Former racing driver and Olympic gold medal winner Caitlyn Jenner has joined W Series as the owner of new team Jenner Racing ahead of the 2022 season.
Jenner, who came out as a trans woman in 2015, intends to acquire sponsors who are “aligned with her mission of promoting women in sport and creating a platform for them in motorsport”, said W Series in a statement.Her racing career, under her former name Bruce, included a six-year stint in the IMSA GT championship. During that time Jenner placed second in the GTO class at the 1986 Daytona 24 Hours with team mates Scott Pruett and Klaus Ludwig. Jenner also won a gold medal in the men’s decathlon at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games.
W Series announced Jenner’s arrival in the series after holding a test for 15 drivers at the Inde Motorsports Ranch in Arizona. Two of this year’s eight races will take place in the USA, including the season-opener at Miami International Autodrome in May.
“We are determined to give females a platform and a pathway to succeed in our sport, and when I first met Caitlyn Jenner, it was clear that she is as committed to that mission as all of us at W Series are,” said series CEO Catherine Bond Muir.
“She has performed at the highest level in sport, is a proven winner and a complete petrolhead, and I know that her passion for sport and motorsport will inspire everybody at W Series.”
Jenner said W Series “ticks every box for me and is a fusion of the different aspects of my career.” She added she watched last year’s round at Circuit of the Americas “with great excitement.”
“In May, I will be beaming with pride when my Jenner Racing team starts its bid for W Series glory on motor racing’s greatest stage at the first race of season three in Miami, USA, in support of Formula 1. As has always been the case, I’m in it to win it.”
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senproman
8th February 2022, 16:02
To be fair, I forgot how accomplished Caitlyn’s sports career was in the past.
Hope all goes well in establishing her W-Series team!
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
8th February 2022, 16:05
Poor driving career though
Marvin The Martian (@marvinthemartian)
8th February 2022, 16:42
Better than mine and yours no doubt
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
8th February 2022, 17:22
Think again https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/20/caitlyn-jenner-california-manslaughter-charges
Jeorge (@jeorge)
8th February 2022, 20:45
Sometimes all you can do is just…applaud in amazement
Cranberry
9th February 2022, 6:26
Beautiful setup work, Senna himself would be proud! Amazing.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
9th February 2022, 1:23
I never knew that Jenner had a past in motorsport. Hopefully it garners some extra interest from folk who wouldn’t normally pay attention to motorsport.
Gusmaia
8th February 2022, 16:43
Does WSeries have any provision about accepting transwomen as drivers?
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
8th February 2022, 21:27
Formula 1 accepts everyone.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
9th February 2022, 0:07
That’s the big question. I fully support transgendered people, but strongly believe they shouldn’t be able to compete in seperated cisgendered competitions. There’s too many examples of trans women absolutely dominating in cis women sports for it to be anywhere near fair.
Hosford90
9th February 2022, 4:08
You should probably not use the word ‘transgendered’ if you want to convince anyone you in any way empathise with, understand our support transgender people.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
9th February 2022, 4:42
There should probably be an edit button before anyone complains about spelling mistakes on this site.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
9th February 2022, 4:48
And for the record, I don’t care, nor am I trying to convince anybody of anything. I have an opinion and added an “ed” to a word I didn’t know was offensive if done so.
God I hate this offendered by an honest mistake rubbish. How am I supposed to know?
I’m offended by people whos name start with Hos, you better change that before you try to convince me of anything.
Aapje (@aapje)
9th February 2022, 19:07
@skipgamer
You are supposed to keep tabs on the correct terminology.
This is part of the system to silence others and feel morally superior. Constantly changing language for no reason, where the old terms are deemed to be morally impermissible, often by lying about those old words, is how this is done. This automatically excludes/silences those who don’t spend much of their time caring about this and/or who aren’t part of the ‘hip’ crowd that adopts the new words quickly.
It’s also extremely classist.
Alberto
9th February 2022, 9:43
That’s a good question except if they did they most probably won’t be racing for Caitlyn Jenner’s team. In the past, she opposed to women transitioned from men to compete in the women’s sports.
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
8th February 2022, 17:13
Buckle up, buckaroos!
Jere (@jerejj)
8th February 2022, 18:00
@mrboerns South Park season 19, LOL. I immediately recognized the reference.
Roy Beedrill
8th February 2022, 19:00
Oooh, I ‘member!
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
8th February 2022, 17:14
Wait, W Series has teams? I thought all their cars were run by a single entity?
Jere (@jerejj)
8th February 2022, 19:00
@proesterchen I suppose single chassis designer.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
8th February 2022, 21:12
Yes, they run spec F4 cars, but all cars are run by a single company, too.
These “teams” appear to be nothing more than branding opportunities for partners, each “running” (i.e. customizing the stickers on) two of the series’ cars and competing for an apparently purely fictional “team” competition.
HalcyonDigest
9th February 2022, 15:37
There’ve been talks about W Series moving to a proper, team-based championship last year, so I guess this was what came out of it.
