Speedqueens

Romana with the Renault 5

Romana Zrnec is a Slovenian driver most famous for winning the Croatia Delta Rally outright in 1986. Her car was a Renault 11 and her co-driver was Spela Kozar. This was one of four rallies that she won outright during her career.

Romana was born in 1961. At that time, Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia. Cars were not a huge part of her upbringing. Only her mother drove in her family. The young Romana looked up to her mother, but only discovered motorsport as an adult.

Her first car was a Mini Cooper. She did two rallies in it, finishing one with a class fourth. After that, she was picked up by Renault, who were looking for a female driver to rally one of their cars as a marketing exercise. She proved so effective that they kept her on.

By the age of 22, she was involved in national-level rallying. Throughout her career, she remained quite loyal to the Renault marque. Her car for 1983 was a Renault 5 Alpine. Right from the start, she was competitive. In September, she was fifth overall in the YU Rally, the Yugoslav national rally, and ninth in the Rally Saturnus. Her other international rally was the Barum event in what was then Czechoslovakia. She was 25th.

In 1984, she began a partnership with a new co-driver, Suzanna Bagari, which lasted for two seasons. The duo competed in Austria, scoring one tenth place in the Atrium Sauna Karnten Rally and winning their class. They also tackled the Semperit Rally, and were 32nd overall.

Romana upgraded the Renault 5 to a Renault 11 for 1985. This resulted in her first outright win, on the Rally Velenje. This was part of her home championship. She also tried out some more rallies abroad. The best of these for her was the Albena Rally in Bulgaria. She was 29th overall.

She concentrated most on the 1986 Yugoslav championship; her only big European outing was the Bohemia Rally, in which she was 33rd in the Renault 11. Early in the season, in the spring, she won two more rallies outright: the Rally Riviera Opatija and the Ina Delta Rally. Her Delta win was against Vojko Podobnik in the much more powerful Porsche 911. At the end of May, she was ninth in the Rally Saturnus, one of her favourite events. The season ended with another podium: a third place in the Rally Prijateljstva. Romana was the runner-up in that year’s Yugoslavian rally championship, behind Vojko Podobnik.

She spread her wings again in 1987, driving the Renault for the ARD Kompas team. She improved her Saturnus result to second, behind Polish driver Andrzej Koper in another 11. This was also frustrating, as she had been leading until the final stage when a turbocharger went. In July, she entered her first Rally Poland, and was fifth overall. Three months later, October was a busy month for her. She won another Rally Prijateljstva, then travelled to the Iberian peninsula for the ERC rallies there. Sadly, she did not finish either the Catalunya or the Lois Algarve events.

She had a new car in 1988: a Renault 5 in GT Turbo trim, run by the HB Rally Team. Using this car, she was thirteenth in Poland and eighth in the YU Rally, the Yugoslav national rally.

1989 was split between domestic and European rallies. Romana was fourth in the Yugoslavian championship, with a best finish of second in the Ina Delta Rally. She was also sixth in the YU Rally. In Europe, she was fourteenth in Rally Poland. Her other big European event was the Rally Piancavallo in Italy, which she did not finish.

This was her last season driving a Renault. In 1990, she started the year in a Ford Escort Cosworth prepared by ARD Kompas. In this car, she was 17th in the Rally Riviera Opatija, but did not finish the Saturnus Rally. Mid-season, she drove a four wheel drive Lancia Delta Integrale, in Group N trim, on the Polish Rally. She was fourteenth again, second in class.

The Polish Rally turned out to be her last event. She became pregnant with a son in 1990, and did not return after his birth. An added issue that kept her away was the difficulty in putting together a budget to rally at the level of which she was capable.

Romana now runs a metal manufacturing company and was involved in politics in the 2000s.

(Image from http://www.forum-auto.com)

Patrizia in 2004

Patrizia Sciascia was the Italian Ladies' Rally Champion in 2005. She has driven in five WRC rounds: all five San Remo rallies between 1996 and 2000. Her best finish was 32nd, third in class, in 2000.

She was born in 1971 in Sanremo. Her father was a rally driver and she was interested in the sport from an early age.

Fittingly, the Sanremo Rally was her first big international event, in 1995. Her car was a Peugeot 309 and she does not appear to have finished. She returned to Sanremo in 1996 and got to the finish this time, in 41st place. Her car was an Opel Corsa.

Her next two Sanremo Rallies, in 1997 and 1998, ended in retirement. She used a Ford Escort Cosworth in 1997, and a Renault Clio Williams in 1998. The Clio became her regular car for the next four seasons.

She continued to compete in Italian national rallies, with her annual WRC outing at Sanremo. In 2000, she finished in the top ten for the first time, coming in tenth in the Rallye Limone e dei 100,000 Trabucchi, held in Piedmont.

It went a little quieter for Patrizia for the next two seasons, but one highlight was a seventh place in the 2002 Rally Alba. She was driving the Clio and was one of 71 finishers.

In 2003, she took another step forward in her rally career with her first podium. Driving the Clio again, she was third in the Andora Rallysprint. That year, she alternated between the Clio and an Opel Astra, with the familiar Clio giving her better results. She was 19th in the Rally della Lanterna and won class N3 in May. The Astra may have been more difficult to drive, but it was in this car that she ventured back into international competition, after a break of two years. She entered the San Marino Rally, a European Championship round, and was 49th, eleventh in class.

For 2004, she settled on Cristina Biondi as a co-driver. The two had worked together on and off in 2003. Patrizia went back to the Clio as her car of choice; she only drove the Astra once, in the Rally Prealpi Trevigiane Terra. She was 39th and second in class. Again, the Clio suited her better. She was third in the Andora Rallysprint at the start of the season, and third again in the Rally del Valli Imperiesi in October. In between, she had her best-ever finish in the Sanremo Rally, which was no longer a WRC round. She was eleventh, and won class A7.

Between the end of 2004 and the start of 2005, Patrizia was announced as the winner of the “Woman in Blue” prize. Subaru Italy was keen to recruit an all-female crew for a shot at the Italian ladies’ championship, and she was judged to be a better bet than Monica Burigo, who started rallying at about the same time.

Patrizia duly won the ladies’ prize in 2005. Her car was a Group N Subaru Impreza and her best results were two fourteenth places, in the Sanremo and San Marino rallies. She was a frequent top-twenty finisher and was also sixteenth in the Mille Miglia, which had been revived as a stage rally.

In 2006, she stayed on as a Subaru Italy driver. Her programme was shorter than in 2005, but still included some of the big Italian rallies. She was 20th in Sanremo, co-driven by Samantha de Colle this time. Her best result was another third in the Rally del Valli Imperiesi. She was the leading Group N competitor.

Her contract with Subaru ended after 2006 and she returned to rallying the Clio. She was fifth in the Andora Rallysprint and contested some Italian sealed-surface events. The best of these was the Beta Rally Oltrepo, in which she was 19th. She was 27th in Sanremo.

2008 started in the same fashion. She drove the Clio in the Targa Florio and Mille Miglia, finishing 23rd and 27th. This led to a ride in a Peugeot 207 S2000 car. Its first outing was Sanremo, where Patrizia did not finish. Later, she entered the Rally del Valli Imperiesi again. This was always a good event for her, and she was fourth this year.

She was fifteenth in the 2009 Targa Florio, driving the Peugeot, and later used it for the Sanremo Rally. It wasn’t one of her best Sanremo drives, but she was solidly midfield in 32nd place. In between, she had a one-off drive in the Impreza for the San Marino Rally, and drove the Clio in the Rally Friuli Alpi Orientali. Both of these yielded more midfield finishes.

