Women in Rallycross

Silva Winterhoff

Rallycross, at all levels, manages to attract a healthy number of female drivers. This seems to be especially true in France, where women compete, some successfully, in all of the classes. There is a large overlap between rallycross drivers and ice racers, so if the driver you are looking for is not on this page, try looking under Andros Trophy. UK drivers can now be found here, Scandinavian drivers here and French drivers here.

Mandie August - first competed in rallycross in 2007. After a few races, she graduated to the German championship in 2008, and also made her European Rallycross debut. Driving a Volkswagen Polo, she was 43rd in Division 1A, after finishing thirteenth in Austria, which was considered an impressive result for a beginner. She was 33rd in 2009 after two points finishes, in Portugal and Poland. Both seasons, she also entered the national series in her native Germany. In 2009, she qualified for the final in all six rounds, and had a best finish of second, at Grundau. She was third overall in her class, an improvement on tenth in 2008. In 2010, she returned with the Polo, and was 27th in class 1A. Her best finish was ninth, which she achieved at Lydden Hill and Nyirad. She drove a Skoda Fabia in 2011, and struggled for pace somewhat in the Super 1600 European championship. She did better in the German series, with second places at Ewald-Pauli-Ring and Duivelsbergcircuit. She was third overall. In 2012, she appears to have driven the Fabia at least once, but her results cannot be found. She used the same car in 2013, and was 16th in the European Super 1600 championship, after completing most of the season. In 2014, she drove the Fabia in the Swedish, German and Italian rounds of the European championship, in the Super 1600 class. 2015 looked quite similar, although she did the full S1600 championship in the Fabia this year. In 2016, she acquired an Audi S3 Supercar, and in it, won the European Rallycross Challenge's Supercar title. She switched between this car and a SEAT Ibiza in 2017, but did not make much of an impression in either. This time, she was racing in the European Supercar Championship. In 2018, she concentrated on the Super 1600 class in the European series, driving a Skoda Fabia. She was 33rd in the championship. The S3 came out for one Supercar outing in Sweden. There was more Supercar action in 2019, but in a SEAT Ibiza this time. Her best finishes in the European championship were two tenth places in the UK and Germany. She made her FIA World Rallycross Supercar debut at the Barcelona circuit in 2020, driving a SEAT Ibiza alongside Timo Scheider. In 2021, she did the Spanish WRX round in the main class, as well as a full Euro RX1 schedule. She was back in the Ibiza for the European RX1 series in 2022, and finished tenth in the championship. In the same car, she was 15th in 2023, with a best finish of fourth in Norway.

Collete Davis – American driver who raced in the Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship in 2015. She raced in the Lites class, driving the Lites Ford Fiesta for River Racing, supported by Bryan Herta Rallysport. Her best final result was a sixth place, at Detroit. She consistently reached finals. Previously, in 2012, she tried single-seaters, in the USFF2000 series. She was competing in the National class. Between then and 2015, she raced in SCCA events, and was part of the Mazda Road to Indy programme. In 2016, she used a Hyundai Veloster in the Lites class, and was eleventh overall, with a best finish of fifth. In the future, she hopes to move up to the Supercar class. In 2017, she concentrated on TV work, and even raced Monster Trucks. She drove the "Wonder Woman" truck in 2018. 

Tanja Fischer - Austrian driver who began in the Supernational class of her home championship, in 2011. Her car was a Renault Megane and her best result was eighth. She was 38th overall. In 2012, she changed her car to a Vokswagen Polo, in common with many other drivers in her class. She raced in the National 1600 class, again, with a best finish of eighth. She was tenth overall. Her results for 2013 are not forthcoming, but it looks as if she did the Austrian round of the European championship, in the National 1600 class, in the Polo. 

Romina Fritz - Austrian driver who competes in the National 1600 class. She began as a junior driver, in 2011, although there was no junior class for her to race in, so she drove her Volkswagen Polo in the Super National class. Her best finish was tenth, and she was 47th overall. In 2012, a junior class was introduced, and she was fifth. In 2013, she continued with the Polo, in the European Rallycross Challenge, although her results are proving hard to find. She continued to use the Polo for slalom events in 2014, very successfully, but switched to a Honda Civic for some rallycross rounds. Her main focus was slaloms. She is the daughter of long-time racer, Walter Fritz, and he took over her Polo in 2014. She raced the Civic in some Austrian championship rounds in 2015, and was the runner-up in the OSK championship in 2016. 

Kerstin Hellstrom - German-Swedish rallycross driver who raced in the 1990s. She drove in the 1400cc class, usually using a Citroen AX. In 1993, she was fifth in the European championship, with a best finish of fourth in the Netherlands. She continued to race the AX in Europe in 1994, although she did not do the full season, and raced again in 1995. Her career began in folkrace in 1989, progressing to junior rallycross in 1991. She also did some circuit racing in one-make saloon championships. Her Swedish father Sten Hellstrom also raced in rallycross.

