Nadia Cutro

Nadia Cutro is and Argentine driver who usually competed alongside her navigating sister, Florencia (Flor), in the early part of her career. 

They have been rallying since at least 2005, when Nadia was 19 and Flor was old enough to participate. Previously, Nadia had co-driven for other drivers, including her father Oscar. To begin with, the sisters had a road-spec Volkswagen Gol which they used for local events.

The Gol served them for another few seasons, the highlight of which was the yearly Rally de Entre Rios. Their best finish in that car was a 26th place in 2008.

Their first attack on the Argentine championship came in 2010. The Gol had been replaced by a more powerful Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII, run by Marcos Ligato's Tango team. Nadia was a top-twenty contender right from the start on the rough gravel stages. She was 17th in the Rally de Los Alerces de Esquel y Trevelin. then tenth in the Rally de Tucuman a couple of months later. Later in the season, she was eleventh in the San Luis Rally. 

Nadia's first international rally was in 2010. She entered Rally Argentina, then a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. It was a rally with a very long list of retirements, but the sisters finished in 31st place.

They were selected for the Pirelli Stars driver development programme in 2011, and initially continued with the satellite Tango team, in a Lancer Evo IX. They retired from their first rally, but were eighth overall in the Rally del Surubi-Goya. Later, they switched to a Fiat Punto, and were 17th in the Rally Pagos del Tuyu. 

In 2012, their car was a Fiat Palio. It was not a brilliant year, with only three finishes out of nine. The best of these was 16th in the Rally Ciudad de Goya. 

They carried on rallying the Palio in 2013, in the Junior class, supported by Fiat. They did better, finishing four out of eight rallies, with a fourteenth (third Junior team) in the Rally des Misiones, and fifteenth in the Rally de Cordoba. They were fourth overall in the Junior standings. 

The Fiat team withdrew their support for the rally programme after 2013, and Nadia acquired a Ford Fiesta for the 2014 season. Her season was much shorter this year, with one finish, in the Rally de Entre Rios. She was 17th, fourth in class. 

Nadia rallied the Fiesta again in 2015, but spent most of the season without Flor on the maps. Her best finish was ninth, in the Gran Premio de Villa Carlos Paz Rally, and she also won her class in the Entre Rios Rally, finishing fourteenth overall. 

In 2016, she took her first rally win, driving the Fiesta on the Rally de la Naranja. Her co-driver was Luciano Bombaci, who had first sat alongside her 2015. The event was their final one of the year and a fantastic end to a season that was plagued with non-finishes.

The pair continued to work together in 2017. Nadia's new car was a Toyota Etios. It was not as quick as the Fiesta; her best finish was eleventh, achieved in the Tucuman and Cruz del Eje rallies. 

The Etios won her three RC3 classes in Argentine rallies in 2018, including a seventh place overall in the Homenaje a Jorge Recalde Rally. 

The same car and crew competed in the 2019 Argentine championship. Nadia's best finish was eleventh, on the National section of Rally Argentina. Eleventh was her best result in 2020 too, achieved on the Rally de Balarce, driving a new Toyota Yaris. This was her only finish of the year. 

2021 was much better, with eight finishes from ten rallies, five of which resulted in a top-ten finish. The best of these was a fifth place in the Tucuman Rally. 

In 2022, she carried on with the Yaris, recording a best finish of ninth in the Rally de la Rioja. She had entered the FIA Codasur rally championship, but only competed in Argentina and was 63rd overall. She was also tenth in her class in the Argentine championship.

There were three more ninth places for her and the Yaris in 2023, one including a class win in the Rally de Villa Dolores. The Rioja event was another one where she got into the top ten, repeating her 2022 performance.

Another year in the Yaris followed in 2024: her best finish was seventh, in the Rally de Misiones. She was fourth in her class in the Argentine championship. In 2025, she tackled the Argentine series again and at the time of writing, has secured two more top-ten finishes. This year, she got a new co-driver in Miguel Recalt, as Luciano Bombaci had decided to retire from active competition.

As well as rallying, Nadia has made various guest appearances on the circuits in Argentina, starting with the Volkswagen Bora Cup in 2015 and 2016. The same year, 2016, she scored some points in the Top Race series, driving a Chevrolet. Moving up in power, she tried the Pro Am class of the Porsche GT3 Cup in Argentina.

(Image copyright Luca Martinez)

Gaby dela Merced

Gaby dela Merced is a Filipino driver who raced single-seaters in the 2000s, up to Asian Formula 3 level.

She was fourteenth in the 2006 Asian Formula 3 championship, racing in the Promotion class. Her best overall finish was seventh, at Batul in Indonesia. She also ran quite well at Batanga and Zhuhai. One of her rivals was Michele Bumgarner. The two were the highest-scoring Filipino drivers, from five, with Gaby the second highest.

She first raced saloons in 2002, after two seasons in slalom and autocross. Her first championship was the SVI Challenge Cup and she was third in the novice class. Her car is not recorded, but her car for the same series in 2003 was a Honda Civic. She won at least two races at Subic International Raceway and was second in the championship, after duelling with her team-mate Mikko David at the front all year. 

She also competed in the BRC (Batanga Racing Circuit) Production Touring Car Championship, finishing third. 

Later, she raced in a Formula Toyota championship in the Philippines, which used a Japanese-spec single-seater with slicks and wings. She was runner-up in Formula Toyota in 2004 and also competed in half of the Asian Formula BMW championship, driving for Team Tec Pilipinas. Her best finish was eleventh, at Beijing. She had been awarded a scholarship drive for Formula BMW and this was her prize drive. The scholarship was decided via a shootout at Johor in Malaysia, and this was the first time she had driven a single-seater.

Post-Formula 3, she attempted to launch her career in America, like her compatriot Michele Bumgarner would manage the year after. However, she could not find a seat anywhere with the money she had.

