Accelerating the pace of change

The drive for diversity in motorsport has shifted gears in recent years, but it is no secret that there is still work to do. Pioneering women remain committed to addressing the gender imbalance in the sport, and Abbie Eaton from Hull is one such trailblazer.

Abbie started her racing career in go-karts at the age of 10, rising through the ranks before going car racing in 2006. Crowned British GT GT4 Pro-Am Vice Champion in 2016, she soon became known for her role as test driver on Amazon Prime show The Grand Tour. Abbie then competed in the W Series single-seater championship in 2021 and 2022, not letting two fractured vertebrae, suffered in an incident at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas, slow her progress.

She is an ambassador for Racing Pride, an innovative movement promoting LGBTQ+ inclusivity in motorsport, and in 2023 she co-founded Rebelleo Motorsport, aiming to make the sport more accessible to all, regardless of background, gender, race, ethnicity or belief. At the start of this season came Abbie’s next step, making her debut in the closely contested Pro-Am category of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB.

‘It’s the best place to promote what we’re trying to do,’ Abbie explains. ‘I knew it was going to be tough. You need a year or two to master driving the GT3 Cup car, but I wanted to challenge myself.’

Rebelleo Motorsport recently teamed up with FAT International and Global Karting League, the electric karting series, to tackle one of the biggest hurdles – money. The livery on Abbie’s 911 highlights the spend associated with making it to the pinnacle of motor racing.

‘The journey to F1 now costs upwards of $33 million. The Global Karting League solution is around 96 per cent cheaper than the traditional route, curbing the financial barriers,’ she says.

Abbie’s message is cutting through. And in a highly competitive season for the fastest single-marque GT racing series in the UK, her hard work is paying off. At Silverstone in September, she became the first female to qualify on pole and drove to second place in the weekend’s first race. Then, in the second encounter, Abbie became the first woman in Carrera Cup GB history to take an overall race win.

‘To get pole position and the win was unreal. People expect a lot from me, and I expect a lot from myself, but it was amazing to put it all together,’ she smiles.

Her advice for women interested in motorsport is simple: ‘There are a lot of opportunities for females at the moment. Be tenacious, be determined, and don’t be deterred when doors get shut.’

There’s more to do in order to improve diversity in motorsport, but thanks to headstrong racers like Abbie Eaton, things are changing – fast.