After 2010, she became a very occasional driver. She picked up another Peugeot 207 seat for Sanremo in 2010, finishing 30th. It was a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) this year.

She was 15th in the Ronde di Andorra in 2011, driving a Clio. Later in the year, she won her class in the Ronde Enna, Sicily. She was sixth overall.

In 2015, she came out of retirement for a guest appearance at the Monza Rally Show, driving a Peugeot 207. She did not finish.

Away from motorsport, Patrizia works as a lawyer. She has been involved in motorsport-related cases, including disputes with the Italian motorsport authorities.

(Image copyright Rally Company)

Antonella Mandelli was the 1981 European Ladies’ Champion. She was part of the Aseptogyl team early in her career, although she was more associated with the Jolly Club squad.

Antonella was born in the affluent Como region of Italy.

Her earliest major rally seems to have been Sanremo in 1977, when she was 23. She drove an Opel Kadett, but did not finish. The same car was used for the Rally Sangiacomo, also in Italy, but the results are not forthcoming. Her co-driver was Iva Boggio.

This drive got her noticed, and she was picked up by Fiat. Jolly Club were running their rally operation. In October 1978, Antonella tried Sanremo again in a Fiat 131. The car broke a driveshaft and she retired. Shortly afterwards, she became part of a six-car Team Aseptogyl, driving a smaller Fiat 127. Antonella was one of three Italian drivers, with Maurizia Baresi and Anna Cambiaghi. The other three were the experienced Frenchwomen, Christine Dacremont and Marianne Hoepfner, and Joëlle Chardin. They got an entry for the Tour de Corse, but Antonella had to drop out with an oil leak. None of the Aseptogyl cars finished.

She spent the next season in the 131, which was becoming one of the most competitive cars of its time, in the hands of Walter Röhrl and Markku Alen. It was an unforgiving car; Michele Mouton also drove one, and never liked it, despite winning two events in it. Antonella’s best result that year was an eighteenth place in the Targa Florio Rally.

The 131 finally came good for her in 1980, when she scored her first podium finish. She was third in the Rally delle Valli Piacentine.

In 1981, she travelled to the Iberian territories with Jolly Club and the 131. She was rewarded with second place in the Madeira Rally. This was a really tough event, with only 17 finishers from 69 starters. Antonella was ahead of her Jolly Club team-mate, Adartico Vudafieri, who won five rallies that year.

A one-off drive in an Alfa Romeo Giulietta in Spain was not as successful; she crashed out of the Rally Costa Brava. She did use this car in Italian rallies, but this was her only international outing in it.

She ended the season as European Ladies’ Champion, ahead of Michela “Micky” Martinelli of Switzerland. Her other results do not seem to be widely available. Micky could not catch her in the Italian championship, either.

The 131 remained her car of choice for international rallies in 1982. She entered six ERC events, and finished in the top ten in five of them. The best of these was a seventh place in the Costa Brava Rally, which made up for her disappointment in 1981. The Madeira Rally continued to be one of her strongest events, and she was eighth this year. Her other top-tens were eighth places in the RACE Rally and Rally della Lana, and a tenth spot in the Rally 4 Regioni.

In the Italian championship, she was already trying out the newer Lancia 037 Rallye, also run by Jolly Club. She was Italian ladies’ champion at the end of the year.

She drove a Lancia 037 Rallye for Jolly Club in the 1983 European Championship. Again, Madeira was her lucky rally, and she was third. She was 18th in the Ieper 24 Hours, supporting team leader Miki Biasion, and was becoming very familiar with the powerful, Group B 037 when she had a big accident in Spain. It was during the Sol RACE Rally and she and her co-driver Tiziana Borghi were unharmed, although the car was written off. This followed an exclusion from the Costa Brava Rally due to problems at the finish.

1984 was another good season for her. Driving the 037, she repeated her third place in the Madeira Rally. Later in the season, she followed it up with a fifth in Catalunya.

This was her last season in rallying. Apparently, she married an heir to the Jack Daniels whiskey fortune and moved to the USA. She had earlier stated that she wanted to race at Le Mans and to enter the Dakar Rally, but this never came to fruition.

Antonella was clearly a very talented driver who had connections in the right places. If she had continued her career a little longer and competed more in northern Europe, she could have made a real impression on the World Rally Championship.

(Image from http://autologia.net)

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Patricia, left

Patricia McOstrich was a regular at Brooklands between 1930 and 1939. She was an all-rounder who drove in trials, rallies and races.

She was born Gladys Patricia McOstrich in 1898. Her family was based in Surrey, quite close to Brooklands. It was probably during WW1 that she learned to drive; she described herself as a servicewoman who drove ambulances. After the Armistice, she worked as a chauffeur for a Liberal politician and advertised her services in the papers. This was sometimes done under the banner of female emancipation. Throughout her life, she attempted to encourage other women into the automotive world.

Her first major competitive outing was the JCC’s Half Day Trial in 1930. The trial was held at Brooklands. Patricia drove an Alvis and won a first-class award. In 1932, she entered the JCC’s Open trial in an MG Midget and received a second-class award for her performance in the under-1100cc class.

It was this year that she started racing on the Brooklands circuit itself. The MG had been exchanged for a Talbot, which she seems to have owned jointly with a Miss Hedges. This woman, who raced herself at Brooklands, was probably Grace Hedges. The two were pointedly described by the press of the time as “good friends” and may have been in a romantic relationship.

Patricia raced the Talbot between 1932 and 1934. It was not the most competitive of her cars, but she did manage a second place in the Second Walton Scratch Sprint at the 1934 March BARC meeting.

In keeping with her feminist ideals, she was a member of the Women’s Automobile and Sports Association. She took part in their one-lap handicap race at the 1932 Brooklands Guys Gala. The following year, she was part of their official team for the Stanley Cup, alongside Lotte “Irene” Schwedler and Margaret Allan.

Of all of the racing cars she drove, she got the best results out of a Frazer Nash. Her first event in it seems to have been the March meeting at Brooklands. In May, she was third in a ladies’ race at Donington Park with it.

By 1937, she had really got to grips with the Frazer Nash. she started the year by winning a Ladies award in the Brooklands Rally. Then, she won the Second Easter Long Handicap, as well as finishing second in a Sports Handicap at Crystal Palace.

In 1937, she was also part of a Frazer Nash team for the JCC Relay. They finished in seventh place. Kay Petre was part of the winning Austin team.

After that, she carried on racing until 1939, but was not quite as successful. She competed in several trials and won some awards, but there were no more race wins. After the war, she did not return to the circuits or the rally stages.

Patricia ran her own garage business, Speedy Transport and Garages, away from the track, and contributed the motoring section to the book “Careers and Vocational Training: a guide to the professions and occupations of educated women and girls”. In it, she discussed the merits of working as a “chauffeuse”, which she warned was often combined with more domestic work or a companion role, and advised on how to start a garage. She gave rough budgets for a filling station or a repair garage. “Motor racing as a career cannot be recommended except for those with plenty of money and where earning a living is not the object” was what she had to say on professional motorsport.

She died in London in 1958, aged sixty.

Dora Bavio raced touring cars in Argentina in the 1960s and 1970s. She began racing in a Renault Gordini, and favoured French cars throughout her short career. The Gordini, her first racing car, was a gift from her father, although intended for road rather than competition use.

She was born in 1942. Unusually for her time, she actually began her motorsport career in karting. Her first car race was in 1966, at Vuelta de Lobos. She was sixth in class in the Gordini. Her next race was two weeks later, at the Autodromo Buenos Aires, and she was third.

Things went rather quiet for “Dorita”, as she became known, after her promising first year. She disappeared from the circuits for a while.

