End of journey for the Richard Mille Racing Team

After three seasons in the pelotonEndurance, the Richard Mille Racing Team will no longer compete next season. The French team competed in its last race at the 8 Hours of Bahrain on November 12. The curtain thus comes down on an adventure that began in 2020 in European Le Mans Series. 

“In creating the Richard Mille Racing Team, our initial objective was to strike hard to highlight the lack of opportunities for female drivers”, recalls Amanda Mille, the project manager. Supported by Signatech, the French team decided to field an all-female crew with Tatiana Calderón, Sophia Floersch and Katherine Legge. Unfortunately, the British driver fractured her left tibia-fibula during a violent off-track event at the Paul-Ricard circuit, bringing her season to a premature end. Replaced at short notice by the Brazilian Andre Negro for the 4 Hours of Castellet, it was ultimately Beitske Visser who inherited the wheel for the rest of the year.

Beitske Visser, Tatiana Calderón and Sophia Floersch with the Richard Mille Racing Team at the 24 2021 Hours of Le Mans (Photo François Flamand / DPPI)

After this season in ELMS and a first participation in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the burgundy red LM P2 moved to the next level of the discipline in 2021 to compete in the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship. Always with the same crew, with the exception of the 6 Hours of Bahrain where Gabriel Aubry replaced Tatiana Calderón, the Colombian also being entered in Super Formula during this weekend. In 2022, the Richard Mille Racing Team changed everything with a mixed crew, including Sébastien Ogier as the face.

Amanda Mille: “Each year we have reached a new milestone”

“By composing a 100% female crew, the objective was to take them to the highest level of motor racing, explains Amanda Mille. Our approach and our performances, having nothing to envy of our male counterparts, have challenged prejudices. Gradually, we evolved the project by listening to our representatives. They all explained to us that they would have succeeded in moving forward in this universe the day men asked to team up with them. We achieved this this year with excellent drivers who were enthusiastic about our project: Lilou Wadoux, later joined by Charles Milesi, Sébastien Ogier and Paul-Loup Chatin. » The eight-time world rally champion had in fact entered the first three rounds of the year before being replaced by Paul-Loup Chatin from the 6 Hours of Monza.

Sébastien Ogier, Lilou Wadoux and Charles Milesi with the Richard Mille Racing Team at the 24 2022 Hours of Le Mans (Photo Thomas Fenetre / DPPI)

“Each year, we have reached a new milestone, Judge Amanda Mille. Our performances allowed us to prove a lot of things. We were fortunate to be supported by actors who shared our vision of the potential of female pilots and received more and more requests to join us. We owe this success to Signatech as well as to all the pilots, engineers, technicians and mechanics. These three wonderful years would never have been possible without Signatech, under the leadership of Philippe Sinault and Giuseppe Bizzoca. They were the only ones to believe in our project and pushed it forward by giving it all the means to exist and shine with the best female drivers in an ever more challenging and competitive FIA ​​World Endurance Championship. . We thank them all for showing that motor racing is a team sport while normalizing the presence of women at this level. »

Philippe Sinault: “It was a fantastic opportunity”

“We would like to sincerely thank Richard Mille and all its teams for their confidence in this adventure, adds Philippe Sinault, director of Signatech and team manager of the Richard Mille Racing Team. It was a fantastic opportunity, both sportingly and humanly. This speech has changed mentalities and we are honored to have been able to participate at our level. The presence of women in our universe is no longer to be questioned! As our deputy general director Giuseppe Bizzoca likes to remind me, in 2020, a few drivers refused to replace Katherine Legge after her injury. Today, some of them are calling us to join the program. This clearly demonstrates that women are finally considered as pilots in their own right, as should always have been the case. Finally, we are proud to have seen our protégés progress, like Lilou, who went fromAlpine A110 Cup at the Hypercar during the Rookies Tests in just one year. This sends a strong signal and reassures us in the idea that we were able to provide them with quality support thanks to the courage and will of Richard Mille and his teams. »

Despite the end of the team, the Richard Mille brand's involvement in motorsport should continue. “Today, the Richard Mille Racing Team closes the garage door. A page is turning for a new adventure in line with the genesis of the project”, indicates Amanda Mille. In what form ? According to our indiscretions, this could notably result in sponsorship around Lilou Wadoux which would also involve Ferrari. The young 21-year-old Frenchwoman would thus compete in a GT of the Prancing Horse next year after having tested a 488 GTE Evo from AF Corse during the Rookie Test of the WEC in Bahrain. Waiting to upgrade to Hypercar in 2024 in a customer 499P? 

On the Signatech side, the Bourges structure will focus on the exploitation of one or two prototypes in the colors ofAlpine in the LM P2 category of the WEC in 2023, before the arrival of the LMDh at A arrow in 2024.

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