By Alan Baldwin
LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Formula E chief executive Jeff Dodds has no doubt his all-electric series will beat Formula One in the race to put a woman in the driving seat.
This weekend marks 50 years since a female driver last started a world championship grand prix, Italian Lella Lombardi who finished 12th in Austria on August 15, 1976.
Formula E, whose first season was in 2014-15, has featured three female competitors - one more than in 76 years of the Formula One championship -- with
the most recent being Switzerland's Simona de Silvestro in 2016.
"Would I have a bet that Formula E will (again) have a woman racing driver competing at the main championship level ahead of Formula One? Absolutely I would make that bet," Dodds told Reuters ahead of Formula E's season-ending races at London Excel this weekend.
"Obviously, I'd never make a financial bet, because that would go against any governance rules, but if you and I want to have a private beer on it then I'm happy to make it."
WOMEN'S PROGRAMME USES SAME CHAMPIONSHIP CAR
Dodds explained his confidence was due to a number of factors.
The first was a structure in place that allows female drivers to test the actual cars raced in the championship, unlike Formula One where the all-female F1 Academy support series uses Formula Four-level cars.
Drivers who succeed in F1 Academy are given a career boost but even Formula Three and Formula Two, critical steps towards obtaining sufficient points for an F1 superlicence, remain a long way off and require substantial funding. There is currently no woman racing in either of those junior series.
"I think the F1 Academy is a really good championship, and I really like what they're doing in terms of creating opportunities for women drivers," said Dodds, whose championship is controlled by Liberty Global while F1 is owned by Liberty media.
"On the other hand, the step between an F1 Academy car and a Formula One car is a massive step today. It's very unlikely that somebody goes from winning F1 Academy into a Formula One car.
"Whereas our women's programme today has women testing the same car, the same championship car, on the same track, in the same environment as the current championship drivers."
Formula E has for the past two years held a "women's test" to allow female drivers to experience the cars. Last October, at Valencia's Ricardo Tormo circuit, 14 women participated including 2024 F1 Academy champion Abbi Pulling, who is also a simulator driver for the Nissan team.
Four women also took part in the rookie test last March.
"The majority of our teams now have dedicated women drivers on their staff," said Dodds. "(Japan's) Juju Noda at Jaguar, and (German) Sophia Floersch was announced by Opel. And you've got (Filipina) Bianca Bustamante at Cupra Kiro and Abbi Pulling at Nissan.
"We will also make some big announcements about even more investment into our women's programme for next season onwards."
Dodds said the new faster and lighter Gen4 car for next season also lends itself more towards women drivers because it will have power steering.
Formula Two and Formula Three cars have no power steering whereas Formula One cars, under heavy G-forces, do -- a situation some have argued works against 16-year-old girls competing with physically stronger boys.
"I think the introduction of power steering really helps us put women on an equal footing in terms of their ability to break into the main championship," Dodds said.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, Editing by Ed Osmond)