Between 2006 and 2009, she does not appear to have raced much, and concentrated on her TV career, which included a stint on Filipino Big Brother. She made her comeback, racing in endurance events in the USA. One of these races was the 2008 25 Hours of Thunderhill, where she shared a BMW M3 with Robbie Montinola and Angelo Barretto. The all-Filipino team was twelfth overall and sixth in class. Earlier in the year, she made a guest appearance in the PTC at Subic.

She had to stop racing in 2010 after a knee injury. This was later found to be due to an inflammatory condition which needed surgery. This limited her participation for quite some time. For about five years in total, she had to stop doing all sports.

What also did not help was Gaby's involvement in a so-called Filipino racing team designed to get Filipino drivers into NASCAR. This 2013 plan turned out to involve no racing at all; a supposed multinational race at Charlotte was reduced to a driving experience day more commonly sold to complete novices. Gaby was sanguine about her experiences, claiming that "sh** happens".

Her next adventure was the Transasia TA2 championship in 2014, based on the Trans Am formula in America. Her car was a 450bhp Ford stock car and she raced across Asia for a Korean team. She made a few guest appearances in the series after that.

After another long hiatus, she returned to Asian motorsport for the Giti Formula V1 Race Challenge in 2019. This is a sportscar championship using the same Vita prototype as the all-female Kyojo Cup in Japan. She also guested in the Thailand Super Series round at Sepang, sharing a TA2 Ford Mustang with Australian Jaylyn Robotham. They were 16th in one race. 

Since then, she has done some drifting, and more media work, including some acting and TV hosting. Her last motorsport outings were the MSCC Mazda Cup in the Philippines in 2024.

She also competes in flag football, joining the Philippines womens' team in 2023. 

(Image copyright Gaby dela Merced)

Lisa Clark

Lisa Clark is an American driver who has competed in the US Ferrari Challenge since 2017. She is known online as "Racer Mom".

Speed was a family thing when she was growing up; her father raced dirt bikes and the two used to ride together at night. Lisa always gravitated towards four wheels rather than two, and a payout she received after a motorcycle accident helped her to afford a Porsche, which she used for autocross. There was a long gap while she was having her children, but she never gave up on her plan. She found out about the Ferrari Corsa Pilota training programme when she bought her first road-going Ferrari, then realised that she could also race the car competitively. Preparation consisted of karting and some arrive-and-drive endurance races in Europe, then she was ready to go.

In her first season, she did just two races, at Bowmanville in Canada. She finished both, in tenth place. The following year, she did five of the championship's eight races, finishing in the top ten in three of them. The best of these was a sixth place at Watkins Glen. She was eleventh in the championship.

She secured her first trophy in 2019, coming home first in the Am class of the North American Challenge at Sebring. This was one of five podiums that season, on her way to sixth place.

She also raced in Europe, entering the Le Mans round of the European Ferrari Challenge, although she did not finish. The World Final at Mugello gave her a tenth place.

Her 2020 campaign was a part-season. She did just over two-thirds of the meetings and her best one was the away round at Misano, where she won the Am class twice. She was sixth in the World Final at Misano.

In 2021, she scored her first overall podium, a third at Homestead-Miami. After a stronger season, she was sixth in the championship. In Europe, she raced in the Ferrari Coppa Shell at Valencia and the Nurburgring, with a best finish of ninth at the Nurburgring.

She also did her first major race outside the Ferrari Challenge, and not in a Ferrari. Driving an Audi R8 LMS GT4 with Jeff Westphal, Martin Lechman and Mark Issa, she was third in class in the Barcelona 24H, 24th overall.

2022 was one of her best seasons yet, with three podium finishes in the Am class on her way to a class third overall in the Coppa Shell North America. She also raced in Europe at Portimao and Paul Ricard, scoring points in the Coppa Shell Europe.

In 2023, she was 15th in the championship and eleventh in the World Final. However, this was just gearing up for a busy year in 2024, with another full Ferrari Challenge season and some extras. She took part in the FIA Motorsport Games in the single-make GT section, finishing eleventh, and also raced her Ferrari in Europe in two rounds of the 24h Series. This was with the Pellin team who ran her in the Coppa Shell Europe, sharing a GT3 Ferrari 488 with Jeff Westphal and Kyle Marcelli. They were tenth and ninth in class in the two Mugello 12 Hour races. They were twelfth and 17th overall.

Another season split between the Ferrari Challenge and the 24H Series in Europe beckoned in 2025. She used the same Ferrari 296 for both.

Image copyright 24H Series

Her car is run by Ferrari of Beverly Hills in the American championship.

Arianna Casoli

Arianna Casoli races in the Whelen Euro NASCAR series. The Italian is the most prolific female driver in the championship and is one of its longest-standing competitors.

It was in 2016 that she first strapped herself into a stock car, aged 42. She raced in the Elite 2 development class and her car was a Ford, one of the championship's stock bodies. Her best finish was 15th, at Adria, and she was 19th in the championship, although she was that year’s top lady driver. Prior to her first races, she had only done a little testing in a car that was the most powerful and heaviest thing she had ever driven.

She fared better at the wheel of a CAAL Racing Chevrolet in 2017, almost getting into the top ten at Venray. She was 15th overall that year.

Another season in Elite 2 in 2018 gave her a championship 17th. She improved this to 15th in 2019, with a best finish of twelfth at Zolder.

An accident in 2020 threatened to end her Euro NASCAR adventure, but she completed the four-round championship, finishing tenth with a best finish of fifth at Zolder.

A full championship ran in 2021, with Arianna in the EuroNASCAR2 class. She was 18th in the championship, with one top-ten finish, a tenth place at Most.

She did a part-season in the same class in 2022, with a best finish of 17th at Brands Hatch. This was repeated in 2023.

Another EuroNASCAR season in 2024 ended with a trip to Brazil for the final rounds of the NASCAR Brazil series.

Prior to 2016, she raced in a number of one-make series in Italy, including the Saxo and MGF Cups, beginning in 1996, when she was 22. Her first car was a Renault Clio. This stopped in 2002 so she could finish her education and have children. She began racing seriously again in 2015 in the SEAT Ibiza Cup in Italy, having made a guest appearance in 2013 with her friend Valentina Albanese.

