Abbie Eaton

Eaton began kart racing at age ten in the Comer cadet class, progressing through Minimax and Rotax Junior in the Super 1 series. She transitioned to cars in 2007, competing in the SAXMAX Championship at tracks across the United Kingdom, finishing fourth in both 2007 and 2008 despite leading for much of the second season.

In 2009, she moved into the Dunlop SportMaxx Production Cup driving a Vauxhall Corsa SRi-R, winning the class B championship outright with nine wins from eighteen starts, sixteen podiums, and seven fastest laps, finishing second overall. A planned British GT debut in 2010 fell through weeks before the season, though she made a single race appearance in the Mazda MX-5 Mk1 championship, finishing third from over ninety entries.

Eaton competed in the Mazda MX-5 Cup from 2011 to 2012 before stepping up to the BRSCC Mazda MX-5 Supercup. She joined the Supercup mid-season in 2013 and showed strong pace immediately. In 2014, despite early mechanical problems, she won five races, claimed seven podiums, set six fastest laps, and recorded two pole positions including a dominant performance at Anglesey Circuit where she qualified eight-tenths of a second clear of the field, won the race, set fastest lap, and established a new lap record within three races. She was crowned the 2014 Mazda MX-5 Supercup Champion.

In 2016, Eaton moved to the British GT Championship in a Maserati Granturismo MC GT4 alongside Marcus Hoggarth, marking the first Maserati entry in British GT for over twenty years. The pairing finished second in the Pro/Am class and fourth overall.

A highlight of her sportscar career came in 2017 at the Blancpain GT Series, where she was offered a one-off drive at Autodromo Nazionale Monza with AF Corse in a Ferrari 488 GT3. Despite only ten laps of practice at a circuit she had never visited, Eaton and co-drivers Alex Demirdjian and Davide Rizzo won the Am class outright, making her the first female driver ever to win a class at that level of the Blancpain GT Series.

Eaton competed in the W Series across 2021 and 2022, both times with Scuderia W and both times finishing thirteenth in the standings. Her 2021 season ended on a difficult note when she broke her back in an accident during the final round at the Circuit of the Americas, requiring a rehabilitation period before returning to competition. Her best results in the series were a sixth place in 2021 and a seventh in 2022.

In 2019, Eaton entered the Super2 Series in Australia with Matt Stone Racing but had to withdraw after the opening round due to funding. She competed in the 2023 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe season with her own outfit, Rebelleo Motorsport, supported by Bonaldi Motorsport, finishing seventh overall with a podium at the Nürburgring alongside teammate Daan Arrow.

In 2024, she raced in Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain under the Rebelleo Motorsport banner. At Silverstone during the penultimate round, she became the first female driver in series history to start from pole position and win a race in the same event.

Eaton joined The Grand Tour as its test driver from the second series onwards, replacing Mike Skinner who had held the role in the first series. James May noted in November 2017 that a large number of drivers had been evaluated and that Eaton "was the fastest and the best." She was first shown testing a Mercedes-AMG GT R around the show's Eboladrome test track in the second episode of the second series, broadcast 15 December 2017.

Her identity was initially kept ambiguous on screen — she was referred to only as "she" and credited without a named introduction — a compromise noted by observers as sitting between the explicit "the American" persona of her predecessor and the fully anonymous Stig format used on Top Gear. By the third series, presenter Jeremy Clarkson had begun referring to her by first name, and later formally introduced her as "The Grand Tour's racing driver."

Eaton appeared on ITV's Drive in 2015, coaching rapper Professor Green across a series of racing challenges including mud buggy, stock car, and sports car events. The pairing were crowned champions in the final episode. She also appeared on Richard Hammond's Workshop, serving as a professional motorsport instructor.

Outside television, Eaton works as a racing instructor and performance coach. She is a Driver Ambassador for Racing Pride, an LGBT rights charity promoting inclusivity within motorsport.

Eaton grew up in the East Riding of Yorkshire and now lives in Northampton. Her father Paul Eaton is also a racing driver. She came out as a lesbian at age seventeen.