She Sets the Pace with Jaguar

Despite national and international acclaim for their success, these women still operate in a heavily male-dominated sport – with a mere 15% of New Zealanders able to name a female race car driver, and 80% have never seen a female motorsport event.

Race driver Tiffany Chittenden commented: “As far as I’m concerned, motorsport has the opportunity to be one of the most levelling sports in terms of gender – a vehicle has no idea whether it is driven by a male or a female, so we need to move past these outdated stereotypes.”

Twenty-year-old Rianna O’Meara-Hunt supports this notion, adding: “It’s awesome to see more and more women coming into motorsport. When we put our helmets on, we all become equal, we’re all there for the same reason, and we all have the same goal at the end of the day.”

Breaking gender stereotypes is part of Jaguar’s rich history and traces back to one of Jaguar’s original racing drivers, Sybil Lupp. She was the first New Zealand woman to forge her way into the male-dominated industry in the 1950s, rising to national prominence in motor racing and operating her own mechanics.