Caitlyn Jenner has launched her own W Series team

A new racing team owned by former Olympic gold medal winner and transgender activist Caitlyn Jenner will compete in the 2022 W Series, the all-female motor racing championship said on Tuesday.

American Jenner, a former professional racing driver, will be the team principal overseeing the running of the Jenner Racing team.

The 72-year-old, who as Bruce Jenner won the decathlon at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal and competed as a racing driver in the 1980s, publicly came out as a transgender woman in 2015.

"As a believer in fair competition, a lover of motor racing and a supporter of all women in sport from the grassroots to elite level, W Series ticks every box for me and is a fusion of the different aspects of my career," Jenner said.

"A championship dedicated to inspiring young girls and giving women the chance to succeed in roles throughout what has traditionally been a male-dominated industry, W Series is changing the face of motorsport."

The team said picking the driver line-up and car livery and acquiring sponsors aligned with the "mission of promoting women in sport" was first on Jenner's agenda.

"She has performed at the highest level in sport, is a proven winner and a complete petrol-head, and I know her passion for sport and motorsport will inspire everybody at W Series," said W Series CEO Catherine Bond Muir.

The W Series visits five new circuits in 2022 as part of an eight-race calendar in which teams compete on the same weekends as Formula One for the second successive year.

The series begins in Miami from May 6 to 8 as a support event for the inaugural Formula One Miami Grand Prix around the Hard Rock Stadium.