How the women of Veloce are driving diversity forward

Shining a spotlight on diversity and creating a voice for the fearless women in motorsport is one of the key pillars that brought E.ON and partner Veloce Racing together.

A realisation has been dawning in motorsport – on paper, one of the world’s truly mixed-gender sports – that men and women can compete at the same time, at the same level, and towards the same purpose.

Extreme E provides the perfect platform for E.ON and Veloce Racing to showcase this. The championship represents a world-first in motorsport, offering a completely gender-equal format, with one female and one male driver lining up for each team. This year, the series breaks down the boundaries even further, enforcing an equal number of race starts between teammates.

As well as showcasing many amazing women going wheel-to-wheel in some of the most extreme environments on the planet, Extreme E also focuses on equality away from racing, through education and meaningful projects such as the Racing For All initiative.

As part of Women’s History Month, we delved into the stories of both the racers and the ladies working behind the scenes at E.ON Veloce Racing.

Molly brings invaluable expertise to E.ON Veloce Racing’s efforts, after claiming the title in the championship’s inaugural season. The Australian grew up in the motorsport world, as the daughter of rally driver Mark Taylor and four-time Australian Rally Champion co-driver Coral Taylor, and has enjoyed an illustrious career of her own to date.

Molly commenced a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Sydney, but a rally career was calling her, and she left the university to pursue it full time – but that didn’t stop her from earning a Certificate in Automotive Studies and becoming a qualified personal trainer over the years.

Molly said: “I am proud to stand amongst the many talented women in motorsport and to see the progress we are making. Veloce and E.ON’s mission to inspire and encourage the next generation is one of the many reasons I joined the team. At home, I’m excited to have launched my MAD Garage scholarship in collaboration with Girls On Track and I’m really looking forward to helping build more successful career opportunities in motorsport.”

In her wider career, Molly became the first female to achieve a podium position in Junior WRC history, and the first female driver, and youngest at the time, to win the Australian Rally Championship with Subaru in 2016.

We’ve lost count of all of Molly’s accolades, from being one of the youngest and the only female drivers participating in the WRC at the time, to the first Australian woman to take on the Dakar Rally, she is an inspiration to both the team and young girls around the world.

Mariella joined Veloce as Operations Manager in September 2020, before making the step up to her current role as Head of Operations in January 2022.

Mariella has been surrounded by motorsport all of her life. With her dad being a racing driver, she spent many days at racetracks. Her mother continues to work in motorsport on the PR and events side to this day, and it is her brothers who helped found Veloce.

Mariella said: “The steps we are taking at Veloce to ensure that equality is one of our main business pillars fills me with pride. I feel very supported as a woman in motorsport here and I am proud of my job and the team I work with. It is a priority of ours here to keep pushing women in the sport and it is a passion of mine personally. We will keep moving in the right direction and hopefully see more females joining our team in the future!”

This family passion led her to become a Team Principal in the W Series at the age of just 25. W Series was an integral part of the promotion and exposure of female talent in the motorsport world, and in July of 2021, Mariella was announced as the Team Principal of Veloce Racing.

Before joining Veloce, Mariella worked at different corporate companies in marketing departments and worked for Dare2BeDifferent (now FIA Girls on Track). While her role is very much on the operations side, Mariella works closely with the drivers on a race weekend, helping to manage their time and making sure they can perform at their best.

Specialising in Aerospace Engineering, with a roughly even split between Aero and Electrical modules, Amanda has a keen interest in motorsport engineering and the possibilities around sustainability within it.

Amanda became the first woman to be recruited as a junior engineer for a racing team in Extreme E . Amanda met Veloce Racing at the NEOM Island X Prix double-header in Sardinia in 2022 and has been a crucial part of the team since. Amanda's new role is allowing her to learn exactly what it takes to be part of a professional race team, providing a first step on the career ladder in motorsport.

Amanda said: “It is a pleasure and so encouraging to be in an environment like Veloce that celebrates the rise of women in motorsport. I am continuously inspired and in awe by the women at Veloce – the passion for the sport is apparent in all that they do. I feel at home as a junior engineer, with no limit to my growth and their full support and belief.”

Alongside her studies at the University of Cambridge, Amanda has taken up roles in multiple societies, including President of the Gonville & Caius Engineering Society and Access Officer for the Cambridge University Engineering Society.

E.ON and Veloce are dedicated to continuing the legacy of women in motorsport and championing the need for equality and diversity in motorsport and beyond.

E.ON is now one of the UK’s Top Inclusive Employers. To find out more about how E.ON is supporting Diversity and Inclusion within its business, visit the 2023 report.