Tatjana Jelisejeva - Russian driver who normally uses a VAZ Lada Samarra. She has been very successful in the Fast 1600 category of the Northern European Zone rallycross championship since its beginning in 2005, never finishing below fifth when she entered. Her best finish was third, in 2011. As well as the NEZ series, she also competes in rallycross in the Baltic championship, and did so in 2012. After 2012, she concentrated more on racing touring cars in Russia, on the circuits and on ice. She has competed on and off in the Russian championship for several years. In 2014, she drove a VW Polo in Russian Touring Cars, and a VAZ in the Russian ice championship. The year before, she concentrated on ice racing, in the VAZ. In 2015, she raced a Lada Kalina in the Russian ice-racing championship, with a best finish of third at Sannikovo. She also took part in rally raids in a Kamaz truck. In 2016, she entered the ice-racing championship again, but did not qualify for the first round. Since then, she has raced touring cars in the Russian championship. Language barriers have prevented detailed research about Tatjana.

Michaela Kalna - Czech driver who has competed in the European Rallycross Championship since 2006 in a Peugeot 206 and she drives in Division 1A. Her best championship result was 15th in 2007. She was 24th in 2009 after four points finishes. Previously, she drove in the ERC in 2003, as well as the Czech championships in which she was seventh. Her car this time was a Peugeot 306. She also drove in national championships around Europe between then and 2006. She was third in the Austrian national series in 2005, in the 206. She raced in Austria again in 2009, as well as in the ERC, and came fourteenth in her class. For 2010, she was back in the ERC, driving a Peugeot 206 in class 1A of the Central European championship. She was sixth overall, with a best finish of third at Sosnova, her home track. In 2011, she drove the Peugeot in seven rounds of the ERC, but was not among the Super 1600 front-runners. A single outing in the Central European series gave her a third place. Again, in 2013, she made a single appearance in the Central European Super 1600 championship in the 206, finishing second. She was seventh in the Polish championship in 2014. Her activities after 2015 are unclear, but she was back in the European championship in 2016.

Birgit Kuttner - Austrian driver who has been racing in rallycross since 2011, after switching from autocross. Her first car was a Honda Civic. She was thirteenth in her first season in Austrian Supernationals, with a best finish of fourth, at Nordring. She stayed in Supernationals in 2012, in the same car, and improved her race results, with a third and a second at Nordring, at opposite ends of the season. However, the class was more competitive this year, and she was fourteenth overall. In 2013, she moved up to the Central Europe Zone championship, still in the Civic, in the Supernational class. This was a tougher year for her, and she did not make the top ten. She was 16th overall. She continued to race the Civic in the same class in 2014. In 2015, she won her state Supercar Under 2000cc title, in a Honda. Using the same car, she won the Austrian 1600cc Super Touring class in 2016. In 2017, she entered the CEZ Championship in the Super Touring class, and was fifth in the Civic with one second place. She won at least one CEZ event in 2018, at the Slovakiaring, and won the CEZ STC1600 championship in 2019 with three event wins. 

Gray Leadbetter - competes in rallycross in the US. She turned heads in 2017 when she was signed for a development programme aged just twelve. She made her name as a junior racing off-road vehicles and motocross bikes, encouraged by her father. Her senior career began in earnest in summer 2019, when she was signed by Dreyer&Reinbold Racing to contest the ARX2 rallycross championship. At the mid-point of the championship, she was seventh in the points standings, with a best finish of fifth. More recently, she has raced sprintcars in the States and competed in rallycross. At the start of 2024, she was announced as the female driver for Legacy MC in Extreme E, sharing the car with either Travis Pastrana or Jimmie Johnson.

Tineke de Poorter - Dutch driver who raced in the Netherlands and Belgium, and in the ERC. She competed throughout the 1990s and early 2000s in the ERC, including the 1995-2002 seasons, which she spent in Division I, driving first a Lancia Delta Integrale, then a Fiat Coupe. Her best championship finish was 27th, in 1997, with the Lancia. Previously, she used the Lancia in Group N form in Dutch rallycross events. In 2003 and 2004, she continued to race the Fiat in Eastern Europe. She seems to have retired after this.

Silva Winterhoff - young German driver competing in rallycross in Germany. In her first year of competition, 2010, she was fifth in the German Rallycross Cup, with a best finish of third, despite only being 16. Her car was a Suzuki Swift. The following year, she changed to a Peugeot 106 XSI, and was third in the senior Rallycross Cup, and second in the junior category. This year, she scored her first senior win, at Duivelsbergcircuit in Belgium. In 2012, she drove an aged Volvo PV in the senior National Championship, and was second overall. Although she did not manage another win, she achieved a second and a third against experienced competition. She moved into senior competition in 2013, entering the Supernationals class of the German championship, in a Volvo PV. She won two races, and performed strongly in her others. In the same car, she was second overall in the Supernational class in 2014. She upgraded her car to a rotary-engined Mazda RX-7 for 2015, and was second in the Supernational championship once more. She went back to the Volvo for 2016, and appears to have won at least one trophy. She only did one event in 2017. 

(Image from drxtv.de)