A record-breaking 53 participants took part in the year’s first Girls Only Track Day for 2016 at Broadford’s State Motorcycle Sports Complex on a sunny Saturday, January 30.
New and familiar faces took to the road race circuit for a day filled of coaching and on-track learning experience.
GOTD participant Anna Newberry said the day was great fun. “It was really awesome. Every time you go out you learn something new.
“I’m pretty new to motorbikes, having just owned a bike for over a year now. I used to own a race car but I’m actually at the point now where I prefer the feel of riding a bike through corners than cars which is quite a big call,” Anna said.
Anna is also a huge fan of the welcoming environment that GOTDs provide. “I’ve done track days with cars for over 10 years but it’s a completely different atmosphere when it’s women-only. It’s very supportive.
“Everyone’s there to have some fun. You don’t have anyone there who is absolutely concentrated on lap-times. It’s quite nice to have that environment,” Anna added.
She plans on participating in the remaining three GOTDs throughout the year. “As many as I can get to, I will get to,” Anna continued. “It’s nice to know that there are other likeminded women out there.
“I work in a male-dominated industry (an engineer at Ford), most of my hobbies are quite male-dominated, and finding females that have similar passions like me is quite hard to come by so it’s great to meet them,” Anna said.
Anna would like to thank MV’s Inclusion & Committees Manager Ms Peta Thomas for all her help in creating the days plus the GOTDs major sponsors Shannons and Kawasaki Motors.
“There’s no reason why even more ladies can’t come down and participate at the days, even if it’s to watch to find out more about it,” Anna added.
Sales Manager for Kawasaki Motors, Darren Holmes, was very impressed with the turnout of the GOTD: “Kawasaki are passionate about all aspects of racing and to be able to give our support to such a great event is awesome,” Darren said.
“The attendance of lady riders on Saturday was the biggest I have seen since the program started, which shows what an amazing event it is,” Darren added.
“Saturday really reinforced to Shannons the importance of our partnership with the GOTD program,” Ms Belinda Douglas, Shannons Business Development Manager – Melbourne, said.
“It was great to be able to walk around and chat to the girls and watch their confidence grow over the course of the day. You couldn’t wipe the smile off their faces.
“Shannons has an exciting edition to the March GOTD and we will reveal more in the weeks to come,” Belinda added.
Ms Peta Thomas said she was incredibly proud in such a huge turnout for the first day of the year at Broadford: “It was fantastic to see so many new faces experience their first-ever GOTD at Broadford on Saturday.
“We were very lucky with the weather and it was great to see so many participants enjoying themselves,” Peta said. “We are always constantly working on developing and refining the days to make them better so the next GOTD will be even better,” Peta added.
The next three installments take place at Broadford’s State Motorcycle Sports Complex on March 12, May 21 and October 1. For more information please visit: https://www.motorcyclingvic.com.au/women/.