Saturday 8 August 2015

Female Drivers in the Spa 24 Hours, up to 1973


Elyane Imbert and Simone des Forest with their Porsche in 1953

The Spa 24 Hours has been in existence for almost as long as Le Mans, having begun the year after, in 1924. Pre-war, no female drivers made it on to the grid. 

Initially, it was a race for sports racing cars. After 1949, it did not run for a few seasons, but reappeared in 1953 as a round of the World Sportscar Championship. Following another long hiatus, it became a race for touring cars in 1964, Between 1966 and 1973, it was a round of the European Touring Car Championship. 

Listed below are the results for every female driver in the Spa 24 Hours, up to 1973. As ever, in the case of a mixed team, the woman's name comes first, for clarity. More posts will follow with the rest of the results.

1949
Yvonne Simon/Germaine Rouault (Delahaye-Delage) – 11th (1st in 4000cc class)

1953
Annie Bousquet/Gilberte Thirion (Fiat 1100) – 16th
Elyane Imbert/Simone des Forest (Porsche 356 Super 1500) – disqualified
Joyce Leavens/Barry Leavens (Jowett Javelin) – DNF

1964
Claudine Bouchet/Ada Pace (Lancia Flaminia) – DNF

1966
Yvette Fontaine/Nicole Sol (Alfa Romeo 1300 TI) – 19th

1967
Christine Beckers/Marie-Claude Beaumont (NSU 1000 TTS) – 24th
Natalie Goodwin/Cyril Williams (Ford Lotus Cortina) – N/C
Yvette Fontaine/Jean-Marie Lagae (Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA) – DNF
Nicole Sol/Tom Sol (Ford Lotus Cortina) – DNF

1968
Christine Beckers/Nicole Sol (Alfa Romeo 1750 Berlina) – 23rd

1969
Yvette Fontaine/John Fitzpatrick (Ford Escort TC) – 11th
Liane Engeman/Bob Wollek (Alfa Romeo 1750 Berlina) – 13th
Hannelore Werner/Ferfried von Hohenzollern (BMW 1600) – DNF
Christine Beckers/Jacques Demoulin (Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA) – DNF

1970
Christine Beckers/Liane Engeman (Alfa Romeo 2000 GTAm) – DNF

1971
Liane Engeman/Christine Beckers (BMW 2800) – DNF
Yvette Fontaine/Hans Akersloot (Ford Escort RS 1600) – DNF
Gabriel Konig/Marie-Claude Beaumont (Chevrolet Camaro) – DNF

1972
Christine Beckers/Jean-Claude Sola (Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV) – 15th
Yvette Fontaine/Gillian Fortescue-Thomas (Ford Escort RS 1600) – DNF
Jenny Dell/Dennis Thorne (Ford Escort TC) – did not qualify

1973
Christine Beckers/Huub Vermeulen/Patrick Neve (Opel Commodore GS/E) – 7th
Yvette Fontaine/Frans Lubin (Ford Escort RS 1600) – DNF

(Image copyright Mike Copperthwaite)

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