GABRIELA JÍLKOVÁ Powers Through to Porsche Formula E Development Role

February 3, 2025

from english.radio.cz

• GABRIELA JÍLKOVÁ’s journey from Croatian go-kart holiday obsession to Porsche Formula E development driver proves that when talent meets determination, even devastating setbacks become detours rather than dead ends. After winning four Czech karting titles as the first woman champion, she clawed her way up through Formula Star competition when family finances couldn’t support the next level. Her path wasn’t smooth – a 2014 Red Bull Ring crash broke multiple vertebrae and scattered her sponsors like leaves, forcing seven years of grinding through individual races and giving driving lessons to stay connected to the sport.
• The pandemic unexpectedly reignited her career through Matmut Évolution team, leading to her current role with Porsche’s Formula E program. JÍLKOVÁ describes the electric single-seaters as the highest level of motorsport professionalism she’s experienced, with acceleration that made her think “wow” on first drive. She argues there’s no physical reason women can’t excel in Formula E, viewing the absence of women in top-tier racing as a statistical issue rather than capability gap – women simply drive less overall, making elite breakthrough mathematically harder.
• JÍLKOVÁ follows the legendary ELIŠKA JUNKOVÁ, born in 1900, who became the first woman to win a Grand Prix event at Nürburgring in 1927. JUNKOVÁ nearly captured the ultimate prize at Targa Florio in 1928, leading the grueling 500-kilometer Sicilian mountain race until suspicious stones on a blind corner damaged her wheel on the final lap. Despite finishing fifth with inferior equipment and mechanics, she dominated the private category and became an international sensation. Tragically, her husband’s racing death a month later ended her career, though she lived to 93, passing in 1994.

ABB FIA Formula E, czech republic, development driver, porsche