The confidence to say yes: Ellis Stanton on her journey into Defender Rally
- Marine Thibaudault
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
Meet Ellis Stanton, Technical Integration Engineer at Jaguar Land Rover's Defender Rally team, currently competing in the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC).
Ellis’s journey into motorsport started through DRIVEN, JLR's early careers racing team, where she led Operations and helped build two electric race cars from scratch. From there, she moved into her current role on the technical integration team, working across parts ordering, logistics, vehicle shakedowns and engineering research, all while completing a degree apprenticeship at the University of Warwick.
"It was a great way to begin my JLR journey," she tells Females in Motorsport. "It gave me the chance to develop leadership skills and make business-wide connections, from launching branding schemes to marketing and procurement processes."
That experience was more than a launchpad. It showed her what she was capable of and pointed her clearly in the direction of motorsport.
A defining moment for Ellis was when the Defender Rally cars returned from the Dakar Rally. Ellis had helped source and deliver parts that had gone into those very vehicles, and seeing them come back covered in the desert's battle scars hit harder than she expected.
"I felt a real sense of achievement knowing that the parts I'd helped to source and deliver on time had gone into the cars that competed," she says. "It made me realise just how meaningful each team member's work is, and how it all contributes to the bigger picture."
That sense of collective contribution is something Ellis carries with her every day. In her current role, no two days look the same, mornings might be spent doing shakedowns on the recce vehicles out on track, while afternoons shift to parts tracking, communicating with technical partners and looking into future business cases. It's fast-moving, varied, and she's at the heart of it.
One of the things she finds most exciting about working in low-volume motorsport is the speed at which you see results.
"You get to see the cars progress from build stage to performing out on the dunes very quickly," she explains. "That gives me a lot of job satisfaction." Ellis also worked on the shakedown of the Defender that later became Top Gear's press car at the Dakar Rally; watching that content go live was a proud moment.
"They captured some amazing footage thanks to being able to go off-track in the dunes," she says. "It's satisfying to have played a small part in making that possible."
Balancing all of this alongside a degree apprenticeship at the University of Warwick is no small task,but Ellis approaches it with discipline, prioritisation, and a clear plan.
"I think it's important to carve out dedicated time for both and to stay organised. I've never once felt like I couldn't ask for help when the academic side becomes tough."
Beyond her technical work, Ellis is also an active voice within JLR's internal networks. She joined the Young Professional Network as a representative for her apprenticeship course, which opened doors to media experiences and event planning that she hadn't anticipated. More recently, she stepped up as an events lead for the Women in Engineering & Allies network, and she’s candid about the fact that putting herself forward didn't always feel natural.
"Pushing myself outside my comfort zone has massively benefited me.Bit by bit, I'm feeling more confident, and I think it will definitely be beneficial in my career long term."
Her advice to young women considering a path in motorsport? Simple and sincere. "It's understandable that it can feel uncomfortable at first, but that is a space for everyone. There are more people than you think who are ready to support you and lift you up but of course, you have to put yourself forward and have that confidence to say yes to things."
From building race cars as a teenager to delivering Dakar-winning vehicles, she's proof that saying yes, even when it's uncomfortable, is exactly where it starts.