In 1970, she entered the Argentine national touring car championship, driving a Peugeot 404 in the Improved Touring class. She drove in seven events, and had a best finish of eighth, in her first race at Salto. At least some of these races were two-driver enduros; Susana Renzulli was among her co-drivers. Her last event of the year was the Argentine Touring Car Grand Prix, which she did not finish, stopping after the third stage.

In 1972, she raced a Peugeot 504 in the championship, but only did one race, which she did not finish. In between races, she worked as a racing instructor.

Much later, in 1985, Dora reappeared on the rally stage. She took part in the Rally of Argentina, driving a Peugeot 504, and was 39th overall. The car was considerably older than most of the field, but not the only 504 in the rally.

She may also have driven in the 1995 Rally Argentina, in a Suzuki, but the result is proving hard to track down.

After her retirement, Dora ran an auto accessories firm for many years.

(Image from http://recuerdodeautos.blogspot.co.uk)

Emma Falcón is a Spanish driver from the Canary Islands. She has been rallying since 2011.

Her first rallies were in the Canaries, driving a VW Polo with Eloy Rivero. Her best result was eleventh, in the Rally of Lanzarote. She had managed a second top-twenty finish in the Tenerife Rally, two months earlier.

She spent another year rallying on her home islands, picking up a tenth in the Rallye Villa de Teror and a thirteenth in the Ciudad de Telde Rally. The Maspalomas Rally was her last event before moving to mainland competition in 2013, and she was 28th overall..

Her new car for 2013 was a Ford Fiesta, and she was now navigated by Rogelio Peñate. This was a busy season for Emma, with thirteen rallies at home and in Spain. Apart from two accidents, she adapted well to the Spanish gravel, and managed an eighth place in the Rally de Tierra del Bierzo, which meant she also won the Fiesta Trophy class. Another highlight was an eleventh in the Tierras Alta da Lorca Rally, which was won by Xavi Pons in a Mitsubishi Lancer.

She also entered her first WRC event, the RACC Catalunya Rally, but did not finish, after a fuel tank broke on the last stage. She was third overall in the Spanish Fiesta Trophy, eighth in the Canary Islands championship, fourteenth in the Spanish gravel championship, and Spanish Ladies’ champion.

In 2014, she had a shorter rally season, and managed two thirteenth places, in the Senderos de la Palma and Islas Canarias El Corte Inglés rallies. Her car was a Fiesta again. Both of her finishes were in the Canaries championship; her one visit to the Spanish mainland ended in an accident on the Rally Sierra Morena.

2015 saw her take on more rallies, and also some outings as a course car driver, in a VW Amarok. Her best finish was 17th, in the Cóbreces Rally. She normally used the Fiesta, apart from one rally in a VW Polo, the Isla de Tenerife Rally, which she did not finish.

2016 was a very strong year for her, with three top-ten finishes, the best of these being a fifth place in the Rally Senderos de la Palma. The others were a sixth place in the Maspalomas Rally and ninth in the Ciudad de Telde Rally. She was back to a full programme of rallies and took part in thirteen events, plus a couple of course car outings with her boyfriend, Surhayen Pernia.

In terms of awards, she also picked up an ERC Ladies' trophy in the Corte Ingles Rally in the Canaries, and was fourth in the Canary Islands championship. Her car was a Citroen DS3.

2017 was an important year for Emma. She rallied outside Spain for the first time in her career, driving a Citroen DS3 for the RMC Motorsport team. Her season began with a 16th place in the Rallye Sierra Morena in Spain, before her first ERC rally of the year, her home event in the Canary Islands. She was 39th overall, and picked up another ERC Ladies’ award, as well as a C2 class win and seventh in ERC3.

The Villa de Adeje and Ourense rallies gave her a 20th and eleventh place respectively. Her first trip to northern Europe was for the Rzeszowski Rally in Poland. This, unfortunately, ended in a heavy crash. Her Citroen had a puncture and was being pursued closely by another car. She rolled on a small bend, colliding with some trees. Spectators immediately came to her and Rogelio Penate’s aid. Emma was not seriously harmed, but Rogelio hurt his back.

Less than a month later, Emma and the RMC DS3 were back in action in the Czech Republic. She won yet another ERC Coupe des Dames in the Barum Czech Rally Zlín, and was 49th overall. This was in spite of brake problems.

The Roma Capitale Rally was her final event of the year. Emma was ahead of the Italian, Tamara Molinaro, in the ERC Ladies’ standings, but only just. The Citroen held out until the final stage, but then suffered an engine failure, leaving Tamara Molinaro to take the win. Catie Munnings also finished, which left Emma in third.

Emma considers herself an ambassador for sport in the Canary Islands. In 2018, she plans to return to the ERC and improve her performances on gravel.

(Image copyright Copi Sport)

Gloria Castresana Waid is a Spanish driver who was active in the 1960s, in both rallying and circuit racing.

She began competing after her marriage to Jim Waid, in 1963. She had only had her own car for three years, but had been interested in motoring for a while. Her first car was a Simca Sport.

The couple had met in the Canary Islands in 1961, where both were working for an oil company. Gloria was not a Canary Islander; she had come from Vitoria to work. Jim was American.

Gloria’s early competitive outings were in the Canaries. The islands hosted a lot of local motorsport due to favourable tax rules.

By 1965, she was taking part in major rallies. That year, she won her class in the first running of the La Palma Rally. She was also seventh overall in the Rallye Isla de Tenerife, co-driven by José Lopez Moreno. Her car was a Mini Cooper S.

Later, in 1967, she acted as a navigator to “Miss Spain”, Paquita Torres, in the Rallye Femenino San Isidro. She helped her driver to a win in the Slalom section. The same year, the Jarama circuit in mainland Spain opened. Gloria was a regular there from the beginning, having participated in the racing festival held to inaugurate the track.

In 1968, she raced in the 3 Hours of Jarama, a European Touring Car race. Her car was a Fraser Hillman Imp usually raced by her husband, and its halfshaft broke. She normally drove her Mini on the circuits.

Race results for Gloria are hard to find. Records of Spanish motorsport before about 1969 are very sketchy.

Her career finished in 1970, when she moved to the United States. Initially, she worked for a Porsche-Audi dealership in New York. She later continued her education in languages, earning a PhD. Now, she is still a respected scholar in the field of Basque Studies.

In the past two or three years, she has returned to Spain to live and published a book about her life.

(Image from http://www.imps4ever.info)

Millicent, the Duchess of Sutherland, with her daughter

The Ladies’ Automobile Club was Great Britain’s first dedicated motor club for women. It was not exclusively a motorsport association, but it was one of the first bodies to organise motor races for women in the UK.

Talk of a women’s motor club began in 1899. Newspapers described the actress Lily Langtry as one of its first members, and Viscountess Haberton as the founder. Little else was heard for three or four years.

In 1903, it starts to be mentioned in the papers again, with Lady Cecil Scott Montagu was its first acknowledged leader. Between 1903 and 1904, the original club seems to have collapsed. Contemporary reports claim this was due to disagreements about membership criteria. Only ladies in “society” were intended to join. Most of the early members were from the titled classes.

Millicent, the Duchess of Sutherland, became its first president in 1904. She oversaw the first Club event in June, a meeting and group drive from Carlton Terrace in central London to the Ranelagh Club in Barnes, via Pall Mall and the park. Fifty-six cars were involved. Many of the ladies drove themselves, although some relied on their chauffeurs. This fact was did not go un-noticed by observers. Among the observers on the day was Queen Alexandra, who watched the parade from the window at Buckingham Palace.

