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Karen Gaillard is a Swiss GT racer who went from kart newbie to history-maker in less than a decade, becoming the first woman to win a national Porsche Junior Shootout and earning her place among Europe’s rising endurance stars with Iron Dames.

EARLY YEARS

Born June 29, 2001, in Riaz, a small town in the Fribourg canton of Switzerland, Karen Gaillard didn’t grow up dreaming of podiums—at least not that anyone’s documented. What we do know is that she didn’t touch a kart until she was 15, an age when most karting prodigies are already eyeing single-seaters. Starting late in motorsport usually means you’re playing catch-up forever, but Gaillard clearly didn’t get that memo.

By 2016, she was racing karts. By 2018—just two years in—she was competing in her first karting championship. No silver-spoon origin story here, no famous racing family pulling strings. Just a teenager from the Swiss countryside who apparently decided that 15 was as good a time as any to start chasing speed.

OTHER INTERESTS

If Karen Gaillard has hobbies outside of motorsport, she’s keeping them to herself. No public record of artistic pursuits, no mention of other sports, no Instagram-friendly side hustles. Either she’s laser-focused on racing, or she’s just refreshingly uninterested in curating a personal brand. Given how quickly she’s climbed the ladder, smart money’s on the former.

EARLY SUCCESS

Two years of karting. That’s all Gaillard had under her belt when she entered the 2019 AutoScout24 & Cupra Young Driver Challenge—a competition that started with 1,500 hopefuls. She won. And she knew exactly what it meant. “I was not expecting to win the selection,” she told Paddocksorority in January 2025. “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.”

Complicated is an understatement. Transitioning from karts to cars without family money or a sponsor roster usually means your racing career dies in your early twenties. But that 2019 victory handed Gaillard a lifeline into GT racing, and she grabbed it with both hands.

By 2021, she was racing in the 24H Series GTX class, where she promptly landed two podiums—second at Dubai and third at Mugello, both alongside Lionel Amrouche. Not bad for someone who’d been karting just three years earlier. She spent 2022 in the Mitjet Series with Racing Spirit of Léman, finishing 18th overall but showing enough pace to keep doors opening. In 2024, she joined DIMAB Motorsport by ANS for the European Endurance Prototype Cup, piloting an NP02 and scoring a fourth-place finish at Paul Ricard.

Then came the call that changed everything. At the end of 2023, Rahel Frey—Swiss racing legend and Iron Dames team manager—reached out with an invitation to test. Gaillard made the cut. For the 2024 Michelin Le Mans Cup season, she was behind the wheel of a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO 2, paired with Célia Martin. The duo scored a podium at Paul Ricard—Gaillard’s maiden GT3 podium—and snagged a pole position along the way. They finished sixth in the championship with 43 points across seven races.

But the real headline came at the end of 2024: Gaillard won the Porsche Carrera Cup France Junior Shootout, becoming the first woman ever to take the title. The prize? A fully-funded seat with Schumacher CLRT for the 2025 Porsche Carrera Cup France season. She’d gone from karting late-starter to Porsche’s chosen one in less than a decade.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 2019: Won AutoScout24 & Cupra Young Driver Challenge, beating 1,500 competitors and securing transition from karting to cars.
• 2021: Finished second in 24H Series GTX at Dubai and third at Mugello.
• 2024: Scored maiden GT3 podium at Paul Ricard in Michelin Le Mans Cup with Célia Martin; finished sixth in championship with 43 points and one pole position.
• 2024: Became first woman to win a national Porsche Junior Shootout, earning a 2025 Porsche Carrera Cup France seat.
• 2024: Raced at Goodwood Festival of Speed and on the full Le Mans 24 Hours circuit.
• 2025: Made IMSA debut at 24 Hours of Daytona with Iron Dames, finishing eighth in GTD class (Porsche 911 GT3 R) alongside Rahel Frey, Sarah Bovy, and Michelle Gatting.

INSPIRATIONS

Gaillard hasn’t named heroes or role models in any interview we could find. What she has said—plainly, almost matter-of-factly—is this: “Racing is in my blood.” It’s the kind of line that would sound cheesy from most people, but from someone who started at 15 and made it to Le Mans in under a decade, it reads more like a mission statement.

Rahel Frey clearly saw something in her, reaching out at the end of 2023 to bring Gaillard into the Iron Dames fold. That kind of mentorship from one of Europe’s most respected female racers is its own form of inspiration—and validation.

REPUTATION

The motorsport press has been quick to celebrate Gaillard’s “meteoric rise,” and it’s hard to argue. She’s gone from karting to GT3 podiums to IMSA starts in the span of a few seasons, consistently showing pace against Gold-rated drivers in top-tier machinery. Her Porsche shootout win made headlines not just because she was the first woman to take it, but because she beat a field of talented juniors to get there.

What’s interesting is what we don’t hear: no drama, no controversies, no public feuds or messy team exits. Gaillard seems to be building her reputation the old-fashioned way—by keeping her head down, driving fast, and letting results do the talking. In an era of influencer racers and reality-show drama, that’s almost radical.

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

Gaillard’s 2025 is already packed. She’s running a full season in Porsche Carrera Cup France with Schumacher CLRT, racing select rounds of the Porsche Sprint Challenge Suisse and Southern Europe, and competing in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup with Iron Dames. That’s a lot of seat time in a Porsche 911 GT3 R, plus Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO 2 outings—exactly the kind of schedule that separates serious prospects from hobbyists.

But the big goal? Le Mans. Not the Cup series—the full 24 Hours of Le Mans. “24 Hours of Le Mans has always been my target,” she told Paddocksorority in January 2025, reflecting on her 2024 Le Mans Cup race on the iconic circuit. She’s already raced on the track. She’s already proven herself in GT3 machinery. And she’s got Iron Dames backing her. If she keeps progressing at this rate, a Le Mans 24 Hours entry isn’t a pipe dream—it’s a matter of when, not if.

References:

Iron Dames – Karen Gaillard
Wikipedia – Karen Gaillard
Paddock Sorority – Racing is in my blood: Interview with Karen Gaillard
Motor Sport Magazine – Karen Gaillard Driver Database
Racers Behind the Helmet – Karen Gaillard Wins Porsche Junior Shootout
AutoSprint – Iron Dames: Karen auf dem Weg nach Le Mans