24h Le Mans
Twenty-one-year-old Lilou Wadoux has become the first woman to be recruited as an official driver by Ferrari Competizioni GT. In 2023, she will drive a Ferrari 488 GTE Evo in the LMGTE Am class of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Lilou Wadoux has earned a position as Ferrari works driver after shining in LMP2 in the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2023, she will drive a Ferrari 488 GTE Evo for the Richard Mille AF Corse team entered in the FIA WEC LMGTE Am class. “I am thrilled and incredibly proud to join the Ferrari family,” Wadoux said. “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.”
Wadoux’s appointment as a Ferrari works driver emphasises the focus that manufacturers are now placing on women’s role in motorsport and, particularly, endurance. It also reflects the partnership between the Ferrari Driver Academy and the FIA Girls on Track initiative set up by the FIA Women in Motorsport commission.
Wadoux firstly made a name for herself in the Alpine Elf Europa Cup. Her potential emerged in 2022 when she made her FIA WEC début at the wheel of the Oreca 07 LMP2 fielded by Richard Mille Racing Team. She secured four Top Ten places over the course of a successful season. Wadoux was also selected to participate in the FIA WEC end-of-season Rookie Tests in 2021 and 2022. She thus became the first woman to drive a Hypercar last November when she took the wheel of the Toyota GR010 Hybrid.
Wadoux will join another young Frenchwoman on the 2023 FIA WEC grid. Doriane Pin (19) was recently named as one of the drivers of the #63 Oreca 07 by Italian outfit Prema Racing. In 2022, she competed in the European Le Mans Series and made her FIA WEC début at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps for the Iron Dames LMGTE Am team. She also won the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli and the Gold Cup at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. “I have been working hard for this and I am very delighted for such an opportunity," Pin said. "I can’t thank the team enough for their ongoing support. I am looking forward to starting the season in Sebring and to reaching our common goals together with the team.”
