Winners of Formula Woman India Advance to UK Finals

By: WE Staff | Wednesday, 2 March 2022

The winners of the Formula Woman India competition are Anushriya Gulati, Deepa John, and Pragathi Gowda. The three drivers will now vie for a spot as a McLaren Customer Racing Driver in the 2022 UK GT Cup at the Formula Woman world finals.

Manisha Kelkar, another Indian, will compete in the finals, but not as an Indian contender because she advanced through the UK evaluation stages.

Formula Woman is a British initiative that seeks for women from all around the world who are enthusiastic about motorsport, both on and off the track. Track days, training sessions, race meets, and other activities are available to registered members. Formula Woman began a campaign to identify "the next female motor racing champion" as part of this project. Drivers that make it through numerous selection rounds will be able to compete in the UK GT Cup using McLaren GT4 vehicles.

This campaign was expanded to India with the assistance of AutoGuru India, and the national evaluation round was conducted on November 23-24 at Erda's Speedway in Vadodara. There were a total of 23 enthusiastic women that took part. Last year, AutoGuru India CEO Ativ Shah told Autocar India that it was a varied mix of racers, college students, moms, and others. The youngest competitor was 21 years old, while the oldest was 62.

The programme was accessible to anyone with a true love for motorsport and a desire to get into the racing circuit. You didn't have to be a seasoned racer or even have a professional racing or competition licence to participate; all you needed was a valid driver's licence.

The competitors were examined on a range of factors, including driving ability, physical fitness, a written exam for driving and motorsport knowledge, and a media test to see how they responded to camera and media queries. Anushriya Gulati, Deepa John, and Pragathi Gowda were chosen as the winners at the end of the competition.

On March 2-3, the first leg of the world finals will be held at the PF1 International track, the UK's largest outdoor karting circuit. 15 competitors will be chosen from the 70 who will compete against one another at the Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire for another round of selection.

The best ten racers will advance to the final shootout, from which six drivers will be chosen to compete in the UK GT Cup. Because McLaren is providing two vehicles, four drivers will be split into two groups of two, with two more drivers serving as reserve drivers.

Ativ Shah said, “Our three Indian finalists are preparing very well for the UK final shootouts. We are very confident that they will make us proud! True to the vision of Formula Woman, we hope the success of our three Indian finalists inspires numerous more women to follow their dreams for a career in motorsport,”