Tamara Molinaro

Tamara Molinaro (born 10 October 1997) is an Italian rally driver who most recently raced at JBXE and as the championship reserve driver at Extreme E. She won the FIA European Rally Championship Ladies' Trophy in 2017 before moving on to World Rally Championship-2, TitansRX and the Italian Gravel Championship, where she is a double ladies' champion. She has also occasionally competed as a co-driver, most notably partnering Craig Breen in selected Italian and Sammarinese rounds.

Biography Molinaro began rallying in 2008 at the age of 11 under the mentorship of long-time family friend Gigi Galli, and started her career as a co-driver for Galli and Swiss driver Luca Maspoli. She was picked up by Red Bull early on in her career as one of their sponsored athletes.

Molinaro progressed into driving in 2013, competing in several regional rallies in Italy, aboard a Citroën C2. In 2016, she switched the Citroën for an Opel Adam R2, taking part in a series of Austrian and German events alongside Ilka Minor. The following year she entered the FIA European Rally Championship in the same car, coming seventh in the Junior U27 and winning the title in the Ladies' Trophy.

2017 would also see Molinaro make her World Rally Championship debut, coming 49th at the Rallye Deutschland alongside Veronica Gulbæk Engan. She also co-drove for Craig Breen for the first time, at the Monza Rally Show in December. In 2020 and 2021, Molinaro contested the Italian Gravel Championship, where she finished tenth and seventh respectively, winning the ladies' trophy in both cases. Molinaro remained in the championship into 2022, where she got her debut at the season-opening Desert X-Prix in Saudi Arabia, replacing Xite Energy Racing's Klara Andersson who had tested positive for COVID-19. She impressed, outpacing teammate Oliver Bennett and almost qualifying for the final race. She was retained as the championship reserve driver for the 2023 season. In September 2023, Molinaro became McLaren's second female driver in history when she substituted Emma Gilmour at McLaren XE for Round 7 at the 2023 Island X-Prix II after Gilmour suffered a fractured rib and a concussion following a crash during the first free practice session. In her debut race start for McLaren in Round 7's redemption race, Molinaro collided with JBXE's Hedda Hosås on the run down to the first jump at the start of the race and rolled the car. Molinaro was uninjured but McLaren had to withdraw from Round 8 due to the extensive damage to the spare car. For the final two rounds of the season, Molinaro replaced Hosås at JBXE, who in turn replaced Gilmour at McLaren due to Gilmour still recovering from her injury.

Racing record

Complete WRC results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 WDC Points Tamara Molinaro Opel Adam R2 MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER ESP GBR AUS NC 0 Tamara Molinaro Ford Fiesta R5 MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA FIN GER TUR GBR ESP AUS NC 0 Tamara Molinaro Citroën C3 R5 MON SWE MEX FRA ARG CHL POR ITA FIN GER TUR GBR ESP AUS NC 0

Complete WRC-2 results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 WDC Points 2019 Tamara Molinaro Citroën C3 R5 MON SWE MEX FRA ARG CHL POR ITA FIN GER TUR GBR ESP AUS NC 0

Complete Extreme E results (key) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points 2022 Xite Energy Racing Spark ODYSSEY 21 DES ISL1 ISL2 COP ENE 11th 2023 Neom McLaren Extreme E Team Spark ODYSSEY 21 DES1 DES2 HYD1 HYD2 ISL11 ISL12 ISL21 ISL22 17th 9 JBXE COP1 COP2