Former Olympic Champion and Reality Star launches Racing team for third W Series

Former Olympic Champion and reality star Caitlyn Jenner has now decided to take on yet another career switch as she announced the launch of Jenner Racing - a team which will compete in the third season of the W Series in 2022.

Jenner won the 1976 decathlon at the Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada, setting a third straight world record and Time Magazine called her ‘the world’s greatest athlete.’

Since then, Jenner has gone on to become one of the most iconic members of the LGBTQ+ community, coming out as transgender in 2015 and undergoing her gender transition in 2016.

Her relationship with Kris Jenner was heavily documented on the reality series Keeping up with the Kardashians and from 2015 to 2016, Jenner’s own reality show I am Cait documented her transition.

Now Jenner has found another focus and turns her attention to the W series and her own team Jenner Racing.

This all-female competition was won last year by Britain’s Jamie Chadwick

The W series consists of supporting eight Formula 1 Grand Prix weekends and will start at the Miami Grand Prix in May.

As a series, it claimed a global reach of more than half-a-billion viewers when it teamed up with F1.

Setting up her own team will therefore mean Jenner becomes team principal of Jenner Racing and will oversee the day-to-day running of the company.

This will include the driver line-up, car livery and the acquisition of sponsors.

This is not Jenner’s first dabble into motor racing.

The former Olympian won a celebrity race at the Long Beach Grand Prix, California in 1979 and then went on to debut as a professional racing driver at the 24 Hour Daytona race as part of Jim Busby’s team.

The 72-year-old competed professionally in the IMSA Camel GT Championship as a factory driver for the Ford Motor Company and Jack Roush where she made a total of 57 starts.

In 2021, Jenner previously stated that she was against trans women in Sport as she believed they had an unfair advantage and she would wish to protect girls’ sports in school.

However, in an interview with the BBC, Jenner said “Motorsports is a place where you can have diversity - whether trans or not it doesn’t make any difference.”

After the announcement of her new W series team, Jenner spoke to Sky Sports saying: “As a believer in fair competition, a lover of motor racing, and a supporter of all women in sport from the grassroots to elite level, the W series ticks every box for me and is a fusion of the different aspects of my career.

“As a championship dedicated to inspiring young girls and giving women the chance to succeed in roles throughout what has traditionally been a male-dominate industry, the W Series is changing the face of motorsport.

“As the series continues its rapid expansion with a truly international cast of drivers and races, this was the perfect time to come on board.

“I watched with great excitement last year when the W Series made its American debut in Austin, Texas, where its drivers entertained 400,000 fans over the weekend at the Circuit of the Americas.

“In May, I will be beaming with pride when my Jenner Racing team starts its bid for W Series glory on motor racing’s greatest stage at the first race in Miami, in support of formula 1. As has always been the case, I’m in it to win it.”

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