(Image copyright @suomi1985)

The TC2000 Carrera de la Mujer

The Carrera de la Mujer ("Race of Women") is a recurring event held at the end of the TC 2000 season in Colombia. It is a female-only race run in aid of breast cancer charities. The 2024 edition was the seventh running; it is not an annual event.

It is for saloon cars of the type found racing in Colombian TC 2000, and cars of a variety of ages can take part. Grids are normally fairly large and consist of female TC 2000 regulars, celebrities, media and other guest drivers who are competing for charity. The race is a sprint, usually lasting 20 minutes. Drivers can compete solo or with a co-driver, who does not have to be female.

Details of the race are sketchy, although each edition is numbered, which helps a little. It isn't clear when the first race was held, although it was not before 2013. Entry lists, results and winners are similarly difficult to find.

Below is the beginning of a timeline for the Carrera de la Mujer, with winners where they are known.

I

II (2014)

III (2015)

IV

V

VI (2022) 

Angelica Jaimes (Renault)

VII (2024)

Teresa Penuela (Renault)

 

(Image copyright TC 2000)

Carla Costa

Carla and Barbara Costa

Carla Costa is a Portuguese driver from the Azores, Portuguese-administered islands in the Atlantic.

Her career began as far back as 1998 and her first car was a Renault 4, an unlikely rally car. Nevertheless, she used it between 1998 and 2002, before replacing it with a sportier Citroen AX.

It was in 2005 that she started competing regularly, using a 1200cc Renault Clio. Co-driven by Elisabete Nunes, she won her class in two events: the Rali FM Ilha Azul and the Alem Mar Ilha Lilas rally. 

The first part of her career ends here. She did not compete again for ten years, but made her return in 2015, entering the Azores Ladies' Trophy, a women-only rally series with its own events. Her car was a Citroen Saxo and her co-driver was her daughter, Barbara. They won the last event of the championship, the Especial Sprint da Riviera, outright, after third places in the two previous rounds. This was enough to secure her the ladies' championship title.

She competed in the Ladies’ Trophy again in 2016, and won the first two rounds, the Rali Regional Vila Nova and the Rali Praia da Vittoria. A retirement in the third round dropped her to third in the championship. Her car was a Renault Clio.

Her navigator since that year was still her daughter, and the pair continued to rally together for the first couple of events in 2017. With Rul Avila, Carla won two "Ladies & Veterans" rallies outright in the 2017 Azores championship. She was driving the Clio.

She was back in mixed competition in 2018, still in the Clio. She earned two top-twenty finishes in the Sical and Ilha Graciosa rallies.

In 2019, she was second in the Azores ladies' championship, first in the asphalt series, with a best finish of 22nd in the Acoreana Rali. This year, she had several different co-drivers, the most frequent being Lisandra Inacio.

After a year off during the first part of the worldwide coronavirus crisis, she returned to the stages for the 2021 PicoWines Rali, finishing 26th. This was followed up by another win in the 2022 Azores Ladies' championship and had a best finish of eighth in the Rali Ilha Graciosa, driving a Renault Clio.

She was very active again in the Clio in 2023, finishing thirteenth in the Azores championship and scoring another eighth spot in the Ilha Graciosa Rally.

Another Azores championship season proceeded in 2024, including a sixth place in Especial Sprint Motorshow. She ended the year Azores ladies' champion again and was 16th in the championship.

Her son Diogo and husband Joao have both competed as co-drivers and drivers. In 2024, Carla, Joao and Diogo all drove in the Rali Alem Mar - Ilha Lilas event. Joao was 20th, Carla was 30th and Diogo crashed out.

Natasha Tundo

Natasha co-driving for her father, Frank

Natasha Tundo is a Kenyan rally driver whose usual car is a Subaru Impreza. She is from a rallying family; her father Frank and brother Karl are also rally drivers. Her first experience in a rally car was at the age of three, when her father drove her around part of the Safari Rally course in his own car.

She started driving in rallies in 2015, after several years of co-driving, often for Frank. She and Carl won the 2012 Guru Nanak Rally together in 2011, with Carl driving the family Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX.

She and Chantal Young drove a Subaru Impreza STi in the 2015 Kenyan championship, under the team name “Rally Chix”. Natasha’s best finish was 19th, in the Nakuru Rally. She had entered the Safari Rally earlier in the year, but had to retire; this was her only non-finish of the year. She was 32nd in the Kenyan championship, tied with Rob Hellier and George Njoroge. 

In 2016, she did a full season in the Kenyan championship, in the Impreza. Her best result was an eleventh place in the Safari Rally. This was one of four top-twenty finishes she achieved that year.

Another season in the Kenyan series followed in 2017. Her best finish was twelfth, in the Fly540 RSC Rally. She was also fourteenth in the Eldoret Rally. This was her last time in the driver's seat for a while. Her attentions turned to co-driving for her father again, making trips to New Zealand, Bulgaria and the UK, in this case the 2021 Roger Albert Clark historic rally. Their usual car was a Triumph TR7, but they used a Ford Escort RS1800 for the Silver Fern Rally in New Zealand.

Her comeback as a driver was in 2022, when she was second in the 2022 Lioness Rally with Chantal, in the Impreza. This was an all-female event In Kenya, won by Maxine Wahome in a similar car. Chantal had sat beside Maxine in the previous year's Safari.

In 2023, she was eighth in the Safari Rally, her best result in a mixed event. She does not appear to have competed in 2024.

(Image from monitor.co.ug)

Toni Breidinger

Toni Breidinger races in the NASCAR Truck series and has been a regular in the ARCA Menards Series for several seasons.

She made her ARCA debut in 2018, aged 19, driving a Toyota for Venturini Motorsports. Her first race was at Madison and she finished tenth. She was then twelfth at Gateway and 18th at Chicago. Her team-mate was Natalie Decker, and they were joined by Leilani Munter at Chicago, making up the first three-woman team in the series. She made one appearance in the CARS Super Late Model Tour in 2019, finishing 15th at Radford. Away from ARCA, Toni raced in the USAC Silver Crown championship for dirt cars and in Late Models.

