As you know, Formula 1 has now banned grid girls and we won’t see them next to the cars before a GP. A move that could be seen as politically correct, but which, as is so often the case, also hides a certain amount of hypocrisy. Those who made the decision may now have a clear conscience, but you need to look at things from a different point of view to get a clearer idea.
We did that with M.ilena Koerner, the only and first female team manager, heads the Forward Racing team in Moto2. In the past, she started her adventure as an advertising model.
“I was born in Gera, 20 minutes away from the Sachsenring, I was 13 when my grandparents took me to the family doctor. They were in the stands, I wanted to go to the paddock, but I didn’t have a pass. I waited two hours at the entrance, then a security guard let me in. ”
How did it all start?
“I kept going to the races and someone asked me why I didn’t start working in this world. But I was very young, in high school. A few years later I made up my mind ”.
What did you do?
“I was an advertising model and worked in the catering trade at the same time. Before my high school final, I was in South Africa for the race, got off the plane and went to school to take my exams. “
You were a grid girl, one of the girls Liberty Media no longer wants …
“I don’t think that’s a very sensible decision. The problem isn’t the girls, it’s on the minds of the men who think they’re available just because they’re wearing a short skirt, high heels and standing next to a bike. Maybe they do it to finance their studies or to be part of a world they are passionate about. “
What was it like for you?
“Yes, I learned a lot from working in the restaurant business, even how to use a screwdriver (she laughs). I was fortunate to work with Stefano Bedon (the current team manager on the Snipers team) who taught me a lot. I started working with the guests, public relations ”.
What was the next step?
“When I became team coordinator for Giovanni Cuzari and Andrea Dosoli in 2009, and then worked 5 years in MotoGP as press manager for Team Tech3, I learned a lot there too.”
And last year Cuzari contacted you to offer you the position of team manager …
“I have to thank him, he trusted me and that was the most important thing. I had doubts, I didn’t know if I would take on the role, I didn’t know if the team would accept me. But already after the first test I felt like part of the family, maybe because I had worked with many of them ”.
Are you faced with prejudice?
“You’re a woman and they think you don’t know about bikes as if you had to be an engineer to lead a team. If you are a man you are automatically respected, but if you are a young woman you are not. I’m known to be a pit bull, a general (she laughs) who helped. Since I did a lot of jobs before becoming a team manager, I know everything about what happens on a team.
Was it a hard way?
“When I think back to everything I’ve done so early in my studies, sometimes I don’t know if I would do it again. You are a woman and you are faced with prejudice , the paddock is a kind of village and there are people who would rather clap than work ”.
You are now a kind of pioneer …
“I don’t feel like that, I know that there aren’t many women in certain roles in the paddock and I don’t expect that to change either. Few of us care about the World Cup, it’s a matter of numbers. Also, a team faced with two people of equal value will always prefer a man. A woman could be a problem and also a cost, she needs different clothes to sleep in her own room. Little things you might not think about ”.
What’s your next step?
“The Valencia tests with our new drivers Stefano Manzi and Eric Granado. There is always great excitement before you get back on track for the first time. “