Susie Wolff receives MBE in the Queen's New Year Honors - MotorSportsTalk

Former Formula 1 test driver and DTM racer Susie Wolff has been made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in Queen Elizabeth II’s New Year Honors, announced on Friday evening.

Wolff became the first woman in 22 years to take part in an F1 grand prix weekend session when she represented Williams in practice for the British Grand Prix in 2014.

Wolff retired from racing at the end of 2015, making her final appearance at the Race of Champions before turning her attention to profiling female participation in motorsport through the ‘Dare To Be Different’ scheme.

Wolff has been awarded an MBE for her services to women in sport.

“What a way to end 2016. Very humbled to receive an MBE in recognition of my service to women in sport,” Wolff wrote on her Facebook page.

“Like any female competitor, I simply aspired to compete on a level playing field and was able to chase that dream thanks to the never-ending support of my family and all those who backed me along the way.

“This is a recognition of their efforts as much as my own. Now my focus is on passing that support and belief to the next generations of young women who dare to be different in chasing their dreams.”

Wolff is the only motorsport personality to feature on this year’s New Year Honors list.

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In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

Susie Wolff receives MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honors

SuperMotocross set to introduce Leader Lights beginning with the World Championship finals

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