LYN ST. JAMES Reflects on Creating Forgotten All-Female Racing Series

March 8, 2025

• LYN ST. JAMES reveals how she helped create the largely forgotten Women’s Global GT Series in 1999 after convincing series founder Don Panoz to give women quality racing experience. Initially skeptical of all-female competition, she switched her approach when she realized drivers like Cindy Lux and Sara Senske wouldn’t get regular racing opportunities otherwise. The series provided crucial seat time for 30 women selected from 75 tryouts, including F1 veteran Divina Galica making her return to racing.
• Drawing parallels between her pioneering series and today’s F1 Academy, St. James defends all-female competitions as stepping stones rather than permanent solutions. She emphasizes these programs must offer quality experiences with professional teams and equipment, then have limited participation windows to prevent becoming “landing spots.” The goal is developing better racers who return to mixed competition with enhanced skills and experience.
• St. James doesn’t sugarcoat motorsport’s brutal financial realities, explaining that even exceptional talents like Jamie Chadwick and Connor Zilisch need backing to succeed. Through her driver development programs working with 230 drivers from six countries (including a 14-year-old Danica Patrick), she learned that talent alone isn’t enough – drivers must master sponsorship acquisition, physical preparation, and business relationships. Most importantly, women need what she calls “chutzpah” – the boldness to crash parties they weren’t invited to, unlike men who do it instinctively.

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