The FIA Women in Motorsport Commission is pleased to be playing a supporting role to the all-female Asian Le Mans Series racing programme organised by Japan’s Keiko Ihara, a member of its Commission and the first female driver to stand on an FIA World Endurance Championship podium.

The R24 team, which is the brainchild of Ihara, has already competed in the first three rounds of the 2018/2019 ALMS with different female drivers as part of a development programme to promote women in motor sport in Asia.

For the final round of the series, the 4hrs of Sepang, the team - which also has valuable support from the watchmaking brand Richard Mille - will be fielding a top line-up as Katherine Legge, Michelle Gatting and Margot Laffite take to the wheel of the R24 Ligier LMP3 machinery at the Malaysian circuit on 22-24 February.

“This initiative by Keiko is excellent and has been giving a number of different female drivers a chance to improve their race skills in this very popular Le Mans Series,” said Michèle Mouton, President of the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission. “I believe women can be competitive in endurance racing and as a Commission we are working hard towards opening more doors in the FIA World Endurance Championship for female racers. We are therefore pleased Keiko has taken this initiative at the base of the discipline. With the support of Richard Mille for this final event, the team can field a very experienced crew and we look forward to following their progress.”