Gisela Blume

Gisela (left) with Petra Schuster

Gisela Blume drove in European rallies in the 1980s. She was a contemporary and rival of the similarly-named Rena Blome. 

She began rallying as a co-driver, in 1978. She sat alongside Gunter Lehmann for some German events in his Datsun Cherry before spending another season with Heinz-Walter Schewe. It was in 1980 that she got behind the wheel herself, combining some outings as a driver in a Ford Fiesta with more co-driving. Her own navigator was Petra Schuster, who sat beside her for most of her career.

Gisela won the Coupe des Dames in the Monte Carlo Rally in 1981, driving a Peugeot 104. She was 56^th overall. She, Rena Blome and Waltraud Wunsch were the only non-French drivers in that particular car; Gisela finished considerably higher than 115th-placed Rena and Waltraud in 88th place.

The same car and driver was entered into the Acropolis Rally, another World Championship round, but did not finish. A sister car driven by Waltraud Wunsch was another non-finisher. Rena and Waltraud took their Peugeots to some other WRC events in 1981, but Gisela only did two. She spent the rest of the season in the German championship, driving the Fiesta and finishing ninth in her class. Her best overall result was a 15th place in the ADAC Wiking Rallye, a tarmac event.

Another run in the Monte Carlo Rally in 1982 ended in transmission failure, this time driving a Ford Escort XR3i. However, this did not set the tone for the rest of her German rally season. By March, she was back inside the top twenty with a 19th place in the mixed-surface Rallye Trifels, ahead of Rena Blome again. A thirteenth place and class win followed in the Lubeck Rallye. Three further top-twenty finishes ensued, then a career-best eighth in the first running of Rallye Deutschland, again ahead of Rena.  

Her final year of major competition was 1983 and she used two different Ford Escorts: the XR3i and an RS1600i. The XR3i gave her the best results, including 15th place in the Westfalen-Lippe Rally and 19th in the Saarland Peugeot-Talbot Rally. In September, driving the RS1600i, she attempted Rallye Deutschland again, but did not finish. 

If her career had not have been so short, Gisela probably would have been in line for the Peugeot Germany seat in the 205 T16 that eventually went to Michele Mouton. She had proved herself the equal of the better-known Rena Blome, and a quick learner in different cars.

She died in 2015, at the age of 60.

Tina Hausmann

 

Tina Hausmann is a Swiss driver racing single-seaters in Europe.

Her first experience of car racing, after some success in karts in Switzerland, was in the 2023 Formula Winter Series, a Formula 4 championship based in Spain. She surprised many with a fourth and third place in her first-ever events at Jerez, but the next round at Ricardo Torme was a disappointment for her, with a pair of DNFs. She only did half of the eight-race championship.

During the 2023 summer season, she contested both Italian F4 and its associated Euro4 championship but did not score any points. Her best finish was 16th at Paul Ricard. A Race 1 accident on the second lap at Misano led to her wthdrawal from the rest of the round, although she did return for the next races at Spa.

For 2024, she signed up for both the UAE F4 series and the all-female F1 Academy. Aston Martin selected her as its supported driver for F1A and she was part of the Prema team. Her team-mates Doriane Pin and Maya Weug had considerably more experience, with Doriane having raced at Le Mans and both having competed in FRECA. She started well with a sixth place at Jeddah, but was unable to match it for the rest of the year. Usually, she is a top-ten finisher, but she has not yet got near the podium. Technical problems have played their part in this.

Her UAE campaign ended up being one round at Yas Marina, driving for Xcel Motorsport. She finished two of her three races, in 27th and 21st place.

Tina was previously active in karting and esports.

(Image copyright F1 Academy)