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.

Aliyyah Koloc

 

Aliyyah Koloc is a Czech driver of Emirati and Seychellois descent who races trucks and GTs in Europe, as well as competing in cross-country rallies for the Buggyra team. 

Born in Dubai, she grew up around motorsport; her father Martin Koloc races a number of different cars and is now the principal of Buggyra. Both she and her twin sister Yasmeen began competing as seniors as soon as they were old enough.

It began with a few races in a Renault Clio in the 2019 Eset series. She was only 15 years old and had only just recovered from an injury that put a halt to a promising tennis career. Her first appearance was at Gronik in Croatia, where she won her class in both sprint and endurance races.

She was still only 16 years old when she first got in a truck, entering the French and European championships for the Buggyra team. The French championship was the most successful for her, with a third and a second place at Nogaro. The second place was updated to a win, as on-track winner Adam Lacko was not registered for the championship. Her best result in the European series was eighth, at Most. 

She also set a series of speed records over the 500m distance in July 2020, driving a streamlined Buggyra-Freightliner truck. 

In 2021, she did races in both the French and European truck championships, concentrating on the French. She earned four podium positions: two seconds and two thirds. Her final position on the leaderboard was fifth. The best result of her European part-season was a ninth place at Jarama. This year, she expanded her circuit experience further with some races in the Club Challenge section of the Whelen Euro NASCAR series. Her car was a Ford Mustang, run by the CAAL Racing team. Her sister Yasmeen was her team-mate in a Chevrolet Camaro.

She spent 2022 preparing for her first attempt at the Dakar in a Buggyra prototype, as well as racing GTs in Europe. She competed in some more Eset races in 2021, driving a Mercedes AMG GT3 and GT4 car in different classes. With Yasmeen and Adam Lacko, she entered the 12 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in a similar car, but did not finish. Yasmeen crashed during the first part of the race and injured her wrist.

Aliyyah teamed up with Buggyra designer and racer David Vrsecky for the FFSA GT championship, in another Mercedes GT4 car. He replaced the injured Yasmeen, who had shared the car at Nogaro. She was eleventh in the Silver drivers’ championship. In August, Aliyyah and David raced at the Silverstone Classic for the first time, in the pilot event for the Masters GT4 series. Aliyyah was fourth and third. 

Her Dakar training was based around the Middle East Cup for Cross Country Bajas, driving a Can-Am light prototype run by Buggyra. She won one event outright and scored podiums in two others and won a the championship.

Her Dakar run itself was compromised by problems on the second stage, dropping her and co-driver Stephane Duple to the bottom of the leaderboard. She did steadily improve over the course of the rally and had a best stage result of 36th, on the twelfth competitive section. She was 104th overall.

Less than a week after finishing the Dakar, she was back on the circuits, driving the Mercedes with David Vrsecky. They entered the non-championship 6 Hours of Abu Dhabi and won their class.

Her first 24H Series race of 2023 was the Mugello 12H, in which the team, including Adam Lacko, finished second in the GT4 class, 26th overall. She and her two co-drivers were second in the GT4 class of the championship, with one win at Spa.

She has also tested a bigger T1 Dakar prototype, in preparation for the 2024 Dakar, where she entered in a Red-Lined Revo T1+ with Sebastien Delaunay. Her build-up included testing in Abu Dhabi and some off-road bajas in South Africa. She finished 17th in class in the Dakar itself.

The 2024 summer season was spent in the 24H Series, in a Buggyra-run Mercedes GT4. Her team-mates were David Vrsecky and Adam Lacko again. They won the GT4 class in the first four races of the year, at Mugello, Spa, Algarve and Misano. Despite not doing a full season, they won their class championship, with a best overall finish of seventh at Misano.

She will tackle the 2025 Dakar in a Buggyra vehicle.

Aliyyah is open about having Asperger’s syndrome* and considers it an asset when on-track, as she is able to assess risk efficiently and concentrate.

Image copyright AS Sports Communication

*This is how Aliyyah describes herself, although others do not like this terminology.

Laia Sanz

 

Laia with Carlos Sainz

Laia Sanz races in Extreme E for Carlos Sainz's team, sharing an electric Odyssey 4x4.

