Meet the South African Teen Taking on Global Motorsport

At just 15 years old, South African karting champion Gianna Pascoal is already making moves most drivers spend years chasing.

Her latest milestone places her firmly on the global radar. Pascoal has been selected as one of only five drivers worldwide for the More Than Equal Driver Development Programme, an elite initiative focused on identifying and accelerating female talent toward Formula-level competition.

She is the only South African in the 2026 intake, joining a select group of young drivers from Britain, Australia and Europe in one of the most competitive female development pipelines in international motorsport.

Pascoal’s selection marks a defining moment in a career that has progressed at pace. Having already represented South Africa at major international events including the Champions of the Future, the FIA Academy Trophy and FIA Arrive and Drive programmes, she is now stepping into her next chapter.

Her move into the MSA Formula 4 signals a transition from karting to single-seater racing, a critical step on the path to professional motorsport.

“Her work ethic and race intelligence are at a level we typically see in far more experienced drivers,” says Wesleigh Orr of WORR Motorsports. “She absorbs information incredibly quickly and translates it into lap time. She has all the ingredients to climb the single-seater ladder.”

Unlike many of her competitors, Pascoal entered the sport relatively late, starting karting at the age of 11. Within a few seasons, she had already closed the gap, emerging as a front-runner across national ROK and Rotax series competitions.

Since then, her trajectory has extended well beyond South Africa, with racing experience across Europe and the Middle East.

“I’ve been lucky to discover motorsport, and the biggest thing for me has been learning quickly,” she says. “Every time I’m on track, I try to learn something new and find another tenth of a second.”

Her calendar has expanded significantly following her selection into the More Than Equal programme.

In March, Pascoal competed locally at Killarney Raceway before travelling to Vienna, Austria for an intensive high-performance training block. The programme combines biometric and cognitive testing with physical conditioning tailored specifically for the demands of single-seater racing.

Drivers undergo assessments in visual scanning, reaction speed and selective attention, alongside specialised neck and endurance training to prepare for the G-forces experienced in Formula cars. Mental performance coaching, supported by experts such as Hintsa Performance, forms a key part of the programme.

Back home, Pascoal is scheduled to race at Red Star Raceway and Zwartkops Raceway, circuits that have played an important role in her development.

Pascoal’s rise comes at a time when women are gaining greater visibility in motorsport, both on track and behind the scenes.

South Africa has its own legacy in this space. In 1980, Desiré Wilson became the first woman to win a Formula One-category race at Brands Hatch, a milestone that still stands today.

More recently, Susie Wolff, now Managing Director of the F1 Academy, has been instrumental in creating structured development pathways for female drivers.

For Pascoal, those pathways matter, but they do not define the goal.

“I’ve always wanted to be seen as a top-tier racer, not just a female champion,” she says. “At the end of the day, we should all be judged by our racing ability.”

As International Women’s Month highlights women breaking new ground across industries, Pascoal’s journey offers a clear example of what structured development and consistent performance can deliver.

She is not yet sixteen, yet she is already competing internationally, training within a global high-performance programme and preparing for her Formula 4 campaign through the Investchem MSA Formula 4 series.

The next phase of her career is already underway.