Motorsports is typically viewed as a male-dominated activity, outside of the promotion girls that line the tracks, but it would seem that ladies love speed too, something that the watch world is starting to pick up on.
British watch brand IWI launched its first ladies line of watches in 2008 and in 2010 signed a deal to sponsor female racing car driver Alice Powell. It is a partnership that has lasted ever since with the brand continuing to sponsor Powell right through to the 2012 GP3 Race series.
Powell is a rising star on the circuit and a revolution in terms of her sex. In 2010, aged 17, she became the first female driver to win the Formula Renault British Automobile Racing Club Championship, which was the same race famously won by Lewis Hamilton, although he was 18 at the time, so Powell beat the TAG Heuer ambassador to that milestone by year. And like Hamilton, Powell has her sights set on the F1, a dream that IWI founder Ian Walsh believes that she can pull off.
“I feel very proud to be supporting Alice, she’s a great ambassador for IWI Watches and she will be putting us on a world stage throughout the season,” says Walsh. “Alice has all the potential to get to F1 and I will be backing her all the way.”While IWI has been supporting women in motorsports, TAG Heuer has been targeting female shoppers within the motorsports market with the ladies watches from its Formula 1 collection.
The TAG Heuer Ladies Formula 1 white ceramic watch was a Highly Commended Sports Watch of the Year in the WatchPro Watches of the Year 2012 report and the range has proved popular with retailers. The chronographs (pictured above) have plenty of functional sporty features but also exude a glamour that fits in with the Monaco lifestyle of the racing set.