The club’s first AGM was the following month. Rooms were acquired at Claridges Hotel for the use of members, as well as a garage.

Most of the LAC’s activities were social in nature. Typically, one member would hold a meeting at her house. This was followed by a drive out, often to the Ranelagh or Hurlingham clubs, for tea. In 1904, an engineer was booked to give a series of talks on the workings of the internal combustion engine. From time to time, other talks were given, sometimes by members themselves, on aspects of motoring, or their own four-wheeled adventures. Maud Manville spoke at length about her experiences in the Herkomer Trophy in 1906.

In the beginning, there was ambitious talk of a ladies’ team being assembled for the Gordon Bennett Cup. This died down after the false start of 1903. In 1905, some women-only competitions started to be organised by the club. The first of these seems to have been a Ladies’ Handicap at the inaugural Brighton Speed Trials. The Handicap was for touring cars, and was entered by six women.

Heat 1

Mrs Herbert Lloyd (30hp Daimler)
Christabel Browne (Cupelle 10hp)

Heat 2

Maud Manville (Daimler 35hp)
Mrs Nevill Copland (12-14hp Talbot)

Walkover:

Mrs Guy Hardy (10hp Panhard)

Mrs Benett-Stanford (13-17hp Dixi)

Final

Mrs Herbert Lloyd
Maud Manville

Only a few days later, the LAC ladies were enjoying their first dedicated gymkhana at the Ranelagh Club. The Ranelagh was the venue for Britain’s first women’s motor race, and had hosted a variety of women’s sports in the past ten years, including a bicycle gymkhana and carriage-driving competitions. Eleven members entered the gymkhana, which consisted of three races and two “appearance competitions”. The results of the races were as follows:

Bending Race (8 starters)

Christabel Browne (10-12hp Cupelle)
Mrs Herbert Lloyd (30hp Daimler)

Crawling Race (7 starters)

Mrs Todd Newcombe (16-20hp Richard-Daimler)
Mrs Herbert Lloyd (30hp Daimler)

Bomb Race (7 starters)

Maud Manville (16hp Daimler)
Mrs Todd Newcombe (16-20hp Richard-Daimler)

Another LAC gymkhana was held at the Ranelagh Club in 1906. Details for this event are less forthcoming. One of the races was a “Police Trap Race” where drivers had to do a lap of the grass track in a certain time, without the use of a speedometer or a stopwatch. The closest to the time was the winner. A Mrs Harry Adams won. Her car is not recorded.

The Police Trap Race was one of five driving competitions that day. The others were a Bending Race, Crawling Race, Ball Race and Tilting at Rings. A Mrs C Farrar won the Crawling Race and Tilting at Rings. Again, her car is not recorded.

A further gymkhana may have been held in 1907, or at least some ladies’ races. By then, ongoing problems with waterlogging on the polo pitch that was used as a racetrack meant that events were sometimes cancelled.

The LAC eventually became affiliated to the RAC. Its peak years as an actual motor club were between 1904 and 1910. After that, it becomes more of a social club; ladies did not even have to own a car to be members. It moved to its own premises in 1923.

Winifred Pink, herself an accomplished racing driver on sand, was one of its later presidents, in 1927. As women were admitted into more motor clubs, it gradually became redundant and was eventually absorbed into the RAC.

(Image from Tatler magazine?)

Jenny van Hilten is most famous for racing a Group B-spec Ford RS200 in Europe in the late 1980s. She is from Luxembourg, and did most of her racing in the Netherlands.

Jenny and her husband Bram bought the RS200 in 1987. It had been used as a pace car by the factory previously.

One of her most memorable races was at Zandvoort in 1988, when she entered the NTK (Dutch Touring Car) round there. After making the most of her four-wheel-drive in the wet in the Group A Super Touring race, she was fourth overall. This was her only NTK race of the year.

That year, she also drove an RS500 in the Spa 24 Hours, with Evert Bolderheij and Bernard Winderickx. They did not finish.

She did another 24-hour race in 1988, driving a Honda Civic at the Nürburgring 24h as part of a Luxembourgish team. Her co-drivers were Carlo Gillen and “Lou”.

Jenny, driving with her husband Bram van Hilten this time, and a driver called Phillips, returned to Spa in 1989, in the Honda Civic. They were 38th overall.

That year, she made another appearance in Dutch touring cars, driving a Ford Fiesta XR2. Bram had made some appearances in the car earlier in the season and Jenny ran in the final round at Zandvoort. She was second in class in the Group A race, behind Bram in another XR2.

In 1990, she competed in the Citroen AX GTI Cup, and managed some top-five positions. She was noted for her pace in qualifying. Mid-season, she was third in the overall standings, second in the Ladies’.

The following year, she opted for another one-make series: the Ford Fiesta Mixed Cup, which was based in Germany. She was already familiar with the XR2s used by the series. Her male team-mate was Thomas Wirtz, a German driver. The series that year was dominated by Sabine Schmitz/Thomas Marschall and Claudia Hürtgen/Michael Funke. As a pair, Jenny and Thomas were not among the front-runners, although Jenny was sixth in the women’s points table.

The van Hilten/Wirtz pairing did another Mixed Cup season in 1992. Again, Sabine Schmitz and Thomas Marschall were runaway winners, but Jenny and Thomas had a decent season, and were fifth in the team standings. Jenny was second in the ladies’ championship.

Alongside her circuit racing career, Jenny became an adept hillclimb driver. In 1988, she won her class in the Lorentzweiler climb in the RS200. She repeated this in 1989. The Lorentzweiler course is the closest thing that Jenny had to a home circuit, being situated in Luxembourg.

(Image from http://fordrs200.altervista.org/curiosi.htm)

Eleanor Allard competed in trials, sprints and hillclimbs from the 1930s onwards, with some success, but she is best known for rallying during the early 1950s.

Married to Sydney Allard, she had access to works Allard cars. The couple met through Eleanor’s brother, Alan May, who was a fellow car owner and racing colleague. They were all members of Berkhamstead Motor Club.

Before the war, she was mainly active in trials. She and Sydney sometimes drove together. In 1936, they had a lucky escape on the Colley Experts’ Trial; their Allard-built CLK5 overturned and trapped them underneath.

It was not until the late 1940s that she began to compete seriously. Starting in 1947, she made a name for herself in sprints and hillclimbs. Her first major result was a second place in the ladies’ class for unlimited sportscars in the 1947 Brighton Speed Trials, in an Allard. She came second to Betty Haig. The following year, she was ninth in the class for standard sportscars over 2000cc.

In 1949, she won the ladies’ award in the Blandford hillclimb, in a 3622cc Allard. The same year, she entered the RAC British hillclimb championship and was third in class at Prescott, behind Sydney, who won. The couple competed against each other again at Craignantlet, with Eleanor in a J2. Her third Brighton Speed Trial resulted in an overall ladies’ class win, seven seconds faster than Mrs Treen in her Riley.

She improved even more in the 1950 Speed Trials, finishing seventh overall. Her car was a Cadillac-engined Allard. Once more, she was just behind Betty Haig.

Her first big rally was Monte Carlo, in 1950, which she did not finish after starting at Glasgow. She was driving a 4400cc Allard P1, and had her sister, Edna Wood, as navigator.

In 1951, she drove in the Paris-St. Raphaël Rally, and was one of the fastest on the hillclimb and sprint stages. Unfortunately, she managed to get lost in the Alps after winning the Lausanne hillclimb. She had telephoned her husband to say that she had had to retire her Allard P1 owing to engine trouble, and that she was on her way to Geneva to find a suitable garage. Only a short time later, she turned up in St. Raphaël. By the time the story of her disappearance had hit the British papers, she had reappeared again, with Edna in tow.

