Return of Indy 500 Queen: Legge on setting the pace after 10 years away

“All the ‘Indy Princesses’ are cheering ‘You’re racing for all of us,’ so there is a responsibility that comes with that.”

However, as a regular points scorer during her previous Champ Car tenure and a race-winner in IMSA, Legge understandably wants her achievements measured on sporting results.

“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether you’re black or white, or male or female, it should just be on merit,” she says. “It should be that you are the best person for the job, and I just want to be an awesome race car driver, I don’t want to be the best girl or anything like that.

“I think that’s where a lot of the young girls go wrong, in a way that they’re wanting to be the best girl.”

Racing has seen a proliferation of different initiatives in recent years to help females progress in motor sport, from the W Series and now the all-female Formula 1 Academy, to IndyCar’s own Paretta Autosport team and the FIA’s Women in Racing programme.

However, Legge isn’t entirely convinced of all their merits.

“I think the W series in a way did a disservice with that, because that [racing against only other women] doesn’t mean anything – not when you get pitted against the best drivers in the world,” she says.

“I think somebody like Jamie [Chadwick] is a good example of that. She won the W series, and now she’s in IndyNXT [IndyCar’s second tier junior series].

“She’s racing against some quick guys, and she’s in good equipment [running for Andretti]. So it remains to be seen how she comes through.

“The sooner you can race against the best, it pushes you to be better – otherwise it would essentially be racing Formula 4 for the rest of your career.”

Though Legge has made a successful career in the GTD category of IMSA, in a journey which has also taken in NASCAR and LMP2 racing, the Brit has been desperate to get back into the Indy 500 since her last effort in 2013, ringing round teams most years.

“Bobby Rahal obviously knows that I’m a capable racing driver, I raced against Graham back in Champ Car.

“I asked him if I could drive the 500 for him, as I do every year. This year, he said, ‘Well, actually, we have a sponsor on board called Hendrickson [who could fund a fourth car].’ I’m hoping that they’re pleased with the amount of publicity they’ve got and are not regretting it!”

Her practice shunt aside, Legge has been mightily impressive in getting in the groove at Indy.

However, she says in her initial 2023 test in at the formidable Texas superspeedway, she wasn’t so sure at first.

“It’s absolutely insanity”

“Texas is absolutely insanity,” she says. “And that’s exactly what I thought when I first went out: ‘Oh my gosh, this is so fast. Why am I doing this?’ I thought I was insane.

“But after seven laps or so, I felt pretty comfortable.

“I remembered this is what I do. I grew up in single-seaters, I feel at home. The Indy 500 is the most iconic race in the world, so why wouldn’t I want to do that?”

Legge hasn’t had much time to recuperate in her few days off, appearing on Good Morning America in New York to talk about the 500 while her team frantically put her car back together in Indiana. She still feels confident of a solid race after a decade away from Indianapolis though.

“Before the crash, we’d just made a change to the car, and I felt like it was decently racing for the first time, so was I buoyed by that.

“I don’t know if we’re going to be in fighting at the front shape, but I think we’ll be okay.

“Who knows, if I go out and win the thing, then I’m guessing maybe there’ll be [more chances in IndyCar this season]. I would love to do more.”