In 2008, the feeder series to IndyCar was re-branded as Indy Lights and with that rebrand came the first woman to race in this series - Ana Beatriz. While she was the first, she wouldn’t be the last woman to race in the series before its most recent rebrand in 2023. A number of women competed over the years in the Feeder Series, all with the hope of making it into IndyCar - one of which did.
Here then are the women who competed in Indy Lights.
Ana Beatriz
Making her Indy Light debut in 2008 with Sam Schmidt Motorsports, Ana Beatriz hit the ground running in the series. A seventh-place finish at the season opener at Homestead in Miami was followed by a maiden podium at the first of two races held in St. Petersburg. These wouldn’t be her last as Beatriz would go on to finish on the podium a further five times that season. One of these was her inaugural win in the series as she crossed the line in first place in Nashville, coming off the back of another third-place finish at Watkins Glen.
Beatriz only finished five of the sixteen races that season outside of the top ten and ended her first year in Indy Lights in style with back-to-back podiums in Sonoma and at Chicagoland with a P3 and P2 finish, respectively. Her efforts were good enough for third place overall with 449 points to her name.
In 2009, she returned for her sophomore year, finishing in fourth place at the opening round in St. Petersburg. Beatriz’s second year would prove to be more difficult with fewer trips to the podium for the Brazilian. She had to wait until the seventh round of the season to claim her first podium of the year - but it would have been worth it as she won the race around the oval at Iowa. Her second and final podium that year came when she finished in third place at the Kentucky Speedway four races later. Beatriz finished the season in eighth overall in a year that saw future IndyCar drivers such as J.R Hilderbrand and James Hinchcliffe ahead of her in the standings.
While it may have been Beatriz’s final year in Indy Lights, it wasn’t the end of her IndyCar journey as she would make the step up to IndyCar itself in 2010 with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.
Cyndie Allemann
Also competing in Indy Lights in 2008 was Cyndie Allemann. It was a tough season for the Swiss driver as she struggled to break in and remain within the top ten on a regular basis. St. Petersburg was an early location for success for Allemann as she was able to achieve back-to-back top ten finishes in both races held there.
But a string of lowly results over the next four rounds meant that she would have to wait until the eighth round of the season at Watkins Glen before getting back into the top ten. Finishing in ninth on that occasion, she’d endure a tough set of races before achieving her highest finishing position of the season four races later at Mid-Ohio.
Allemann came home fourth on that day just behind Richard Antinucci in third. It would be her last top ten appearance of the season and Allemann would finish the year in fourteenth overall. She would step away from single-seater racing after this and pivot instead to endurance racing.
Christina Orr-West
Making her Indy Lights debut alongside Beatriz and Allemann in 2008 was Christina Orr-West. She came in for the final four races of the season held in Kentucky, Sononoma and Chicagoland. Her best finish from these was P16 in Chicagoland.
These would be her only four appearances in Indy NXT. The New Zealander also raced in the Castrol Toyota Racing Series and the Bridgestone GR86 Championship, the latter occurring in 2024.
Pippa Mann
The British driver made her Indy Lights debut in 2009 where she raced for Panther Racing. Like Allemann, she would find her first foray into the series challenging as she only managed to get into the top ten on three occasions that year, in Milwaukee, Chicagoland and Homestead. She finished in P14 overall in what was a very competitive season for the series.
Mann switched to Sam Schmidt Motorsports in 2010 and went on to have a very strong second season in the series. Multiple top ten results came her way with the first being at round three at Long Beach. She’d also make two trips to the podium in 2010. The first of these came at Chicagoland where she finished in second place behind James Hinchliffe. Next time out at the Kentucky Speedway, Mann went one better and won her first race in Indy Lights. Hinchliffe and that year’s Champion, Jean-Karl Vernay joined her on the podium.
Pippa finished in fifth place overall by the end of the season, ahead of now Formula 3 Team Owner Adrian Campos Jr.
Carmen Jorda
Carmen Jorda joined Pippa Mann on the grid for the 2010 season of Indy Lights. The Spanish driver would only compete in five of the thirteen rounds that season though. Making her debut at the season opener in St. Petersburg, she finished in a solid P11. P17 came her way next time out in Alabama before her sole top ten result of the year, tenth place, achieved at the third round held at Long Beach.
Jorda missed the next three rounds before returning for back-to-back rounds in Toronto and Edmonton where she finished in P15 and P13 respectively. She ended the year in sixteenth overall and wouldn’t return to the series.
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Indy Lights was rebranded into Indy NXT in 2023 and with this rebranding came a host of new women into the sport. Keep your eyes peeled for the next article in this series talking about those here on It’s Race Week!