In an attempt at a sideways move, she tried to qualify for the inaugural W Series championship in 2019. She made the list of 55 drivers who were assessed, but was rejected at this stage.

In 2021, she returned to ARCA, entering nine rounds of its main series. Her best finishes were two ninth places at Winchester and Springfield. She spent half the season with Tyler Young before going back to a Venturini car. In addittion to this, she contested one Menards Series West race in each car, both at Phoenix, finishing one and crashing out of the other on the opening lap.

An almost full ARCA season followed in 2022, driving Cathy Venturini's car. Six of her twenty races ended in top tens, with her best being an eighth place at Salem. She was sixth in the championship.

In 2023, she made her first starts in the Craftsman Truck championship, driving for David Gilliland and sponsored by Victoria's Secret. She finished all three races, the best of these being a 15th place at Kansas. This was combined with most of the main ARCA season, where she earned seven top-ten finishes, including a third place at her lucky track, Kansas.

This arrangement continued for 2024, with a part-season in Trucks and a regular spot in ARCA. Most of her time was spent in ARCA, with her qualifying pace improving and more top tens coming her way during a full season. She has had a variety of sponsors. The same team runs her in certain rounds of the East and West series, where she is also a top-ten regular. Her Truck schedule is more limited.

She finished in the ARCA top ten on eleven occasions in 2024, the best of these being a pair of sixth places at Berlin and Springfield. Her final championship position was fourth. Her best East series finish was a fourth place at Flat Rock.

She previously raced in sprintcars against her twin sister, Annie. She is the only female NASCAR driver of Arab descent in the world, having Lebanese heritage.

(Image copyright Roman Empire)

Olympic Speedqueens

 

Divina Galica (left) and Ann Moore

Many Speedqueens have achieved success in other sports. Here are five of the best-known Olympian female racing drivers. This is in no way an exhaustive list.

Divina Galica was a downhill skier who competed in four winter Olympics between 1964 and 1992, in the downhill and slalom skiing events and later, speed skiing, a demonstration discipline. She attempted to qualify for three grands prix between 1976 and 1978 and enjoyed success in Group 8 single-seaters, truck racing and sportscars. Her introduction to motorsport came through a Shellsport celebrity race for sportspeople.

Showjumper Ann Moore also got into motor racing through the Shellsport organisation and its celebrity events. As an equestrian, she won a silver medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics, riding her horse Psalm. Her racing career was short, beginning with one ladies' race in 1975 and six further outings in a Formula Ford 2000.

Belgian swimmer Chantal Grimard made a surprise switch to touring cars in the 1980s. She first raced in the Belgian championship in 1985, driving a VW Golf, before appearing in the 1986 Spa 24 Hours in a Toyota Corolla. This was part of an all-female team. She also did some rounds of the French F3 championship in 1987 before retiring. As a swimmer, she had entered four events at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.

Swiss sportscar racer Lilian Bryner was another equestrian, competing at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. As a racing driver, she was the first woman to win the Spa 24 Hours in 2004, driving a Ferrari 550. She had won the GT class the year before, finishing second. She has raced multiple times at Le Mans and has World Sportscar Championship wins in a Ferrari 333 prototype.

Carole Montillet of France won a gold medal in downhill skiing and also had a decent career in rally raids after her retirement. She won the all-female Rallye Aicha des Gazelles rally raid in 2011 and 2012, after class wins in the quad class in 2004 and 2005. In 2007, she took part in the Dakar, driving a Nissan, but did not finish.

Ayla Agren

 

Ayla Ågren is a Swedish/Norwegian driver, born in Norway who has done a lot of her racing in the USA. 

She won the US F1600 championship in 2014 after taking three wins and five podium positions. This was her second season in F1600, having finished fourth in the series in 2013. 

2013 was only her second season as a senior racer, having graduated from karting in Scandinavia at the end of 2011. Like many single-seater racers in the States, she began in the Skip Barber championships. 

Between 2014 and 2019, she did not do quite as much active racing, but was involved with the Mazda Road to Indy training programme, in the hope of getting onto the oval racing ladder. To this end, she took part in the Cooper Tires USF2000 series, for three seasons. She did the full season in 2015 with Pelfrey Racing, who had helped her to her F1600 title. In her first season, she was tenth overall, with a best finish of sixth, achieved at Indianapolis and Mid-Ohio.

In 2016, she switched to John Cummiskey’s team and did three-quarters of the season, missing the Toronto and Laguna Seca races. Her best finish improved to fourth at Road America and she was eleventh overall. Back with Pelfrey for a third year, she only managed seven rounds on her budget. The best of these wasa seventh at Indianapolis.

She also worked as a spotter for Paretta Autosport and other teams in oval-based series, and drove the safety car for Indycar races.

In 2019, she attempted to qualify for the W Series but was unsuccessful at the first selection. Despite expressing some misgivings about the event, she tested again at the end of the year and was accepted for 2020. She was also awarded a significant scholarship by World Rally champion Petter Solberg.

The 2020 W Series season was deferred until 2021, but she took her seat and finished 17th overall. This was not helped by missing the Spa race due to a six-car qualifying crash, but her best finish was only ninth at Circuit of the Americas and she was not one of the drivers automatically invited back. 

At the start of the season, she also drove at Duqueine prototype in the Le Mans Cup, finishing 19th in her class at Paul Ricard. 

She continued as a reserve driver in W Series in 2022, making one appearance for the Puma team at Singapore, substituting for the injured Tereza Babickova. She was 16th. After W Series was cancelled, she did not race in 2023.

(Image from vg.no)

Lindsay Brewer

 

Lindsay Brewer competes in the  Indy Pro 2000 championship in the USA, a part of the Indycar development ladder.

She has raced single-seaters, touring cars and sportscars. After some races in the Skip Barber series, she entered the 2022 Indy Pro 2000 championship with Exclusive Autosport. She did not do a full season. Her best finish by far was eighth at Indianapolis and she was 15th in the championship. 

