24h Le Mans
Jamie Chadwick drove a Hypercar on the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans for the first time on Test Day, the first woman racer to take the wheel in the top class of endurance. The British driver was enamoured, and is looking forward to being back on track.
Like all topflight categories, the Hypercar class attracts the world’s best. Three-time champion in W Series between 2019 and 2022, Jamie Chadwick has since joined the Genesis Magma Racing Hypercar programme. As reserve driver, she was honoured to drive five laps in the #17 GMR-001-Hypercar on 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans Test Day. It was not her first time on the circuit, she competed in last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans in LMP2 with IDEC Sport, teamed with Mathys Jaubert and André Lotterer.
Hypercar is significantly different to LMP2. Everything is more extreme, faster, both in a straight line and on corners. Traffic is more of an issue, on the Mulsanne Straight and in the trickier sections. Power management is subtler. The prototype requires sharper reflexes. “It was incredible. I think it’s only a question of time before we see many women on the Hypercar grid at Le Mans. I hope so. It’s a step in the right direction anyway,” she declared in a recent interview.
Chadwick is the first woman to take the wheel of a Hypercar at Le Mans. Women have always played a part at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and she follows in their footsteps. The first women to participate were Marguerite Mareuse and Odette Siko, in 1930. Siko took fourth place overall in 1932. Since then, many women have made their mark on the race. Among them, Christine Beckers, who won her class in 1974 with Yvette Fontaine and Marie Laurent, and more recently, Doriane Pin, Mercedes-AMG Formula One development driver on the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 grid in the Duqueine Team #30 Oreca 07-Gibson.
With this appearance in Hypercar, Jamie Chadwick, who already has a long list of achievement, is leading the way. She’s showing that her seat in a Hypercar is within reach.
