Female racing driver Jamie Chadwick is in her second season racing in the European Le Mans Series in LMP2 machinery. Speaking to MotorsportWeek at Silverstone this weekend, Chadwick highlighted the benefits of being a part of the Genesis Magma Racing Trajectory programme.
Genesis is the only Hypercar team in WEC that has a full junior programme that aims to bring drivers into the seat of the GMR-001. In collaboration with team IDEC Sport in the European Le Mans Series, the Trajectory Programme has a full Genesis-backed LMP2 car on the starting grid.
It launched in the 2025 season, ahead of the Genesis Hypercar racing debut, with the lineup of Jamie Chawick, Mathys Jaubert, and Dani Juncadella. The latter two graduated into a full-time seat in the Hypercar effort.
“It’s really good. I mean last year I think it was obviously before they went into Hypercar. So it was a lot of people that are now in the Hypercar team with us and supporting us,” started Chadwick.
“And I think that helped a lot both with engineers and mechanics that they’ve moved over into the Hypercar team. Also drivers, Dani (Juncadella) and Mathys (Jaubert) going into it. So there’s clear progression there.
“And then this year I think having myself, Laurents (Hörr) and Valerio (Rinicella) in the program and their support for me has been great. I get the opportunity to do testing in the car and lean on the team where possible. So I think it makes a big difference both for them but also for us.”
The season for the #18 Genesis branded LMP2 has been quite successful and consistent. Scoring P4, just short of the podium, in the first three races of the season before getting on the podium in third place at the 4 Hours of Spa last month.
Currently, the crew sits third in the overall standing with 52 points, with two races of the season to go.
“It’s been very consistent,” started Chadwick when asked about the season so far.
“In theory we finish fourth on the road in every race. We bumped up to the podium in the last one, which is always a good thing to be consistent.
“Obviously we want more. I think last year we had a lot of things fall our way and we had some amazing results. So obviously we want to kind of replicate that where possible.
But I think we made really good progress, so I’m really happy with the stuff I’ve made from last year to this year. And yeah, I’ve really enjoyed it. So still two races to go.”
With this being the second year of the programme running and Jamie being the only driver to be in the car for both seasons, her progress in racing the Le Mans Prototype 2 spec has been evident, with her herself claiming greater confidence as her second season progresses: “With ELMS it’s only six races, so it’s not loads of races to get your teeth into.
“So naturally every race I feel like I get better and stronger. This year moving into the middle, in Imola for example, I feel like it’s a good progression. I definitely feel more comfortable and confident in the car, which is great. And obviously in these races I still want to continue to improve.”
With Genesis making their Hypercar debut this season in WEC, Jamie works closely with the Hypercar side of things as well. Thanks to that, she drove the GMR-001 at the Le Mans test day earlier this year.
“It’s one of those that you want to kind of just be like you’re doing your job. And kind of try and be a little bit unfazed by it. But at the same time it’s so special.
“I think driving any car at Le Mans is amazing. But the Hypercar especially doing over 300 kilometers an hour down the Mulsanne Straight is a pretty cool feeling. And one I’m not going to forget in a long time.
Closing up on her second season in ELMS, while fighting for the overall title, it’s only fair to expect her to make the step to top-class endurance racing soon.
“It’s exciting because now I’m the next generation. And I think there’s going to be a lot of female drivers hopefully on that grid,” closed off Jamie Chadwick.
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