In 1952, she drove an Allard P1 on the Monte, the year Sydney won, although her own efforts were seriously affected by an off-road excursion. She and her navigator knew that Sydney was due to pass them on the road, and hoped that he would stop to help. When he did pass, however, he did not stop. Having seen that the crew were unhurt, he passed on his way, apparently shouting “see you in Monte Carlo” out of the window.

Later, she won the Coupe des Dames in the Daily Express Rally. This event had a huge entry list of over 400 cars, but it is proving very difficult to find a complete results list.

Her navigators were always one, or both, of her sisters, Edna (Wood) and Hilda (Johnson).

She died in 2001, aged 88.

(Image from http://www.allardownersclub.org)

Marisa in 2012

Marisa Panagopulo is an Argentine driver, active since the 1990s.

Marisa’s early forays into motorsport were in karting and midget racing. She did race karts extensively from the age of about fourteen, sometimes with her brother, Carlos. It took a while for her to be able to move up to cars; she was still karting as a senior in 1986, when she was 18.

She seems to have started her senior career in 1994, in a Nissan Sentra, which she raced in the Copa Damas. This was a one-make series for female drivers, which was shown on television. She won the 1994 championship.

In 1995, she was part of Formula Hyundai Femenina, another touring car championship for female drivers. Her second year in cars gave her another winner’s trophy.

Her first appearance in the leading TC series was the 2 Hours of Buenos Aires in 1996. She shared a Ford Falcon with José Larroudé and finished 16th. This was the first of three races that she did in the Falcon, and her best finish. In a different car, a TTE prototype supported by Citroen, she made her debut in the Mil Milhas at Interlagos. Her team-mates were Delfina Frers and Suzane Carvalho. They do not seem to have finished.

That year, she also raced a Citroen AX and a Volkswagen Gol in one-make series. She appears to have won at least one race in the AX.

After that, she took a break from motor racing, partly due to finances. During her time away, she became a mother.

She returned to karting for many years, in order to satisfy her competitive urges.

Marisa made a circuit comeback in 2012. With Delfina Frers, Lorena Blanco and Carolina Eiras, she was part of an all-female team for the Fiat Linea Cup. She was ninth in the Rosario race.

Since then, she has returned to competitive karting, and made a guest appearance in the ASM Championship in 2014. She was driving a Fiat Uno. She also dabbles in historic racing.

(Image from http://lapaginadecharly.blogspot.co.uk)

Angelique and her team in 2016

Angelique Germann is a German driver who was racing in national-level Formula 3 in Europe. She was one of the front-runners in the CEZ series in 2017, after winning the German title in 2016.

Angelique’s father, Andreas, raced in Formula Three across Europe and continues to do so, therefore it was natural that she gravitated towards this style of competition. She began racing single-seaters in a serious way in 2014. That year, she raced in the mostly Eastern European-based Remus F3 Cup. Her car was a Dallara 305 Opel, run by her father’s racing team. Her best finishes were two ninth places, at Poznan, and another two top-tens at Salzburg.

She continued to race a Formula 3 car in 2015, entering two championships: the Central European Zone (CEZ) F3 series and the Remus F3 Cup, formerly Austrian F3. She used a Dallara F311 for both. Her F3 Cup season took in just over half of the championship. Her best result was a ninth place at Brno, at the end of the season. She was less successful in her part-season in the CEZ series, in which her best result was 17th at Brno. She did have the small consolation of finishing in front of her father, who was 18th.

As well as F3, both Angelique and Andreas had at least a guest appearance in the Italian F2 championship. Angelique was driving a Dallara F308 run by Franz Wöss Racing.

In 2016, she made something of a breakthrough in the sport. She entered the Central European Zone F3 championship and the Remus F3 Cup and performed well in both series. A highlight was winning a Cup race at Lausitz and finishing fifth in the championship. She was sixth in the CEZ championship, with a best finish of fifth. Her breakthrough race was the first CEZ round at Most, where she was seventh. Her fifth followed shortly afterwards. She was fifth in the Remus F3 Cup.

The German F3 Cup ran parallel with these two series. Despite a slightly shaky start at the Red Bull Ring, she won seven of the next ten races and took the championship comfortably. Her nearest rival was her father.

Her fourth season in Formula 3 was spent moving between the Remus Cup, the CEZ series and the German F3 Cup. Driving for Franz Wöss Racing again, she scored one win, at Hockenheim, and four second places, behind her team-mate Philipp Regensberger. Regensberger won the German championship and eleven out of the fourteen races.

She did not do quite as well in the European-based Remus series, although she held her own. Her best finish was a fourth place at Spa, and she was seventh overall. The CEZ championship seems to have run alongside the European one, as Angelique’s scores seem to be very similar.

Previously, she raced an NSU TT in historic events, from at least 2012, sometimes with her father. Away from motorsport, she is a keen horsewoman.

(Image from http://rfk-tuning.de)

Miriam Gil and Maria Paula Martinez

Colombia has a thriving saloon racing scene. Its premier touring car championship is TC2000 (Turismo Carretera). This is a multi-class championship with two sections for novice drivers (Academy), plus a Junior class and a main TC2000 class. Women drivers have been a feature of TC2000 for many seasons now. Most are from Colombia, but the championship also attracts drivers from the surrounding countries.

Maria Isabel Bonilla– Colombian driver who races touring cars in her domestic championship. Between 2012 and 2013, she took part in the Colombian TC (Turismo Carretera) Academy, in an attempt to get onto the professional racing circuit. Her cars were a SEAT and a Mazda. She was most successful in the SEAT in 2012, and managed one podium place. In 2016, after a break, she raced a Chevrolet in the TC2000 series in Colombia, in the Junior class. She was the highest-placed driver in her region and was sixteenth overall in the championship.

Maria Isabel Cajiao - raced in the TC2000 touring car series in Colombia. She competed in 2005 and 2006, driving a Honda in 2006 at least. Both years, she was seventh in the championship, and the leading female driver. After 2006, she was linked to a drive in a “PanAm” Grand Prix series, but this did not happen. Little other information about Maria Isabel’s other racing activities, or biographical data, appears to exist.

Jennifer Cañon - has raced touring cars in Colombia since 2014. Her first year in cars ended in a second place in the Academy B Class of Colombia’s TC2000, driving a Citroen. She repeated this in the the more competitive A class in 2015. A second season in the A class in 2016 was not as successful, and she was 22nd after missing the first two rounds. She did another incomplete season in the Citroen in 2017, and was 36th in the championship. She has also done some endurance races, including the 6 Hours of Bogota.

Miriam Gil - Venezuelan driver who races in TC2000 in Colombia. In 2017, she formed an all-female team with Maria Paula Martinez, for karting and TC2000. She raced a Lada in the second-string TC2000 series in 2017. Most of Miriam’s experience has been in karting, but she first raced in touring cars in 2014. She drove a Chevrolet in the Academy B class of Colombian TC2000 and was promoted to the A class before the end of the season, although she could not make the top-three shootout.

Mary (Maribel) Gonzalez - finished eighth in the 2017 Colombian TC2000 Academy B class, driving a Fiat 147. She is another driver whose consistent approach is her strong point; her best finish seems to have been a fifth place. She shared the car with Edwin Carrillo, who used it in the Academy A class. 2017 appears to have been her first season in TC2000.

Maria Paula Martinez– Colombian touring car driver who started racing cars as a junior. 2013 seems to have been her debut season. In 2015, she won the TC2000 Academy development series outright. Her car was a Chevrolet Swift. Prior to this, in 2014, she was one of the top five Academy drivers. Her first year included a win in a Ladies’ race in TC2000. In 2016, she raced the Chevrolet in the Junior class of TC2000 Colombia, and was 39th overall after a strong, but short, part-season.

