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Megan Gilkes

{{short description|Canadian racing driver}}

{{Infobox racing driver

| name = Megan Gilkes

| image = Megan Gilkes.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Gilkes in 2022

| nationality = {{flagicon|CAN}} Canadian

| birth_date ={{Birth date and age|2000|11|5}}

| birth_place = Richmond Hill, Ontario

| death_date =

| death_place =

| retired =

| related to = Nick Gilkes (brother)

| last series = W Series

| years active = 2019

| teams =

| starts = 5

| wins = 0

| poles = 0

| fastest laps = 0

| best finish = NC

| year = 2019

| prev series = F1200 Canada

| prev series years = 2017–18

| titles =

| title years =

| awards =

| award years =

}}

Megan Gilkes (born November 5, 2000) is a Canadian former racing driver who last competed in F1 Academy. She previously competed in the now defunct W Series in 2019.{{cite news|url=https://wseries.com/drivers/megan-gilkes/|title=Megan Gilkes – W Series|publisher=W Series|accessdate=16 April 2019|archive-date=5 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405213548/https://wseries.com/drivers/megan-gilkes/|url-status=dead}}

Biography

A third-generation racer, Gilkes began karting aged nine in her then-home of Barbados. 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.{{cite news|url=https://carsyeah.com/ourportfolio/797-megan-gilkes/|title=Episode 797: Megan Gilkes|publisher=Cars Yeah|date=4 May 2018}}{{cite news|url=https://www.motorsportprospects.com/shes-young-fast-and-racing-in-europe-in-conversation-with-megan-gilkes/|title=She's Young, Fast and Racing in Europe – In Conversation with Megan Gilkes|publisher=Motorsport Prospects|date=20 May 2019}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://drivetribe.com/p/meet-the-teenager-whos-aiming-for-MStuoRXDQCKmSdbyag7CJg?iid=SolEkSfiSoK_W0OEpPhquw|title=MEET THE TEENAGER WHO'S AIMING FOR FORMULA 1|publisher=Drivetribe|date=10 February 2019}}{{Dead link|date=November 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite news|url=http://momentummotorsportsllc.com/drivers/|title=Drivers :: Momentum Motorsports|publisher=Momentum Motorsports|date=1 August 2019}} 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.

File:2019 Brands Hatch W Series round 31.jpg.]]

In 2019, Gilkes applied for the W Series, a European-based Formula Regional 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, she failed to score any points in the regular series races and finished last in the standings.{{cite news|url=http://www.formulascout.com/gilkes-win-boosted-confidence/52621|title=Megan Gilkes: W Series win has "boosted my confidence no end"|publisher=Formula Scout|date=21 July 2019}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://formula1600.com/2020/07/20/w-series-driver-megan-gilkes-joins-toyo-tires-f1600-championship/|title=W Series Driver, Megan Gilkes, Joins Toyo Tires F1600 Championship|publisher=Canadian Automobile Sport Clubs – Ontario|date=20 July 2020|access-date=26 August 2020|archive-date=11 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411174225/https://formula1600.com/2020/07/20/w-series-driver-megan-gilkes-joins-toyo-tires-f1600-championship/|url-status=dead}}

File:F1 Academy 2023 Spielberg Nr. 12 Gilkes (side 1).jpg race at the Red Bull Ring in 2023.]]

Gilkes returned to the UK in 2022 through the GB4 Championship, placing sixth in the standings with two wins at Snetterton and Donington Park.{{cite news|url=https://formulascout.com/gilkes-glides-to-win-in-gb4s-first-reversed-grid-race/91639|title=Gilkes glides to win in GB4's first reversed grid race|publisher=Formula Scout|date=3 April 2022}} The Canadian was accepted into another female-only series, F1 Academy, for 2023, but only managed thirteenth out of fifteen in the championship with two top-five finishes.{{cite news|url=https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/megan-gilkes-completes-rodin-carlins-2023-f1-academy-line-up.bNRxdYc7JEIIhVlzDsYZ9|title=Megan Gilkes completes Rodin Carlin's 2023 F1 Academy line-up|publisher=Formula One Management|date=8 March 2023}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.racers-behindthehelmet.com/post/megan-gilkes-announces-retirement-from-pro-competitions-after-cota-season-finale|title=Megan Gilkes announces retirement from Pro competitions after COTA season finale|publisher=Racers - Behind the Helmet|date=19 October 2023}}

Personal life

Gilkes has a younger brother Nick who is currently competing in Eurocup-3 for Drivex.{{Cite web |date=2022-01-06 |title=GB3 - British-Canadian Nick Gilkes joins Hillspeed for 2022 GB3 Championship |url=https://www.gb-3.net/gb3-news/british-canadian-nick-gilkes-joins-hillspeed-for-2022-gb3-championship/ |access-date=2022-04-08 |website=GB3 Championship |language=en |archive-date=2022-01-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129014424/https://www.gb-3.net/gb3-news/british-canadian-nick-gilkes-joins-hillspeed-for-2022-gb3-championship/ |url-status=dead }}

