New Research Reveals Outdated Views On Female Drivers

• New research has exposed archaic perceptions still linger about the driving ability of New Zealand women, with 84% of men claiming to be better drivers
• Jaguar has partnered with three convention-breaking female motorsport stars to help dispel these myths and challenge antiquated perceptions

New research1 has unveiled outdated gender stereotypes still exist in the automotive industry, with over half of New Zealanders (55%) believing men can drive better than women.

Jaguar - she sets the pace

Shockingly 84% of men claim to be better drivers than their female counterparts, despite men accounting for 64% of serious crashes on New Zealand roads2.
 

55% of men believe that women are more interested in the style, colour and aesthetics of a car than performance – while women claim performance and safety are the most important considerations when purchasing a new vehicle.

Male respondents in the survey claimed women were disinterested in performance because “it bores them”, “most women like things that look nice” and “they don’t need performance.”

Jaguar is seeking to challenge these stereotypes by partnering with three female motorsport stars, giving them a platform to demonstrate their expertise and successes, as well as show how the motoring industry has the potential to lead the way in terms of breaking conventions.

These three convention-breaking women include race driver Tiffany Chittenden who was the first-ever female to win a British National Karting Championship, Amy Hudson who has been appointed as the New Zealand Women in Motorsport ambassador, and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt who has won a slew of motor racing awards at only 20 years old.

Despite national and international acclaim for their success, these women still operate in a heavily male-dominated sport – with a mere 15% of New Zealanders able to name a female race car driver, and 80% have never seen a female motorsport event.

Race driver Tiffany Chittenden commented: “As far as I’m concerned, motorsport has the opportunity to be one of the most levelling sports in terms of gender – a vehicle has no idea whether it is driven by a male or a female, so we need to move past these outdated stereotypes.”

Twenty-year-old Rianna O’Meara-Hunt supports this notion, adding: “It’s awesome to see more and more women coming into motorsport. When we put our helmets on, we all become equal, we’re all there for the same reason, and we all have the same goal at the end of the day.”

Breaking gender stereotypes is part of Jaguar’s rich history and traces back to one of Jaguar’s original racing drivers, Sybil Lupp. She was the first New Zealand woman to forge her way into the male-dominated industry in the 1950s, rising to national prominence in motor racing and operating her own mechanics.

To help dispel gender conventions still found in motoring today, Tiffany, Rianna and Amy will use

their collective expertise to coach Three's The Project co-host Kanoa Lloyd through three driving challenges, each inspired by Sybil Lupp:

• Smart Cone Challenge – agility and precision challenges in the Jaguar I-PACE with Amy Hudson
• Flying Quarter Mile Sprint – one of Lupp’s most well-known races, showcasing speed in the Jaguar F-Type with Rianna O’Meara-Hunt
• 1 Hour Endurance – testing longevity and sustained power in the Jaguar F-PACE SVR with Tiffany Chittenden

These challenges will screen on The Project, with the first segment airing on Tuesday 15 March, 7pm.

Steve Kenchington, CEO of Jaguar New Zealand, commented: “We are committed to challenging gender conventions so a new generation of female drivers can experience the thrill and excitement of high-performance cars.”

“We look forward to creating tangible changes in the motoring industry by championing everyday heroes such as Tiffany, Amy and Rianna, and look forward to unveiling more commitments in this place soon.”

1 A nationally representative Pureprofile survey was conducted with 1,000 New Zealanders aged 18+ during 10-16 February, 2022. The sample was representative of the NZ population aged 18+ by age, gender and region

All statistics in this press release are results of the Pureprofile survey.

2 OIA Request. 64% men, 27% female, 9% unknown: https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/About-us/docs/oia2-2019/oia-5949-response.pdf

About Tiffany Chittenden

Go-karting champion Tiff Chittenden is one of the most celebrated female figures within the automotive and Karting industry. With a heritage in motor racing, her career highlights include the first female ever to win a British National Karting Championship. Tiff has represented both New Zealand & the UK at International events.

About Rianna O’Meara-Hunt

Born in Wellington, Rianna has raced karts for 12 years, and at just 20 years old has already collected a slew of national awards. Her career highlight so far is winning the prestigious CIK Trophy of New Zealand event, gaining the opportunity to representing her country at the Rok Cup World Finals event in Lonato, Italy in October 2019, where she secured third place in the pre-event and 6th place in the Word final. Rianna was also the first ever junior women to win a rotax pro tour state title in Australia and first junior women in New Zealand to win a rotax max challenge round. Rianna is currently in her first year racing cars where she is part of “ The Heart of Racing Driver Academy" run by International Motorsport. Rianna’s aspirations are about more than just karts and race tracks - they of course include continuing to create history, but by doing so, Rianna hopes to provide the opportunity to motivate and create change to inspire young people in all walks of life.

About Amy Hudson

Amy is a rally co-driver, who comes from a motorsport family with her parents Rocky and Lisa meeting on a rally a couple of decades ago and younger brother Jared also co-driving. Amy was the co-driver in the 2017, 2018 and 2021 New Zealand Rally Championship FIA 2WD Category 2 winning car, and in 2019, she was appointed the first New Zealand Women in Motorsport Ambassador. She also works as a mechanic in Hamilton, while she works to gain a New Zealand Certificate in Automotive Engineering

About Sybil Lupp:

Sybil Lupp was a pioneering race car driver and mechanic in New Zealand. She learnt to drive at the tender age of 11, and by 14-years old was creaming around Marlborough’s early roads in an M-Type MG. Despite her parents’ reservations, she took a correspondence course in car maintenance and ended up convincing a local garage to give her a job where she worked until 1940. Sybil become well-known for the fastest lap times and shattering records This ensured Sybil a place in the motoring fraternity. She spent the 1950’s successfully competing in hill climbs, sprints and circuit races. She held the Class F NZ quarter-mile flying start record of 100.52 mph for 6 years. She was the first woman in New Zealand to own her own a garage in Wellington - Archer and Lupp services (now home to Garage Project beer).

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