"I was driving desperately with the feeling that ' will definitely defend the podium!" - Lilou Wadoux made history at the 300km of Sugo by securing her first Super GT podium, finishing second in the GT300 class and becoming the first woman in nearly 30 years to achieve a top-three result in Japan's premier sports car series.
The 300km of Sugo, the fifth round of the 2024 Super GT championship, was a historic event for women in motorsport, as Lilou Wadoux claimed her first podium finish in the GT300 class, becoming the first woman in almost 30 years to finish in the top three in Japan's premier sports car series.
Wadoux, who joined PONOS Racing for her rookie campaign in one of the world’s top GT series, delivered a remarkable performance in mixed weather conditions. She held the lead for most of her stint, eventually finishing second in a spectacular drive for the Ferrari factory driver, who shares the #45 Ferrari 296 GT3 with Kei Cozzolino.
It was PONOS Racing’s first podium in the championship: the team, which joined Super GT in 2024, has made significant progress race after race with a strong driver lineup and improved understanding of the car and tyres in various track conditions.
After scoring points in their second outing at Fuji, Wadoux and Cozzolino achieved a personal best of sixth at Suzuka. However, they missed out on points again at the 350km race at Fuji in August, where high tyre degradation saw them finish just outside the top ten.
The fifth round at Sportsland Sugo was expected to be a challenge, as the team had never raced at the circuit before, having only tested there once in July, gathering data in both dry and wet conditions.
The race meeting was postponed due to a typhoon and eventually held one and a half months after the previous race at Fuji. Again, tricky weather conditions were expected, with rain forecasted for the weekend at the technical 3.704 km Sugo facility, a circuit with little room for error.
On Saturday, rain began to fall in the morning, and the forecast predicted heavier showers by the afternoon. During practice, Kei Cozzolino took the wheel of the #45 Ferrari 296 GT3 and gradually improved his lap times in a session interrupted by six red flags.
He eventually set a time of 1:30.449, 50 minutes into the session, before handing over to Lilou Wadoux for the final minutes. Wadoux also quickly found her pace and finished fifth fastest in the GT300 class.
This result proved crucial, as worsening conditions led to the cancellation of qualifying. The starting positions were therefore determined by the practice times, placing the PONOS Racing Ferrari fifth on the grid, a promising position for the race.
On Sunday, the race started behind the safety car in wet conditions, with all teams on wet weather tyres. The green flag waved on lap 4, and Cozzolino began his stint in fifth place. Early on, he battled for positions and soon passed the #7 Studie BMW and the #61 Subaru to move up to third.
On lap 5, Cozzolino took fourth, then rapidly advanced to second. He quickly closed the gap to the #20 Shade GR86 Toyota, eventually overtaking it on lap 14 to claim the lead.
The Japanese driver maintained an impressive pace, pulling away from the competition and building a 9-second gap by lap 20 - which eventually came undone when the #20 Toyota lost a wheel and a subsequent multi-car accident brought out the safety car.
However, Cozzolino had firmly established the PONOS Ferrari as the race leader. The race resumed on lap 32, and Cozzolino held onto the top spot. As more cars pitted, anticipating another caution, Cozzolino handed over to Wadoux, still in the lead, during a chaotic pit stop sequence just before a new Full Course Yellow.
With 40 laps to go, Wadoux found herself leading for the first time in her Super GT career, though she had limited track time at Sugo leading up to the race due to adverse conditions. Despite this, she handled the pressure admirably, especially when Shinohara in the #65 Leon Pyramid Mercedes began to close in.
Wadoux defended her position brilliantly while navigating the traffic of the faster GT500 class, holding onto the lead until lap 53, when Shinohara managed to pass her on the straight, as the track had started to dry and the Michelin wet tyres of the PONOS Ferrari started to struggle.
Though she was overtaken, Wadoux had built a 15 second margin to the car behind and continued to extend the gap as the second-fastest driver on track. The Frenchwoman brought the car home in an impressive result for both her and the team - securing a second-place finish, her first podium in Super GT.
"From the beginning of this season, I was forced to fight hard in dry conditions, but I knew that the tyres matched well in wet conditions", Lilou explained. "However, as the race progressed, the road surface dried up and my rivals regained their speed, so my stint was not easy."
"It was difficult to warm up the new tyres at the speed of the safety car, but I was driving desperately with the feeling that I will definitely defend the podium!" - she continued.
"In the end, I was overtaken, but I think it was a valuable first podium for the team. SUGO is a traditional course, so it's difficult, but I don't dislike the layout."
Wadoux’s podium represented a historic achievement, making her only the second woman to stand on the podium in Super GT, following June Okanoya’s finish in 1995 when the series was known as the All-Japan GT Championship.
It is also another milestone in Wadoux’s career, following her groundbreaking wins in the FIA WEC - where she became the first woman to ever win a race in the 2023 6H of Spa - and in LMP2 in IMSA earlier this year at Watkins Glen.
Round 6 will be a 3-hour race at Autopolis on October 19-20, where Wadoux will aim to continue her positive momentum. It will be her first time racing at the track.
"It will be my first time to race at Autopolis in the next race, but I'm studying the video and the simulator, so I would like to aim for victory from next time onwards," she concluded.
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