The 23-year-old Swiss driver Karen Gaillard is the new addition to the all-female racing squad Iron Dames in 2024. She competed for the Iron Dames in the Michelin Le Mans Cup. In addition to this, she also raced in the Ultimate Cup with DIMAB Motorsport by ANS in 2024. In 2025, first Karen will step up within the Iron Dames to join Rahel Frey, Sarah Bovy, and Michelle Gatting in Daytona 24h in January. She will also be competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup France for the season after becoming the first woman to win a national Porsche Junior shootout. Recently we had the opportunity to chat with Karen, here is her story.
All Photos © Karen Gaillard
Motorsport had been a big part of Karen’s family before she was born. However, for herself, she only discovered it when she was 10 years old. And it took another five years before she could go behind the wheel. “My dad started karting in his 20s and he continued racing for many years until I was born. He started racing again when I was 10 years old. This was also how I discovered the sport. I watched my dad race and I knew right then and there that I wanted to do it as well. It took me a few years to convince my parents though. Finally, they took me to a rental karting when I was 15 years old.”
Back then I was doing hip-hop. They wanted to be sure that I was very motivated and that I didn’t just say I wanted to try karting because it was fun.
Karen’s first race also took a lot of ‘convincing’. But from there on, there was no stopping her at all. “There was a race at the rental karting. I told my dad that I wanted to race. But he said it was too early for me. So I registered without telling him until the day before the race. The race was good. So we started in more serious competitions in the X30 category. When I was 17, I started racing in the Swiss Championship.”
Racing is more than just a passion for me. It’s my whole life. It’s in my blood. I want to do this and nothing else. I like working hard every day to improve as a driver. My biggest rival is firstly myself.
From karting, Karen moved to touring cars and then to sportscars. One significant event that helped her transition was the 2019 AutoScout24 & Cupra Young Driver Challenge. “There were 1500 competitors at the beginning. At the time I only did two years of karting. I was not expecting to win the selection. When I won, it was really where everything started. It helped me take the step to go from karting to cars. Without this win, it would have been much more complicated.”
Racing is important for Karen, but it’s also very expensive. Since she started racing, Karen has been funding her career on her own – with her own work and partners she managed to find. “I always paid everything by myself or partners I worked to find until 2024, so my parents never had to pay for me. I did a formation at the hospital to get a job, then, as soon as I finished it, I have devoted myself to motorsport so that I could find partners and put together the budgets. It always takes me a lot of time to find sponsors and partners to be able to race.”
In 2024, Karen became a driver for the all-female sportscar racing squad Iron Dames, teaming up with Célia Martin for the Michelin Le Mans Cup. She was also doing a double program, continuing in the Ultimate Cup with DIMAB Motorsport by ANS. “At the end of 2023, Rahel Frey contacted me and invited me to a test. When you have an opportunity like this, you just have to grab it. It was my first time in a proper GT3 car. I felt very good in the car and the test went really well. That was how I joined the team. I came from racing the Nova NP02 prototype in the Ultimate Cup, and the driving style was very different. Everything was new for me. It was a really good chance because I have good drivers on the team for me to learn from – including the Iron Dames and the Iron Lynx guys like Andrea Caldarelli, Mirko Bortolotti, Edoardo Mortara. When you are new like me in the category, it is great to have so many people you can learn from. In my last few races, I also had Axcil Jefferies as my coach, he helped me take a big step forward.”
Karen has had a fruitful 2024 with the Iron Dames. Big moments happened for her both within the competitions and at iconic events. “I raced at Le Mans on the 24h race track for the opening race of the Le Mans Cup. To drive on this track was really special for me because 24 Hours of Le Mans has always been my target. I also had the opportunity to go to Goodwood Festival of Speed and drive there. It was also very special for me. I had my first podium in GT3 with Célia at Paul Ricard.”
Towards the end of 2024, great news came for her for the 2025 season – the team has appointed her as part of the crew for the iconic Daytona 24h which will take place on the 25th and 26th of this month and she has been selected as the new Junior Porsche Carrera Cup France 2025. Great things await Karen in 2025. “The 2-day Junior Porsche selection was very nice and very amazing. We did physical test, mental test, and there was training on managing social media and driving. I learned a lot of things, especially in the physical and mental tests. Now I know which point I need to work on. I’m so happy to join the Porsche family. I can’t wait to get back to the Porsche 992 GT3 and the start of the season! Only 3 days after the selection, the team made the Daytona announcement. Racing at Daytona is like a dream come true. The team was very surprised with my performance at the ELMS rookie test and they asked me to go test at Daytona with Rahel. They were very happy with the test and added me to the Daytona 24h crew. It’s a really big opportunity for me.”
Besides all her training, what’s important ahead of a 24h endurance race is to get some good rest. “My preparation in the winter will be a bit different from last season. One important point is to rest a bit in the winter, to have some good sleep to refuel and recharge. I need to be in good shape for the 24h race. It’ll also be my first race with an LMGT3 car with power management, I need to understand it a bit more. I’ve also noticed during my test that my driving style is quite aggressive for the power management, I’ll need to work on it to be a bit less aggressive.”
With the dream of racing at Daytona 24h about to come true, the next big thing for Karen is of course 24 Hours of Le Mans. Now she still needs to gather more experience. “I did two years of karting. Then 2020 and 2021, I wasn’t able to race the full season for a complete championship, and only did a few races with Vortex. In 2022, I did the French MitJet 2L Championship. Then I did two years of Ultimate Cup and one year of GT3. With the double program in 2024, I really improved a lot. But I still don’t have a lot of experience in the GT3 category. One point I have to work on is managing tire pressure. In the Le Mans Cup, sometimes I was a bit too aggressive and I would be struggling at the end.”
We wish Karen all the best of luck at Daytona and in the 2025 season!!!
Paddock Sorority 
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