The FIA’s fourth annual Girls on Track Rising Stars initiative has reached its second stage next week as the 16 drivers nominated for the programme prepare to gather for the initial Training Camp phase.

Conducted in partnership with the Ferrari Driver Academy, Iron Dames and Pirelli, the FIA Girls on Track Rising Stars programme is intended to detect and nurture female racing talent from among the best 12-16-year-old drivers put forward by their national sporting bodies.

Franciacorta circuit in Italy will play host to the eight nominated Junior drivers (12 to 14 years of age) on September 4-5 and the eight nominated Senior drivers (14 to 16 years of age) on September 6-7. Both programmes have been devised and managed by the ACI Scuola Federale, the official driving school of the Italian motor federation.

The nominee Junior drivers will take part in track sessions at the wheel of identically-prepared karts with testing to gauge their technical feedback plus a full race-day simulation of the component track sessions – practice, qualifying and race.

Outside the track sessions there will be mental and physical conditioning exercises and other training exercises to fully assess their abilities across all the aspects of a modern motor racing career.

The same basic programme will be repeated for the nominee Senior drivers, using identical Formula 4 cars. The added element to the Senior drivers will be to gauge their aptitude at working with the wider array of data analysis available to their engineers.

At the conclusion of the Training Camp, the assessment of the nominees will see the top four Junior and the top four Senior drivers progress to the next stage of the FIA Girls on Track Rising Stars programme, the Scouting Camp.

All of the drivers who make it through the Training Camp will become part of a talent capsule in which they will enjoy long-term support across different aspects of their sporting careers. They will also be given in-depth assessment and coaching at the Scouting Camp, to be held at the fabled Fiorano test circuit in Maranello, home of Scuderia Ferrari.

After the Scouting Camp phase is complete, the most impressive of the Junior nominees will be awarded with the opportunity to participate in an International Karting season 2024 supported by the Ferrari Driver Academy. Among the Senior nominees, the leading performer at the Scouting Camp will be awarded with the opportunity  to compete in Formula 4 with the support of the Iron Dames team in 2024.

And so the road towards these once-in-a-lifetime drives will begin with the initial Training Camp, from which we will be reporting in the days ahead.

The drivers nominated to take part in the 2023 FIA Girls on Track Rising Stars programme are: 

Deborah Mayer, President of the Women in Motorsport Commission, said:"I am looking forward to the start of this 4th edition of FIA Girls On Track - Rising Stars with the gathering of the nominated young female drivers. The call for applications launched in June all around the world, with the additional support of our clubs and the members of the Commission, has resulted in a very rich and promising initial selection with a wide range of profiles and backgrounds. I would like to thank our loyal and committed partners FDA and Iron Dames and ACI Scuola Federale for hosting us this year.  I wish the 16 participants, united by their passion for motorsport and dream for a career, the very best of fun and the very best of luck. In previous editions, FIA Girls on Track - Rising Stars has proved that it can be a dream accelerator and a springboard to the highest level. That's what makes this programme so unique and dear to our hearts."