Jamie Chadwick in top-level Le Mans hypercar reserve role
Chadwick’s teammates for the 2025 season for IDEC are Frenchman Mathys Jaubert and Spaniard Daniel Juncadella, both of whom have been selected to compete in next year’s hypercar alongside two experienced drivers Andre Lotterer and Pipo Derani.
Next year, Genesis will compete with many automakers interested in sports cars because of flexible design rules and as a cheaper alternative to Formula 1.
Ferrari won this year’s championship at the Bahrain 8 Hours this month with the No. 51 car, which includes 2023 British Le Mans winner James Calado.
Poland’s former Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica won this year’s Le Mans race in June with 83 Ferrari 499P.
Although there are still two more seats yet to be filled for the two-car WEC race for 2026, Chadwick, like Jaubert, is thought to be too inexperienced despite being the FIA’s ‘silver-rated’ driver.
However, Genesis is said to rate Chadwick highly and is pleased with the progress he has made as part of the Genesis driver stable.
Chadwick, who tested a Jaguar Formula E car last month, has held various development driver roles in Formula One in recent years with teams such as Williams; these positions were generally limited to driving old cars for marketing purposes and driving simulation work.
But the reserve role is one of the biggest signals that a major manufacturer supports female racing talent based on merit.
Very few female drivers have competed in motorsport’s most popular disciplines in recent years; most recently Swiss Simona de Silvestro competed in 10 Formula E races in 2016.
Various female drivers have entered racing in America’s IndyCar series on a temporary basis, with little success.
Britain’s Amanda Stretton was the last top-flight female competitor to race at Le Mans in the one-off LMP1 event in 2008.
The highest finish for a female driver at Le Mans was fourth behind Frenchman Odette Siko in 1932.
The last woman to compete in a Formula One race was Lella Lombardi at the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix.
