Curations: meet 4 women racing drivers who have made history with Richard Mille team
- Swiss luxury watch brand’s racing team impresses in 2020 European Le Mans Series to prove motorsport no longer remains a man’s world
- Katherine Legge, Tatiana Calderón, Sophia Floersch and Beitske Visser – who all made their mark in karting as children – have overcome numerous barriers
For decades, men have dominated the headlines in motorsport, but now a handful of women have stepped into the spotlight.
The drivers of Swiss luxury watch brand Richard Mille’s racing team made history this year as the first team of women to compete in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class in the 2020 European Le Mans Series.
Three of the most talented women in the sport – team captain Katherine Legge, Tatiana Calderón and Sophia Floersch – were chosen for the Richard Mille Racing Team in 2018 after a highly competitive assessment by the Women in Motorsport Commission in Navarra, Spain.
Earlier this year, however, Legge was seriously injured during a pre-race test drive in France, and Dutch newcomer Beitske Visser stepped in to replace her.
The team went on to have a strong debut in the Le Mans Series, ranking in the top 10, and also put in a stellar first performance at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans race in September, finishing 13th overall and ninth in the LMP2 class.
In the wake of these successes, we meet the women behind the wheel and find out how they rose through the ranks in motor racing.
Tatiana Calderón
As a nine-year-old go-karting in her hometown of Bogotá, Colombia, Tatiana Calderón knew she wanted to become a racing driver. By age 16, she became the first woman to win a national karting title in the United States.