STYLE Edit: Meet Lilou Wadoux, Ferrari’s first female Competizioni GT driver with Richard Mille Racing Team, who will ride the Ferrari 488 GTE with the AF Corse team in March

Jan 31 , 2023

Lilou Wadoux is set to become the first female driver to be tenured at Ferrari Competizioni GT in endurance this year. Photo: Richard Mille

The 21-year-old motorist began racing from a young age, hitting the go-kart circuit at 15 before competing in her first European race the year after – she’s made numerous leaps since

Wadoux was the first female driver to take an overall race win at the Alpine Elf Europa Cup in 2021 and in 2022, was the first woman to test a Hypercar when she debuted during the Rookie Test

Richard Mille Racing Team protégé Lilou Wadoux is set to become the first female Ferrari Competizioni GT driver at Le Mans.

The 21-year-old French woman from Amiens will join the starting grid at the wheel of the Ferrari 488 GTE with the AF Corse team, hoping to make a splash in the Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Amateur category in March.

Lilou Wadoux is set to become the first female driver to be tenured at Ferrari Competizioni GT in endurance this year

Wadoux’s career in high-level endurance motor racing has enjoyed a swift rise. She first became passionate about racing at a young age, hitting the go-kart circuit at 15 years old and getting hooked on the speed and adrenaline of driving fast cars competitively. Only a year later, she started competing in her first European races in GT and has not looked back since.

In the past few years, the young motorist has been attracting attention and making headlines with many firsts. Wadoux became the first female driver to take an overall race win at the Alpine Elf Europa Cup in 2021, and only one year later she ended the 2022 FIA WEC season with the eight hours of Bahrain rally and became the first woman to test a Hypercar when she debuted during the traditional Rookie Test.

Her full potential for endurance racing shone through in the Richard Mille Racing Team starting in 2020, a squad that aimed to elevate female drivers at an international level in motor racing events. That mission is more than achieved with Wadoux’s appointment as a Ferrari Competizioni GT official driver this year, joining one of the most successful GT teams in the world.

AF Corse will provide the Ferrari 488 GTE, equipped with a 4.0L V8 bi-Turbo of 700hp which has enabled Ferrari to win three manufacturer titles. The team also holds three driver titles, 50 class victories and three victories at the 24-hour endurance race of Le Mans, including one in the Amateur category.

“The 488 is a demanding car but it performs so well that I have to rethink my driving technique to exploit it 100 per cent. But I am ready for this challenge,” says Wadoux.

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