Ambition, determination, skill and a dash of British civility, racing driver Charlie Martin has all the attributes of a racer who deserves to succeed.

With a bold ambition to reach the 24 hours of Le Mans, she has taken yet another step closer today by confirming a seat in the Michelin-supported Le Mans Cup.

Martin cut her teeth in hillclimbing, firstly in the UK and then over in France where she won pretty much everything there is to win whilst engineering the cars herself. Moving from hot hatches and a Westfield in the UK to out-and out-race cars such as a Formula Renault and a Norma prototype over in France, she took the French hillclimbing scene by storm, winning some events by a large margin and breaking course records in the process.

After dominating that scene, a switch to circuit racing was needed in order to get ever closer to the aim of reaching the iconic 24 hour race in Le Mans. She gained that experience by racing Ginettas at circuits around the UK last year.

Today, she has announced that she will compete in the Michelin Le Mans Cup in 2019, making her prototype racing debut with the Racing Experience team.

Martin will compete in a 5 litre 420 bhp Norma M30 LMP3 car, partnering Luxembourgian brothers Gary and David Hauser in the six-round championship.

Five rounds of the series take place on the same weekend as European Le Mans Series events, at such iconic circuits as Monza, Paul Ricard, Spa and La Sarthe – where Martin has already stood on the podium, having achieved third place alongside Nicolas Schatz in the 2017 Trophee Tourisme Endurance on her debut at the world-famous track.

Charlie Martin said: “It feels very special to be announcing this next stage in my racing career. This move into the Le Mans Cup racing brings me one important step closer to my dream of racing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, making history as the first transgender competitor to do so.

“I was lucky to be invited to test the Racing Experience LMP3 car in France last year and from my first taste of the car, I was hooked. I have great partners in Gary and David Hauser, who are very experienced in this sort of machinery. I can’t wait to get testing miles under my belt and show what I can do in the season ahead.”

Christian Hauser said: “We are pleased to welcome Charlie into our team and are looking forward to racing alongside her in 2019. Her skill and aptitude for endurance racing was immediately clear when she took part in a private test for us, and this will be a big year for us as we collectively make our Le Mans Cup debut.”

Charlie will get her first taste of the Racing Experience Norma M30 LMP3 car during a team test at Paul Ricard on March 17 before making her endurance race debut at the circuit one month later.

With experience competing in Europe, and a fluent speaker of French, she can be confident of hitting the track at full speed and pushing on towards an entry to that most iconic event, the 24 hour race, watched by millions across the globe.

With this kind of progress she is not only getting a huge amount of experience and respect across the racing world, but also attracting the big-brand sponsorship which is all-to-often the final piece of the puzzle when aiming for the highest echelons of sport, including motorsport. NGK and Tectri SA are already on board, and with Martin’s high profile, approachable manner and passion for equality being highly-desirable assets for any brand ambassador, I expect to see yet more backers helping her get to Le Mans.

Want to find out more about Charlie Martin?

Read my article on Influx.co.uk and follow her progress on her website www.gocharlie.co.uk or simply type her name into your preferred search engine.

#GoCharlie