Maria Camila Medina - drove in the Colombian TC2000 touring car series between 2005 and 2007. She began with a part-season in 2005, before two more substantial efforts at the championship. Her best overall finish was 30th, in 2006. Details of her cars are not widely recorded. At the end of 2007, she was linked to a drive in European Formula 3000, but this does not appear to have happened. In 2009, she is listed as a driver for the Petrobras 6 Hours of Bogota race, driving a Van Dieman. She did a couple of Latam Formula 2000 races in Miami in 2014, and was fifth and sixth, representing Colombia.

Paola Oliveros - raced in TC2000 in Colombia in 2017, in the A class. Her car was a Suzuki Swift GTi and she was part of a female team with Miriam Gil and Maria Paula Martinez. Her final championship position was 16th in Class A. She has been racing since at least 2014, when she took part in a TC2000 ladies’ race in aid of breast cancer charities. Her car was a Chevrolet.

Tatiana Perez - raced an El Mako JAC in Colombian TC2000 in 2017. She was competing in the Academy B class. Her season started well enough, but she dropped out part-way through. This left her in 41st place in the drivers’ standings. 2017 was her second attempt at TC2000, having had a similar year in 2016, when she entered the first round, but did not finish due to electrical problems.

Laura Rodriguez - finished joint second in the Colombian TC2000 Academy B class in 2017. She was driving a Mazda with her father, Javier. The duo’s consistent finishes helped them, although they have not quite managed to challenge for podiums. This was Laura’s second season in the series, after a couple of starts in 2016 in a Fiat.

Manuela Solorzano - raced a Peugeot in the Colombian TC2000 championship in 2017. She was competing in the TC A class, and was ninth overall. This was her second season in this championship and class; she was twelfth in 2016, in a similar car. This seems to have been her first season in a car. Previously, she was active in karting, and competed internationally between 2011 and 2015.

(Image from https://mundoautomovilwebblog.wordpress.com)

Ashley (centre) on the Sebring podium

Ashley Freiberg has competed in the prestigious Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hour races. She is a racewinner in the IMSA GT Challenge series and the Continental Sportscar Challenge.

Ashley began her senior racing career in 2008, after several successful seasons in karting.

Initially, she progressed through the Skip Barber racing school ranks, and in 2009, she was the first female winner of a Skip Barber National Series event, in New Jersey.

Initially she specialised in single-seaters. She did her first Formula Star Mazda races in 2009, before winning another National Series race in a Formula Mazda, and then winning the 2010 Skip Barber Summer Series outright. She added to her win tally with another Summer Series race victory in 2011.

In 2012, she competed in Formula Star Mazda full-time, and was eleventh in the championship. Her best finish was sixth, at Baltimore.

After this, she switched to sportscar racing, and contested the 2013 IMSA GT Challenge, in a Porsche 997. In her first season, she won once at Watkins Glen, a first for a female driver, and was second twice, at the Glen and Monterey. She was ninth in the championship, after missing the last round.

In 2014, she made history again by winning the Continental Sportscar Challenge race at Daytona, supporting the 24 Hours, in a BMW M3 Coupe. Funding was an issue, but she did secure enough sponsorship to race again and took part in another four Challenge races. Her best finish was seventh, at Laguna Seca.

In 2015, she was a BMW North America Scholarship driver, and raced an M3 in the Continental Sportscar Challenge again. She won one race at Road Atlanta. This was one of three podium finishes: the others were a second at Watkins Glen and a third at Road America. Her co-driver was Trent Hindman.

In 2016, she competed in the Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours for Turner Motorsport, in a BMW M6. She was second in class at Sebring, and 23rd overall. Later in the season, she drove for the team again at Road Atlanta, and was ninth in the GTD class. In between, she tried out a prototype for Starworks Motorsport and contested another three rounds of the Weathertech Sportscar Championship. The car was an LMP2 and she secured two class finishes, at Long Beach and Laguna Seca. She was a temporary team-mate to class winners, Alexander Popow and Renger van der Zande.

She stuck with sportscars for 2017 and entered the Lamborghini Super Trofeo, contesting the Pro class with DAC Motorsport. This resulted in five podium finishes from eight races, the best of these being second at Watkins Glen, her lucky track. She was third overall, just behind her earlier team-mate, Trent Hindman. She had taken a chance with her entry and was not sure how her season would go. Early on, she described her plans as “going race by race”.

She is also making a name for herself in cyclocross.

(Image from www.ashleyfreibergracing.com)

Manuela Gostner raced in the 2017 European GT4 Championship, driving a Maserati. She is best known for driving a Ferrari. Unusually, she was almost 30 when she started competing.

She is the elder sister of Corinna Gostner, who races in the Coppa Shell Ferrari Challenge with Manuela and their father, Thomas. Their brother, David, also races. It was he who encouraged Manuela to take the wheel of his Ferrari at a test day in 2014.

She started racing only a few months later, at Brno. Her sister Corinna made her debut at the same time. Corinna finished just above Manuela in the first race, in tenth, and they swapped places for the second. Manuela returned for the season finale in Abu Dhabi. She was 20th in the championship.

In 2015, she enjoyed a bigger racing programme and contested the entire Coppa Shell Ferrari Challenge. Her car was a Ferrari 458 run by Ineco-MP Racing, who ran her in her first races. She started slowly but soon learned the car. By the third round at Mugello, she was into the top ten. In September, she broke into the top five for the first time, at Imola, and repeated this at Valencia. She was twelfth in the championship.

In 2016, she raced both with and against Corinna: in the Ferrari Challenge, she was not quite as competitive, earning two top tens, the best of these being a ninth at Monza. She finished 21st overall. She and her sister shared the Ferrari in two Italian GT Championship rounds at Mugello, and were eighth and sixth in the GT Cup class. They were racing against their brother and father in another MP Racing Ferrari.

She made a move into the European GT4 championship in 2017. Her Maserati Gran Turismo MC was run by Villorba Corse. She was third in the Am category, just in front of her Villorba team-mates, Romy Dall’Antonia and Giuseppe Fascicola. She won her class at Brands Hatch and Zandvoort and was third at the Red Bull Ring.

The Coppa Shell had not been forgotten. Back with the Ineco-MP team, she did most of the European Ferrari Challenge, and had a best finish of sixth at Paul Ricard. She was also sixth in the World Final at Mugello.

Her GT4 success has earned her a first FIA driver classification of Bronze.

Away from the circuits, she competed internationally at both indoor and beach volleyball before having her two daughters.

(Image from https://north.gt4series.com)

Sarah with the John Cooper Mini

Sarah Moore made history in 2009 by winning the Ginetta Junior championship outright. She was the under-17 series’s first female champion. She has since gone on to race saloons and sportscars in the UK and Europe.

She completed her first season of the Ginetta Junior series in 2008. She managed to finish in the top ten six times, with a best result of sixth. This followed a part-season in 2007, when she was fourteen. As well as full-size cars, Sarah also raced karts.

Her championship-winning season included five wins, making her the first female driver to secure victory in a TOCA-sanctioned race. She was awarded a BRDC Rising Star at the end of the year.

She returned to the series in 2010 for a final year, but did not manage another win. She was seventh overall. This year, she moved from her family’s team, Tockwith Motorsport, to Eurotech.

In 2011, after turning seventeen, she switched to single-seaters and raced in the Intersteps Formula, supported by Tockwith again. Her best finish was fourth, achieved twice at Silverstone, and she was sixth overall. Later, she described her foray into single-seaters as “difficult”.

