Molly Taylor driving home gender equality
Extreme E's mixed-gender racing is breaking boundaries in motorsport, and Australian trailblazer driver Molly Taylor is at the forefront.
Extreme E is a five-race series in four continents, racing electric SUV's off-road vehicles in extreme locations and conditions.
It has taken a real lead in gender equality.
In 2016, Molly became the youngest ever winner of the Australian Rally Championship. She is also the first and still the only female champion.
With co-driver Bill Hayes, she won WA's Forest Rally in 2017.
Then, in 2021, she joined Extreme E and won the inaugural Extreme E World Championship with Johan Kristoffersson.
Over its first four seasons, Extreme E has built a number of female drivers.
But Molly, driving for team E.ON Next Veloce Racing, stands out. She won the inaugural championship title and has achieved eight major victories.
She has the most victories of any female driver and the second most overall — just one fewer than double champion Johan Kristoffersson (despite competing in three fewer events).
And data shows that, in those four seasons, the gap in performance times between male and female drivers has narrowed by almost 70 per cent. An Extreme E spokesperson says that value is due to 'equitable competition environments'.
Molly, who has raced with the series from the beginning, said: 'Extreme E has without a doubt changed the course of my career and I'm confident all the female drivers in the series would say the same thing.
'We all know how challenging motorsport is, but what Extreme E has proven is that with the right opportunity, exposure, development and investment we can see women reach the top.
'It can be a difficult cycle to break; you need the seat time to prove your potential, but you need results to attract the support needed to access that very seat time.
'Extreme E put themselves out there and tried something new to force change and it makes me so proud to be one of the drivers to prove the success of this concept.
'We have built some strong momentum and, whilst this doesn't alleviate the continuing challenges of motorsport, we are making change. It's pretty special and something I hope motorsport can learn from more broadly.'
Molly took part in SAS Australia season one, and is an ambassador for Girls on Track, a female motorsport initiative.
+ mollytaylor.com.au
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