RACERS- RACERS
Lilou Wadoux joins Ferrari in GT factory role
Endurance racing rising star Lilou Wadoux joins Ferrari Competizioni GT - becoming the first woman to race for the team in a manufacturer role. She will represent the Richard Mille AF Corse in the LMGTE Am class in FIA WEC.
The rise of Lilou Wadoux in sportscar racing is unstoppable.
The young French star made her FIA WEC debut last year, as she joined Richard Mille Racing Team in their LMP2 squad - making a mammoth step from the GT4-based Alpine Europa Cup to prototypes, and only a couple of years after her racecar debut.
Wadoux won her first Alpine Europa Cup in 2021, finishing third in the championship standings after a remarkable season that saw the young talent gaining the opportunity to test the LMP2 Oreca at the WEC rookie test. She eventually secured the seat - and quickly adapted to the powerful and high-downforce machinery, finishing her first ever 24H of Le Mans in the top-10 in class.
At the end of her WEC rookie year, the ACO rewarded Wadoux with a further testing opportunity, as she became the first woman ever to drive a Hypercar: at the Bahrain rookie test, Lilou Wadoux got behind the wheel of the championship winning Toyota GR010-Hybrid and made history.
With Richard Mille Racing Team closing its LMP2 operations, the luxury watchmaker will continue its presence in endurance racing, with a new involvement in the LMGTE Am class, in a partnership with AF Corse in FIA WEC.
Impressed by the results of the Frenchwoman, Ferrari announced that Lilou Wadoux will become the first ever official female Ferrari Competizioni GT driver and will join the Italian brand in a manufacturer role.
At the latest FIA WEC rookie test, in fact, Wadoux also had the chance to drive the AF Corse 488, in her first ever GTE outing. In her new role with Ferrari, Wadoux will drive Richard Mille AF Corse in the LMGTE Am class of the next World Endurance Championship.
“I am thrilled and incredibly proud to join the Ferrari family" - said Wadoux.
"Becoming an official driver is a dream come true and brings great responsibility. However, hard work always pays off, and I will do my best to repay the people who have believed in me from the outset."
"This new position is an important step in my young career, but I am ready to give my all and represent one of the world’s most famous marques”.
The signing of Wadoux represents one more step for Ferrari's support of female drivers, started in 2020 with the Girls On Track - Rising Stars programme and the partnership with the FIA Women In Motorsport Commission.
Wadoux is the third woman announced on the grid of the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship, after Iron Dames confirmed a LMGTE-Am trio in a partnership with Proton Competition.