In the SMP Racing garage, she peers darkly into the #27 Dallara P217. The white and royal blue livery bears the emblem of Russia: a two-headed golden eagle, poised to swoop.  In conversation with an SMP Racing mechanic, she breaks off to remonstrate another for not putting a piece of equipment away properly. “We’ve only got 40m2 for 25 people, so we have to optimise space!"  She’s the ‘boss’, the team manager. “I look after the administration and two others take care of the technical aspects."

Zadi studied law but once she graduated, she realised that she was far more inspired by a career in sport, any sport, as long as there was competition involved! As a schoolgirl, she dreamed of becoming a professional footballer but despite her potential she was rejected from the training school on account of her sex. Zadi played sweeper, the last line of defence, the player who analyses the game and directs the next move. Pretty much what she has ended up doing. 

As a student, she was hired as the Toyota gofer at Le Mans and developed her resourcefulness and quick reactions. “At Toyota, I met people who became icons for me, people like André de Cortanze.” The world-class engineer was technical director at Toyota from 1997 to 2001. “A new generation of prototypes was emerging - it was such an exciting time.”

After two years ‘backstage’ with the Japanese team, Farida realised that her legal training would not be sufficient to clinch her coveted job in motorsports operations. So, to make herself indispensable to team logistics, she got herself an HGV driver licence. JMB hired her on a replacement contract in 2000 and she ended up staying 12 years. “I started out transporting tyres. Then I moved to refuelling - and loved the adrenaline rush. There weren’t many women doing that job." Zadi has never seen her sex as an obstacle.“I’ve never been subject to any chauvinism.” She certainly doesn’t seem to be one to entertain that sort of behaviour.

She moved through the ranks at JMB, going from logistics manager to operations manager. "Endurance racing teams need multi-skilled people. Sometimes I would even write the press releases.”

In 2013, Zadi was approached by Russian billionaire Boris Rotenberg, who was in the throes of setting up his own team. Enthusiastic about the project, she accepted his offer. 

Rotenberg, a childhood friend of Vladimir Putin, not only founded his own team, but started building a talent pool of Russian drivers. His academy has already trained forty up-and-coming stars. “The idea is to further the interests of Russian motorsport by producing top-class drivers”, explains Zadi. “We have set up karting and F4 championships, which act as feeder series for the élite disciplines.”

With a class win in GTE Am at the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours (Ferrari 458), the project can already be deemed a success. Zadi has a vivid memory of Viktor Shaytar crossing the finish line and having no idea that he had won. When he took the wheel for the last stint, the team had elected not to tell him that the leading car had retired so as not to put pressure on him. “The moment he realised he had won was absolutely magic for the whole team.”

Although not a favourite, SMP Racing’s BR01 was classed third in LMP2 at Le Mans in 2016. “We built the car and it was assembled at our base in Luc, in the south of France. It was totally reliable.”  

Following the new LMP2 regulations, SMP Racing invested in a Dallara P217, which “has a few teething troubles”. Unfortunately, the exhaust broke, causing an outbreak of fire during the first qualifying session on Wednesday evening. There were more issues on the Thursday, but the Dallara managed tenth in LMP2, on 3:27.782, which means starting the race from the eighth row of the grid.

The car has all-star all-Russian line-up. Very fast driver Mikhail Aleshin is a star of the IndyCar scene in the USA and has already competed at Le Mans twice. Next comes Sergey Sirotki, Le Mans rookie and F1 development driver for Renault. Shaytar rounds off the crew, racing his fourth Le Mans.

So, what is SMP Racing hoping for this year, with the new car? “I could come to Le Mans with a pedal car and I’d still want to win! Anything can happen in this race, so you may as well come to it with high hopes.”  That’s the (Zadi) spirit! She’s looking forward to 2018 when the new SMP Racing LMP1 will be making its début.