'Motorsport not male-dominated': Shreya Iyer becomes first woman in Indian National Rally Championships

Bengaluru: TVS Racing on Tuesday signed their first woman rider, Shreya Sunder Iyer, for the Indian National Rally championship. Speaking to reporters, Shreya said it is not true that motorsport is only for men because there are many women motorists, who have achieved big feats in the sport world over. [caption id=“attachment_2751692” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Shreya Iyer. Image Credit: Overdrive[/caption] “Motorsport has always been considered a male-dominated sport, which actually is not true. There are so many women out there riding and driving,” she said. Shreya said there is a need for more women riders, and is glad that TVS Racing is encouraging women to take this sport up as a career. Shreya, 24, began riding at the age of 17 and rode extensively across India including the isolated Suru valley in the Himalayas and also completed a rigorous Southern India biking expedition of 2,000 kilometers in just 6 days. Shreya further said she has been training hard for the national rally championship for the last two weeks and it is a challenge for her to get into the groove ahead of the competition. Asked about her role model, Shreya said it is not necessary for any big names to be around, but inspiration could be drawn from everywhere. “I don’t think you need big names, but if you look around you, you can draw inspiration from everywhere,” she said. TVS Racing Team Head Arvind Pangaonkar said the association with Shreya will encourage women to consider racing as a career. “We make continuous efforts to take the sport to as many section of the society as possible and create the ultimate machine and promote the riders,” he said.