All-female driving team 'racing for something bigger than wins' at Rolex 24 at Daytona

Katherine Legge is feeling a different kind of pressure this week.

As an elite female driver in a male-centric sport, the British racer has grown accustomed to challenging stereotypes in the workplace. She’s also familiar with carrying the hopes, often in solitude, for the female fans and athletes who want to see themselves represented with skill and dignity in motor racing.

With the addition of three more top-tier female pilots in the No. 57 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 team — Simona De Silvestro, Bia Figueiredo, and Christina Nielsen — the expectations have reached an unprecedented height. Joined by an all-star cast in the entry co-owned by businesswoman/driver Jackie Heinricher, Legge has recruited a group that is capable of winning the coveted Rolex 24 at Daytona in the GT Daytona class.

The four drivers, along with Heinricher and co-owner Michael Shank, are acutely aware of the ramifications they face in Daytona International Speedway. Standing on the podium could open doors for more women in the sport, and anything that resembles a poor finishing position could have the opposite effect, reinforcing old and tired gender stereotypes.

While most teams focus on achieving victory at the Rolex 24, Legge and the squad she’s assembled have a different threshold of success to meet. In a category with 23 cars, MSR’s No. 57 entry is the only one of its kind. With all of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s women in one vehicle, it also makes for long odds with an all-male armada spread across the other 22 GTD contenders.

That pressure — to make a positive statement for every young girl or woman who wants to race — will be inescapable throughout the event for the No. 57 squad.

“Each and every one of us — and I include Mike Shank in this as well — is 100 percent conscious that this has to succeed; otherwise, it’s detrimental to what we’re trying to achieve,” Legge told RACER. “What I mean by that is this: We’re going out there and saying, ‘Hey, look. We’ve put together the best women drivers in the world. We did.’ I sat together with Jackie and Mike to come up with the list, and really, it was a no brainer.

“Simona and Bia and Christina, they’re the best in my opinion, and there are some other young females that are up and coming, but for this level, for what we wanted, there was absolutely no question about our line-up. We have the best, and we’re racing for something bigger than wins, as that too is something we carry with us at Daytona.”

Credit Heinricher for the all-female concept that has brought Legge, De Silvestro, Figueiredo, and Nielsen together for the first time. The successful biotech firm founder/owner has secured corporate sponsorship from construction machinery equipment manufacturer Caterpillar for the 2019 season, and with the moves she’s seen so far, Legge has been inspired by Heinricher’s efforts to become IMSA’s only female entrant in the WeatherTech Championship.

“We have a very smart business person in Jackie,” she said. “Whatever Jackie does or doesn’t do in a race car is irrelevant in a way, because I believe what she’s done out of the car by bringing the program together with Caterpillar is going to be global, and it’s going to be, hopefully, something that is long-term. They’ve done a lot in NASCAR. They’ve done a lot in other sports. I really do believe that they’re going to do a lot with this. I think that that’s huge. I’ve been trying to do it for years with a sponsor who wants to get behind the best women in our sport.

“Jackie’s come straight out of the gate a year ago saying this is what she was going to do, and has done it. There are hundreds of people I respect in racing that haven’t been able to do that. That’s saying something. She’s gone out there and done something that we weren’t able to achieve. Regardless of what she does in the race car, she’s a superstar in my book.”

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This weekend’s Rolex 24 At Daytona is only part of a year-long IMSA program for the No. 57 MSR effort. With the series’ biggest race serving as its season opener, the four-woman driving rotation will be center stage, and once the checkered flag waves over the event, it will be pared down to Legge and likely a mix of her Daytona teammates as most of the remaining races only require two drivers.

Some of the pressure will be relieved after the Rolex 24, but Legge also knows that with MSR’s all-female team set to visit iconic IMSA tracks in California, Connecticut, Georgia Ohio, New York, Virginia, Wisconsin, New York, plus a trip north to Canada, there’s little chance of escaping the spotlight.

“I think every one of us is committed to making this team of ours a success and I don’t think there’s any way the other ladies would have done it unless they thought that we could win,” she said. “Coming back to where we began, we’re all extremely aware that this has to succeed. Because we know that for this to actually do what we want it to do and serve its wider purpose, it has to be competitive.

“So, do I think that we’re going to win the GTD championship and be up there at the front in every race? It’s going to take a while to get to that point, but the Acura’s a great car, and I do think we can win races this year.”