Lucile Cypriano

Lucile on the podium in 2015

Lucile is a French driver who races saloons. She was the winner of the 2013 FIA Women in Motorsport Scirocco-R Shootout.

Prior to her burgeoning senior career, she raced karts from the age of twelve, winning her first race at seven years old, and finishing in the top ten of several French championships. During her time in karting, she was scouted by the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission as a future talent.

Her first step into senior motorsport was in 2013, in the French F4 championship. She was still not quite seventeen. Her best finish was eighth, at Le Mans, at the start of the season. It was not the most consistent of years for her, and she was troubled by non-finishes later on, but this was a learning period. She was 21st overall in the championship.

At the end of 2013, she was selected for the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission’s Scirocco-R Shootout. She was one of twelve young drivers who got through to the final stage, and she beat the likes of Naomi Schiff and Gosia Rdest to the award. Her prize was a funded season in the Volkswagen Scirocco-R Championship in 2014.

In 2014, she took her prize drive in the VW Scirocco-R Championship. She held her own on track, and finished all ten rounds. Her best overall finish was eighth, achieved at the Norisring and Oschersleben. She also finished in the top ten on three more occasions: two ninths and a tenth. She was twelfth overall, second out of the championship’s four female regulars.

In 2015, the Scirocco Cup was shelved, to be replaced by the Audi TT Cup. Lucile was set to make a double-pronged attack on the Audi TT one-make series, and the SEAT Leon Eurocup. After quietly dropping out of the TT Cup, her main focus became the SEAT series, and it was a good move. Lucile scored her first senior win at Catalunya, in the last round of the season, having managed two previous thirds, at Estoril and Monza. She was ninth in the championship. 

She also had her first taste of full international competition, making a guest appearance in the Spanish rounds of the TCR International Series, driving a SEAT Leon. Out of two races at Valencia, she scored one twelfth place.

The SEAT Leon Eurocup was her chosen destination for 2016, building on her 2015 success. Her best finishes were a second place at Estoril and a third at Paul Ricard. Despite only completing just under half of the season, she was seventh overall. 

In 2017, she tried something more powerful, in the shape of the French Porsche Carrera Cup. She was thirteenth in the championship for the Racing Technology team. Her best finish was seventh, at Paul Ricard. Her season included a run in the Le Mans Carrera Cup support race, in which she was twelfth out of 21 starters.

She switched to rallying in 2018, entering two French events in a Citroen DS3. Her best finish was 22nd in the Rallye Pays du Fayence. As part of a more extensive programme in 2019, she drove the DS3 in the Pays du Fayence again and was ninth.

She spent the rest of the season in an R2-spec Peugeot 208 which was not quite as fast, but she still ended the year runner-up in the French ladies' championship. Her best finish was a 22nd place in the Rallye Coeur de France. 

In 2021 she got back in a rally car, albeit for one event. She drove the Peugeot in the Rallye d'Antibes Cote d'Azur and was 54th overall.

It was a quiet year for Lucile in 2022, but she announced her return to the circuits for 2023. She was chosen as a member of the all-female Volant Matmut Akkodis ASP team alongside Gabriela Jilkova. They raced a Toyota Supra GT4 in the FFSA France GT championship. Lucile was fifth in the Pro-Am championship with five thirds and one second place in class. 

(Image copyright Lucile Cypriano)