Team Switzerland to test women drivers

SPECTACULAR! A1 Team Switzerland gives their chance to two young lady drivers

Zurich - Tuesday, September 18, 2007; Max Welti, Team Principal A1 Team Switzerland, decided to bring the team to quite unusual approach to testing by giving their chance to drive for their national team to two young lady drivers: Rahel Frey and Natacha Gachnang. The ladies shoot out for the A1 Team Switzerland will be organized at Silverstone on Tuesday, September 18 and Wednesday Sep. 19, 2007.

This last test, also conducted by veteran of the team driver Neel Jani, is the countdown to the very first race of the third season of A1 GP in Zandvoort, (The Netherlands) on 30 September 2007.

Max Welti, Team Principal of A1 Switzerland comments: "This shootout event at Silverstone will decide which of the two lady drivers will have the chance to represent their national team starting with the Brno Grand Prix, 2nd leg of the A1 GP Championship. It is very stressful for our two candidates. I anticipate that they will know how to calculate the level of risk involved and be fast. I already talked to Rahel Frei last season and am glad to have convinced her to join us. As for Natacha Gachnang she is Sebastien Buemi's cousin. She came to our attention this year after her podium racing in Formula Mazda in Portland (USA).

"It is becoming more normal for young women to race cars. Like Italian Maria Teresa de Filippis (the first ever woman F1 driver in 1958), the Italian Lella Lombardi (the first ever woman to score a point in F1 in the 1975 Spanish GP), Divina Galica (the only F1 British racing driver), or Italian Giovanna Amati (who drove on the Brabham F1), USA Danica Patrick or Britain Katherine Legge, these two exceptional Swiss young lady drivers through their results have already raised the profile of women in motorracing as a whole. As A1 Team Switzerland, we would like to give them a chance to compete at such a young age and may be to race as a rookie driver for their countries in the upcoming A1 GP season".

-credit: team switzerland