Pit Lane Persephone

Chapter 8: Lauren (Part 2 of 2)

When I first saw that bullshit editorial about my performance in Melbourne, it was thanks to a Google alert. I managed to get halfway through the article on the Aussie sport website before I screamed and slammed my laptop closed. It took all my energy not to throw the damn thing across the room. By the time I'd gotten over my initial rage and read the whole thing, it had been picked up by the Associated Press and spread across pretty much every major international publication.

"You're big news," Celia says over the phone.

"Are you kidding me? It was a hit piece. They made me sound like a joke." I tap my fingers on the counter, waiting for the barista to finish making my drink.

"Being the first at something gets you coverage, and you had great publicity after Malaysia about the contract. At most, I expected just a line or two this week about your first race, but you have to admit, starting in thirty-second place and finishing twenty-eight—and only because four others didn't finish at all—doesn't earn headlines. So what if the headline you did get is a little controversial?" she asks, not even pausing for an answer. "People are talking about you, Lauren. Don't worry. It's a good thing."

"But—"

"No buts. Read the article again with fresh eyes. If you still don't like something, then next time give the press something else to write about." Never one for excuses, my agent unceremoniously ends the conversation just as the girl finishes making my grande green tea lemonade.

"Lauren?" she asks, waving the cup in the air even though I'm the only one waiting.

"Thanks." I smile before heading to the parking lot and hopping into my Jeep.

The article is still open in a tab on my phone's browser. "Dimas Acts Like a Diva Down Under: Will the First Woman in World Road Racing also be the Last?" The title already makes me want to throw up, but I sip my icy drink and continue to read.

American Lauren Dimas may be a new face on the world championship circuit, but the veteran of the American road racing scene is already making herself known to international fans. Yet it's not her performance in the Australian Racing Cup—which can only be described as lackluster—that has people talking, but rather her behavior before the starting lights dimmed.

Qualifying and finishing dead last during last Sunday's Phillip Island race can—and should—be forgiven. It was the eighteen-year-old's first time on her new ride, after all. But racing fans have to wonder whether the teen's California-attitude can be tamed to withstand the pressure that comes with riding on an advanced level.

Dimas' woes began during the first practice session on Friday when—in spite of a wide-open track—she inexplicably ended up in the gravel trap on turn nine (picture, top left). The rest of her free practice and qualifying runs were less eventful, and at least they served to secure a spot for the female rider on the starting grid. Despite this historical achievement, however, Dimas appeared to be more concerned with being part of the resident girl squad than interacting with her fellow racers when a select cohort took part in their annual visit to the Victoria Animal Sanctuary and Koala Park (picture, top right). Unimpressed by the indigenous wildlife (picture, bottom right), the Cadmium Racing Team rider went into Sunday morning's race equally perturbed when she publicly admonished (for no apparent reason) her umbrella girl before sending the poor young woman off the grid nearly in tears.

Like Persephone, the goddess of maidens in the classical mythos from her ancestral homeland, Dimas has gotten a temporary expatriation to another realm. Unlike the Greek goddess' banishment to the underworld, however, Lauren Dimas' short-term upgrade was to the WRRF's pit lane, not to the pits of hell. And most importantly, it was meant to be a reward, not a punishment. Yet Dimas appears to be both uncomfortable and perhaps unqualified to take the challenge. It is unfortunate that such a milestone achievement for women in motorsports could be wasted so easily, and it remains to be seen whether the gamble for Cadmium Racing—and the World Road Racing Federation as a whole—will pay off. Many will have their eyes on the girl from northern California during the next race, which will take place on Sunday, September 22 in Barcelona. It won't be hard to miss her. She'll be the only one with purple butterflies on her black helmet, most likely flying at the back of the field.