Ayla Ågren (born 23 July 1993) is a Norwegian- Swedish

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

. Representing Norway, she formerly competed in the W Series.

Biography

Following a decade in karting across Europe and Scandinavia, Ågren moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to forge a professional career – first testing with the

Skip Barber Racing School The Skip Barber Racing School is an American racing and driving school. Skip Barber founded the school in 1975. History In 1975, Skip Barber started the Skip Barber School of High Performance Driving at Riverside International Raceway. In 19 ...

and then competing in their Summer Series, scoring four podiums and finishing eighth overall. In 2013, she moved into F1600, immediately proving competitive and winning the championship at her second attempt with a last-lap pass for victory in the final round at Watkins Glen. The success saw her move onto the

Road to Indy The USF Pro Championships Presented by Continental Tire, formerly known as the Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires, is a racecar driver development program, providing a scholarship-funded path to reach the IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500. ...

schedule, promoted within

Team Pelfrey Team Pelfrey is an American racing team in the F1600 Championship Series and F2000 Championship Series. The team is owned by Dale Pelfrey. Indy Racing League (1998–2000) John Paul Jr. replaced Danny Ongais as driver for the 1998 Indianapolis ...

. Whilst initially competitive, her first season in U.S. F2000 proved to be her only full campaign as the funding began to dry up. She managed a fourth place at

Road America Road America is a motorsport Road racing, road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the IndyCar Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship, Sports Car Club ...

in 2016 having moved to John Cummiskey Racing, but a move back to Team Pelfrey in 2017 led to a half-season campaign with her final appearance at

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

ending in an eighth-place finish. Having spent a year out of racing, Ågren applied for the W Series, a European-based

Formula 3 Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

championship solely for women, in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. She failed to qualify for the inaugural season, and eventually landed a job as the

IndyCar IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis ...

safety car driver having given up on finding a race seat. She would again attempt to qualify for the W Series in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, and successfully made the 20-car grid on her second attempt before the season was cancelled in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Racing record

Career summary

* Season still in progress.

Complete W Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) * Season still in progress.

References

External links

*Profile a
Driver Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ågren, Ayla Norwegian racing drivers 1993 births Living people W Series drivers Sportspeople from Bærum U.S. F2000 National Championship drivers Team Pelfrey drivers Bryan Herta Autosport drivers IndyCar Series people Le Mans Cup drivers Swedish female racing drivers Norwegian female racing drivers 21st-century Swedish sportswomen 21st-century Norwegian sportswomen Ligier European Series drivers