Driven To Succeed

One of the best female drivers of her generation, Jamie Chadwick is now helping other women thrive in the male-dominated arena of single-seat racing

- by EILEEN FALKENBERG- HULL

IN THE FAST LANE Chadwick has become one of the most accomplished female racers in history.

JAMIE CHADWICK IS SUCCEEDING AGAINST the odds. The 26-year-old racing driver has risen from 11-year-old rookie to one of the most decorated female racers of all time. Now, she’s turning her success into positive change for the generations that will come after her.

“Ultimately, the rate of success in motor sport is very small. The percentage that make it to the top is very small. But at the same time, if we can just increase the levels of participation, particularly for women, then it’s only going to make the odds greater for anyone to progress to the higher levels,” Chadwick, who is from the Isle of Man in the Brit- ish Isles, told Newsweek.

Chadwick started her career in karting, switching over to cars two years later. She found success quickly, getting a seat in an Aston Martin V8 Vantage on a team with Aston’s factory driver Ross Gunn, achieving two wins and five podiums in 2015. Her win in the Silverstone 24 Hours race made Chadwick the first female and youngest-ever first place trophy holder of the Brit- ish GT Championship.

She switched to single-seat racing in 2017, becoming the first-ever woman to win a British F3 race. She then raced in the W Series, an all-women single-seater racing championship from 2019 to 2022, earning three championships in the three years the series raced.

For the 2023 and 2024 seasons, Chadwick raced in the Indy NXT series, which put her behind the wheel of a vehicle she had never raced before.

This year, Chadwick turns her attention toward endurance racing and will be behind the wheel of an LMP2 car in the European Le Mans Series, as part of a Genesis Magma Racing collaboration with IDEC Sport.