Angela Palfrey

Angela Palfrey rallied in the 1950s, and for a couple of seasons was Britain's leading new female driver.

She is chiefly known for winning the Ladies’ Prize on the 1956 RAC Rally. Her car was an Austin A40, and she was navigated by Aileen Jervis, with Pauline Pither as a third team member. The rally ran between Blackpool and Hastings and had 2100 miles of navigation. The car itself belonged to her and was an older model no longer in production. She defeated Pat Moss and Mary Handley-Page, with Pat Moss taking a wrong turn around a pylon during a driving test.

The following month, she won the ladies' award in the Birmingham Post Rally. 

Previously, she had competed in a Morgan 4/4, and is recorded as the winner of the Worcester Motor Club’s Autocross event in 1955. She was only 20 at the time. Her first major rally award came in this car, the ladies' prize in the 1955 MCC Rally. The Morgan was borrowed from her boss at the fruit and vegetable canning factory where she worked, Barrie Phipps. Aileen Jervis had been her navigator again and they won £50 from the Daily Mirror. It was her first rally as a driver.

She drove another borrowed Morgan later in 1956, entering the Morecambe Rally, also sponsored by the Mirror. She also entered the MCC National Rally for a second time, starting from Kenilworth as she did before.

As well as rallies, she also competed on track occasionally. In summer 1956, she took to the circuits at Oulton Park, taking part in the Lancashire & Cheshire MC's high-speed trials. There were two trials lasting half an hour each, and Angela used the A40 she had driven in the RAC Rally. 

Angela was from Pershore in Worcestershire. Her competition career was very short and she does not appear to have rallied after 1957. During her brief time as a rally driver, she enjoyed the spotlight. The newspapers liked reporting on this very young, pretty and talented new star.

Her married name was Phipps; she married Barrie Phipps in 1958. She died in 2018, aged 83.

(Image copyright Daily Mirror)

Ella Lloyd

Ella Lloyd is a British driver who races single-seaters, most famously in the all-female F1 Academy championship.

She began her motorsport career in 2022, racing in Ginetta Juniors at the age of 16. She got into motorsport through the FIA’s Girls on Track karting challenge in 2018, having never done any karting before.

Her best results at the start of the 2022 season were three 16th places, achieved at Brands Hatch and Knockhill. Later, she improved, picking up an eleventh place at Thruxton. She was 21st overall.

The first year of her senior career, 2023, ended with a runner-up in the Pro class of the Ginetta GT5 Challenge, after a series of wins. She had 17 podium finishes from 25 races, ten of those being wins in the Pro class.

She then switched to single-seaters in 2024, first in the Formula Winter Series, then in British F4. Rodin entered her for the last two rounds of the Winter Series, taking over from Bart Harrison. It was a cautious start and she only got in the top 20 once, although she also scored more points than Harrison or some drivers who did a full season.

She was eleventh in the F4 championship, impressing many with her pace, despite her limited single-seater experience. The work she had put in over the winter had started to pay off. During the year, she scored three second places, at Silverstone, Knockhill and Brands. This led to a wildcard entry for the Singapore rounds of F1 Academy, where she was ninth and seventh. Later in the year, she took part in the Formula E Women's Test at Jarama, recording the seventh-best set of times. As a result, she was invited back to test again for the McLaren team at Berlin Tempelhof in 2025.

For 2025, she was signed by the Rodin team as McLaren's supported driver in the series. To prepare, she entered the Formula 4 Middle East Trophy. This wasn't a huge success; in the five races she did, her best finishes were 17th places at Yas Marina.

F1 Academy itself was more successful. In the third race at Jeddah, she scored her first win, following it up with three second places later in Canada.

She is from a motorsport family - both parents and her older brother compete - and she has won junior championships in both downhill skiing and showjumping.

(Image copyright F1 Academy)

Jean Aley

Jean at the Brands Hatch ladies' race. She is fourth from the right, turning away from the camera

Jean Aley drove saloon cars in the 1960s, and also competed in rallies.

