Lilou Wadoux

 

Lilou Wadoux is a French driver who competes in sportscars and saloons. She is supported by the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission.

She raced a Peugeot 208 in a one-make series in France. She began in 2017, when she was only 16 years old and required special permission as she did not have a road traffic license. This was after only a couple of seasons of karting, mostly recreational.

In her first year, she was eighth in the Peugeot Sport championship, and second in the junior standings. Her second part-season in a Peugeot was in the 308 Racing Cup. She scored four to-ten finishes, with a best result of fifth at Paul Ricard. 

In 2018, she was one of 15 elite female drivers invited to Navarra for an assessment in both sportscars and single-seaters, held by the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission. 

She ended up competing in European TCR in 2019, driving a Peugeot 308, but her season ended after three rounds when she barrel-rolled her car at Spa. She had started reasonably well with a 19th place at the Hungaroring.

Later in the year, she made a couple of guest appearances in the French Clio Cup. The second of these yielded a third place at Paul Ricard.

Her 2020 season was based in the Alpine Elf Europa Cup, driving an Alpine A110. She was seventh in the championship after a steady season, with three fourth places as her best results. These were achieved at Magny-Cours and Portimao.

A second Alpine Cup followed in 2021. This time, Lilou was one of the front-runners from the start, finishing third and second at Nogaro. She earned podium finishes at every circuit the championship visited, five from the first eight races of the season. Her final position was third, after a debut win at Estoril which she followed up with a second place.

Her best moment of the year was probably her victory in the Porsche Sprint Challenge race that supported the Le Mans 24 Hours. This was a guest appearance.

Her Le Mans support victory was upgraded to an actual Le Mans 24 Hours start in 2022. She was signed up to the Richard Mille LMP2 team with Charles Milesi and the pair were joined by World Rally champion Sebastien Ogier for Le Mans. Driving the same Oreca-Gibson prototype as the rest of the field, Lilou had a best finish of eighth, achieved three times at Spa, Fuji and Bahrain. She was ninth at Le Mans itself. This equated to twelfth in a competitive championship.

She stayed with WEC in 2023, but moved with Richard Mille's sponsorship to an AF Corse-run LMGTE Ferrari 488. Her team-mates were Luis Perez Companc and Alessio Rovera. Their season got a shaky start with a non-finish at Sebring and their early exit from Le Mans was a disappointment, but a second place in class at Portimao and a class win at Spa helped them to eighth in the championship. 

Lilou and Luis made a guest appearance at Watkins Glen for the IMSA round there, driving an LMP2 car and finishing sixth in class. She also joined a different AF Corse line-up for the the Spa 24 Hours and the Barcelona round of the GT World Challenge Europe. She was 26th in the Spa race, in a Ferrari. A late-season entry into the Indianapolis GT World Challenge America race for the Conquest team did not go to plan and the team's Ferrari 296 did not complete enough laps to be classified.

Lilou's 2024 plans include competing in the Japanese Super GT championship for PONOS Racing, driving another 296.

(Image copyright Leandre Leber/Gazettesports.fr)