"I just like to go on track and fight" – Lilou Wadoux
- RACERS
- 7 days ago
- 5 min read
A quiet presence in the paddock and a fierce competitor on track, Lilou Wadoux has rapidly become one of the most prominent female racing drivers in the world of sports car racing, as she continues to add prestigious wins to her resumé. We spoke about her latest victory, her best drives and her expectations for Le Mans.
Lilou Wadoux has emerged as one of the most prominent and versatile female racing drivers on the global stage. From her early beginnings in the Alpine Europa Cup to becoming Ferrari’s first-ever female factory driver, the 24-year-old French talent has risen through the ranks of international sports car racing with remarkable speed on track. Known for her quiet determination and low-key presence off track, Wadoux lets her driving do the talking—an underdog spirit that has made her both a great driver and a respected figure in the paddock.
And last Sunday, she added yet another landmark to her already trailblazing career — a victory in the LMGT3 class of the European Le Mans Series at Le Castellet.
It was only her second start in the championship, but Wadoux, driving the #50 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3, delivered one of her trademark performances. Sharing the car with pro teammate Riccardo Agostini and bronze-rated driver Custodio Toledo, the trio bounced back from early disappointment at the season opener in Barcelona, where a penalty derailed a promising weekend and left them ninth.
Round two in the south of France offered redemption—and on home soil, Wadoux did not disappoint. She set the fastest lap of the weekend in the LMGT3 class during FP2, a time that would remain unbeaten, and took charge of the final stint with the outcome hanging in the balance. A bold fuel strategy placed the team in a strong position in the closing hour, but left her with the task of defending the lead on worn tyres, against a charging pack of experienced gold and platinum-rated drivers.
“I had quite a difficult beginning of the stint,” Wadoux admitted. “I struggled a lot and I made some bad decisions in the traffic. But I know I can fight, and once I got clean air, I was alone. We did a good job and we were finally able to make it."
That job included surviving a late splash for fuel and resisting relentless pressure from the Iron Lynx Mercedes. Wadoux never flinched, defending flawlessly and sealing a historic victory.
"It was not easy to finish with the same old tyres", Lilou continued. "But that was a choice that at the end paid off. We worked to have the best compromise together. It's only the second race and we are working for the best compromise, for the season to score more and more."
Wadoux’s rise has been nothing short of remarkable; after beginning her career in touring cars before stepping up to the one-make Alpine Europa Cup, she quickly transitioned to LMP2 in the FIA World Endurance Championship, immediately impressing with her pace and racecraft. Her performances earned her a contract with Ferrari in 2023, making her the brand’s first-ever female factory driver.
Since then, she has raced in WEC, IMSA, GT World Challenge, Intercontinental GT Challenge, and Japan’s Super GT—making an impact in every series she entered. Lilou became the first woman to win a race in the FIA WEC at the 2023 6 Hours of Spa, triumphing in the LMGTE class with the Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE. She then won again—this time in IMSA, taking LMP2 honours at the 6 Hours of The Glen.
"I have to analyse and take time, but honestly, it's never easy", Wadoux reflected when asked which one she thought was her best win to date. "Sometimes I think my best race was last year in Sugo in Super GT. We didn't win, but that was a really hard race, really hard."
In 2024, in fact Wadoux added another ambitious chapter by heading to Japan for her rookie season in Super GT’s fiercely competitive GT300 class, driving the Ferrari 296 GT3 for PONOS Racing alongside Kei Cozzolino. Despite minimal experience on Japanese circuits and dealing with a steep learning curve around tyres, she secured a runner-up finish at Sugo—becoming the first woman in nearly 30 years to stand on a Super GT podium.
"I mean, it was not a win, but it felt like it", she continued. "We didn't have the pace to fight for a win, but I survived like I could and we finished P2. But for me, this is my best race because that was really tricky to get that result."
One of Wadoux’s most remarkable qualities is her adaptability to any car; from GT3 machinery to high-downforce LMP2 prototypes, she gets up to speed and consistently delivers.
“I really like driving in general," she said. "I think I prefer the LMP2 because it’s really a high-speed car,” she elaborated. “But I like GT3. Honestly, I don’t have a favourite car—I just like to go on track and fight.”
That attitude has served her well so far at the start of the 2025 ELMS campaign, where together with Agostini and Toledo, she now sits second in the LMGT3 point standings. While their Barcelona outing was hampered by early mistakes, the pace and cohesion of the new trio are now quickly improving.
“For the moment, it’s not easy to say [what we can achieve],” she admitted. “But we have the potential to fight for the top five. That’s a good realistic target after this result.”
“We’re only in the second race and we’re working on finding the best compromise for the whole season,” Wadoux added. “Custodio is only in his fourth season of car racing, so we all have things to learn. Me too—with Goodyear tyres, and Agostini—we have a brand new lineup for this championship, so we have a lot of things to learn and to work on."
Next up for Wadoux will be her third appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans—the race that represents the pinnacle of endurance motorsport and, for her, a personal homecoming.
In 2022, she impressed with a top-10 finish in her LMP2 debut at Le Mans, despite still being new to the car. Her 2023 race in the GT category ended in disappointment with a DNF during a heavy rainstorm. Now, in 2025, she returns with confidence but remains grounded, in typical Lilou-style.
“Honestly, Le Mans is Le Mans. It’s my home race and I like Le Mans, but I don’t want to think too far ahead,” she said. “We will prep, take time, do the best we can, and we will see at the end."
"Le Mans is too complicated to say if we have a chance—it’s not even always the best lineup to win that race. We’ll do our best, we'll try to have the best package with the car, drivers, everything, and we’ll see what we can do.”
