Lucile on the podium in 2015
Lucile is a French driver who races saloons. She was the winner of the 2013 FIA Women in Motorsport Scirocco-R Shootout.
Prior to her burgeoning senior career, she raced karts from the age of twelve, winning her first race at seven years old, and finishing in the top ten of several French championships. During her time in karting, she was scouted by the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission as a future talent.
Her first step into senior motorsport was in 2013, in the French F4 championship. She was still not quite seventeen. Her best finish was eighth, at Le Mans, at the start of the season. It was not the most consistent of years for her, and she was troubled by non-finishes later on, but this was a learning period. She was 21st overall in the championship.
At the end of 2013, she was selected for the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission’s Scirocco-R Shootout. She was one of twelve young drivers who got through to the final stage, and she beat the likes of Naomi Schiff and Gosia Rdest to the award. Her prize was a funded season in the Volkswagen Scirocco-R Championship in 2014.
In 2014, she took her prize drive in the VW Scirocco-R Championship. She held her own on track, and finished all ten rounds. Her best overall finish was eighth, achieved at the Norisring and Oschersleben. She also finished in the top ten on three more occasions: two ninths and a tenth. She was twelfth overall, second out of the championship’s four female regulars.
In 2015, the Scirocco Cup was shelved, to be replaced by the Audi TT Cup. Lucile was set to make a double-pronged attack on the Audi TT one-make series, and the SEAT Leon Eurocup. After quietly dropping out of the TT Cup, her main focus became the SEAT series, and it was a good move. Lucile scored her first senior win at Catalunya, in the last round of the season, having managed two previous thirds, at Estoril and Monza. She was ninth in the championship.
She also had her first taste of full international competition, making a guest appearance in the Spanish rounds of the TCR International Series, driving a SEAT Leon. Out of two races at Valencia, she scored one twelfth place.
The SEAT Leon Eurocup was her chosen destination for 2016, building on her 2015 success. At the time of writing, she has scored a second place at Estoril and a third at Paul Ricard.
She continues to be supported by the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission.
(Image copyright Lucile Cypriano)