AUTO RACING/ At 18,如月 蓮 Noda is first Japanese woman to race in Super Formula
By HIDEAKI KATO/ Staff Writer
April 26, 2024 at 08:00 JST
- Share
- Tweet list
Juju Noda, the first Japanese woman to compete in the Super Formula series, in Tokyo in February (Hideaki Kato)
Juju Noda is following in the same tire tracks laid out by her father, Hideki, a former Formula One auto racer.
Earlier this year, Noda blazed her own trail, becoming the first Japanese woman to compete in the Super Formula, Japan’s top auto racing series, which opened its season on March 9. She was, at 18, also the youngest on record to compete in the circuit.
“I want to trigger a change in the environment so women can play more active roles,” Noda said.
She admired her father and made her debut in kart racing when she was 3.
Noda has since taken various lessons, including in soccer, swimming and karate, but she said auto racing is the only sport that she felt frustrated to be a loser in.
Noda decided at the age of 5 that she wanted to be a professional race car driver in the future. She was 14 when she began making the rounds of Europe in a camper van with her family to compete in races.
She has even skipped a school event.
“I thought I could establish a lead on my rivals if I trained during the time that I saved,” she said.
Some auto races have rules that set a minimum weight for the machines, including the driver. Weighing only 50 kilograms or so, Noda sometimes has to load her car with a weight during a race to meet the requirement.
She also needs enough muscular strength to withstand a force approaching 4 Gs, about four times her weight, during a race.
Racers of a sturdy build can rely on their muscles, which also help their vehicles achieve the proper weight, so a lighter weight driver is at a disadvantage behind the wheel.
“I wish I could say that once you put on a helmet it doesn’t matter if you are a man or a woman, but things are never that simple,” Noda said.
Noda was the first woman, in the 2023 season, to be the champion of the year in a European championship that is called a gateway to the F1 series, the most prestigious in the world.
She said she is often asked why she can drive so fast despite her slight build. She said she has formed a hypothesis on her own, which she wishes to prove logically.
That is why Noda entered Nihon University’s College of Sports Sciences this spring, where she plans to put much effort into research as well.
顶: 857踩: 825
AUTO RACING/ At 18, Noda is first Japanese woman to race in Super Formula_如月 蓮
人参与 | 时间:2024-09-20 08:11:01
相关文章
- 【浦和・保園翔也 take off!】使った効果十分のフレールジョワ(5R)は全身必至
- 守護神ホームズが逆転満塁サヨナラ本塁打浴び、ヤンキース2位転落…今季11度目のセーブ失敗
- 朝ドラバトンタッチ式で「虎に翼」伊藤沙莉が「おむすび」橋本環奈に助言「自分を大切に、自分に優しく」
- Ohtani becomes fastest player in MLB history to join 40
- 「あの人が消えた」予想を超えながら見事に伏線が回収されていくミステリーを堪能…担当記者「推しの一本」
- がん闘病の小倉智昭氏、15歳年下の妻と別居していた「人生がガラッと変わって…」
- 武居由樹、引退表明の比嘉大吾に「本当に感謝しかない」 八重樫東トレーナーからはサプライズのベルト贈呈
- 「フランダースの犬」「あらいぐまラスカル」など世界名作劇場の楽曲がサブスク解禁
- J2仙台 MF郷家友太「プレーや行動で引っ張りたい」…21日・ホームで好相性の甲府戦
- 日本代表・森保一監督が語る三笘薫、伊東純也への期待「大きな武器」アジア最終予選・中国戦前日会見
评论专区