She was born into a motor racing family. Her father Anthony Curtis was one of the founding directors of HRG sportscars and both he and her mother Nancy were regular visitors to Brooklands. Jean's first practical involvement was through working for motor clubs, including the BARC and BRSCC. Between 1958 and 1960, she sprinted a Cooper sportscar and was second in class in the 1958 Brighton Speed Trials. 

Jean married John Aley in 1960, and he encouraged her to race again from 1961 onwards, usually in a Mini. She had taken some time out after an accident at Silverstone in the Cooper.

Her best year for saloons was 1962, when she drove a Mini in the Nürburgring 6 Hours and 500km races. She and Daphne Freeman did not finish the 500km, but she was fifth in class in the 6 Hours, driving with her husband John. Their Mini was described as "very standard". 

She was also one of nine women who entered a ladies' race at Brands Hatch, organised by the fledgling British Women Racing Drivers' Club. She was third, driving a Mini, behind two Lotus Sevens driven by Liz Osborn and Wendy Hamblin. Talking to the Daily Express, she said that the race had been a warm-up for the Nürburgring, and that John had lent Daphne their other Mini, a "shopping car", for the race. 

A second run in the Nürburgring 6 Hours followed in 1965, driving a little Fiat Abarth with John and Tim Lalonde. Their finishing position is unclear. Her year had begun inasupiciously, with John taking over her Mini for a round of the British Saloon Car Championship at Snetterton. His team had entered two DKWs for German drivers, but John's own car was out of action, so he took Jean's. 

Competing against each other apparently caused some friction between the Aleys, and Jean concentrated on sprints and hillclimbs after that.

Plans were discussed for an endurance trial in a smaller Fiat-Abarth in February 1967. John, Jean and drivers from the Cambridge University Automobile Club aimed to run the car day and night at Snetterton for a week, covering 1000 miles per day. It is not clear whether this ever took place.

In rallies, she occasionally navigated. She sat alongside Sheleagh Aldersmith for the 1963 Monte Carlo Rally. Unfortunately, their rally ended before they had even got on a ferry to the Continent; the radiator exploded within a few miles of Jean's house. John took some responsibility, claiming he should have checked it. 

Both of the Aleys were now involved in motorsport outside of active competition. John sometimes served as Clerk of the Course at Snetterton, with Jean as Secretary of the Meeting. Later, they managed the circuit and founded the BRSCC East Anglian branch.

Her career seems to have ended after a road accident in 1967, when a tanker sideswiped her car at a junction. She and her female passenger were both injured. After this, she continued with her administrative work, organsising two European Touring Car Championships with John.

The couple ended up divorcing. Jean remarried.

(Image copyright Daily Mirror)

Women in the Tour of Britain

Sue Baker (left) and Jean Denton (right) in 1973

The Tour of Britain was a heavily-publicised summer event held in the UK in the 1970s, a three-day contest consisting of rally stages and races at circuits around the UK. It attracted professional race and rally drivers up to and including James Hunt and Jody Scheckter, as well as celebrities such as Noel Edmonds and Jimmy Savile. In later editions, rally drivers such as Roger Clark came to the fore, including many who travelled from across Europe.

Cars were required to follow Group 1 regulations, but came in all shapes and sizes. They were separated into classes based on their sale value. 

The Tour was sponsored by Avon tyres from 1973 to 1975, when Texaco took over. It was briefly revived in 1989, sponsored by Autoglass, but did not attract as many entries. No women took part. 

Prior to this, women had entered every time.

1973 (Won by James Hunt/Robert Fearnall, Chevrolet Camaro Z28)

Rosemary Smith/Pauline Gullick (Ford Capri) - 15th

Wendy Markey/Jenny Dell (BMW 2002 Ti) - 29th

Gillian Fortescue-Thomas/Caroline Faulder (Ford Escort Mexico) - DNF?

Jill Robinson/Frances Cobb (Ford Cortina GT) - DNF?

Alison Davis/Sheila Scott (Fiat 124 ST) - DNF?

Jenny Birrell (Simca Rallye 1) - DNF?

Jean Denton/Sue Baker (Fiat 127) - DNF?

