A Woman In the Driving Seat, As Faye Ho Enters The World Of BSB
Who is Faye Ho? BSB's only female team owner.
You may be forgiven for thinking that motor sport, both in cars and motorcycles, is male dominated and you may be right. However perhaps the winds of change are beginning to blow through motorcycle racing as more women are moving into the frame. This season, there's a new female team owner in BSB – Faye Ho.
Other women have got into motorcycle racing too, but really not many so far - Jenny Tinmouth ran a BSB team in 2011 and Rebecca Smith ran the Smiths Racing outfit which Faye Ho is taking over, rebranding it Faye Ho Racing.
Ho's grandfather was a Macau billionaire and she developed a love of Motorcycle racing in childhood in Macau, being lucky enough to have a vantage point from a family member's house next to the course which enabled her to watch the races all day long while growing up. It obviously got into her blood and she has been stepping towards a career involving what she loves for some time now.
There is family form in motor racing too, her grandfather was a friend of Hong Kong's Teddy Yip, whose team won the Macau Grand Prix eight times.
Faye Ho is really a force to be reckoned with and has survived personal difficulties like breast cancer and focussed her mind on what she really wanted to achieve in her life, running a BSB team was obviously an important goal for her.
She already has a successful business career under her belt and has previously sponsored riders like Stuart Easton who won the Macau Grand Prix, Michael Rutter and Peter Hickman over the years so she knows what she is doing in the world of racing. Peter Hickman and ex-WSBK Xavi Fores will ride her BMWs in her new BSB team.
Ho acknowledges that there aren't many women involved in motor sport but believes in doing what you love and certainly has a passion for it. Obviously she realises that it is a challenge for any woman to be one of the front runners in motor sport, but sees no reason why women shouldn't be as successful as men.
"Life is always going to be difficult. But if you are happy with what you do, and you enjoy it, you should always take on a challenge."
Ho has left Macau and now lives in England with her two teenaged children.
So watch this space, let's see what she can deliver and hope she can widen the trail for women in motorcycling.
“The more people can see women undertaking jobs like this or competing – and there are some good riders like Ana Carrasco – the more mixed genders will be acceptable. But change can take a long time.”
Let's hope its not too long!
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