GB4 race winner Gilkes joins already announced drivers Abbi Pulling and Jessica Edgar for the inaugural season of the all-women driver championship which kicks off at Red Bull Ring inApril.
Prior to joining Rodin Carlin for F1 Academy, Gilkes raced in the British GB4 Championship, finishing the season sixth overall thanks to three podiums including two race wins. 2021 was the Canadian’s first season racing in the UK, previously Gilkes learnt her craft in F1600 Canada as well as competed in the inaugural W Series in 2019 and won the non-championship race in Assen.
Away from the track, Gilkes is also developing her motorsport knowledge, the 22 year-old currently works for the Aston Martin F1team as a trackside support engineer for her placement year out of university.
Gilkes commented,
“I’m thrilled to announce that I will be driving this season for Rodin Carlin in the inaugural F1 Academy series. I can't wait to take my learnings from racing in GB4 last season into this exciting new international venture backed by Formula One. The opportunity to join a truly world class team with a fantastic winning record across multiple junior formulae is amazing, and I can't wait to get started.
“I want to thank Rodin Carlin and my sponsors for making this possible, and I will be proudly carrying the Maple Leaf to recognize the support I’ve received from Canada. Between now and the first event, whenI’m not engineering at work with Aston Martin F1, I will be doing everything I can to make this coming season my most successful so far.”
Speaking about the team’s newest signing, Team Principal Stephanie Carlin added,
“Megan is a fantastic signing to the team. She is a proven racer on track with race wins to her name and also brings an off-track element that I think will really help the team from a set-up and engineering perspective. She is a true professional and together with Abbi and Jess we have a great combination of strengths and talent within the team that really creates the full package.”
The seven-round F1 Academy season kicks off in Austria inApril, taking in F1 circuits such as Barcelona, Zandvoort and Monza amongst other events before concluding at the US Grand Prix in October at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
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