1974 (Won by Roger Clark/Jim Porter, Ford Escort RS2000 MkI) 

Linda Jackson/Christine Mitchell (Ford RS2000 MkI) - 56th

Jenny Birrell/Alexa Davenport (Simca Rallye 2) - DNF

1975 (Won by Tony Pond/David Richards, Ford Escort RS2000 MkI) 

Jenny Birrell/Virginia Hall-Leeke (Chrysler Avenger GT) - 12th

Maggie Anderson/Susan Tucker-Peake (Renault 17TS) - 22nd

Rosemary Smith/Pauline Gullick (Ford RS2000 MkI) - 25th

Wendy Markey/Frances Cobb (Mazda MX-3) - DNF?

1976 (Won by Ari Vatanen/Peter Bryant, Ford Escort RS2000 MkII)

Jean Denton/Jackie Smith (Fiat 128 Coupe) - DNF?

Wendy Markey/Alison Jones (Lada 1200) - DNF?

(Image copyright Shutterstock/Daily Mirror)

Alisha Palmowski

Alisha Palmowski began her racing career in Ginetta Juniors in 2022, aged 15. She was the winner of the Ginetta Junior Scholarship and her prize was a full season’s racing in the championship. She describes this win as a turning point in her career; without it, she might never have switched to cars from karts.

Her scholarship followed six years of karting, during which she finished strongly in two junior categories. Although she quickly became competitive, she had no great interest in doing sports as a child, and only watched motorsport on TV.

Her best results were two eighth places at Knockhill in July and the challenging Brands Hatch GP circuit, in October. This was one of six top-ten finishes she earned that year and she was thirteenth in the championship. A run in the Ginetta Winter Series followed; the four-round series was held at Brands Hatch and she picked up one second and one third place.

In 2023, she was fifth in the championship, with ten podiums from 24 races. She was third in her second race of the season at Oulton Park, then second twice at Silverstone, setting herself up for a strong run in her final year as a junior racer.

Switching to single-seaters, she entered the GB4 championship in 2024 and was immediately on the pace again, winning the first round at Oulton Park, one of her best circuits. This was one of three wins that year, which gave her second in the championship, with eight additional podium finishes.

Impressing many onlookers by getting to grips with GB4 so quickly, she was selected as a wildcard entry for the Bahrain F1 Academy round and finished fifth in the one race which took place. This led to a full-time Academy seat in 2025, driving for the Campos team as Red Bull's supported driver. She has spoken openly about being quite star-struck in the F1 paddock, but it did not affect her performance.

At the end of 2024, she took part in the Formula E Women's Test at Jarama, driving for the Envision team with Alice Powell.

To prepare for her upcoming season, she entered the Formula Winter Series at the start of 2025, alongside her Campos team-mates, Chloe Chambers and Rafaela Ferreira. All three did two rounds each, with Alisha taking the first two at Algarve and Ricardo Tormo. She was the highest-placed of the three, coming in 23rd in the championship. Algarve was her best circuit; she was thirteenth twice and twelfth once.

She could not have hoped for a better start to her 2025 F1 Academy season. An incident-strewn first race at Shanghai meant that a calm and determined Alisha was able to take her first win. She followed it with a sixth place, and was then third and fourth at Jeddah, and second at Miami.

(Image copyright Red Bull)

Sheleagh Aldersmith

Sheleagh before the 1963 Monte

Sheleagh Aldersmith was a British driver and navigator in the 1960s. She competed in the Monte Carlo Rally many times between 1960 and 1970.

The first success she had at the wheel seems to have been a win in the Cowley & Wilson Trophy in 1957, a navigational event with driving tests and a quiz element organised by the Buckingham and District Motor Club. This had followed a second place in their "Spring Sprints" navigational rally. Her car is not recorded.

Some time between then and 1960, she started competing in stage rallies. A 1962 Worthing Herald news article from 1962 has her as "rally driving for the past two years".

Her first international event was in 1960. She teamed up with the multiple French champion, Claudine Trautmann (then Vanson) for the RAC Rally, driving a Citroen ID19. This was despite There was some confusion over whether they had actually started, but they made progress in Scotland until rolled, having stopped to help Claudine's future husband, Rene Trautmann. Sheleagh continued as a driver of the team's chase car. At the time, some said this was her second RAC Rally. 