Alongside her racing, she studied Aeronautical Engineering at the Imperial College in London.{{cite news|url=https://norrismcdonald.ca/richmond-hill-woman-megan-gilkes-one-of-only-18-in-the-world-selected-to-contest-all-female-w-racing-series/|title=Richmond Hill woman, Megan Gilkes, one of only 18 in the world selected to contest all-female W Racing Series|publisher=Norris McDonald's Racing Review|date=13 April 2019}} She currently works for the Aston Martin F1 Team as a trackside support engineer.{{Cite web |last=Wood |first=Ida |date=2022-08-24 |title=Louis Harvey lands prize GB4 test as Gilkes gets Aston Martin F1 work |url=https://formulascout.com/louis-harvey-lands-prize-gb4-test-as-gilkes-gets-aston-martin-f1-work/97760 |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=Formula Scout |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Whitfield |first=Steve |date=2023-03-08 |title=Megan Gilkes joins Rodin Carlin to race in F1 Academy |url=https://formulascout.com/megan-gilkes-joins-rodin-carlin-to-race-in-f1-academy/104571 |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=Formula Scout |language=en-US}}

Racing record

=Career summary=

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%; text-align:center"

! Season

! Series

! Team

! Races

! Wins

! Poles

! F/Laps

! Podiums

! Points

! Position

rowspan=2| 2017

|align=left| Canadian Formula 1200 Championship

|align=left| Vallis Motorsports

| 15

| 2

| ?

| ?

| 10

| 1148

|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 3rd

align=left| SCCA National Championship Runoffs - Formula Vee

|align=left| Millers Oils

| 1

| 0

| 0

| 0

| 0

| 0

| 23rd

rowspan=5| 2018

|align=left| Canadian Formula 1200 Championship

|rowspan=2 align=left| Vallis Motorsports

| 9

| 1

| 0

| 0

| 7

| 738

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 2nd

align=left| Formula Vee Challenge Cup Series

| 9

| 3

| 1

| 0

| 3

| 130

| 4th

align=left| F2000 Championship Series

|rowspan=3 align=left| N/A

| 2

| 0

| 0

| 0

| 0

| 22

| 25th

align=left nowrap| SCCA Majors Championship Nationwide - Formula Vee

| 2

| 0

| ?

| ?

| 0

| 29

| 43rd

align=left| Campeonato Paulista de Formula Vee

| 2

| 0

| 0

| 0

| 0

| 14

| 15th

rowspan=3| 2019

|align=left| W Series

|align=left| Hitech GP

| 5

| 0

| 0

| 0

| 0

| 0

| 20th

align=left| F3 Americas Championship

|align=left nowrap| Momentum Motorsports

| 4

| 0

| 0

| 0

| 0

| 2

| 17th

align=left| F2000 Championship Series

|align=left| Vallis Motor Sport

| 2

| 0

| 0

| 0

| 0

| 28

| 23rd

rowspan=2| 2020

|align=left| F1600 Ontario

|align=left| Brian Graham Racing

| 15

| 0

| 1

| 2

| 11

| 275

|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| 2nd

align=left| BRSCC Formula Ford Festival

|align=left| Kevin Mills Racing

| 1

| 0

| 0

| 0

| 0

| N/A

| 20th

2021

|align=left| National Formula Ford Championship - Pro

|align=left| Kevin Mills Racing

| 17

| 0

| 0

| 0

| 0

| 106

| 10th

2022

|align=left| GB4 Championship

|align=left| Hillspeed

|24

|2

|1

|3

|3

|375

|6th

2023

|align=left| F1 Academy

|align=left| Rodin Carlin

|21

|0

|0

|0

|0

|31

|13th

=SCCA National Championship Runoffs=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"
YearTrackCarEngineClassFinishStartStatus
2017Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayBRD AFV-01VolkswagenFormula Vee2324Running

=Complete W Series results=

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

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"

! Year

! Team

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! DC

! Points

2019

!nowrap| Hitech GP

|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| HOC
{{small|Ret}}

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ZOL
{{small|14}}

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| MIS
{{small|17}}

|style="background:#F1F8FF;"| NRM
{{small|{{tooltip|PO|Practice only}}}}

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| ASN
{{small|14}}

|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| BRH
{{small|18}}

! 20th

! 0

= Complete F1600 Ontario results =

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

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"