She also did four races in the Smart 4Two championship, scoring two podium finishes. This was a new championship for the UK, based on the unlikely Brabus-prepared Smart micro-car.

She continued in the 4Two series in 2012, and scored a second at Spa and a two thirds at Snetterton. Her team-mate was her younger brother, David. They have another brother, Nigel, and all three pair up at various times.

A career hiatus followed. For a season, Sarah concentrated on her work as a driver coach, and only competed in karting. Even then, it was to help develop her student drivers.

In 2014, she was ready to race again. Alongside her brother Nigel, she travelled to Germany, to compete in the VLN, held on the legendary Nordschleife of the Nürburgring. She was racing in the Toyota GT86 Cup class. They won the class twice.

The pair aimed to return to the VLN in 2015, but it was not to be. Sarah kept her hand in by racing in kart enduros. She was the European ProKart Endurance Champion, with her team-mate Matthew Greenwood.

After another year spent mostly on the sidelines, Tockwith Motorsport entered Sarah into six rounds of the LMP3 Cup. She was driving a championship-standard Nissan-engined Ligier. If she had been able to complete the season, she would have been in line for a good position: she and co-driver Richard Dean were third at Donington and second at Spa.

As well as sampling prototype racing, Sarah continued to gain experience in different saloons. She entered five rounds of the UK Mini Challenge, all at Brands Hatch. She drove in both the Cooper Pro and JCW classes. Her best finish was fourth in the JCW car, in August.

Minis were a theme during her 2017 season. The intention had been for her to run a full season of the Mighty Mini championship. This was restricted to four rounds, but she won two of them.

The other cars she raced were a Smart ForFour, which she used for some rounds of the Britcar championship, and a Ginetta G50. The latter car she used in the BWRDC’s Ladies’ Handicap in November. She was the runaway winner on scratch, lapping almost all of the field twice. However, she was given a very low handicap, and was tenth in the final results.

Her future plans are in the sportscar direction, with Le Mans a career goal.

(Image copyright Marc Waller)

Jessica (centre) on the winner's podium in 2017

Jessica Hawkins was second in the John Cooper Mini Challenge in 2017. She was a multiple race-winner in her first really successful season, finally displaying the talent she showed in a kart.

As a junior, she won several karting championships, and featured strongly in some major ones.

In the face of a series of difficult sponsorship situations, she got onto the grid for the 2014 Renault Clio Cup. This was in part thanks to winning a testing shootout organised by the BWRDC, and was helped by some further experience in the car in the 2013 Autumn Trophy. In the end, she only seems to have driven in two rounds, at Brands Hatch, but she was third and fourth. Her team-mate was Jodie Hemming, recently returned to competitive action. Jodie was acting as her driver coach too.

Later in the season, she raced in the British Formula Ford Championship, at Silverstone, scoring two tenths, and an eleventh place. She was team-mate to Michael O’Brien, a fellow youngster.

In 2015, she chose the single-seater route, and entered the MSA Formula series. This was a transitional formula between Formula Ford and Formula 4, as it would become in 2016. It was a difficult season, and she just missed out on a top-ten spot at Rockingham and Snetterton. She was 23rd overall, after competing for just over half a season. She was part of a strong field, including Lando Norris, Dan Ticktum and Enaam Ahmed.

During the winter season, she raced in the MRF Challenge in the Middle East. She managed two fifteenth places at Bahrain. These were her only two races in the championship.

Part-way through 2016, she joined Team HARD Racing for the VW Racing Cup, and was ninth and eighth at Brands Hatch, driving a Golf. She did enter the third race at Brands but did not finish. This experience put her back on her original track of saloon racing, which would pay off.

Jessica’s first race in the 2017 Mini Challenge ended in a win from pole. She followed that up with another win from the front. She aimed for a clean sweep of the Snetterton meeting, but had to settle for third in the third race. She repeated this exactly at Silverstone: two wins, two poles, then a third. She won one more race at Rockingham and earned a further six podium places from eleven races. She could have won the championship if her early momentum had lasted, but she was still a strong second in what was her first full season of competition.

Her sights are now set on a career in tin-tops and she has completed the first year of a three-year plan, which will take her into the BTCC.

(Image from www.excelr8motorsport.com)

Leilani Münter has raced in stock cars and the Indy Pro Series (Indy Lights). She is unusual in that she combines a career in motorsport with environmental and animal rights work. Most of her racing has been in the ARCA stock car series.

She has a Hawaiian mother and a German father. Her childhood was not spent at the karting track; she was academic as well as being interested in animals and nature. She was 26 before she got into a racing car, having earned a degree in biology and worked as a film stunt double. Her first races were in her home state of California in 2001, then she moved to North Carolina to be closer to NASCAR action. By 2003, she was taking part in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series. Her programmes took in Late Models and the occasional single-seater race.

Out of 39 races between 2001 and 2007, she finished in the top ten 19 times, and the top five, nine times. Her highest finish was fourth, at Texas Motor Speedway in 2006. The same year, she passed her Daytona rookie test.

She decided against a run in ARCA stock cars in favour of a part-season of the Indy Pro Series in 2007. She only did two races, finishing thirteenth in Chicago and retiring at Kentucky, despite qualifying fifth. This was due to picking up a puncture during a multi-car pile-up. She had been running in fourth place. Her funding dried up after this, and she looked towards stock cars again.

It was 2010 before Leilani got back in a car. She drove Mark Gibson’s Dodge in two ARCA races: Daytona and Kansas. She did not finish either and retired very early on both times. In the case of the Daytona race, after a crash.

She took a break from the track and concentrated on environmental campaigning for a while. In 2012, she intended to compete for the whole ARCA series, in a Dodge Charger. Unfortunately, she only managed the first round, and was 36th. The Tony Marks-owned car was promoting the anti-dolphin hunting film, The Cove.

In 2014, she made a limited return to ARCA, beginning with a 28th place, at Daytona. She was driving an alternative-fuel car, and survived a crash early on. Later in the season, she managed two twelfth places, at Talladega and Kansas, driving a car promoting another protest film, Blackfish. This is about killer whales.

In 2015, she did one race, the Daytona ARCA round. She qualified tenth, but crashed out on the 53rd lap of 80. This was her first time driving for Bill Venturini, who would give her rides for the next couple of seasons.

In 2017, she started racing under the "Veganpower" banner, and entered two ARCA races, at Daytona and Talladega. She was 19th at Daytona but did not finish at Talladega.

The Veganpower team came back in 2018 and Leilani finished eighth in the Daytona 500. Shortly afterwards, it was announced that she would contest eight rounds of the ARCA series. Bill Venturini will be running her car.

(Image from www.arcaracing.com)

Tamara Molinaro won the 2017 European Ladies’ Rally Championship, driving an Opel Adam.

She was interested in rallying from a very early age, and apparently drove rally cars as early as 2008, when she was eleven years old. Her father, Giorgio, is involved in rallying.

At the start of her career, she was mainly known as a co-driver, sitting beside Luca Maspoli and former Mitsubishi works driver, Gigi Galli. She partnered Galli in a Ford Fiesta WRC and helped him to ninth at the 2014 Monza Rally Show. He had seen her driving on an ice circuit at Livigno before she was old enough to enter rallies and supported her during the first part of her career. She was quickly picked up by Red Bull as one of their sponsored athletes.

In 2013 and 2014, she did her own first rallies in her native Italy in a Citroen C2. The best of these for her was a 42nd place in the Misano World Circuit Rally Event. She concentrated on rally show-type events, both as a driver and co-driver.

