Gabriela Jílková is set to make her debut at the wheel of the Porsche 99X Electric car at the upcoming season 10 rookie test at Valencia - becoming the first woman to enter a FIA Formula E official session since 2020.
Gabriela Jílková is set to make her Formula E debut in the season 10 rookie test at Valencia, as TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team announced that the Czech sports car star will get behind the wheel of the Porsche 99X Electric car for the first time at Circuito Ricardo Tormo from 24 to 27 October.
Jílková, 28, will therefore gain her first experience of the electric race car alongside race drivers Pascal Wehrlein and António Félix da Costa, who will both return for the 2024 season.
With Formula E adding rookies to the 6 test session programme in Valencia, the manufacturer from Stuttgart will jump on the opportunity to test the fast female racer, who has been making strides in GT4 and LMP3 competitions over the past years.
"I am very grateful and excited that I will join TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E team to take part in the FIA Formula E pre-season test at Valencia. Last season I supported the team on the simulator and now I'm looking forward to testing the Porsche 99X Electric in real life. Thank you Porsche Motorsport for this amazing opportunity."
After winning the GT Winter Series championship in 2021, Jílková entered the uber competitive ADAC GT4 Germany series in the same year, where she collected podium finishes. Towards the end of the season, she made her first appearance in the European GT4 championship, where she would contest a full campaign in 2022, again combined with a program in ADAC GT4.
Gabriela then contested the Indian Racing League in the winter, where she climbed the podium twice. Her 2023 season saw a further step up - as she won the Matmut GT4 selection and was selected for a funded season in the French FFSA GT Championship: with four class podiums to her name, Jílková - who shared the wheel with fellow female driver Lucile Cypriano - was third in the championship standings.
At the same time, the driver from Prague made her debut in LMP3 machinery, joining the Van Ommen Racing by DataLab squad aboard the Duqueine D08 machine. Jílková had a remarkable debut and consistently battled in the top-five, eventually securing her first podiums in Zandvoort race 1. Just one day later, she claimed her first win in prototypes.
In early October, Jílková had successfully completed her first ever test in GT3 machinery, as she drove the TEAM 75 Bernhard's Porsche GT3 at Hockenheimring.
"Pascal Wehrlein and António Félix da Costa will be joined by Gabriela Jílková in Valencia" said Florian Modlinger, Director Factory Motorsport Formula E. "She has already supported us in the simulator, now we’re giving her the chance to show what she can do on the racetrack as well.”
Gabriela will be the first woman to drive a Formula E car in an official session since Alice Powell's rookie test in 2020, when the British racer drove for Envision Racing. Powell was supposed to contest last year's rookie test as well, but a rule prevented her from entering, having already driven in a previous rookie test session.
Three time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick has also made appearances in the Formula E rookie test; in 2018, the series allowed an extra slot for female drivers, which resulted in track time for Pippa Mann, Tatiana Calderon, Amna Al Qubaisi, Carrie Schreiner, Carmen Jorda, Beitske Visser, Jamie Chadwick, Simona de Silvestro and Katherine Legge.
De Silvestro - remains the last woman to have entered a Formula E race, in 2016.