The Spanish racer, whose full name is Eulalia Sanz Pla-Giribert, is better-known as a motorcycle endurance rider who has won 14 ladies' European trials championships and ridden in the Dakar ten times on a motorbike. She has finished every Dakar she has entered, between 2011 and 2020, with a women’s award each time. Her best overall finish has been ninth in 2015.  

She had been competing in trials aged seven, in 1992. Her first win was in 1997 and she won her first women’s title in 1998, still aged only twelve.

Her four-wheel career began at around the same time as her Dakar debut. Interestingly, she did not opt for off-road competition.

She entered a couple of Clio Cup races in Spain in 2011 and won class A2 of the 2011 Barcelona 24 Hours, driving a Renault Clio. She was 18th overall, assisted by Enric and Jordi Codony, Francesc Gutierrez and Santi Navarro. 

In 2014, she did some ice racing in Andorra, in the G Series, and competed directly against Ingrid Rossell in a match race. She also did two rounds of the SEAT Leon Supercopa, in Catalunya, and was 19th and 20th. 

In 2015, she returned to enduros, and was ninth in the Dakar on a KTM. She did do some four-wheeled outings in a SEAT Leon, including two races in the Supercopa and the Catalunya 24 Hours, at Barcelona. She was 16th overall and second in class, as part of a two-driver team. 

At the end of the season, she was signed by the works KTM team, and concentrated on motorcycles for a season. 

She did another car race in 2017, finishing 15th in the TCR 24H race at Catalunya. Her car was a SEAT Leon. 

She entered the same race in 2018, driving a SEAT Cupra for the Monlau team. She and her team-mates won their class. 

Her first start in Extreme E came after a long recovery period for wrist injuries sustained in the 2020 Dakar where she was riding for the works Gas Gas team. Her warm-up was a run in a Can-Am SxS vehicle at the Baja Dubai. She was fourth in the UTV class.

Carlos Sainz himself had requested that she join the Acciona Sainz XE team. Each Extreme E must have a male and a female driver and Laia was the first choice for the Spanish team’s female seat.

The first Extreme E race was held in Saudi Arabia and the second event in Senegal and this was her first time visiting the country, as the Dakar had stopped visiting Dakar itself by the time she made her debut. She and Carlos Sainz were ninth in Senegal, having finished fourth in Saudi.

Despite saying that she would carry on with motorcycles when her seat in Extreme E was announced, she decided to commit to four wheels during 2021, including her first run in the Dakar in a car for 2022.

Her first E-Prix in Saudi was a relative success and she and Carlos qualified second, although they were dropped to fourth in the final by mechanical problems. The pair tended to qualify well but come up against issues in finals and their best finish was third in Greenland. They were fifth in the championship.

The second season of Extreme E featured an unchanged Acciona Sainz driver pairing. They were third overall, with two second places in the Saudi desert round and the Chile race. Both drivers usually qualified well, but did quite not have the pace for the final.

Her Dakar adventure ended in a solid 23rd place in the Car class, driving a Mini All4 with Maurizio Gerini. The car was run by the X-Raid team.

Laia's third season in Extreme E featured a new team-mate in Mattias Ekstrom. The pair won two races in Saudi and Sardinia from pole, on their way to second in the championship. They were also second four times. They were also the fastest qualifiers for the second Chile race, but were beaten by the Veloce team, who won the championship.

She entered the Dakar again in 2024, driving an Astara T1.2 prototype. Her co-driver was the Italian Maurizio Gerini. They were 15th in the Car class.

Back in Extreme E, Laia partnered Jamaican driver Fraser McConnell. They won the second Desert E-Prix and were second in both Hydro races, finishing second overall in the final Extreme E championship.

The same pairing as 2024 entered the 2025 Dakar, driving for the Century Racing Factory Team, but they had to retire on the second stage.

(Image from enduro21.com)

Jasmin Preisig

 

Jasmin Preisig is a Swiss saloon racer whose speciality is endurance events.

She began her senior career in 2012 with a guest spot in the Chevrolet Cruze Cup, before taking on the 2013 Opel Astra OPC Cup season in Germany. Her most noteworthy result was a sixth place in the 6-Hour race that was part of that series. She also competed in hillclimbs in a KTM X-Bow. 

At the beginning of 2014, she was one of a small number of drivers selected for a scholarship drive in the Volkswagen Scirocco-R Cup. It was a difficult learning year for her, but her results did improve, and her best was an eleventh place at the Nürburgring. Towards the end of the season, she was getting closer to the top ten and was 18th overall. 

