Le Mans, Nov 28: Bosses in the World Endurance Championship are planning for a female driver to compete at the top level in 2025, according to the sport’s CEO.
Frederic Lequien told BBC Sport: “I know that there are some plans for 2025. I’m pretty sure it will happen.”
There are currently no women competing at the top of motorsport, including for nearly 50 years in Formula 1.
It was also announced that legendary seven-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi will drive for BMW in the WEC.
Lequien added: “Hypercar [the WEC’s top class] is impressive and of course we would like to welcome some female drivers in that category – maybe there is a good surprise in 2024. It can happen. But at the moment, frankly speaking, we don’t know.”
The WEC includes the famous Le Mans 24 Hours race, which was surprisingly won by Ferrari in 2023 after they returned to the top class for the first time in 50 years.
The Italian team are one of several car manufacturers who have returned to sports car racing following a change in the rules.
The hypercar class allows manufacturers more flexibility when designing cars, and the whole WEC field competes using sustainable fuels – a growing alternative to the batteries used in electric cars as climate awareness continues to influence the automotive industry.
Ferrari have a female factory driver on their books in France’s Lilou Wadoux, who this year became the first woman to win a race in the WEC in the lower GT class in the Ferrari 488.
Wadoux, 22, tested the top-level Ferrari 499P hypercar in Bahrain this month. The Italian team are yet to name their full line-up of drivers, and so could chose Wadoux, in what will be a total of three 499P cars in the WEC in 2024.
They have already confirmed Alessandro Pier Guidi and Antonio Fuoco for next year and are expected to use Polish former Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica. However, British Le Mans winner James Calado is yet to be confirmed“Diversity is super important,” added Lequien. “But the result is also important – look at the last race of the season where [all-female Iron Dames] won the race. (Agencies)