As co-driver to Rosemary Seers in 1961, she entered an Triumph Herald in the Tulip Rally, held in the Netherlands. They were 73d overall, seventh in class, from 113 finishers.  Rosemary then switched to an MG Midget for the car-destroying Liege-Sofia-Liege Rally, which had eight finishers. The Seers/Aldersmith car was not among them. It had lost its exhaust system on the Resia Pass going into Italy, then gradually lost power until it expired at Sofia. The lack of an exhaust meant the the car's floor pan got very hot, particularly under the co-driver's feet. Both Sheleagh and Rosemary burnt through the soles of their shoes and had to jump out of the car at time controls. To add insult to injury, they received a speeding ticket in Yugoslavia.

They also drove an MG together on the 1961 RAC Rally and the 1962 Monte, although they did not finish either event. The Midget's gearbox broke on the RAC Rally.

In April, she came to the rescue of Irish driver Pat Barr, who found herself without a navigator for the Circuit of Ireland. Sheleagh answered an advert in the motoring press and cancelled another rally in England the help Pat out. They drove a Mini, but finished over the time limit and were not classified.

She did her first international rally as a driver in 1962, taking on the Tulip Rally, driving an Austin Seven wiht David Howick. She seemed equally happy working with male and female team-mates and was aiming for the mixed team award this time. On the way, she took her friend, Mrs Stromwall, as an additional, unofficial navigator; Mrs Stromwall wanted to visit her daughter in Bruges. Sheleagh was 88th overall.

Teaming up with Pat Barr again, but switching seats, she tackled the Tulip Rally again in 1963. This followed an ignominious exit from that year's Monte, when her road car broke down as she tried to get to the airport on her way to Ostend, the radiator bursting on co-driver Jean Aley's driveway. Later, she tried the Spa-Sofia-Liege event again, driving a Mini for the first time. She and co-driver Michael Nesbitt, a racing mechanic who owned the car, did not finish. The Mini's suspension, brakes and clutch were defeated by poor Yugoslavian roads near Titograd, now Podgorica in modern Montenegro.

Another Monte in 1964 began in Minsk, where she spent some time visiting local hospitals to compare conditions with the UK. She used the a Mini from the same garage as the one she shared with Michael Nesbitt, but had Elizabeth Jones as her co-driver this time. They got as far as the Alps without too much trouble, despite snow and bad Czech fuel, but the Mini was ailing and they went over the time limit trying to finish a special stage on an icy road.

Switching seats with Nesbitt again, she entered the Spa-Sofia-Liege again, but it continued to beat the, the car's radiator giving out this time. 

Another navigating job that year was helping Bill West on his first international rally, that year's RAC Rally. His Mini was a production model, as opposed to the Nerus-engined Hares Garage car Sheleagh was used to. They finished, in spite of changeable weather, including blizzards and fog in Scotland and northern England. The car's suspension had problems and the fan belt came off twice.

1965 was a quieter year. Sheleagh and Pat Walton had another go at the Tulip Rally in a Mini, but did not finish. This was a new car for her; she had elected not to enter the Monte to allow time for it to be prepared.

1966 was also relatively quiet. Sheleagh had been down to co-drive for a garage owner, John Barnes, but a bout of sciatica meant she had to drop out. It was also suggested that the Mini they were hoping to use had too many spotlights to be legal as well.

Another co-driving job came in in May, when she sat beside ED Jenkins for the Austrian Alpine Rally in a Mini. Their finishing position is unknown. 

The Mini was her chosen car in 1967 as well: she and Carolyn Tyler entered the Monte Carlo Rally, described as Sheleagh's sixth attempt. The car was hers, and she and Carolyn had tried it out on the Isle of Wight in October 1966, in a local rally. They won the Coupe des Dames. Unfortunately, they were non-finishers in the Monte itself.

She was set to drive in the RAC Rally with Susan Porch, until it was cancelled due to foot and mouth disease. Susan just wanted to get to the finish, in order to be eligible for the 1968 Monte. 

