Lilou Wadoux keeps breaking records in GT racing after starting late at the age of 14. Switching from tennis to racing, her speed on the karting tracks didn’t go unnoticed. The first-ever contracted female Ferrari factory driver became the first female race winner in the FIA World Endurance Championship in any class and registered multiple other breakthrough moments, achieving results on track that hadn’t been seen in years. Racing in a male‑dominated sport doesn’t hold the 25-year-old AF Corse driver back as she strives for more and continues to be an example for the new generation of female drivers.
Late start, early talent
Born in Amiens, France on the 10th of April in 2001, life in sports first started in a totally different scene. “I played around eight years of tennis before I had to stop due to an issue on the back,” she says to GT REPORT. With the love for sport in general being there, stepping away from it and doing nothing was impossible. “I like the competition; my objective is doing something I love.”
After stepping away from tennis, the search to do something different wasn’t hard. As her father Cédric was briefly a rally driver, the link to start and try racing was made at the late age of 14.
“I started karting close to my home with my family and it was really good. Then I asked them to go again and again. My father helped me a lot, so we did it together.”
But racing was never on her mind beforehand. “I never really watched F1 or being a big fan of it. My father was doing some rally but nothing more than that.” Nevertheless, as strange as it sounds for herself, the raw talent and speed were clearly there.
“At 15 years old, I did karting in the national championship, I did two races there. It was good and then I was already 16 years old, so we changed directly to go‑karts because it was easier. I didn’t have a lot of experience in go‑karts and it was the perfect age to start. I was already quite fast compared to a normal person.”
With the potential being there, it caught the eye of others around her. “Some person said maybe she can try a car. It was good and that continued into more. I liked to fight for wins, the adrenaline that comes with it and the speed; it’s more than actually liking the car itself.”
Turning potential into breakthrough
After just two years of karting, she made the move to the French lower‑division one‑make Peugeot series in the 208 Racing Cup in 2017, finishing eighth overall and runner‑up in the junior class. The following year she finished third overall and had several guest entries in the higher 308 Racing Cup, finishing all of them inside the top 10.
Despite it being her last year in the Racing Cup series, she would stick with the French manufacturer as she made the move in 2019 to the TCR Europe Touring Car Series, driving the 308 TCR. Her season was cut short due to a crash which saw her being sidelined because of financial difficulties.
Having driven several years as a Peugeot driver, she returned to racing that same year in October. This time competing as a one‑off entry in the Clio Cup France at Paul Ricard, ending up on the podium.
In 2020 and 2021 she returned to racing full‑time as an Alpine driver in the Alpine Elf Europa Cup, sitting behind the A110 of Autosport GP. In her last year in the series she showed again her worth, as she was in a title fight against the reigning champion Jean‑Baptiste Mela and now BMW factory driver Ugo de Wilde until the very end.
Falling short and finishing third overall, she most certainly showed what she was capable of and earned herself an invite to the LMP2 Richard Mille Racing Team to take part in the post‑season FIA World Endurance Championship rookie test at Bahrain in 2021.
Another crucial moment in getting this far so quickly was when she took pole position that year by a full three seconds in the Porsche Sprint Challenge France at Circuit de la Sarthe, dominating the race from start to finish.
“The story started like that,” as the 21‑year‑old at that time raced full‑time in the highest endurance series for Richard Mille Racing Team in 2022 in the Oreca 07 LMP2 alongside Charles Milesi and Sébastien Ogier, who would later be replaced by Paul‑Loup Chatin.
On the question of how it was to race with, but mainly against, men at the highest levels, she says:
“It’s quite a difficult question, it depends on who you are up against, but for sure sometimes it’s not easy. When you fight them you know they fight more against you because you are a girl, but now I feel quite respected in the paddock. The good results over the years helped of course as well to build that stature.”
During her debut season, one battle against Ferrari factory driver Alessio Rovera in Fuji, who sat behind the Oreca 07 LMP2 for AF Corse, didn’t go unnoticed and turned out to be a crucial one. “We were in P2, I was fighting with him. I don’t know why at this moment the boss of Ferrari was watching, but he said this girl is fast. After that, discussion started, everything clicked and that’s how it came together,” as she became the first ever female Ferrari factory driver in 2023. “I was not imagining I will be here today in that position.”
Writing history; leading by example
Having signed for the iconic Italian outfit, the French driver became the teammate of fellow factory driver Alessio Rovera in the LMGTE class alongside bronze‑rated driver Luis Pérez Companc in the World Endurance Championship, driving for AF Corse in the Ferrari 488 GTE.
Claiming victory at Spa‑Francorchamps, she became the first woman in any class of the championship to do so; but her personal highlight came one year later in the United States.
Driving in 2024 in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for AF Corse alongside Pérez Companc and Nicklas Nielsen, sitting behind the wheel of the Oreca 07 LMP2, she showed again pure class on track.
During her stint she brought the LMP2 car on pure pace from third to first at Watkins Glen, winning the race at the end with lots of praise from her teammates. “I had a lot of good moments, and when you have one you always want more. It’s hard to pick one but that one was nice for sure.”
One year later she would win the Endurance title in the IMSA championship alongside Alessandro Pier Guidi and Simon Mann, driving the Ferrari 296 GT3 in the GTD class, becoming the first female IMSA champion since Christina Nielsen in 2017.
This year she rewrote history again in the same championship and class by claiming pole position at Road America, being the first woman since 2018 to do so.
With wins, records and championships to show for she explains in her own words what makes her so fast:
“To be honest, for me you have to work. You can have talent, but if you work you can be really good, maybe not the absolute best, but good enough to fight at a high level. Talent makes things easy at the start, but sometimes you forget you still have to work for more. I try to improve every weekend, learn from teammates, from mistakes, from everything.”
With that in mind, the current GT World Challenge Europe driver and European Le Mans Series competitor aims for more with Ferrari.
“Hypercar is one of the goals,” as she already had three previous tests done in her career in hypercar machinery, “but it’s not the end for me. I really like GT and what I’m doing now. But winning Le Mans in hypercar is on my bucket list.”
Driving the #50 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo alongside Sean Gelael and Arthur Leclerc in GTWCE Endurance Cup, and in ELMS alongside Custodio Toledo and Riccardo Agostini , the 25‑year‑old shares the following advice to girls dreaming of reaching the same things:
“Always have the confidence in you. Never let everyone push you out of your target and work hard for what you want.”
For herself the aim is clear. “I just want to show we can be drivers. Like the other men. We can fight against them.”
