Female Rally Drivers after 1950: Poland

Magdalena Cieślik and Magda Lukas celebrate

There are now enough Polish drivers on Speedqueens to warrant their own post. This will be added to in future.

Izabela Bzyl - Polish driver active since 2010. She is part of the “Bzylki Sisters” team, with her sister Katarzyna Bzyl as team manager and occasional driver. In 2010 and 2011, her car was a Peugeot 206. Her best result was a 34th place in the Rajd Karkonoski. In 2012, she acquired a Renault Clio, and improved her best finish to 30th, in the Rajd Świdnicki-Krause. Her usual navigator is Jakub Domański. After 2012, the team has struggled for funds, and has only occasionally competed at lower levels, such as a women-only rally in Poznan in 2014. 

Magdalena Cieślik - Polish driver most active between 1999 and 2002, although there are records of her beginning her career in 1997 in a Renault 21, and entering some Polish Championship events in 1998. Her major rally entries were mainly in Poland. In 1999 and 2000, she used an N1 Fiat Seicento, in which she had a best finish of 28th, in the Rajd Zimowy. After a brief experiment with a Nissan Micra, she acquired a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV, later updated to an Evo VI. This marque gave her her best finishes of her career: seventh in the Rajd Zimowy in 2001 and 2002, and ninth in the Rajd Krakowski in 2002. She was also seventh in the 2002 Rajd Rzeszowski-Fuchs, driving an Evo VII. Her last major event seems to have been the 2004 Rajd Barborka in Poland, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI.

Balbina Gryczynska - rallies a Ford Fiesta in Poland. Her first Fiesta was an R2 which she used in the 2013 Rajd Mikolowski, winning her class and finishing 44th. She rallied this car extensively in 2015 and had a best finish of 17th in the Mikolowski event. After a shorter season in 2016 she scored three more top-twenty finishes in 2017, the best of these being another 17th in the Rajd Rzeszowski. The Fiesta was upgraded to a Rally4 model in 2020 and she continued to post top-twenty results. She was 16th in the 2021 Tech-Mol Rally. She also entered her first Rally Poland, finishing 56th. Another strong season in a different Fiesta followed in 2022, with highlights including a fifth place in a round of the Motul Gravel Cup and a seventh in the Rajd Malopolski. The only real disappointment was a retirement from the Rally Kosice in Slovakia due to a medical problem.

Janina Jedynak - competed extensively in Poland in a Polski Fiat in the 1970s. She mostly rallied in the Eastern Bloc countries but did make one WRC start in 1978, when she entered the Acropolis Rally but did not finish. She won two runnings of the women-only Rajd Pan (Ladies’ Rally) in 1972 and 1974, in the Fiat. Most of the time she was happy to be involved in mixed competition and she secured a third place in the Nocny Rajd Rzeszowski in 1970. In 1974 she took part in the Cup of Peace and Friendship, rallying in East Germany, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. She also competed as a co-driver during the same time period, and is remembered as one of Poland’s foremost female drivers.

Paula Kucharewicz ("Pajka") – rallies a Vokswagen Polo in her home country of Poland. In 2015, she competed in the Centrum Cup, a club-level championship. 2015 looks to be her first year of rallying. Her best result so far seems to be a sixth place in the Warsaw Rally, out of 23 drivers. She also won her class. In 2016, she earned her first podium position, a third in the Rajd Nowomiejski, in the Polo. She was also seventh in the Warminski Rally, and second in her regional championship, with a class win. She rallied a Peugeot 208 in 2017, running a shorter programme than previously. Her best result was thirteenth, in the Rally Warminskie Szutry. In 2018 she did not compete and only ran as a course car on the Rajd Sokolski. Her usual co-driver in Dzienis Bartosz. 

Zofia Kwasnieska - rallied a Volkswagen Beetle and other small cars in Poland in the 1960s. She took part in at least two runnings of Rally Poland in 1963 and 1964, driving the Beetle. Later, she won two editions of the Poland’s women-only rally, the Rajd Pan (Ladies’ Rally). She was the victor in 1967 driving an Austin 1000 (probably a Mini) and in 1970. She also used a Soviet-built Zastava in the 1969 Rajd Pan. In 1963, she was fifth in her class in the Polish rally championship.

Klaudia Temple - Polish driver active in major rallies in Poland since 2011. For her first season, she drove a Citroen Saxo. Her best result was 34th in the Rajd Cieszyńska Babórka. In 2012, she broke into the top twenty on the Rajd Karkonoski, in 19th place, having swapped the Citroen for a Honda Civic. She was later 20th in the Rajd Cieszyńska Babórka. In the same car, she competed around Poland in 2013. Her bet result improved again to 17th, in the Rajd Wisly. She continued to rally in Poland in 2014, still in the Civic. She did not quite manage to get into the top twenty this year, with a best result of 21st, in the Nadwiślański Rally. She was fourth in class. In 2015, she was fourth in her class again, in the Civic. Her best overall result was 27th, in the Nadwiślański Rally. This improved to 25th in 2016, still in the Civic. She did fewer rallies this year. In 2017, she was fifth in a rallysprint event at Makow, in the Civic. She also did some rounds of the Polish championship, and was fifth in her class. In 2019, her only major event was the Rajd Dolnoslaski. She was 18th in a Peugeot 208, a car she also used in 2020. Her best result was 47th in the Rajd Rzeszowski.  Her usual navigator is Jakub or Kamil Wrobel. 

Barbara Wojtowicz – rallied in Poland, on and off, between 1947 and 1963, in a variety of small cars, including a Simca Aronde and NSU Prinz. Among her earliest was a Fiat 1100, which she used in the 1947 Polish Rally. She competed in the Polish Rally on several occasions, throughout her career, and her best result in it was eleventh, in 1963, when she was 45 years old. The car on this occasion was a Renault Dauphine. Barbara was more known for her active role in the Polish resistance during the Second World War. She died in 2009.

Ewa Wójtowicz – best known for rallying a Citroen C2 in Polish rallies. She has driven this car since at least 2009, when she entered the Rajd Barbórka. In 2011, she was very active, and had a best finish of 32^nd, in the Świdnicki-Krause Rally. She has continued to compete since then, usually with the Palonka rally team, including in some events in Slovakia, in 2014. One year, possibly in 2011, she was runner-up in class in a Polish rally championship. 

Agnieszka Zalecka - driver and co-driver from Poland who switches between both roles. She started as a navigator in 2016 but quickly moved seats, entering the 2017 Rajd Baborka in a Honda Civic. The Civic was her regular car for the next three seasons, taking her to a best finish of ninth in the 2020 Rajd Mikolowsko-Zorski. In 2021, she sampled some more powerful cars, starting with a Rally3-spec Ford Fiesta for the Rajd Ziemi Glubczykiej, although a tie rod failure meant she retired. It was replaced by a Peugeot 208 Rally4, in which she entered her first Rally Poland, finishing 52nd from 72 finishers. She had a different 208 in 2022 and made progress, picking up an 18th place in the Rajd Wisly as her best result.

Agata Zuk - Polish driver who has been active since 2021. Her first car was an Opel Corsa B. After a short season in 2021, she competed quite extensively in 2022. Her best result in the Corsa was a 15th place in the Darvit Walimska Zimowka, from 55 finishers, with a class win. A guest drive in the Audi Cup gave her an eighth place in the third round of the Motul Gravel Cup. She was back in the Corsa for the 2023 Walimska Zimowska, finishing 26th and second in class.

(Image from http://www.rajd.rzeszow.pl/wczesniejsze-edycje-rr/)