In 2016, she drove an Opel Adam as the course car in the Schneebergland Rallye in Austria, with Ilka Minor as her co-driver. This drive was the first of three course-car outings in the Adam, the other two being Rallye Wartburg and Rallye Deutschland.

Her first competitive outing of the year was the Skoda Rallye Liezen in Austria. Tamara drove the Adam, and was thirteenth overall. She was third in the Austrian Junior standings. Later in the year, she did another Austrian rally, the Waldviertel International event. She was 30th, and seventh in both the Junior and RC4 classes. In between, she entered the ADAC 3-Stadte Rallye in Germany, finishing second in the RC4 class and 23rd overall.

Next, she was 22nd in the Mikulas Rally, in Hungary. She won her class. Her final event of the year was the Rallye Ronde Prealpi Rally Show in Italy. She retired on SS2.

She took a big step forward in her career in 2017, entering the ERC3 category of the European Rally Championship. Her car was an Opel Adam again, but this time run by the Opel Junior team. The Austrian Ursula Mayrhofer, who had sat beside her in Hungary last year, was her regular co-driver for the first part of the season. They did three ERC rounds together, the best of these probably being the Azores Rally, in which Tamara was 24th overall and first lady, as well as fourth in the ERC3 and Junior classes. Their last rally together was the Rzezsowski Rally. Although Tamara was only 42nd overall, she was seventh in both the ERC3 and Junior Under 27 classes.

She repeated her 24th place and seventh in ERC3 in the Roma Capitale Rally, driving with Giovanni Bernacchini this time. This was another of her Coupe des Dames wins, and she was the sixth Under 27 driver. She entered six ERC rounds - the Azores, the Canary Islands, Rzezsowski, Barum Czech Rally Zlin, Roma Capitale and Liepaja - and was the top female driver in four of them. Away from the ERC, she competed in Austria and Eastern Europe again, and was sixth in the Austrian Junior championship.

At the end of the season, she even found some time for more co-driving. She sat beside Citroen WRC driver Craig Breen in a Citroen DS3 WRC for the Monza Rallyshow. They did not finish. She was dating Breen at the time.

She ended the year as the ERC Ladies' champion, tenth in ERC3 and seventh in Under 27s. She is the second-youngest champion after Catie Munnings, who was born a month after Tamara, but won her title a year earlier.

In 2018, she is moving up again, to the World Championship. She is rallying a Ford Fiesta R5 in the WRC2 class.

(Image copyright Red Bull)

Melinda in 2017

Melinda Price is an Australian saloon car racer. She has completed five Bathurst 24 Hour races and jointly holds the record for the highest all-female team finish.

She was 12th in the 1997 event, driving a “Castrol Cougar” Holden Commodore with Kerryn Brewer. During the 1997 and 1998 seasons, the pair competed together on and off.

She has raced in a number of saloon championships in the 1990s, beginning in 1992. Her first major race was the 1992 Bathurst 12 Hours, the second running of the race. She had her first experience of an all-female team, driving a Nissan Pulsar run by Garry Rogers Motorsport with Michelle Callaghan and Tracey Taylor. They were fifth in Class B.

That year, she also contested the Sandown 500 with Steven Richards. They were driving a Garry Rogers Pulsar.

Melinda was part of the Garry Rogers setup for another season, and drove the team’s Pulsar in the 1993 Sandown 6 Hour race. She was was 17th, sharing the car with Paul Fordham and Steven Richards.

She moved teams to Inspired Racing for 1994, driving their Toyota Corolla. The team entered her into that year’s Bathurst 1000, with Garry Jones and Andrew Reid. They did not finish.

Driving solo in 1995, she tackled the first rounds of the Australian Super Touring Championship in the Corolla, although she was unable to start one of her races. She was twelfth in one race at Calder Park. Earlier in the year, the team had run her in a couple of rounds of the Gold Coast Super Touring series. This yielded a thirteenth place and a DNF at Surfers’ Paradise.

In between top-line Australian Touring Car drives, Melinda took part in the Mazda 121 Challenge in 1996. This was a one-make series for female drivers. She was second in the championship, behind Tania Gulson. Her future team-mate Kerryn Brewer was one of her rivals.

The team that hosted the Castrol Cougars had been a feature of Australian racing for a few seasons before 1997, managed by Larry Perkins and usually running under the Perkins Engineering banner. The idea for an all-female team came from Castrol’s marketing department and Perkins, who usually raced for the team himself, got on board.

The Cougars car was a third Perkins Engineering entry for the Australian Touring Car Championship. It had won the 1995 Bathurst 1000, driven by Perkins and Russell Ingall.

The Cougars were originally a four-woman team consisting of Melinda and Kerryn, plus Michelle Fielke, an international netballer, and Kim Watkins, a TV presenter. Michelle was prevented from racing by her prior sporting commitments and Kim also dropped out. Melinda and Kerryn alternated driving duties.

Melinda did six of the ATCC races, competing at Wanneroo and Oran Park. The latter was the better circuit for her, and she earned her best finish there: a thirteenth place.

The two Cougars drove together for the big V8 Supercar races. They were a twelfth at Bathurst, just behind former F1 world champion Alan Jones in a Ford. The pair were also 17th in the Sandown 500.

Melinda took on nine rounds of the ATCC in 1998, with Kerryn taking a small step back and doing six. Her best result was 18th at Melbourne, and she was 41st in the championship.

Again, she did better in the longer endurance races, sharing the car with Kerryn. They were fourteenth in the Sandown 500, and a career-best eleventh in the Bathurst 1000.

In 1999, she drove in the Production category of V8 Supercars, using a K-Mart-sponsored Holden Vectra. The Castrol Cougars team had now been disbanded, having run as “Castrol Perkins Racing” in 1998. Driving solo, she was second in Class D.

She also had a couple of runs in the main V8 Supercar draw, now running as the Shell Championship. She drove a Holden Commodore for Clive Wiseman Racing and partnered Dean Lindstrom for the two races, the Queensland 500 and the Bathurst 1000. They were 20th and 17th respectively.

Clive Wiseman’s team gave her another drive for the Bathurst 1000 in 2000. Her car was a Holden Commodore, shared with her 1999 team-mate, Dean Lindstrom. They were 20th overall.

Melinda also drove a Holden Vectra for Gibson Motorsport in the Production Car Championship. She was fourth in Class E. At one point, she shared Peter Boylan’s Honda Integra Type-R for the Supercheap Showroom Showdown 3 Hours. They were 32nd overall.

In 2002 and 2003, she entered the Bathurst 24 Hours, driving two different cars. She used a Honda S2000 in 2002, and was third in class, with Peter Hansen and Hermann Tilke. The Porsche 996 she drove in 2003, along with Tilke and Jonathan Rowland, did not get to the finish.

After 2003, she retired from the circuits for a long time. She became a mother in 2011 and was diagnosed with breast cancer during her pregnancy. This meant she had to prioritise her health and personal life for a long time.

In 2014, she made a comeback, after eleven years. She raced a classic Lotus 20/22 single-seater in the Phillip Island Classic series, finishing 21st in the championship.

She continued to race this car for a couple of seasons and was 21st in the 2016 Phillip Island Classic. The year before, she was thirteenth in the Australian Formula Junior championship.

Saloons were still on her agenda. At the 2016 Ken Leigh 4-Hour Classic Enduro, she joined Team Brock and raced a Holden HQ Kingswood, but did not finish.

In 2017, she raced a Ford Falcon in the Touring Car Masters series and earned a third and fourth place. She picked up the same at Sandown in the GT Trophy Series, driving a Mazda 3 with Liam McLellan.

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The Ladies' Automobile Club

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Female Drivers in TC2000 in Colombia

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