Formula Woman, officially known as the Privilege Insurance Formula Woman Championship, was a female-only one make racing series started in 2004 in the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It was inspired by the lack of female drivers in other series and was created, amongst other reasons, to boost the female audience of the sport.

All 16 drivers race in the Mazda RX-8

Mazda RX-8

The Mazda RX-8 is a sports car manufactured by Mazda Motor Corporation. It first appeared in 2001 at the North American International Auto Show. It is the successor to the RX-7 and, like its predecessors in the RX range, it is powered by a Wankel engine. The RX-8 began North American sales in the...

 over seven rounds around four British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 racing circuits. For the following year when support from Mazda

Mazda

is a Japanese automotive manufacturer based in Fuchū, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.In 2007, Mazda produced almost 1.3 million vehicles for global sales...

 ceased, the series consisted of mainly Caterham Seven

Caterham Seven

The Caterham Seven is a super-lightweight sports car produced by Caterham Cars in the United Kingdom. It is based on the Lotus Seven, a lightweight sports car sold in kit and factory-built form by Lotus Cars, from the late 1950s to the early 1970s...

s. Its last season was in 2007 before disappearing for good.

Competitors

Thousands of women applied to join the series with 16 people eventually getting through to compete. A series of tests were employed to cut down the applicants over several days, including physical and practical examinations. The television coverage, by ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

, and format of these days was similar to various reality television

Reality television

Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...

 programs with the organisers announcing the people that have progressed to the entire group.

Final championship standings

1. Natasha Firman
   Natasha Firman
   Natasha Firman is an English racing driver and was the winner of the inaugural Formula Woman championship in 2004. On the way to that victory, she achieved two wins and four third places out of seven races...
   
    (215 points)
2. Lorraine Pinner (209 points)
3. Bev Tyler (161 points)
4. Juliette Thurston (146 points)
5. Emma Hayles (122 points)
6. Margo Gardner (112 points)
7. Pippa Cow (104 points)
8. Lauren Blighton (94 points)
9. Nicola Robison (80 points)
10. Judith Lyons (74 points)
11. Sarah Bennett-Baggs (73 points)
12. Amy Handford (70 points)
13. Victoria Hardy (63 points)
14. Max Thompson (47 points)
15. Catherine Gard (31 points)
16. Joanna Linton (28 points)
17. Karen Andrews (20 points)

Results

Oulton Park

Oulton Park

Oulton Park Circuit is a motor racing track in the small village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington with a nearby rail connection along the Mid-Cheshire Line. It occupies much of the area which was...

, June 12

• Round 1
  1. Natasha Firman
  2. Margo Gardner
  3. Lauren Blighton
• Round 2
  1. Natasha Firman
  2. Emma Hayles
  3. Lorraine Pinner

Knockhill

Knockhill Racing Circuit

Knockhill Racing Circuit in Fife is Scotland's national Motorsport centre. The circuit is located in the Fife countryside about north of Dunfermline. The track, initially opened in 1974, is long and 10 metres wide and was created by joining service roads to a nearby disused mineral railway,...

, June 27

• Round 3
  1. Margo Gardner
  2. Lauren Blighton
  3. Natasha Firman
• Round 4
  1. Margo Gardner
  2. Emma Hayles
  3. Natasha Firman

Cadwell Park

Cadwell Park

Cadwell Park is a motor racing circuit in Lincolnshire, England, south of Louth. It is owned and operated by Jonathan Palmer's Motorsport Vision company....

, July 4

• Round 5
  1. Lorraine Pinner
  2. Lauren Blighton
  3. Emma Hayles

Brands Hatch

Brands Hatch

Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit near West Kingsdown in Kent, England. First used as a dirt track motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently holds many British and international racing events...

, July 25

• Round 6
  1. Lorraine Pinner
  2. Bev Tyler
  3. Natasha Firman

• Round 7
  1. Lorraine Pinner
  2. Bev Tyler
  3. Natasha Firman