Richard Mille Racing Team stage their debut at Le Mans with an all-women team.
Photo credit: 24 Hours of Le Mans Twitter
Every year, the 24 Hours of Le Mans count as one of the biggest highlights in the world of motorsports. From June 13-14, the teams race for 24 hours and the squad which covers the greatest distance as of the completion of the final lap wins the event. This year, the event will take place on the virtual stage for the first time.
Richard Mille Racing Team’s lineup
While the list of participants is usually quite male-dominated, there have also been female drivers and all-women teams competing. For watch manufacturer Richard Mille, it will be the first time starting at Le Mans – and they count on four of the fastest women in the world. Their racing team consists of these well-known faces in motorsports: Katherine Legge, Tatiana Calderón, Sophia Floersch and the esports racer Emily Jones.
Katherine Legge
British driver Katherine Legge raced in several series, most notably the Champ Car World Series, IndyCar Series, USCC and Formula E.
Legge also has experience when it comes to long endurance races, such as the Rolex Sports Car Series. Additionally, she worked as test driver for Formula 1 and became the first woman to ever drive a A1GP vehicle.
Tatiana Calderón
The next woman in this list currently works as Formula 1 test driver as well. Colombia’s Tatiana Calderón now competes for Alfa Romeo-Sauber, but previously participated in several series, too.
From starting at the European Formula 3 Championship, to the GP3 series to becoming the first woman to ever race in Formula 2, Calderón has a wide range of experience on the tracks.
Sophia Floersch
The two established female drivers are joined by the German prodigy Sophia Floersch. The 19-year-old Formula 3 driver from team Campos Racing became the first woman to get to the podium in the German Formula 4 at Sachsenheim in 2017.
A year later, she made tragic headlines with a horrible crash in Macau which she thankfully survived without any lasting damage. This year, she received the Laureus World Sports Award for the comeback of the year.
Emily Jones
Since this year’s Le Mans series will be the first virtual edition, the three racers get support from a true esports racing pro: the Australian Emily Jones.
The 26-year-old Twitch streamer is a very popular content creator and also holds the reputation as fastest female esports racer in Oceania. She does not have experience in competing at major racing events like her three team-mets, but she knows all the more how to make it to the top in simulations.
All in all, the Richard Miller all-female lineup seems to be quite strong on paper. They have experienced and established drivers in their row and also found a specialist for esports racing. But as strong as their potential appears to be, their competition should not be underestimated.
There will be several top esports racers and trained drivers participating, such as Formula 1 pilots Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. If you want more information on the participants, stay tuned for our article about the
Mme Mareuse paved the path
The 24-hours endurance race at Le Mans has anually taken place since 1923. But it wasn’t until 1930 that the first woman participated. French racing icon Odette Siko set up the milestone, alongside with fellow countrywoman Marguerite Mareuse. The duo promptly helped their team to a solid seventh-place finish, driving a Bugatti T 40.
Siko and Mareuse also formed the first women’s team called “Mme Mareuse”. In total, 61 women and 24 all-women teams have participated at Le Mans since its establishment.
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