Early in the season, she also did some guest races in the F1600 championship, driving a Spectrum. Eighth was her best finish there too, at Barber. At the end of 2022, she tried out for the all-female W Series, using an F4 car, but was not selected.

Her second Indy Pro 2000 season was also run with Exclusive Autosport. Sadly, she did not do as well and finished 18th overall this time. Her best finishes were a pair of eleventh places at Indianapolis and Portland.

In 2021, she raced in the TC America touring car series, driving a Honda Civic Type R run by the Skip Barber school team. She did the first four rounds of the championship, with a best finish of eighth at Circuit of the Americas. The team was second in the TC championship, mostly thanks to Eric Powell, but Lindsay was fourteenth overall. 

Throughout her career, Lindsay has been accused of not being a real racing driver and of using motorsport to further her internet influencer presence. She responded to comments made by NASCAR driver Hailie Deegan about female drivers who are Instagram models first and racers second by challenging Deegan to a race, which did not happen. Her commitment to the Indy Pro 2000 series since 2022 should have gone some way to dispelling some of this negativity, but a series of newspaper reports describing her as “the world’s sexiest racing driver” have not helped.

She entered one race in the 2019 Saleen Cup after taking four years away from competition to attend college. Before that, she raced Legends at club level, as well as testing stock cars. She had raced karts from an early age and finished fifth in the PSL Racing TAG Minimax championship in 2009, when she was twelve.

At the end of 2023, it was announced that she would join the IndyNXT (formerly Indy Lights) grid in 2024. She signed for Juncos Hollinger Racing as its solo entry. Unfortunately, her season only lasted eight out of fourteen races, and she had a best finish of 15th, at St Petersburg and Laguna Seca.

(Image copyright Times10)

Taylor Hagler

 

Taylor Hagler is an American driver who has been most successful in TCR-spec cars, winning the TCR class of the Michelin Pilot Challenge outright twice.

Her four-wheeled career began in 2018 after ten years of equestrian competition. Her sister had received a gift voucher for the Skip Barber race school which she didn’t want, so Taylor used it instead. She was hooked straight away.

She raced a Mazda Miata in 2018 and won NASA races in her home state of Texas. She also won at least one SCCA race in the Miata at Road Atlanta in early 2019. 

She moved into TC America in 2019, driving a Honda Civic in the TCA class. She was fifth in her class and the second of the four X-Factor Racing entries, behind fourth-placed Chris Haldeman, the team’s owner. Her best finishes were three class thirds at Circuit of the Americas, Watkins Glen and Road America. Road America was her best circuit and she was tenth overall. 

She also did her first major endurance race, the COTA 24H event. Her car was another Civic, shared with three other drivers, but they did not finish.

In 2020, she continued in TC America for two races, finishing fourth twice at COTA, which was becoming her favoured track. She spent most of the year in the TCR class of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, driving a Civic with Ryan Eversley for LA Honda World Racing. Her best finish was a second place at Mid-Ohio and her championship position would have been higher than ninth without some DNFs. 

She won the TCR class of the 2021 Michelin Pilot Challenge, with one outright win at Lime Rock and five additional podium finishes. Her car was a Hyundai Veloster run by Bryan Herta's works-supported team and she shared it with Michael Lewis. As well as this, she was a multiple winner in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Pro-Am Cup, driving an Acura NSX for the Racers Edge team. She was second in the Pro-Am championship with three class wins, in what was only her first season in GT3 cars. 

In 2022, she successfully defended her TCR trophy, driving a Hyundai Elantra and winning once at Virginia. She and Michael Lewis were also second four times and third twice. She then raced the Acura at Indianapolis in the GT World Challenge, finishing seventh in Pro-Am and 19th overall. 

She took her first steps into an international career at the beginning of 2023 when she was announced as part of Hyundai USA’s team for the Nurburgring 24 Hours. Her usual team-mate Michael Lewis joined her, with Harry Gottsacker and Mason Filippi. They were 29th overall and second in class, behind the European Hyundai works car.

The Nurburgring appearance made an impression in Europe and Taylor was invited to take part in the GT4 European Series later in the season, deputising for W&S Motorsport’s Charles Lawson who was injured in the first round. Alongside Swiss driver Gustavo Xavier, she joined the championship at Paul Ricard. They were 18th in the Pro-Am championship, their best finish has been a 25th place overall at Misano, driving a Porsche 718 Cayman. They were fifth in the Pro-Am class

The US had not been forgotten either. Sharing the Bryan Herta Elantra with Michael Lewis again, she set about adding another IMSA Michelin Pilot TCR title to her collection. The season did not begin as well as previous ones, with the pair earning an eighth place at Daytona. They were seventh in the TCR class, not managing to reach the podium this year.

Another season in the Elantra gave her seventh in the Michelin Pilot TCR class, driving with Bryson Morris. Their best results were two fourth places, at Mosports Park and Indianapolis. They were also fifth at Watkins Glen.

Her plans had include more racing in Europe and she got to achieve this is 2024. She drove a Lamborghini Huracan in the ADAC GT Masters for the Grasser team, sharing with Argentine driver Matteo Llarena. They were not among the frontrunners and did not run a full season.

(Image copyright Taylor Hagler Motorsport)

Ashton Harrison

Ashton Harrison is the winner of the 2022 Fanatec GT World Challenge Pro-Am title in an Acura NSX GT3. She has raced sportscars in the USA for several seasons.

Early on, she raced in the Mazda MX-5 Cup in the USA. She was twelfth in the 2017 championship. This was her second attempt at the series, after a part-season in 2016. In 2018, her third season, she was 15th, with three top-ten finishes. The best of these were two ninth places. Her Mazdas were always noticeable by their pink roll cages, something she began when she did her first club races two years earlier.

In a change of direction and increase in power, she was second in the LB class in the 2019 US Lamborghini Super Trofeo, with six second places and one third. She was sharing the car with Stephanie Cemo. 

Her second season in the Super Trofeo featured her first Pro-Am win at Sebring, plus two second places and four thirds. She was third in the championship alongside her team-mate Andrea Amici. 

