Today 8 March, on International Women´s Day the governing bodies of motor sport FIM and FIA together celebrate the gender equal world with a joint campaign presenting women who have been able to break the bias in motorcycling and motorsport.

Both federations FIM and FIA are committed to this cause for years and have worked hard to promote diversity and inclusion, inspiring, encouraging and helping women to take their place, both on track and off track.

FIM and FIA will carry out other actions together during the year, to further demonstrate that women have their place in motor sports and create opportunities for them in all the field of activities. It is a long-term commitment as there is still a long road ahead but that is crucial not only to our sports, but society as a whole.

FIM Women in Motorcycling Commission Director Nita Korhonen
This year´s IWD Campaign theme is very close to us as motorsport is the perfect arena where to break the bias and demonstrate that any barriers that might have existed in the old days should not prevent anyone to reach for their dreams. Both FIM and FIA are strongly against any kind of discrimination and today we want to show together that any woman who want to join motorcycling or motor sport is more than welcome to do so.

FIA Women in Motorsport Commission President Deborah Mayer
Both FIA and FIM have an important role to play in leading motorsports into a new era of further inclusivity. We must continue to work with determination to create a more visible and more accessible pathway for young females. Talent has absolutely nothing to do with gender and sport which is intended to bring people together should include, not exclude.

I welcome with great pleasure the partnership between FIM and FIA and by joining forces, we will be able to go further in the creation of motor sports centered around inclusivity and opportunities.

It is crucial for me to promote diversity, by showing young women that motor sport can offer them many opportunities in all sectors around the world.

FIM Women in Motorcycling Commission (CFM) had its first commission meeting 15 years ago in Salvador Bahia, Brazil. The decision to create the commission was done earlier that year in February 2006 and in June the FIM also signed the Brighton Declaration on Women and Sport.

During the last 15 years the CFM has focused on providing more opportunities for women involved in all motorcycling activities and making the motorcycling world more inclusive. Today the CFM launches its 15-year anniversary video presenting the highlights of the past decade and a half. As the video demonstrates, at the moment women have their own World Championship series in Trial, Motocross and Enduro and World Cup series in Snowcross, Cross Country and Baja. The number and level of riders have grown year after year providing some very interesting battles for the spectators.

Beside the sport activities the CFM has recently put more focus on training and inspiring women to aim for the leadership roles within motorcycling. As a second part of the anniversary campaign the commission will launch the second edition of the “Dream Big” book that presents many inspiring stories of women from different roles within the motorcycling world.

FIM Women in Motorcycling Commission Director Nita Korhonen: “The last 15 years have been a great adventure for our commission and a lot has happened since our first meeting in Brazil in the autumn of 2006. Today it is natural that women can succeed and even win World Championships in motorcycling against male competitors, but we hope to see also more women in the leadership roles on a national and international level. Today we celebrate the last 15 years with our milestone video and as a second part of the celebration campaign we will soon launch the successor of the Dream Big book. The third and final part will be a big surprise that we hope will show the direction for the future of the CFM.”

FIM President Jorge Viegas: “Women are a natural part of motorcycling and the FIM strongly supports the presence of women in all the motorcycling activities worldwide. We need more diversity in motorcycling and we all have to work towards a more equal and more gender balanced world. The FIM Women in Motorcycling Commission has done a brilliant job over the past 15 years and during this time we have seen many great achievements and milestones. I hope that one day women will be so well represented in motorcycling that there is no longer a requirement to have a dedicated women´s commission anymore.”