In 2015, she took part again in the OPC Astra Cup, a one-make championship within the VLN. She was third overall with one second place. 

She continued to race the Astra in 2016 in some rounds of the ADAC TCR touring car series. Her best finish was a twelfth place at Hockenheim, from four races. 

She did a full TCR season in 2017, driving the Astra, and earned her first TCR top-ten: a tenth place at the Nürburgring. She was 31st in the championship. At the end of the season she had a dramatic accident at Hockenheim and had to be cut from her car, but she escaped serious injury.

She drove a similar car for Steibel Motorsport in 2018 and the Nürburgring was her best track once again and the scene of her best finish, an eleventh place. She bounced back from her 2017 accident to finish 22nd in the championship. 

Her links with the Lubner team, with whom she had competed since 2016, continued in the 2018 VLN. She drove their Astra for one round in the TCR class. 

In 2019, she was part of Carrie Schreiner's all-female "Girls Only" team for the VLN, driving a VW Golf. She did two rounds of the championship, finishing second and fifth in the SP3T class with Carrie Schreiner and Ronja Assmann. The same team entered the Nurburgring 24 Hours but did not finish. 

Jasmin then left Girls Only and joined up with Max Kruse Racing for the rest of the season. She and her team-mates finished four of their six races in their Golf, with every finish being on the podium in their class: three seconds and one third. Jasmin was eighth in the TCR drivers’ standings.

She rejoined the team for two rounds of the 2020 championship. The Golf was now running in the SP3T class for VLN specials up to 2000cc. Jasmin and her team-mates, Benjamin Leuchter and Andreas Gulden won their class twice. They were fifth overall.

For the rest of the year, she moved to the Creventic 24H Series Continents with the Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power team. Their car was a TCR-spec Golf. Jasmin did not finish the Portimao 12 Hours, but she was second in the first part of the Hockenheim race and won the second leg. She also recorded two third places in the two Mugello races. The Number 1 car which she raced in was third in the TCE teams’ standings and Jasmin was crowned 24H Series ladies’ champion. 

Another season in the Golf in the 24H Series gave her a third place in the TCR class, which probably would have been a class title had she contested the whole season with Autorama Motorsport. She and her team-mates won at Hockenheim and the Hungaroring and were second in their other four races.

A similar Golf, run by the Max Kruse team this time, was second in class in the Nurburgring 24 Hours, with Jasmin and three team-mates at the wheel. They were 39th overall from 99 finishers. Jasmin joined them again for three rounds of the NLS (VLN), winning twice and finishing second once.

She only did one race at the Nurburgring in the Golf in 2022, finishing second in class. More of her season was spent in another Golf run by Autorama and Wolf-Power Racing, competing in the 24H TCE Series. She and her team-mates were fourth in class in the season-opening Dubai 24 Hours, then third at Mugello and fourth at Spa, with a fastest class lap.

She entered the 24H of Dubai in 2023, driving an Audi RS3 for Wolf-Power as part of a four-driver team. They were 37th overall and third in the TCR class. She also did the Abu Dhabi, Spa and Barcelona 24H races. She was second in class at Spa and 29th overall, then won the TCR class at Barcelona, finishing 22nd.

The VLN was her main focus in 2024, in an Aston Martin Vantage. She and her team-mates won their class in Round 4. They also entered the Nurburgring 24 Hours, finishing fourth in class and 39th overall, in what was the shortest 24H race in history, curtailed by fog.

(Image copyright Jasmin Preisig)

Chantal Kroll (Prinz)

Chantal Kroll is a Swiss driver who competes mainly in the Creventic 24H Series with her family team, currently known as Hofor Racing. She was one of the championship’s class driver champions in 2016 and 2017.

The Hofor team consists of Chantal, her father Michael and her uncle Martin Kroll, with various other guest drivers. Michael founded the team in 2004 and Chantal joined at the end of 2005, racing a Porsche 964.

In 2012, she drove in the 24-hour races in Dubai and at the Nürburgring, in a BMW M3 E46. She and her team-mates won their class at the Dubai race. The team consisted of the three Kroll drivers, Raffi Bader and team owner, Bernd Küpper. The car ran under the Hofor Racing banner for the Nürburgring race; the Krolls were joined by Roland Eggimann this time. Hofor fielded two cars. Chantal’s did not finish, failing in the last two hours.

