Megan Gilkes (born November 6, 2000) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

retired racing driver who last competed in

F1 Academy F1 Academy is a female-only, Formula 4-level Formula racing, single-seater racing championship founded by the Formula One Group. The championship is a One-design racing, spec series, meaning that all teams compete with an identical Tatuus F4-T4 ...

. She previously competed in the now defunct W Series in 2019.

Biography

A third-generation racer, Gilkes began karting aged nine in her then-home of

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

. Following a break from racing after a crash in qualifying at the World Finals where she broke her wrist, she won the Ottawa Challenge Karting Cup in her home country of Canada, and finished runner up in the 2016 Eastern Canadian Karting Championship as an ambassador for ''Dare to be Different''. In 2017, Gilkes stepped up to single-seaters in the Canadian F1200 championship. Despite not contesting all of the rounds in either season she competed in, she finished third and second overall in consecutive years. Also in 2017, Gilkes finished runner up in the Sports Car Club of America Southeast Majors championship, having led it for 10 of the 12 rounds. 2019 Brands Hatch W Series round 31

In 2019, Gilkes applied for the W Series, a European-based

Formula Regional Formula Regional (FR) is an FIA-approved moniker for certified regional one-make Formula Three championships with the concept being approved during the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in December 2017. The first series under new regulations w ...

championship solely for women. She was selected into the category as one of 18 full-time drivers, but struggled for results as the least experienced driver in the field. Despite winning the non-championship reverse grid race at

TT Circuit Assen The TT Circuit Assen is a motorsport race track built in 1955 and located in Assen, Netherlands. Host of the Dutch TT, it is popularly referred to as "The Cathedral of Speed" by motorcycle racing fans. The venue has the distinction of holding th ...

, she failed to score any points in the regular series races and finished last in the standings. Gilkes returned to Canada in 2020, competing in the Ontario Formula 1600 Championship, where she had two pole positions, two fastest race laps and 13 podium finishes, and was runner up overall in the series to Mac Clark. Gilkes returned to the UK in 2022 through the

GB4 Championship The GB4 Championship is a single seater motorsport series based in the United Kingdom. The championship is operated by MotorSport Vision with support from the BRDC, and is aimed at young drivers graduating from karting or club level motorspo ...

, placing sixth in the standings with two wins at

Snetterton Snetterton is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. The village is about east-northeast of Thetford and southwest of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of . The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population ...

and

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport Race track, circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, sti ...

. The Canadian was accepted into another female-only series,

, for

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, but only managed thirteenth out of fifteen in the championship with two top-five finishes. At the end of the season, Gilkes announced her retirement at 22 years of age to take up an engineering position at the

Aston Martin F1 Team Aston Martin is a British car manufacturer that has participated in Formula One in various forms and is currently represented by a team named as Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team. The company first participated in Formula One during the 1959 Formula ...

Personal life

Gilkes has a younger brother

Nick Nick may refer to: People and fictional characters * Nick (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Désirée Nick, German actress and writer Places * Nick, Hungary, a village * Nick, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland, a ...

who is currently competing in

Eurocup-3 Eurocup-3 is a formula racing series regulated according to Formula Regional regulations. The series is founded for levelling up the competition for all drivers, with each team committing on a maximum budget of €400,000 every season. History ...

for

Drivex Drivex is an auto racing team and school based in Spain. The team was founded by Pedro de la Rosa and Miguel Ángel de Castro in 2005 as a racing school. The racing team is run by Miguel Ángel de Castro. They compete in the F4 Spanish Championsh ...

. Alongside her racing, she studied Aeronautical Engineering at the

Imperial College Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. She currently works for the Aston Martin F1 Team as a trackside support engineer.

Racing record

Career summary

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

Complete W Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete F1600 Ontario results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)

Complete GB4 Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete F1 Academy results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilkes, Megan Canadian racing drivers 2000 births Living people W Series drivers Formula Regional Americas Championship drivers SCCA National Championship Runoffs participants Formula Ford drivers GB4 Championship drivers Canadian female racing drivers Sportspeople from Richmond Hill, Ontario F1 Academy drivers Carlin racing drivers Racing drivers from Ontario Alumni of Imperial College London Formula One engineers Engineers from Ontario Canadian women engineers Rodin Motorsport drivers Hillspeed drivers 21st-century Canadian sportswomen