Another third came her way in 2021, with wins at COTA and Road America. Additionally, she won a round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Pro-Am Cup at Indianapolis in an Acura NSX, with Mario Farnbacher and Matt McMurry. This was her first race in the category and the first win for a female driver.

Following her Indianapolis win, in 2022 she was named as a Honda junior factory driver after taking part in their academy programme, with Farnbacher as her coach. This earned her a seat with the Racer’s Edge team. She and Mario Farnbacher won the Pro-Am Cup, winning four times in the Acura. They also entered the Sebring 12 Hours. 

The Super Trofeo had not been forgotten either. She and Thomas Long were third in Pro-Am with one win and ten podium finishes.

Staying with the Fanatec GT World Challenge and Racer’s Edge, she entered the Pro Cup in 2023, still sharing the GTD-spec NSX with Mario Farnbacher. The pair earned two class wins and four further podiums and were second in the Pro Cup.

She only did one IMSA race in 2024, driving a Lamborghini Huracan. Instead, she concentrated on the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America. Her final championship position was eighth in the Am class, partnered by Graham Doyle. Their season highlight was a second place at Watkins Glen. The pair were tenth in the World Final at Jerez, with an eighth and a tenth-place finish.

(Image from dailysportscar.com)

Kattlyn Magno

 

Kattlyn Magno, known as Kaká, is a Brazilian driver who has raced in multiple disciplines, in Brazil and Europe.

She began her senior career in 2012 in Formula Premium Light, a single-seater series. She also tried out the Veloce sports prototype championship. It was quite a late start in cars for her; she was 24 and had been karting since she was 16. 

In 2013, she mostly seems to have competed in kart races, but she did do some dirt-track racing in aid of a breast cancer charity. At the end of 2013, she was chosen as Brazil’s candidate for the FIA Women in Motorsport VW Scirocco-R Shootout, competing for a Scirocco prize-drive in 2014. This was her first racing trip to Europe. A key supporter in this adventure was Emerson Fittipaldi, who met Kaká through Bia Figueiredo.

She did not win the championship spot, although she performed well in the event. A move to race in a Lotus-based championship, possibly the Ladies’ Cup, also did not come off.

Back in Brazil, she made some appearances in the 2014 Mercedes Benz Challenge C250 Cup. She was second at San Pablo, a highlight of her career that showed what she was capable of. 

She raced in the Mercedes one-make series again in 2015, but was not among the front-runners. 

In 2016, she changed direction again, and entered Formula Inter, a junior single-seater series in Brazil. She scored at least one second place. 

She moved on to SudAm Formula 4 in 2017, having sold raffle tickets to be able to afford the fees and pay her mechanic. 

After a single season in F4, she then raced Superkarts in 2018. 

In 2021, she did some rounds of the Italian prototype championship, sharing a Wolf sportscar. This was a second attempt at a move to Italy; she had planned to race in the Griiip G1 single-seater championship in 2020 before the global coronavirus crisis intervened. Instead, she made do with a Griiip sim racing series.

Sadly, her Prototype challenge ended after the Monza races, which she did not even start.

In a switch of disciplines, she competed in the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games in the Slalom category. She and Bruno Pierozan were 17th overall. She contested the Stock Car series in Brazil in 2023, competing in its second-tier championship. From her earliest media interviews, she has always claimed this was her goal. She did another season of the second-level Stock series in 2014, finishing twelfth in the championship, with a best finish of seventh at Goiania.

Image copyright Acervo Pessoal

Anne-Sophie Lemonnier (de Ganay)

 Anne-Sophie and her father at the 2011 Andros Trophy

Anne-Sophie le Ganay, who was previously known as Anne-Sophie Lemonnier, competes in ice racing in France. She was previously active in rallycross as well.

It was actually in rallycross that she got her start. Her first championship was a ladies’ Citroen Saxo series in 2003, the Citroen Challenge Feminin. She and her sister Marie-Laure competed together. The Lemonnier family is involved in both rallycross and stage rallying: Anne-Sophie and Marie-Laure’s father is Herve Knapick, a multiple rallycross champion, and their cousin Xavier Lemonnier is also active in rallying. 

The Challenge Feminin retired the Saxos in 2004 and began using the C2 instead. Anne-Sophie competed in one between 2004 and 2006. During her first season in a C2, she remained behind sister Marie-Laure, finishing fifth to her third. In 2005 and 2006, she leapfrogged her for championship third. 

The Citroen one-make series was cancelled at the end of 2006, so in 2007, she moved up to Division 4 of the French championship. Her car was not as competitive as those of the S1600 drivers in the series. After part-seasons without much of an impact, in 2010, she raced a Citroen Saxo kit car in Division 1A. 

In 2011, she was 18th in the Super 1600 championship, driving the same car. She did not compete in the championship in 2012. 

On the ice-racing side, she won the Andros Trophée Féminin “Ice Girls” championship in early 2008, driving a sprint car. In 2010, she was the Andros Ladies’ champion, as the highest-placed woman in the main draw. 

She competed mostly in the Elite class, beginning in 2009. She was a strong finisher in the 2012 Trophy, driving a BMW.

In 2014, she was 18th in the Promotion class, driving a BMW 1-Series. The car was shared with her father, Hervé Knapick, and run by their family team. 

Anne-Sophie reappeared in 2015 as team-mate to her father for the Alpe d'Huez round, driving a Renault Clio. By this time, she was racing as Anne-Sophie de Ganay. After a gap, Anne-Sophie and her father campaigned an Audi A1 in the 2022-23 Andros Trophy, competing at the Isola 2000 event.

(Image copyright Icon Sport/Getty Images)

Hanna Zellers

 

Hanna Zellers is a versatile American driver who has competed in single-seaters, stock cars and sportscars.

She began her career in cars in 2013 at the Skip Barber Racing School, after racing karts from 2007 until then.

