Women in Motorsport

About Us

Commission for Women in Motorsport, India

The Commission for Women in Motorsport, India; was established in January 2017 with the vision of harnessing the passion and talent of women in motorsport and preparing them for competition on the national and international stage. The commission enables this through a mission by providing guidelines, training and licenses/certification for women in all areas of Motorsport, not just driving and riding but for marshals, stewards, medical support and engineering to name just a few.

Further we now have two doyens of motorsports Arjun Balu and M R Dastur who have graciously volunteered their time to mentor sportswomen on two and four wheelers.

We are proud to share that India has perhaps the largest number of women participating in four wheeler rallies in the world – 845 in 2019. In two wheeler and four wheeler racing, karting, gymkahana, drag, autocross etc the total number is 202.

Further In 2019, Aishwarya Pissay won the World Cup at the Baja in Spain supported by TVS. JK Tyres and Meco Motorsports gave life to the international program FIA Girls on Track and Dare to be Different. This platform enabled girls to showcase their talent and the results have enabled us to identify our rising stars. Navaz Bathena Sindhu was a catalyst in bringing this program to India.

Since 2018 the Women in Motorsport Commission has been holding annual seminars where information is disseminated to two wheeler and four wheeler participants- on the way forward with the latest information from the FMSCI, FIA, FIM and sessions on marketing, health, mentoring etc.

Ahura Racing deserves a special mention for running the first Women’s only LGB F4 Team under the guidance of Sarosh Hataria.

Further, the Times of India have done a fantastic job, hosting one of the largest all Womens TSD car Rally’s in the world from Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune and Bangalore to Goa. They have also extended the car rallies for women in North India from Delhi to Chandigarh and Jaipur.

MRF MMSC run the Indian National Motorcycle Championship which has a women’s category and the One Make Championship for ladies is supported by TVS.

The success of this commission would not have been possible without the unstinting support of the Council, Secretary General and the Chairperson of the commission Sita Raina. Sincere thanks to the commission members Anita Nanjappa, Deepa Malik, & Renuka Kirpalani for their dedication and commitment to Women in Motorsport, India.

Sita Raina

Anita Nanjappa

B.S. Sujith Kumar

Bani Yadav

Vision

To trigger a passion for Motorsports in Women in India and prepare them for the National stage to then move on to the World stage.

Mission

To provide guidelines, training and license / certification in all areas of Motorsport for Women in India.

Message From Chairperson

Sita Raina

Chairperson – Women in Motorsports India.

Councillor – FMSCI

Vice President – Calcutta Motor Sports Club

It was a brilliant start to the new year with the President of FMSCI, Akbar Ebrahim,calling for a Sub Committee Chairperson’s meet on the 14th and 15th March 2023, in Chennai to introduce us to the India Development Program, led by Ms.Tanya Kutsenko, EDI Advisor, FIA.

The President created the Vision and Mission for the India Development Program together withMr.Prabha Shankar, promising a new lease of life for the future of motorsport in India.

The status of the GP, Technical Regulations and Regulations were discussed together with presentations on V&O Training & Assessment Programs by Mr. Zayn Khan and Mr. Prabha Shankar, the Scrutineers & Technical Delegate Training Program by Mr. Sajeev Mathew Rajan/Mr. Roop Kumar, Sustainability & Environment by Ms. Anita Nanjappa, Grassroot Events and Virtual E Sport Mr. Vir Raina, TSD Rally by Mr. Arun Bhatia, Autocross by Mr. Raj Kapoor 2w Supercross Mr. Sujith Kumar, 2w Rally Commission Ms. Anita Nanjapa and Women in Motorsport by Ms. Sita Raina

The National Prize Distribution was held on the 11th April 2022 and the following ladies were honoured-Lani Zena Fernandez, 2w Stock upto 165cc Girls National Drag Racing Championship, Aparna Pathak National TSD Rally Women Champion driver with navigator Lalita Gowda, Pragathi Gowda for JINRC Champion and Asia Pacific Rally Star, Tanika Shanbagh – 2w National Rally Sprint Champion Women, Shriya Lohia for representing India at the GOT 2022 and her performance in India and Sheena Sabharwal and Trupti Gupta for representing India at the Women’s Saudi Arabia Rally

We are excited and looking forward to an increased number of girls participating at the Grassroot level in 2023/24.

Warm regards,

Sita Raina

Chairperson, Women in Motorsports,

The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India.

Vice President, Calcutta Motor Sports Club, India