Given how there’s only 1 team with the season due to start in 3 months though, I doubt they’re gonna have much of an impact.
MichaelN
9th February 2022, 16:03
It does, but it’s rather convoluted. See here for a description of the changes in 2021 and 2022: https://wseries.com/w-hub/w-series-pivots-towards-new-team-structure/
Johnny
8th February 2022, 17:33
One can leave behind their gender but one can never leave behind their privileged old white male lifestyle. maybe if she got Kylie and Kendall to drive it would really help her bring in sponsorship dollars to fund the team better than any other team on the grid.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
8th February 2022, 17:58
I’m more than happy for people to feel that they belong and are valued regardless of gender or sexuality, it’s something we should celebrate. I think motorsport is in an unusual position in that women and men can theoretically compete equally.
But this just sort of feels ‘off’ to me. Sorry, I’m happy for Caitlyn, I’m delighted that the W Series exists. I’d love to see Chadwick or anyone else on the grid, but this feels a bit ‘opportunistic’. I imagine if I was a W series driver and I read this I’d sigh.
The reality is we’d love to see someone prove in modern machinery there is no difference between boys and girls. I just don’t think Cailtlyn is the best way to go about it.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
9th February 2022, 0:05
That’s a bit hypocritical. It’s off because she’s a trans woman? That’s all I can deduce from your comment.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
9th February 2022, 2:46
@skipgamer Yeah, it’s certainly not the trans element. It’s the celebrity bit I don’t feel comfortable with. I’m of course more than happy to be proved wrong, but can we champion women in motorsport without a Kardashian?
When I say ‘off’, I don’t mean wrong, just that there are plenty of girls in cars and karts that are more deserving of our attention. But that’s not really how the world works, if Caitlyn brings attention to W Series then that’s a good thing. It’ll raise the profile.
So it’s not a bad thing, just i’d prefer to just see girls beating boys without TV stars, it seems to me she stands more to gain than anyone else.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
9th February 2022, 3:31
I really don’t think a celebrity has much to gain in sponsoring a Formula W team, it’s not exactly high profile, as you say. They’re doing it because they think it’s a worthwhile initiative. It’s the exact same reason why Hamilton and Rosberg have their own Extreme E “teams” it’s an worthwhile initiative.
For sure when Rosberg’s team wins Extreme E there is some small return on investment there, but it’s better for all involved than just having a list of “proudly supported by:” on a credit role for the series as a whole.
I have no doubt the cost Jenner is putting in is far and away bigger than anything she might gain from it. Plus who knows, might even be a tax thing 🤷♂️
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
9th February 2022, 12:16
@skipgamer Yeah, you’re right, I should just take the positives for what they are. If it wasn’t Jenner, then who? Alain Prost? I guess she makes better sense than most. I think i’m just suspicious because she comes from a background of being ‘brand savvy’, she’s not exactly known for her sincerity.
If W Series goal is to get a woman into F1, then Caitlyn is perhaps better at making that happen than David Coulthard is.
I still might keep one eyebrow slightly raised, just a little, just in case. Rich people and tax, it’s worth keeping one of them a little crooked.
franco
9th February 2022, 6:26
Everything she does nowadays is about her gender. So what a surprise it is she’s now involved in a female-only racing series. This wont’t be of any help to woman drivers.
Jere (@jerejj)
8th February 2022, 18:03
I didn’t see this coming at all. Admittedly, I was somewhat shocked to see a familiar name in the headline that could’ve alternatively been a full namesake. I didn’t even know Caitlyn Jenner had done some racing before.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
8th February 2022, 18:49
So does this mean there’ll be an extra 2 cars on the grid or has an existing team been bought? Surely this can only be a good thing to get the series exposure. I dare say a few million people with no interest in motorsport just learned that the W Series exists.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
9th February 2022, 2:27
I’d bet it’s an existing “team”… There are unbranded generic named teams in the series.
rowmk9
8th February 2022, 18:50
Good for her. I hope she helps raise the profile of the series and helps push through female talent into the higher echelons of motorsport.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
9th February 2022, 1:51
Have they assigned drivers already? They can always re-assign later.
Hosford90
9th February 2022, 4:10
Your point being?
OOliver
9th February 2022, 11:53
Played college football, then decathlon.
Won many events against other men. Not bad for a lady.
petebaldwin (@)
9th February 2022, 9:38
Good on her. She stands to gain very little out of this financially but her popularity could bring new eyes to the sport. I doubt a huge number of her fans are suddenly going to start loving motorsport but it only takes a small amount to decide they want to get involved to make a fairly significant change.
Jessica N
9th February 2022, 13:45
Why deadname her in the article?
Bradders (@bradders)
9th February 2022, 18:01
Because it’s informative and helpful in learning about her sporting records. That’s clearly why.
Jessica N
9th February 2022, 20:07
It’s disrespectful. Her previous Olympic and motorsport activity could be mentioned without deadnaming her.