First phase of female pilot detection program begins

Announced at the beginning of the year and really detailed during the summer, the “ Female Talent Development Program " will enter its concrete phase from Monday. Launched in the middle of the year, this initiative comes from the promoter of the WRC. " The WRC has a long history of female participation, explains Peter Thul, the promoter's senior director of sport. Michèle Mouton is one of the greatest legends in motorsport. Over the past three years, we have crowned female co-drivers world champions in WRC3 and WRC2. However, it has been some time since we have had female drivers at the highest level of our sport and we hope this program will help fill that gap. »

A call for applications was launched and once all the responses had been collected, the difficult selection work was carried out by a jury of people working in the field of rally. " We were completely overwhelmed by the number and quality of the applicants. ", Thul continues. " Choosing the 15 finalists was an incredibly complex task and there were some tough decisions to make. » These 15 women come from a wide range of motor sports. The average age of this group is 21 years old. The youngest are the Spaniard Luz Marina and the Romanian Alexandra Teslovan who are 18 years old while the Japanese Mako Hirakawa is the eldest (27 years old). They come from 13 different countries and represent 3 continents. They will all be present from tomorrow in Krakow to face the next stage of the program.

This consists of a series of workshops with 6 modules: Fitness, media, mechanics, note-taking, asphalt driving and gravel driving. In each of these areas, the women will be in contact with professionals, such as Reeta Hämäläinen (Emil Lindholm's co-driver) for notes or Maciej Woda (the boss of M-Sport Poland) for the technical part. At the end of each workshop, marks will be awarded. A jury composed of Peter Thul (representative of the promoter), Turkish driver Burcu Cetinkaya, Pernilla Solberg (president of the WRC commission at the FIA), Maciej Woda and Isolde Holderied (double world champion of the Ladies' Cup in 1994 and 1995) will supervise the progress of these three days in order to observe the candidates in real life. On Wednesday evening, after the deliberations, 3 drivers will be selected for the next stage.

This consists of nothing more and nothing less than a participation in the Central European Rally (October 17-20) at the wheel of a Ford Fiesta Rally3. During the event, the performances and behavior of the young women will be scrutinized. At the end of this round, the big winner of this first operation will be revealed. The latter will benefit from a commitment in the JWRC 2025 championship with all expenses covered.

Before getting there, let's take a look at the selection which is taking place in Krakow, Poland.

The 15 women selected:

• Lyssia Baudet – Belgium
• Emma Chalvin – France
• Ann Felke – Germany
• Joanna Hassoun – Lebanon
• Mako Hirakawa – Japan
• Hannah Jakobsson – Sweden
• Suvi Jyrkiäinen – Finland
• Luz Marina – Spain
• Nuria Pons – Spain
• Aoife Raftery – Ireland
• Claire Schönborn – Germany
• Madelyn Tabor – USA
• Alexandra Teslovan – Romania
• Hanna Lisette Aabna – Estonia
• Dorka Zagyva – Hungary