!Year

!Team

!1

!2

!3

!4

!5

!6

!7

!8

!9

!10

!11

!12

!13

!14

!15

!Rank

!Points

2020

!nowrap|Brian Graham Racing

| style="background:#DFDFDF;" |MSP1
1
{{small|2*}}

| style="background:#DFDFDF;" |MSP1
2
{{small|2}}

| style="background:#DFDFDF;" |MSP1
3
{{small|2}}

| style="background:#CFCFFF;" |MSP2
1
{{small|16*}}

| style="background:#FFFFFF;" |MSP2
2
{{small|DNS}}

| style="background:#FFFFFF;" |MSP2
3
{{small|DNS}}

| style="background:#DFDFDF;" |SMP
1
{{small|2}}

| style="background:#FFDF9F;" |SMP
2
{{small|3}}

| style="background:#FFDF9F;" |SMP
3
{{small|3}}

| style="background:#DFDFDF;" |MSP3
1
{{small|2}}

| style="background:#DFDFDF;" |MSP3
2
{{small|2}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" |MSP3
3
{{small|4}}

| style="background:#DFDFDF;" |MSP4
1
{{small|2}}

| style="background:#DFDFDF;" |MSP4
2
{{small|2}}

| style="background:#DFDFDF;" |MSP4
3
{{small|2}}

! style="background:#DFDFDF;" |2nd

! style="background:#DFDFDF;" |275

= Complete GB4 Championship results =

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

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"

! Year

! Entrant

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! 18

! 19

! 20

! 21

! 22

! 23

! 24

! DC

! Points

2022

!nowrap| Hillspeed

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" |SNE1
1
{{small|7}}

| style="background:#EFCFFF;" |SNE1
2
{{small|Ret}}

| style="background:#FFFFBF;" |SNE1
3
{{small|11}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" |OUL
1
{{small|4}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" |OUL
2
{{small|5}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" |OUL
3
{{small|11}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" |SIL1
1
{{small|6}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" |SIL1
2
{{small|4}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" |SIL1
3
{{small|44}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" |DON1
1
{{small|7}}

| style="background:#FFFFBF;" |DON1
2
{{small|1}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" |DON1
3
{{small|84}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" |SNE2
1
{{small|5}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" |SNE2
2
{{small|4}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" |SNE2
3
{{small|7}}

| style="background:#FFDF9F;" |SIL2
1
{{small|3}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" |SIL2
2
{{small|5}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" |SIL2
3
{{small|47}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" |BRA
1
{{small|6}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" |BRA
2
{{small|7}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" |BRA
3
{{small|9}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" |DON2
1
{{small|5}}

| style="background:#EFCFFF;" |DON2
2
{{small|Ret}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" |DON2
3
{{small|9}}

! 6th

! 375

= Complete F1 Academy results =

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

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"
Year

! Team

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! 17

! 18

! 19

! 20

! 21

! DC

! Points

2023

!nowrap| Rodin Carlin

| style="background:#dfffdf" | RBR
1
{{small|5}}

| style="background:#cfcfff" | RBR
2
{{small|12}}

| style="background:#dfffdf" | RBR
3
{{small|10}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" | CRT
1
{{small|8}}

| style="background:#CFCFFF;" | CRT
2
{{small|13}}

| style="background:#CFCFFF;" | CRT
3
{{small|13†}}

| style="background:#CFCFFF;" | CAT
1
{{small|11}}

| style="background:#CFCFFF;" | CAT
2
{{small|11}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" | CAT
3
{{small|8}}

| style="background:#CFCFFF;" | ZAN
1
{{small|11}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" | ZAN
2
{{small|7}}

| style="background:#EFCFFF;" | ZAN
3
{{small|Ret}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" | MON
1
{{small|5}}

| style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MON
2
{{small|Ret}}

| style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MON
3
{{small|Ret}}

| style="background:#CFCFFF;" | LEC
1
{{small|11}}

| style="background:#CFCFFF;" | LEC
2
{{small|13}}

| style="background:#DFFFDF;" | LEC
3
{{small|9}}

| style="background:#CFCFFF;" | USA
1
{{small|12}}

| style="background:#CFCFFF;" | USA
2
{{small|13}}

| style="background:#CFCFFF;" | USA
3
{{small|11}}

! style="background:#" | 13th

! style="background:#;" | 31

References

{{reflist}}

External links

{{commons category|Megan Gilkes}}

  • {{DriverDB driver|megan-gilkes}}

{{W Series Drivers}}

{{F1 Academy drivers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilkes, Megan}}

Category:Canadian racing drivers

Category:2000 births

Category:Living people

Category:W Series drivers

Category:Formula Regional Americas Championship drivers

Category:SCCA National Championship Runoffs participants

Category:Formula Ford drivers

Category:GB4 Championship drivers

Category:Canadian female racing drivers

Category:Sportspeople from Richmond Hill, Ontario

Category:F1 Academy drivers

Category:Carlin racing drivers

Category:Racing drivers from Ontario

Category:Alumni of Imperial College London

Category:Formula One engineers

Category:Engineers from Ontario

Category:Canadian women engineers

Category:Rodin Motorsport drivers

Category:Hillspeed drivers

Category:21st-century Canadian sportswomen