Men in Cars: The History of Motorsport, With or Without Men

This weeks episode is on another essential figure in the history of women's motorsport, Kay Petre. What I described at the start as being a small episode actually turned out to be meatier than I thought, so listen along to find out more about her groundbreaking career during the 1930s.SOURCES:KayPetre - a tribute October 1994 - Motor Sport MagazineWomenin Motorsport Blog - Belles of Brooklands | BeaulieuSpeedqueens: KayPetre This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit miriamfielding.substack.com

This week we will be talking about the Brawn GP Formula 1 team, probably the only team whose history I can aptly cover in a 30 min episode. Listen along to learn about the unusually swift fall, rise and then fall again of the only team in F1 history with a 100% championship win rate.SOURCES:Busting the myth of Brawn GP's legendary double diffuser - ESPNBBC - Andrew Benson: The remarkable story of Brawn GPBrawn GP engineers ‘thought we’d got our sums wrongs’ ahead of fairytale start to 2009 season | Formula 1®Was Brawn's BGP 001 really the defining car of 2009? (motorsport.com)Jenson Button | Formula 1® This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit miriamfielding.substack.com

This week is on women's motorsport, so we of course had to look at the career and life of Michèle Mouton, as well as the iconic Group B era that she raced in.Sources:WRCgreat Michele Mouton’s life and career the subject of new documentary(autosport.com)MichèleMouton’s trailblazing rallying career shocked male-dominated sport | Rallying |The GuardianMichèleMouton: Get to know the French rally legend (redbull.com)Womenin Motorsport - Michèle Mouton| BeaulieuGroupB (wrc.com) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit miriamfielding.substack.com

Welcome back! This week's long awaited episode talks about the history of tobacco sponsorship in F1, going into some of the most well known sponsors of the entire championship. Don't smoke kids, no matter how aesthetically pleasing F1 liveries used to be.SOURCES:Sources:Blum, A. “Tobacco in Sport: An Endless Addiction?” Tobacco Control 14, no. 1 (2005): 1–2. Grant-Braham, Bruce, and John Britton. “Motor Racing, Tobacco Company Sponsorship, Barcodes and Alibi Marketing.” Tobacco Control 21, no. 6 (2012): 529–35.The history of tobacco advertising in F1 | The Car Expert Which Sponsors Are Banned From F1? – WTF1 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit miriamfielding.substack.com

In this weeks episode we are talking about the history of WAGs, particularly in F1, and how they have been viewed/treated throughout the years! We will cover a few iconic women from the 1960s/70s, as well as how the perception of WAGs has changed in motorsport fanbases more recently. SOURCES:Vintage Formula 1WAGs - Car&vintage | Land | Sea | Air (carandvintage.com)WAGs? That's sexisttalk, says equality watchdog (telegraph.co.uk)Dana Johannsen:Time to ditch the word WAG - NZ HeraldMemo to the media:please don't use the term WAGs (theroar.com.au)Why do women wantto be Wags? | Women | The GuardianThe Fangirlificationof Formula 1 (thecut.com) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit miriamfielding.substack.com

Like many people, I have been increasingly interested in IndyCar recently - so what better than an episode going into the back story of Indy, as well as the dynamics of American motorsport culture and how this compares with Formula 1.SOURCES:F1 vs IndyCar: Which is faster, horsepower, assists and more (motorsport.com)The Complete History of Indycar: From the First Indianapolis 500 to Modern Era (apexoff.com)Andretti vs Mansell: the 1993 IndyCar team-mates who couldn’t get along - Motor Sport Magazine Motorsports and American Culture : From Demolition Derbies to NASCAR, edited by Mark D. Howell, and John D. Miller, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2014. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit miriamfielding.substack.com

Happy pride month! Today we are doing an introduction on Roberta Cowell, a racecar driver and pilot. This includes her career at Brooklands, and her life as a transgender woman, being the first legally recognized transgender woman in the UK!SOURCES:Roberta Cowell | UCL Campaign - UCL – University College LondonOverlooked No More: Roberta Cowell, Trans Trailblazer, Pilot and Auto Racer - The New York Times (nytimes.com)'It's easier to change a body than to change a mind': The extraordinary life and lonely death of Roberta Cowell | The Independent | The IndependentBrooklands Museum :: LGBTQ at Brooklands: Roberta Cowell This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit miriamfielding.substack.com

Today we are talking about the infamous Monaco Grand Prix, partly in preparation for the upcoming weekend! This episode will explore why a race was held there way back in 1929, as well as some exceptional drivers who excelled on such a unique and difficult track.SOURCES:Hamilton, Maurice. Formula 1 Circuits: Maps andStatistics from Every Grand Prix Track. 2nd ed. Dublin: Collins, 2022.MonteCarlo map, history and latest races - Motorsport Database - Motor SportMagazineO'Kane, Philip. "A History of the ‘Triple Crown’ ofMotor Racing: The Indianapolis 500, the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Monaco GrandPrix." The International Journal of the History of Sport 28,2 (2011): 281-299.Prayag, Girish and Savalli, Melanie. "Residents'perceptions of event impacts and support for the 2012 Formula One Grand Prix inMonaco." In Festival and Event Tourism Impacts, edited byDogan Gursoy, Robin Nunkoo and Medet Yolal, 139-153. London: Routledge, 2020.Sturm, Damion. "The Monaco Grand Prix and Indianapolis500." In Sport, Media & Mega-Events, edited by Lawrence A.Wenner and Andrew C. Billings, 170-184. London: Routledge, 2017. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit miriamfielding.substack.com

For our first proper episode we are starting off strong, with the wonderful Brooklands race track. Once known as the hub of British motorsport, this track will show not only how motorsport existed pre-WWII, but where some of the best female racers in history gained notoriety. SOURCES:Brooklandsmap, history and latest races - Motorsport Database - Motor Sport MagazineBrooklands- RacingCircuits.infoBrooklands Circuit- The history - Circuits of the pastBrooklands,and the Amazing Women Racing Drivers of the 1930s - FlashbakBrooklandsMuseum :: Brooklands Women: Ethel Locke KingMatthews, Jordan J. K. and Pike, Elizabeth C. J. "'Whaton Earth are They Doing in a Racing Car?': Towards an Understanding of Women inMotorsport." The International Journal of the History of Sport 33,13 (2016): 1532-1550.Pugh, Martin. State and Society: A Social andPolitical History of Britain since 1870. 3rd ed. London: Hodder Education,2008. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit miriamfielding.substack.com

Welcome!!! I can't quite believe it everyone, the first episode of Men in Cars is finally here. Before we get into some actual content, here is an introduction to me, your host, and what this podcast will entail. So sit back and enjoy this tumultuous back story, beautifully paired with my questionable editing skills. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit miriamfielding.substack.com