Formula Woman was a successful motor racing competition back in 2004, where thousands of women of all ages and from different walks of life entered to see if they had what it took to become a racing driver. 3500 women were assessed at race tracks across the UK and 100 finalists took part in a three-day shoot out to find 16 racers who then went on to compete in the first-ever Formula Woman Championship.
Since then, women have become more involved in motorsport and this time around, the Formula Woman process and format will be different. After a series of online assessments, the successful applicants will then proceed to the next round of on-track assessments which will culminate to the finals at the end of February 2022. The winners of the competition will race against their male counterparts in the 2022 UK GT Cup Championship in two McLaren GT4 race cars which McLaren Customer Racing will be providing.
Alistair Fergusson, Alcon Group Managing Director commented “At Alcon, we are about so much more than the product we design and make – the business is full of people who have a passion for what we do, be it motorsport, performance road cars or other special vehicle requirements. I think that passion is what makes Alcon special and it is why we are so excited that a member of the Alcon team is taking part in the Formula Woman competition. This is entirely on her own initiative, indeed, Emeline kept quiet about it at first, but when we learnt that she was going for on-track assessments, we were delighted to provide some sponsorship to assist her. The very best of luck for this weekend in Anglesey from all your friends at Alcon!”
Emeline Wilson, Alcon Group Marketing Manager – “The support from everyone since announcing my participation has been incredible. I was able to spend some time at Base Performance in their GT simulator to familiarise myself with the Anglesey track and work on consistency behind the wheel. Darren Turner (3-time Le Mans winning Aston Martin factory driver and Base Performance owner), Robin Bailes (Base Performance Simulator Engineer) have been fantastic providing me with invaluable guidance to improve my lap times. I’ve also been able to spend some time behind the wheel of the Vauxhall Corsa E, one of the cars Formula Woman contestants will be driving for the assessments. It’s very humbling to be supported on a personal level by Alcon, our brand ambassadors and clients. I feel extremely lucky to be offered such opportunities.”
Mia Flewitt, British GT GT4 Pro-Am champion and Alcon Brand Ambassador said: “Formula Woman is a great way to get started in motorsport and an amazing opportunity not to be missed! I love that this isn’t about a race series for women, but a chance for women, who haven’t previously raced, to find out if they have what it takes to race in a GT race series in 2022! Good luck to Emeline from Alcon who is taking part in the Formula woman assessment at Anglesey this weekend! Excitement and passion for motorsport is what will drive you to be your best on the assessment day and remember it’s not about having experience at this stage but finding the potential GT racer for the future helping to inspire more women into motorsport. Good luck!”
The winners will undergo full training and coaching during the months of March and April prior to taking to the grid in the 3.8 litre twin-turbo V8 race car.
