly remarkable - way she because one of the most recognisable and respected PR people in our racing world . “ I just kind of arrived here by chance ,” said ‘ Fede ’. I was studying at University to become a doctor . It was my third year and I met a guy , working in the MotoGP™ championship . He brought me to a race in the paddock - and I said , ‘ this is my life , I want to work here …’ This guy Carlo was working for Aprilia at that time , and I was living 30km from their base . His boss was Carlo Pernat and I met him in the paddock and we spoke . Then one day I went to his office and told him ‘ I would like to do this job , do you want to hire me ?’ I was bright red with embarrassment , very young . Carlo said to me , ‘ Hmm , I only have a very small amount of money , is that enough for you ?” I said yes - and I left home to go work in racing . My father did not speak to me for two years … All my sisters , my brothers , my parents had University degrees , a very normal life . My sister is just one year younger than me , we studied together , and now she is a doctor . I just started as an assistant to the press officer . Because I had studied classics I could write and I started by being the assistant to the press officer , and preparing sandwiches , etc . I stayed six years in Aprilia , then I went to work for Max Biaggi , and when he moved to 500 he asked me to follow him and I went to work with him as a personal press officer . I worked for Max , then for JTI for three years , then Ducati and after that , Honda .” Sidetracked by Fede ’ s remarkable career trajectory , we finally got back to the original question - are there really more women working in the paddock than when she started . “ Absolutely !”, said Fede . “ When I started there were so few , mainly umbrella girls , and working in the hospitality areas . That is all . I think I was the only one working in the press office at that time . What makes me happy now is to see a lot of girls in technical jobs . Engineers , also some mechanics . But mainly in engineering that we don ’ t see , behind the scenes . And also a lot , of course , in communication .” Fede is not sure what can be done to artificially bring more women into what is still a very male-dominated arena . She thinks it will just happen anyway , especially now that the biggest ‘ job title ’ of all - world champion - has already been achieved by a woman . “ I think we are following a normal course , nothing needs to happen . We already have one female world champion rider , which is unbelievable . I wasn ’ t sure I would have seen this . For me it was fantastic , really . I do not want to use the wrong words . I think in this sport you need to be very aggressive , and this sport is more close to the masculine character . But , things are changing . I think a female can do this job because the world is changing .”
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