Women in Race Engineering
Opening the pitlane to the next generation
WiRE exists to bridge the gap between education and the real-world motorsport industry.
Giving early-career female motorsport engineers valuable trackside experience.
Who We Are
Meet Richard
Richard is a racing driver, engineer and co-founder of Women in Race Engineering.
He has more than 20 years experience working in engineering, and several years within the motorsport industry, currently racing in the MINI Challenge Trophy Championship with Pro-Am Racing and the CityCar Cup / Student Motorsport Championships with Team Northbrook Racing. He has worked alongside students and early career motorsport engineers for the last 5 years.
It was through those experiences that Richard and fellow co-founder Charlotte Mitchell recognised one of the biggest challenges facing people trying to build a career in motorsport: getting that first meaningful opportunity.
For aspiring female race engineers in particular, there can be a significant gap between gaining the academic knowledge and being given the opportunity to apply it within a real race team.
Richard and Charlotte created WiRE to help bridge that gap.
By bringing early-career female engineers directly into the race team environment, WiRE gives them the opportunity to gain genuine trackside experience, develop their skills, build confidence and create relationships within the motorsport industry.
For Richard, WiRE is about opening a door that can often be incredibly difficult to get through — and giving talented engineers the opportunity to show what they can do.
Who We Are
Meet Charlotte
Charlotte has worked in HR for ten years and is deeply passionate about creating greater equity for women in the workplace. Having built much of her career in traditionally male-dominated environments, she has seen first-hand the barriers that can affect women’s career progression, particularly in industries where they remain underrepresented.
The idea for WiRE began while Charlotte was studying for her Master’s in Human Resource Management, where her dissertation explored the barriers to women’s career progression in STEM industries. What started as an academic interest quickly became something far more personal and purposeful: a desire to help create real opportunities for women entering technical and engineering careers.
WiRE is a true passion project for Charlotte. Born from a shared ambition with Rich to contribute to positive change within motorsport, WiRE brings together Rich’s love of racing and Charlotte’s passion for opening up career pathways for women. With Charlotte’s HR experience and Rich’s background in racing, the idea naturally developed into a programme focused on supporting early-career female engineers.
For Charlotte, WiRE exists to bridge the gap between education and real-world, trackside experience, a gap that can often make it harder for female engineers to secure their first role in motorsport. She sees WiRE as a long-term project with the power to make a tangible difference. Every engineer who passes through the programme represents one more woman gaining valuable experience, building confidence and taking the next step towards a successful career in engineering and motorsport.
What We've Achieved
We do we do?
WiRE creates opportunities for early-career women in motorsport engineering to gain meaningful, hands-on experience within a professional race team environment.
Through our partnership with PRO-AM Racing, participants become part of the team for a real race weekend, working alongside experienced engineers and mechanics in the fast-paced environment of competitive motorsport.
This isn’t work experience from the sidelines. WiRE participants are actively involved in the engineering operation of the car and experience the responsibilities, pressures and teamwork that come with a live race weekend.
Women in Race Engineering
Real Trackside Experience
Depending on their role and the requirements of each event, participants can gain experience across areas including:
- Vehicle setup and geometry
- Data analysis and driver feedback
- Tyre preparation and management
- Race calculations and strategy
- Damper and setup adjustments
- Pre- and post-session preparation
- Working on the pit wall and in the garage
- Problem solving under real race-weekend pressures
Building More Than Technical Skills
Technical knowledge is only part of working in motorsport.
WiRE gives participants the opportunity to develop communication, teamwork, confidence and decision-making while working alongside experienced motorsport professionals.
Just as importantly, being embedded within the paddock allows participants to build genuine relationships and grow their professional network within the industry.
Creating a Pathway Into Motorsport
Breaking into motorsport can be difficult when so many opportunities require previous experience.
WiRE exists to help bridge that gap.
By giving talented early-career women the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities in a real racing environment, we aim to help turn education and ambition into practical experience, industry connections and future opportunities.
Real teams. Real race weekends. Real experience.
Become a Partner
WiRE is building a practical pathway for women at the beginning of their careers in motorsport engineering — but creating meaningful opportunities requires the support of organisations that share our ambition.
By becoming a WiRE partner, your organisation can directly support the delivery and growth of our programme, helping us provide more early-career engineers with genuine, hands-on experience in professional motorsport environments.
Partner with us
Make a Real Impact
Partner support helps us deliver experiences that go beyond simply visiting a race team.
WiRE participants become part of a working motorsport environment, developing practical skills, building confidence and making valuable connections with people already working within the industry.
Your support can help us:
- Deliver more trackside engineering opportunities
- Increase the number of participants we can support
- Reduce financial barriers to taking part
- Provide equipment, resources and professional support
- Create networking and career opportunities
- Develop the programme beyond individual race weekends
- Build a sustainable pathway into the motorsport industry
Building More Than Technical Skills
More Than Sponsorship
We want to build genuine partnerships with organisations that can contribute to WiRE in different ways.
That could mean financial support, providing equipment or services, sharing technical expertise, creating networking opportunities, supporting events, offering mentoring or helping participants take the next step in their careers.
In return, we want our partners to become part of the WiRE story — demonstrating a meaningful commitment to developing the next generation of motorsport engineering talent.
Our Partners
Help Us Build the Next Opportunity
Whether you’re a motorsport organisation, engineering company, technology provider, educational institution or a business that shares our values, we’d love to explore how we could work together.
Together, we can create more opportunities, open more doors and help talented engineers turn ambition into a career in motorsport.
Interested in becoming a WiRE partner? Get in touch with us to start the conversation.
FAQ's
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