Although the paddock is predominantly male, more and more women are occupying positions within the teams. Team managers, press officers, coordinators, hospitality managers and even data engineers, their number increases year after year.
Who are they ? What is their role? How do they experience being women in a man's world? We decided to meet them in order to start a series of portraits to present them to you.
Last July you were able to discover the interview with Mathilde Poncharal, press officer at Tech3. This article marked the foundations of the next ones that you will read, and we therefore invite you to rediscover it by going here.
The first episode of this series introduced you to Anna-Katrin Noeller, head of Tech3 hospitality in 2018. For this second part, we stay with the team and meet Maria Pohlmann, communications and social media coordinator.
Can you quickly introduce yourself and explain to us what your work involves?
My name is Maria Pohlmann, I am 31 years old and I am German. My basic work consists of writing press releases in Moto2 and MotoGP as well as taking care of social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat). I also respond to fan messages on it and communicate with them. Besides that I also help Mathilde Poncharal in her work with the organization of driver interviews, pit tours and sponsorship management.
I don't just work on the Grands Prix, I also do it from home, especially to organize everything in advance. I publish daily on social networks and I have to prepare messages, photos, etc. but also documents for sponsors and guests. I can also work on the website. It's very varied.
How did you get into the paddock? Did you orient your studies in this direction?
No not at all. When I was little I had never heard of MotoGP. I actually had a friend when I was 18 who was a big fan of it, his brother as well, so we used to watch the races together and go to the German Grand Prix. My passion then grew, until it exceeded theirs!
At the same time, I wanted to start studying journalism, but the system changed right at that time and I couldn't. I then moved towards studying Egyptology. I graduated after three years and only then was I able to study journalism, as I wanted.
How long have you been doing this job?
I started at the 2010 German Grand Prix as a journalist for Motorsport-Magazin. The first year, I only came to the paddock once, and as the seasons progressed I did more and more Grands Prix. By being present I made contacts, then I set out on my own and worked for different teams and companies. For example, I did translation for Dorna. It was only last year that I finally worked a full season in a team, at Forward Racing, in Moto2. I then arrived at Tech3 at the start of 2018 and will continue in 2019.
Many people think that it is not easy to be a woman in this very masculine environment, sometimes even described as macho. How do you experience it as a woman? Do you really find it more difficult to work in MotoGP than a man?
No, I do not find. Some things are simpler as a woman and others more complicated so it's a good balance. Honestly, it's a very pleasant environment where everyone respects everyone, both men and women. Evolving in the paddock makes us mature and adapt to this environment by meeting more and more people and so many people know us and greet us. It's like a big family where everyone knows each other, respects each other and finds each other all over the world.
