Sekhmet Racing, The Cosmic Shambles Network and UCL Racing | Mechanical Engineering Department (University College London) have joined forces to allow female intern engineering students from the university to join the team throughout the season, giving them a true hands on learning experience outside of the classroom in a racing environment and will form the basis of an online documentary focused on women in engineering, for The Cosmic Shambles Network.

The idea came about over a conversation about Sekhmet’s rider Mallory Dobbs, who is by trade a civil engineer.

Maddi Patterson, Sekhmet Racing Team Principal said of the partnership “Sekhmet Racing was founded with the vision of opening new doors in motorsport, creating roles and opportunities previously unimagined, with a strong focus on putting female talent in the spotlight. While motorsport is undoubtedly lucrative, its growth has often been stifled, with many positions seen as fixed or traditional.

Our collaboration with The Cosmic Shambles Network and UCL Racing, Mechanical Engineering Department actively defies that notion. We are pioneering educational pathways in two-wheeled racing, cultivating a new wave of young engineers in an industry that has historically been wary of change - gaining hands on experience from those who have paved the way.

I am profoundly grateful to our educational partners for their unwavering support for this project and our team. Together, we are thrilled to offer a hands-on learning experience and real career opportunities for their students within our business.”

Dr Nelia Jurado Pontes, Associate Professor UCL Mechanical Engineering added “UCL Racing (UCLR) is a group of 150+ students working tirelessly to develop new models, techniques, and applications that can drive progress and impact in domains as varied as rocketry and racing.

With UCLR being a student-led initiative, the members not only learn to apply the knowledge they gain throughout their degree, but they get to practice other professional skills that they are taught within the Integrated Engineering Programme (IEP) at UCL.

For me, as an academic who sees in the classroom a very low percentage of female undergraduate students in mechanical engineering, and as an advocate for Women in Engineering, I think that initiatives like this are key for women to gain visibility and being represented in certain professional sectors which still have a long way to go with diversity. This project with Cosmic Shambles, in which our UCLR students will be shadowing the technical teams in the pit box in three rounds for the Women’s World Motorcycle Championship, are not only life–changing, but our students will be able to experience how professional teams operate and learn from it; and it will provide them with challenges that will become brilliant examples to showcase their technical and personal capabilities.”

Trent Burton, Cosmic Shambles Network producer closed by saying “I’m always delighted when I can bring together my disparate worlds of motorcycle racing and science broadcasting. It’s doubly exciting that through this partnership we’re actually able to bring about positive change in the industry and provide some truly unique opportunities in STEM too.

Motorcycle racing still has an image problem that serves no small part in keeping too many extremely talented and women out of the paddock and so to be a small part in taking steps to correct that is fantastic. We've had a long relationship with UCL over the years and we’re delighted be teaming up with them once again, alongside Sekhmet Racing and their powerhouse leader Maddi.

That we get to make a documentary about it all for you to all enjoy is the icing on the cake. And we promise to keep our Shambolic tendencies to the screen rather than the track”.

The project will be documented for The Cosmic Shambles Network and accessible online, exploring the realm of women in mechanical engineering, the sustainability of transportation and motorsport, and broader issues concerning diversity in engineering. In conjunction with this project, Digital Science will be assisting with their extensive toolkit and data resources to delve into the historical landscape of women in engineering roles and the positive shifts underway. Hosting the documentary will be Dr. Suze Kundu from Digital Science.

Let’s race!

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About Sekhmet Racing:

An International Motorcycle Racing Team founded in 2024 by Maddi Patterson as a part of her agency PHNX Powersport Promotions, based in Europe. Sekhmet Racing is a multi-discipline motorsport team operating and competing in the FIM Women’s Motorcycling World Championship and working with motorcycle manufacturers in road/circuit racing globally.

About UCL | Racing Mechanical Engineering Department:
Mechanical Engineering as a distinct discipline in the UK was established at UCL in 1847 when they launched the first university Mechanical Engineering Department in England and was later the first in the world to introduce laboratories in engineering education.  Today, students are taught core engineering disciplines and supervised in individual and group research projects by academics, many of whom are recognised research world-leaders in their fields.

UCL Racing (UCLR) is a group of 100+ students working tirelessly to develop new models, techniques, and applications that can drive progress and impact in domains as varied as rocketry and racing.

About The Cosmic Shambles Network:
The Cosmic Shambles Network was formed over a decade ago by comedian, author and science populariser Robin Ince and director and producer Trent Burton, to create independent content fuelled by curiosity. They create documentaries, podcasts & live shows covering everything from science, books, comedy, music and more. By teaming up with some of the biggest and best names in science and entertainment, Shambles invites its audience to explore a Universe of interesting things, with interesting people, in their uniquely Shambolic style. Some of their landmark projects include the iconic live shows Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People and Brian Cox and Robin Ince's Christmas Compendium of Reason, the podcasts Book Shambles, An Uncanny Hour and Science Shambles plus documentaries Rapid Motion Through Space, Atlantis and Bibliomaniac.

About the FIM WorldWCR Championship:
The 2024 FIM Women's Motorcycling World Championship (WorldWCR Championship) will comprise six rounds and one pre-season test, all integrated within the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship.

1. Emilia Romagna Round, Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” - June 14th-16th
2. UK Round, Donington Park Circuit - July 12th-14th
3. Portuguese Round, Autodromo Internacional do Algarve - August 9th-11th
4. Hungarian Round, Balaton Park Circuit - August 23rd-25th
5. Italian Round, Cremona Circuit - September 20th-22nd
6. Spanish Round, Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto - October 18th- 20th

During each Round, the action will unfold as follows: Superpoles on Friday, Race 1 on Saturday, and Race 2 on Sunday, offering fans a full weekend of adrenaline-pumping racing.

Yamaha, with their Yamaha YZF-R7 model, will serve as the single manufacturer for the Championship.