The competitive mindset is the reason pointed out by the former French driver Michele Mouton for the shortage of women competing in motor sports. "You can't be in this sport just for the exposure, for the fact of being the only woman in the middle of a men's sport. If you don't like speed, the challenge, of surpassing your limits, it's very difficult. This is not a sport in which you can easily reach the top and just because you want to. You have to work hard, train. It's not like other sports, you have to invest your time and energy," stated Michele Mouton, in an interview with the Lusa agency.

The former rally driver and current president of the Women in Motor Sports Commission of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) believes that more will and determination are needed for there to be more women in competition.

Winner of four events of the World Championship, including the Rally of Portugal, in 1982, Mouton regrets that the focus of young people is increasingly on social networks.

"What I see most of the time is that young people have much more energy to show themselves on Instagram or Facebook than in how many tenths of a second they won in a special, inside the car. That is another one of the problems. Nowadays, they prefer to know how many followers they have than to fight. Unfortunately, this is not a sport in which you reach the top just because you want to. You have to fight for it," she stressed.

On the sidelines of the 57th edition of the Rally of Portugal, which ended on Sunday, the promoter of the World Championship (WRC) presented a female talent detection program, with the goal of increasing the number of women in the championship. An idea that Michele Mouton approves of, despite believing that it only solves part of the problem. The other half depends on the young women themselves.

"I wish I could go back to being 20 [now], because in my time we needed to find sponsorships, we had to do everything. Now, from the promoter to the teams, everyone helps the girls. We don't know how many will join but if the program could help one or two it would already be fantastic. It's an excellent opportunity. But you have to be motivated," she pointed out.

The French woman recalled the beginning of her career, in the 1970s, when she decided to take a risk: "When I started, I didn't know if I would be good. But I started".

"Then, I wanted to improve, to be faster, I always tried to be faster and I never gave up. Ok, we didn't have Instagram or cell phones or anything like that. But now it's a different story. For me, motivation is the most important thing. Driving fast depends more on your head than on your foot," she stated.

Mouton defends the expansion of the female recruitment base, but also motivating girls to try out automobile competition.

"It's more a question of work than of talent. At a certain point, you know that you won't go any faster but if you want to beat your adversary, you have to find the solution to go faster. What makes the difference is motivation. In my case, I couldn't accept being slower than my colleague who had the same car as me. We had the same car and, for me, it wasn't acceptable to be slower if the cars were the same. I didn't know how to do it but I tried to go as fast as possible," she guaranteed.

And she tried to do it, regardless of her appearance: "If we don't have that mindset... I like the challenge and fighting. I didn't care if my hair was messy for the photos, if they spoke well of me, or badly. I didn't care. I just wanted to reach their level. And I had that motivation," recalled Michele Mouton, despite never having had the goal of being a rally driver.