24 YEARS ON: WHERE RACING WOMEN HAS BEEN AND WHERE WE’RE GOING
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
Having been part of Racing Women since day one, I’ve had the privilege of watching what began as an ambitious idea grow into a team, a community and a very real pathway for women in motorsport.
And if there is one thing I’ve learned along the way, it’s just how much work it takes to build something that hasn’t existed before.
My name is Dori Bano, Brand Strategy Director and Co-Founder of Racing Women, and I’ve been part of this journey from the very beginning.
Today, there is an incredible team of people behind Racing Women, each bringing their own experience, belief and determination to what we are building. But long before there was a team, there was one person who believed this needed to exist.
Graeme began that mission 24 years ago.
Through every setback, every closed door and every challenge that comes with trying to build an end-to-end pathway for women in racing, he has kept going. The shape of Racing Women has evolved, the team around it has grown and the ambition has become bigger – but that determination has remained constant.
As someone who came into the motorsport industry relatively late, at 23, I feel personally tied to this mission as well. I’ve always loved fast cars and driving, but I didn’t have the support, visibility or guidance to understand where I could fit into that world, or even where to begin. I’m certain that if I had found a community like Racing Women earlier, my own journey in motorsport may have looked completely different.
I know first-hand that motorsport can be daunting. It’s expensive, risky, and from the outside it can feel almost impossible to know how to get involved. That alone stops a lot of people from ever looking any further.
But with the right guidance, you quickly realise there isn’t just one way in. There are opportunities to find your place at so many different levels, whether your ambition is to race, work in the industry, or simply become more involved in a sport you love.
That is the environment Racing Women is creating for thousands of women today, and it’s a huge part of what drives me personally to keep pushing this mission forward.
Being the first to attempt something of this scale inevitably means learning, adapting and sometimes getting things wrong. What matters is continuing to build. And that, more than anything, is what I have seen over the years: an unwillingness to give up on the reason Racing Women exists in the first place.
We are now entering what I believe is one of the most important chapters of Racing Women so far. We have a stronger team, a clearer vision and years of experience behind us. Now, we have the opportunity to prove what this concept can become.
Before we talk about where we are going next, though, I think it is worth hearing from the person who started it all.
Dori Bano
Co-Founder & Creative Director, Racing Women
A WORD FROM GRAEME
2026 has been an eventful year for Racing Women.
I wanted to share an update so that our community of friends, sponsors and supporters can understand where we have been, where we are now and where we are going.
WHERE HAVE WE BEEN?
Since January this year, and following the collapse of Formula Woman last year, we have navigated some challenging situations.
With the support of my business partner, Dori Bano, our developing team, and the continued loyalty from people like you who believe in the future of Racing Women, we have stayed focused on continuing the journey I began 24 years ago, when I launched the very first all-female championship with Mazda in 2003, which was televised on ITV.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
Racing Women is now in a good and stable place, with ambitious but achievable goals to take our sponsors and selected driver talent to Le Mans in 2030.
We have now expanded our team to 10 people, including a sponsor/commercial partner team, as well as a strong media team to take the brand into 2027 and beyond.
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Well, our first stop will be Donington Park at the end of September with the winners from our 2026 Racing Women Global Finals, which took place on the ice in Sweden earlier this year.
This is the last round of the Radical UK Championship, where we intend to run four Radical SR3 race cars with Valour Racing, our team partner. We have created several sponsor packages specifically for Donington, including a Supporters’ Hospitality Package from £500 + VAT, to help address the current economic challenges in motorsport.
Racing Women has recently introduced a Talent Management Programme for selected drivers who are passionate about making a career in motorsport.
We also introduced the Accelerator Camps, the first of which took place recently at M-Sport in Cumbria. The next Winter Camp will be held in Sweden in February 2027.
If you can join us at Donington Park on the weekend of 26–27 September to meet and support our Valour Racing Women drivers, we would love to see you.
Kind regards,
Graeme Glew
Founder & CEO, Racing Women
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