Race queen
A race queen or pit babe is a promotional model found as part of a pit crew in certain kinds of motor racing, such as F1 races.
History
The first usage of promotional models in motor races was during the late 1960s. It was then that the term race queen was coined. Prior to that, women in motor races were mostly wives and girlfriends of drivers and staff, with the exception of some who were drivers. In 1983, the sun tan lotion company Hawaiian Tropic sponsored the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The company brought its models over from the United States to appear on the racetrack before the race began. These models wore bikinis bearing the company's name. A year later, that practice was imported over to Japan for the Suzuka 8 Hours motorcycle race.
In Japan
In Japan, race queens are often regarded as idols varying only by the motor sport event they appear in. The average age for these girls is late teens to early twenties and demand for them wanes with age. It is not unusual for some of them to have a background in or a sideline career as a gravure idol. Race queens who operate in prestigious events and with a large fanbase can also be found at automobile shows purely to draw crowds where they are nearly as important an attraction as the cars or electronics products that they are promoting. There is a magazine dedicated to them called Gals Paradise.[1]
In other countries
The models, referred as "grid/pit girls" in Europe, are very common in many series worldwide. In the United States, they are referred to as "Umbrella Girls". Furthermore, because of the manner of dress of these models, insurance companies regard the models as a safety hazard because of stringent dress codes imposed in the garage and pit areas by many sanctioning bodies; in New Jersey, the stringent dress codes effectively ban the models. In DTM and some other events, organizers have started to recruit male models as in startlines, mostly on female drivers' cars.
The Korean term for a race queen is a "racing model" (레이싱모델). Racing models appear in motor shows and racing events. In Thailand, "pretties" and they are used extensively at events ranging from the Bangkok International Motor Shows to minor events such as openings of shopping centers. There are businesses dedicated to recruiting and providing pretties for events, classifying them into several categories according to skills and experience.
See also
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Look up race queen or pit babe in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Auto racing girls. |