Life in the fast lane for Carmen

AN Alicante-born female racing driver has landed a dream job in Formula One with the announcement that she will be a development driver for Lotus this season.

Carmen Jorda, from Alcoy, will attend Grand Prix’s and Formula One tests throughout 2015, as well as spending time in the team’s racing simulator. The 26-year-old is one of only a handful of women to have had the chance to drive a Formula One car, with the only other woman driver currently in the sport being Susie Wolff, the Williams test driver.

“I’ve been racing since I was 10 years old so it was my dream to drive a Formula One car since I was very young,” said Jorda. “Joining Lotus F1 Team is a big step towards my goal. I will be working to improve myself as a driver as well as helping the team to develop the car by testing new developments in the simulator; it’s such a fantastic opportunity. I know this is just the beginning and the biggest challenge is yet to come but already being part of a team with such history is a real honour. This is a great achievement, but an even greater opportunity which will lead to bigger and better things.”

The GP3 racer will get the opportunity to drive the new E23 Formula One car later this year and contribute towards the car’s development. Formula One has not had a female race driver since Italian Giovanna Amati failed to qualify with Brabham in 1992. Another Spanish female driver, Maria de Villota, was the test driver with the Marussia Formula One team until her untimely death in 2013.