In 2013, she was third in class in the Barcelona 24 Hours, in the BMW. The Hofor and Küpper teams joined forces, with Chantal and Martin making up the Kroll contingent. The other drivers were Bernd Küpper and Richard Feller. They were 20th overall. This followed a joint Hofor-Küpper run in the Dubai 24 Hours, which led to a class win and 35th place.

She also drove in the Nürburgring 24 Hours. There were two Hofor BMWs entered and she drove in both of them, finishing fourth and fifth in class SP6 and 80th and 87th overall.

In 2014, she entered the Zolder 24 Hours for the first time, and was third overall in a Porsche 997. This was her best-ever finish. The Porsche was run by Belgium Racing. Chantal and Michael joined three other Belgian drivers.

She also drove in the Nürburgring and Dubai races in BMWs. At the Nürburgring, she and her team drove in two separate cars again, finishing in both. Hofor Racing’s second car, a BMW CSL, was 50th, defeating Hofor 1, a GTR, which was 72nd. In Dubai in January, there was just one Hofor-Küpper car, featuring Chantal, which finished 54th.

In 2015, she was once more active in the 24-Hour Series, winning the Ladies' Cup comfortably. She also scored class wins in the Dubai, Mugello and Paul Ricard races, doubling up for Hofor-Küpper in the BMW and a Mercedes SLS AMG. Overall, the BMW was the more successful car, with the Paul Ricard class win and three second places at Zandvoort, Catalunya and Brno. The team was third overall in class A5.There was also a class win at Dubai, running in a different group. The Mercedes scored a class win at Mugello.

Despite only winning their class in one race in 2016, Chantal's team were the overall winners of the 24 Hour Series for class A6, after several podiums. This time it was the Mercedes that was the more competitive of the two Hofor cars. Chantal did not drive in the BMW that year.

Their class win came right at the start of the season, in Dubai. It was another personal best for Chantal: a fourth place. She was also second at Mugello and Brno, and third at Zandvoort and Paul Ricard.

A four-driver Hofor team, including Chantal, was second in class in the Nürburgring 24 Hours, driving a BMW M3 CSL. They were 51st overall.

The Hofor Mercedes team defended their title in 2017, despite only managing one class win again. Their best was a third overall at the Portimao circuit, where they won the A6-Am class and were third overall in A6. The team was seventh in Dubai, fifth at Mugello and fourth at the Red Bull Ring. Chantal was once more the ladies’ champion

Chantal’s 2018 season started disappointingly, with a retirement for the Mercedes in the Dubai 24 Hours. The car was taken out by another Mercedes and badly damaged. Later, she and her team-mates were seventh at Navarra, then third in class at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, this time driving a BMW M3.

The Hofor Mercedes was back in action at the Dubai 24 Hours in 2019, but the team had to retire due to accident damage. Chantal acted as team manager for the rest of the year as she was pregnant. Her daughter Amelie was born in October.

She returned to the circuits in 2021, racing in the NLS (formerly the VLN). The Hofor team of Chantal, Martin and Michael Kroll and Alexander Prinz raced two different BMW M3s in six rounds of the championship, winning their class in five of them from pole. They also won their class in the Nurburgring 24 Hours, finishing 86th overall.

She drove two different Hofor cars in 2022. For the Nurburgring 24 Hours, she drove a BMW M3 E46 with a family team, including her husband, winning her class and finishing 66th overall. Later in the year, she drove a Mercedes AMG for the Catalunya 24H Series race, finishing eighth in the GT3 class.

The Hofor Mercedes appeared in the Mugello, Spa and Barcelona rounds of the 24H Series, with Chantal as part of the driving line-up. They were sixth and seventh at Mugello, fourteenth and thirteenth at Spa and 17th at Barcelona. Chantal was second in the ladies' standings and the team was 19th in the GT class. 

The team was busy again in 2024, with Chantal still on driving duties. She shared the Mercedes with Alexander Prinz, Max Partl and Kenneth Heyer for the full 24H European Series season. Their best finish was a fifth in the GT class in the Barcelona 24 Hours, the closing race of the season. There was a short break, then they were back out on track for the Dubai 24 Hours, with the same car but a slightly different driver line-up, including Chantal and Alexander. They were 16th overall at half-distance, but did not finish due to a crash. 

(Image copyright Chantal Kroll/Hofor Racing)