As a navigator, she entered two more rallies in 1967, in two separate Minis. She partnered Australian Lyndon McLeod for the Tulip Rally and Christopher Coburn for the Alpine Rally, although neither team finished.

Her partnership with Christopher Coburn continued for another two seasons, always with her in the navigator's seat. In 1968, they drove a Mini on the Monte, her seventh edition and his first. Their rally ended stuck in a bramble bush, going over the time limit in order to free themselves.

Their final event together was Sheleagh's last international rally. It was the 1969 Monte, driving a Vauxhall Viva. The alternator became faulty shortly after the start and they did not finish.

A hospital doctor and consultant in physical medicine, she was usually referred to as “Dr. S Aldersmith”, and has been described as "formidable". That said, she told the Worthing Herald in 1962 that her parents would not allow her to learn to drive, and she had to wait until she had qualified until she began "eight years ago". She had been practising medicine since at least 1954, when she worked in Nottingham. This was after she contracted polio in 1952, which must have necessitated time off work and sporting activity. She later lived in the south of England, at Rustington. She was sometimes a member of the circuit medical team at Goodwood, Silverstone and Brands Hatch, and the first woman to serve as a medical officer at the British Grand Prix.

As well as motorsport, she took an interest in flying and gliding and was one of the donors towards the 1954 World Championship Appeal Fund.

She died in 2002, aged 78. Her given name appears to have been "Sheila" on her birth certificate, but she used the spelling "Sheleagh" to refer to herself.

(Image copyright Worthing Herald)

Stephanie Ruys de Perez

 

Stephanie Ruys de Perez raced saloons in Canada in the 1960s and 1970s. Although born in the USA, she lived in Canada for most of her adult life.

She first comes to the attention of the media in 1966, when she was interviewed for McLeans magazine for a feature about women in motorsport. She was racing a Sunbeam Imp at the Players 200 meeting and it broke down on the third lap. The writer, Alan Edmonds, was very taken with her blond hair and slim figure, and wrote a lot about how she enjoyed racing as a "sensual" thing. Her husband had taken up the sport that year and it is likely that this was her first season too, although a 1969 newspaper article says that she had been racing for five years by then, "the last two in a full-sized sedan". She is quoted as saying that she would be "very depressed" if she thought she was better than men, and hoped her husband was better than her.

In 1970, she had moved on to a more powerful car and entered the Can-Am Challenge Race for the Labatts Blue Trophy, driving a Chevrolet Camaro. It is unclear whether she qualified. She later raced this car at the Harewood Grand Finale meeting at Harewood Acres, finishing ninth in her race. In July, she did at least one round of the Canadian Touring Car Championship at Mosport, finishing fourth. The first mention of this car was in a June 1969 Ottawa Journal report, where she raced in a support event to the Can-Am Challenge Cup. The car itself is sometimes described as being purple.

In 1972, she was fourteenth in the Sanair Trans-Am race, in a Mini Cooper, driving for the Fossman racing tem. Her name is sometimes associated with works Ford team Comstock, who helped start the careers of many Canadian drivers of the time, but it isn't clear whether she raced for them.

One of her more famous exploits was a Battle of the Sexes match race she undertook against Bob Tullius in November 1973. Tullius had previously said that her Mini could be driven faster by a man, encouraging her to challenge him to the race. The event was a support for the American Road Race of Champions at Road Atlanta, with both drivers in identical Triumph Spitfires prepared to Showroom Sports Car spec.

Stephanie, who had never competed at Road Atlanta before, led for three of the five laps, but was caught on the back straight by her rival, who won by 1.8 seconds. A group of women apparently mobbed officials and tried to claim that there were five more minutes left on the clock. Tullius won a silver pig trophy for his victory in the "Chauvinist Match Race".

Not long before, in October, she had wrecked her Mini in a spectcular accident at Mosport, flipping it over during qualifying.

More detailed information about her career is not forthcoming, although she was quite famous at the time, appearing in TV and print adverts. One of these was for Shell unleaded petrol in 1971. In 1974, she appeared in a TV series called Food for Thought, presenting a fitness segment.

She died "at an early age" from cancer.

(Image copyright McLeans magazine)