After a part-season spent campaigning a Mazda Miata (MX-5) in SCCA races, she moved on to open-wheel competition in 2015. She raced in the SCCA Formula Enterprise series in 2015 and 2016, winning two events. She was eleventh in the 2015 championship after an accident in the end-of-season runoffs, but bounced back the following year with a second place overall. Her car was the Mazda-engined Van Diemen DP06 sanctioned by the championship. 

Her single-seater career stalled temporarily In 2017. She attempted to branch out into stock cars, taking part in the NASCAR K&N Series race at Millville. She did not finish. 

It was back to single-seaters in 2018 and she did the second half of the US Formula 4 championship, supported by Jay Howard Driver Development. She recorded a best finish of 20th at the Circuit of the Americas. She also guested in the F1600 championship at Bowmanville, finishing twelfth once. Bowmanville was also the scene of her IMSA Prototype Challenge debut a month later, earning a ninth place. She did the next two rounds at Virginia and Road America, driving a Norma run by Five Miles Out Racing. 

After failing to get through the initial driver assessments for the all-female W Series, she raced several cars in 2019. She did some rounds of the US touring car (TC America) championship in a BMW, scoring best finishes of seventh and eighth at Las Vegas towards the end of the season. Sometimes doubling up over a race weekend, she also competed in the one-make Saleen Cup, winning the Young Driver class at Road America once. 

A break from top-level racing followed, although she still did some events with the World Racing League. In 2022, she raced in the IMSA Prototype Challenge, driving a Ligier LMP3. She was tenth in the championship with George Staikos, with a best finish of seventh at Mosport. Despite a dramatic accident where she rolled the car at Virginia, she came back to finish the season. The accident looked nasty but she was unhurt.

At the beginning of the year, she was third in class in the Dubai 24 Hours, driving a BMW M2 for the Yeeti team.

The IMSA MX5 Challenge was her destination for 2023, although the season did not start as well as she hoped. Her car had problems with its differential in its first race at Daytona, then an engine mount broke. Hanna was also suffering from a severe sinus infection which required surgery. She did not plan on missing much of the championship, but in the end only did six races.

(Image copyright Hanna Zellers)

Lena Buhler

 

Lena Buhler is a Swiss driver who races single-seaters, mainly in Europe.

She moved into cars from karting in 2020. Her first experience in senior motorsport was racing in Spanish Formula 4 for the Drivex School team. She was fifteenth in the championship and her best finishes were two fifth places at Aragon and Barcelona. These fifth places were among six top-ten finishes she achieved from 20 starts. She could be quick but was quite inconsistent at times. 

In 2021, she raced in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, as part of the R-ace team. It was a tough year for her and she earned her best finish of the year, a 23rd place, in the last round at Monza.

During the off-season, she travelled to Arizona in the USA to take part in the W Series F4 tests and was invited back for its Barcelona F3 tests, but she was not offered a seat.

The R-ace connection continued in 2022, with three more FREC races and one finish, a 26th place in Monte Carlo. This followed a part-season in the FR Asian championship, which gave her a best finish of twelfth at Yas Marina. 

She stepped back down to F4 for 2023, entering the UAE championship. Not long after, she was the first driver announced for the FIA’s F1 Academy, an F4-level women-only series, driving for the ART GP team. Lena was one of the oldest drivers in the series, having only started karting at 17 and competing seriously in 2017. She was second in F1 Academy with two wins at Catalunya and Monza. As she was already 25, this would be her only F1 Academy season.

Her 2024 plans were initially unclear, although she became an affiliated driver with the Sauber F1 team as a result of her F1 Academy performances. Later, it was announced that she would be racing in FRECA alongside F1 Academy champion Marta Garcia, although driving for ART again. It was a challenging year and her best finish was 22nd at Paul Ricard. She pulled out of the championship after that.

(Image copyright formula1.com)

Amber Balcaen

 

Amber Balcaen is a Canadian driver who races stock cars in the USA. She did the full ARCA season in 2022. 

She is from a racing family, but is the first to race on asphalt rather than dirt. Her career began with dirt-track karting when she was 10, in around 2002. As soon as she was old enough to race sprint cars as a senior, she got her own car and started winning.

After two or three seasons in sprintcars, she took part in the NASCAR Drive for Diversity programme in 2014 and 2016, as well as competing in Late Model racing in 2016. She was third in the Whelen All-American Series, with one win and six more podiums. She was the first Canadian female driver to win a NASCAR-sanctioned event. 

In 2017, she raced in the NASCAR K&N Series, in a Toyota Camry. She was 20th at New Smyrna in her only major outing. She took part in one race in the CARS Super Late Model Tour series in 2018, at Hickory. However, she crashed out early on. 

In 2019, she made another guest appearance in the same series, finishing fourteenth at Radford. She returned to competition in the 2021 ARCA Menards West Series, driving a Toyota. 

Although she only finished one of her three races, this was an eleventh at Irwindale. 

Her career took a hit in 2020 when she was injured in a midget car crash in July, at Valley Speedway. Her car turned over and she suffered burns, two collapsed lungs and broken bones.

Following several part-seasons, she put together a deal for a full ARCA programme in 2022, partly assisted by Busch beer’s Accelerate Her female driver sponsorship scheme. She was run by Mark Rette and usually drove a Ford, although this was substituted for a Toyota for a couple of races. When schedules allowed, she also made a few guest appearances in the East and West series, picking up one tenth place at Iowa in June.

It was her most successful ARCA main season ever, with six top-ten finishes. The best of these was a seventh at Kansas. 

A quieter year followed in 2023. She did three ARCA races for Bill Venturini's team, the best of these ending in sixth place at Daytona. She retired from the Talladega and Kansas races. She also made a guest appearance in the NASCAR Canada series. Her car overheated but she was classified in 17th place.

By contrast, she ran a full ARCA season in 2024, driving for Billy and Cathy Venturini. Her best finish was a sixth place at Kansas, one of seven top-tens she earned that year. She also did most of the ARCA East series in Cathy's car, but only finished once from five entries.

She did one West series race, and also made another guest appearance in NASCAR Canada, at Ohsweken. She did not finish due to brake problems.

