In just over two weeks time, More Female Racers by Thrustmaster Rockets is returning to The Sim Grid for a third season. As the teams prepare for round one, we caught up with three of Season Two’s star teams to see how they were approaching a refreshed More Female Racers championship, as we also take a deep dive into how Season Three will differ from previous iterations of the More Female Racers series. With two weeks still to go until round one, there is still time for you to register via The Sim Grid website.
The Shape of Season Three
Coming off the back of an incredible five rounds of racing last season, More Female Racers (MFR) has been taken to the next level, with new cars, new tracks and a new race format.
MFR will now be a spec series, with one of the most fun cars to drive in Assetto Corsa Competizione becoming mandatory – the Lamborghini Super Trofeo. This eliminates any past (dis)advantages that teams could have gained over their rivals due to car choice, majorly levelling the playing field and teeing us up for an even more competitive season. However, a car change certainly isn’t the only significant adjustment to the series.
Last season, More Female Racers consisted of five sixty-minute events with one mandatory pitstop, but for Season 3, that changes. Now, there will be six events on the calendar at some of Assetto Corsa Competizione’s best tracks, but there’s a twist. The sixth and final race will be at a venue decided purely through public vote, giving the teams even less of a chance to prepare for and you the ability to shake up potentially one of the most important races of the season.
Along with the revised calendar format, the sixty-minute races now contain three stints, allowing the, or one of the, female drivers a second chance to take to the track. With these format changes, More Female Racers by Thrustmaster Rockets is set to be better than ever, as Season Two Pro-AM champion Jenny Camugli said “It will give much more attention toward the women driving, especially those who are new to the Sim Racing world. That will give the opportunity for them to battle, show what they can do, and improve a lot.”
How Last Season’s Stars are approaching Season Three
Jean Alesi Esports Academy
In Season Two of More Female Racers, it was Jean Alesi Esports Academy drivers Mia and Aenore Rose who emerged with the championship victory. Their season was near flawless, with Mia claiming pole position in four of the five races and the duo winning all bar-one race, being pipped only by Map1 Racing in both instances. As we look ahead to a brand new season full of brand new competition, we caught up with Mia Rose.
After claiming the season two championship, she and teammate Aenore are the ones to beat, so preparation is absolutely key to ward off any competition – especially when the likes of Map1 Racing, Triple A Esports and Neptune Racing were on their heels at the latter events. When asked about their plans to keep said rivals behind, Mia said “We’ll just do what we did last season, just drive the car as quick as we can and see where we end up”, showing that our reigning champions are approaching this season with trust that their hard work and dedication is what will give them the edge over their rivals. However, the biggest change to their competition could well be from the change in car. She said, “Going off what I’ve seen so far, if people can get on top of this car, you’ll either see a closer field or you’ll see bigger gaps than what you saw last season.” The move from a standard GT3 car to the Lamborghini Super Trofeo is no small jump, and how teams will react to this could well be the key to success.
Triple A Esports
Triple A Esports were one of Jean Alesi Esports Academy’s biggest championship rivals in season two, with the challengers being made up of Timea Bencsik and Adam Pinczes. The pairing had some great races, finishing on the podium in four of the five events – often giving eventual champions, Mia and Aenore Rose, a run for their money.
Heading into Season Three, they are favourites to bring the challenge to Jean Alesi Esports Academy at the sharp end of the field, so how will they be preparing to up their game? Timea said, “We are preparing a lot more carefully. It’s not going to be easy, since Adam Pinczes and I are not only competing in Assetto Corsa Competizione, so getting used to it [ACC] again will take some time. However, we will try our best and use every single opportunity to improve.”
There will be nowhere to hide this season, as the introduction of the Super Trofeo means that the playing field will be perfectly equal, with only factors such as setup becoming important. However, Timea believes this could play in their favour, as “it will give a clearer picture of which participant is on which level, and therefore we’ll have a chance to speculate whom we need to pay extra attention to.” as she and teammate Adam push to take the fight to the top of the standings.
Turn1 – meets BSKIT
One of the teams who will be drawing a lot of attention this season will be Turn1 – meets BSKIT, the pairing of Jenny Camugli and Declan Bowler, who previously raced together under BSKIT Motorsport MFR. In season two, they claimed the Pro-AM championship right at the very end, pipping Star Girl Racing by just ten points and claiming three class wins along the way. Just like Jean Alesi Esports Academy, they have the added pressure of being reigning class championships as they look to make progress deep into Pro class.
How the duo enter season three will be extremely important to hit the ground running off the back of a class championship. When asked about how they plan to build on this success, Jenny said, “For me, I engaged myself into other championships, and am planning to improve my sim rig which is still only a steering wheel fixed to my desk”. However, MFR isn’t a one-man band, as Jenny added “I also joined Turn1, which is a great improvement for me, and for this season I’ll be racing for them, with Declan who will be racing for BSKIT.”
Another spanner being thrown into the works is the sixth and final race, which will be at a track voted by you, the public. “As for the surprise round, this will probably force everyone to practice on different tracks until we know the track”, Jenny showing that the uncertainty will definitely force teams away from a usual practice format, and of course, adding a certain level of challenge as they will ultimately be practising in the dark. Season three is going to be a challenge for everyone.
The importance of More Female Racers
More Female Racers is an extremely important series, with its aim to encourage female drivers into Sim Racing and help them improve on a journey to success. Previous competitors have already reached some incredible heights, with a team of female drivers winning The Sim Grid Endurance Cup Split 3 championship, and a driver even going on to become the SRO Asia AM champion.
When asked about how important MFR is, reigning overall champion, Mia Rose, said “MFR is important to sim racing in that it gives femme people a safe space to race in, and it also brings new people to ACC/sim racing.” and Pro-AM champion Jenny Camugli told us “finally it got me into a wonderful community, where I met so many other girls who enjoy racing, and are supportive of each other. Definitely the best part of it all: all the drivers, the stewards, and our dearest commentators and interviewers!”. Season three is set to be better than ever, with fiercer competition and the same goal at heart, to bring more female racers into Sim Racing!
