Doriane Pin will be among a record nine female drivers who will take part in the Rolex 24 at Daytona this weekend, the opening round of the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship. This includes a debut Daytona start for French driver Lilou Wadoux, who is the only female in LMP2. Let’s take an in-depth look at each lineup before the race ends on Sunday.
Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Doriane Pin
The only all-female lineup this year comes in the form of the famous Iron Dames once again. The team made its IMSA debut in 2023 by competing in all four endurance races last season, with their best finish of 11th coming at the Sebring 12 Hours. This didn’t reflect their performances though.
Doriane Pin’s early stints at Petit Le Mans saw the Iron Dames leading at one stage, but they would only go on to finish 12th in GTD. Their strength was better shown during 2023 in the World Endurance Championship, where they narrowly missed out on a podium at the Le Mans 24 Hours, before winning the final race of the season at Bahrain. It’s unconfirmed just how much sportscar racing Pin will be able to do with her single-seater duties in F1 Academy, but she will be an important asset to the Iron Dames at Daytona.
Starting position: 13th in GTD, 42nd overall.
Lilou Wadoux (#88 Richard Mille AF Corse)
One of the youngest women on the grid this year will be the promising Lilou Wadoux. The French driver competed in just one IMSA race last season, a 6th placed finish at the 6 Hours of The Glen, but did take a win at the WEC 6 Hours of Spa. However, that win came in GTE Am, she’s yet to finish in the Top 5 of a race in LMP2.
Wadoux has secured a Super GT seat for 2024 in GT300, which means more GT racing. She has seen more success there, including a Porsche Sprint Challenge Le Mans win in 2021, but this year’s Rolex 24 is a good chance for her to show off her skills in downforce machinery too. She will partner Luis Perez Companc, Nicklas Nielsen, and Matthieu Vaxiviere in the race.
Starting position: 10th in LMP2, 20th overall.
Katherine Legge, Tatiana Calderon, Sheena Monk (#66 Gradient Racing)
From one of the youngest, to one of the most experienced. Katherine Legge is taking part in her 17th Rolex 24 at Daytona, a race that she’s been very close to winning. In 2018 she finished 2nd in GTD, a race which broke the distance record at the time. Alongside Sheene Monk, Gradient Racing finished 11th in the championship standings last season, including a 4th place finish at this race.
This year, Tatiana Calderon will join them. The Colombian drove with Legge in 2020, which is her only appearance in the race to date, and her most recent GT drive. She has kept her hand in endurance racing though, competing in the European Le Mans series for Team Virage in 2023. The trio will be joined by Brit Stevan McAleer.
It was nearly the perfect Daytona start for this team last weekend, as Katherine Legge briefly set the fastest time in Qualifying. However, she would be eclipsed in the final seconds by Vasser Sullivan and MDK Motorsports, missing out on pole by 0.146 seconds.
Starting position: 3rd in GTD, 28th overall.
Ashton Harrison (#45 WTR Andretti Motorsports)
Finally, Ashton Harrison will also be racing in GTD for Andretti Motorsports. She made sporadic appearances in IMSA throughout 2023, but her best result came her at Daytona, a 6th place finish. While not particularly well-versed in the series, she is accustomed to the WTR team, with whom she raced with during her four-year stint in Lamborghini Super Trofeo.
Helpfully, she will be racing in a GTD Lamborghini at Daytona this year alongside another Super Trofeo graduate Graham Doyle. Costa Rican Danny Formal and Canadian Kyle Marcelli will add some much-needed experience to the driver lineup.
Starting position: 4th in GTD, 29th overall.
And so there is the record lineup of female drivers for the big race this weekend. Encouraging signs of progress being made in the sport, although it is just that for now, as women will only make up 3.75% of the drivers this year. Will anyone of them be able to become the first female class winners at the Rolex 24 at Daytona since 1997? The race starts on Saturday evening on www.imsa.com.
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