Away from the driving seat, she has appeared on TV in the USA, most notably in the NASCAR Racing Wives reality series. Despite the title, she was shown as a driver rather than a partner.

(Image copyright Amber Balcaen)

Sheena Monk

 

Sheena Monk races sportscars in the USA. 

At first she raced in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo. She picked up her first podium at the end of 2017 at Imola, in her second-ever race in the Huracan. The Trofeo was her first experience of motorsport, having undergone a fast-track racing license course with Lamborghini when she was 28. She had never raced anything before that.

Her first full racing season was the 2018 Lamborghini Super Trofeo, competing in the LB Cup. She scored her first class win at Virginia International Raceway. 

Sheena made the headlines for the wrong reasons in September 2018 when she crashed her Huracan heavily at Laguna Seca. This was the last meeting of the season and she missed the final race, although this was the last of her worries at the time. Her car may have suffered a brake failure going into the Corkscrew and she hit a tyre wall, leaving her with nine separate fractures.

In 2019, still in pain and healing from her injuries, she returned to the Super Trofeo in the States. Despite her setbacks, she ended the season fourth in the championship with five thirds and one second place. She travelled to Europe for the World Final and was fifth at Jerez. This came after she had tried out for the all-female W Series in Austria. She did not progress beyond the first selection event, but it did not harm her career.

2020 was a great year for her; she raced a McLaren 570S in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and won the Grand Sport class at Road America. She and Corey Lewis were ninth in the championship. 

A second season in the car gave her sixth in the championship, with one podium position at Watkins Glen, a third. She and Spencer Pigot were more consistent this year and only out of the top ten twice, which included the Lime Rock round which they did not finish.

Pairing up with Kyle Marcelli, she tackled the Pilot Challenge again in 2022, initially driving a Toyota Supra GT4. They were twelfth in the Grand Sport class at Daytona, but Kyle had a big accident at Sebring, necessitating a change of car for the rest of the season. It took them some time to get to grips with the Ford Mustang, but by the end of the year they were up to speed, finishing third at Lime Rock and second at Virginia. They were eighth overall.

An all-female partnership with Katherine Legge followed in 2023, driving an Acura for Gradient Racing in the IMSA GTD class. They were eighth in a hotly-contested class, including a class fourth at the Daytona 24 Hours with two other co-drivers. This was their best result; their highest finish in a shorter race was fifth, at Watkins Glen.

The GTD campaign for Gradient continued in 2024. Sheena was the principal driver this time, doing all eleven rounds. Her usual team-mate was Stevan McAleer, with Tatiana Calderon joining them for five races, and Katherine Legge for two, Daytona and Sebring. They were 19th and 17th in these two races, despite not finishing at Daytona. Sheena's personal best finish was a class third at Elkhart Lake and she was twelfth in the championship.

(Image copyright Sheena Monk)

Angelique Detavernier

 

Angélique Detavernier is an endurance racing specialist from Belgium.

Although she has been involved in motorsport from a young age, including as a driver manager, she only began racing in 2013 after winning a karting competition. She first raced in the VW Fun Cup in Belgium. 

For most of 2014, she raced a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, mainly in the Dutch Supercar Challenge. Her best results were two third places in the GTB class, at Zolder and Assen. In the same car, she was fourth in the Zolder 24 Hours, with Miguel Vandereyt, Frederic Vervisch, Louis-Philippe Soenen, Francois Bouillon and Patrick van Glabeke. 

As well as the Porsche, she raced a Maserati in the Maserati Trofeo, finishing tenth at Spa and fourteenth at Abu Dhabi. She also returned to the Fun Cup and managed a pole position. 

In 2015, she had a second try at the Zolder 24 Hours in a Porsche 997. Driving as part of a four-driver team, she was 24th, and third in class. She was slated to enter the European rounds of the Maserati Trofeo this year and contested the Paul Ricard and Red Bull Ring rounds. Her best result was a twelfth place at Paul Ricard. At some point, she did some more Fun Cup racing, starting once from pole, and at least one Supercar Challenge race. 

Her third Zolder 24 Hours in 2016 gave her a debut top ten: a seventh place in a Porsche. In another two firsts, she raced an Audi R8 LMS in a couple of VdeV races and a Mercedes AMG in the Nurburgring round of the Blancpain Endurance Series. She was also third in a Fun Cup race in Dubai, 

In 2017 she did another couple of Blancpain Endurance races, driving an Audi R8 LMS. She was fourteenth in one GT Sports Club race at Spa, and did not finish the other. 

She had another guest outing in the car in 2018, again at Spa, in the 24H Series. She and her team-mates were eleventh in their class. This was in addition to a strong season in the GT Sports Club series, driving a Ferrari 488 rather than the Audi. She was eighth in the championship with a best finish of fourth, at the Hungaroring.

Having proved herself as a driver, there were more major races in different cars for her in 2019, firstly driving an AMG Mercedes GT4 in the Blancpain Endurance Series and the European GT4 Challenge. She was second in class at Zandvoort in the GT4 Series and third in class at the Nurburgring. She also did one Blancpain race in a Boutsen-Ginion BMW M6, finishing 22nd overall and fourth in class, and another in a Lamborghini Huracan. This time, she was fifth and tenth overall at Circuit de Catalunya.  

The worldwide coronavirus crisis curtailed motorsport severely in 2020 and Angelique did not race. In 2021, she added another string to her bow, doing three out of seven rounds of the Belcar championship in a Norma prototype and finishing third at Hockenheim and Zolder. 

Her focus switched from Belgium to France in 2022, racing a GT4-spec Audi R8 LMS in the FFSA GT championship. Her best result was a third place in the Am class at Magny-Cours. Her team-mate was Sebastien Rambaud.

She stuck with prototypes in France for 2023, racing in the Wolf Thunder Series and scoring at least one podium. Moving to Italy, she competed in the Italian Sport Prototype Cup in 2024, driving an Aprilia-engined Wolf. Hert best finish from four races was a fifth place at Monza. 

She is better-known as a model and was previously in a relationship with Formula E driver Stoffel Vandoorne.

(Image copyright Angelique Detavernier)