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)

Viviane Evina

 

Viviane Evina is a  Cameroonian driver who is one of the few women to have scored points in a World Championship rally. She is the only one from Africa to record a points finish.

Her points came from when she finished eighth in the Bandama Ivory Coast Rally in 1990. She was driving a Toyota Corolla FX 16V and won class N2. This single WRC finish led to 47th in the championship, level with Safari specialist Ian Duncan, Sebastian Lindholm and David Llewellin.

The following year, she entered the Bandama again, in the same car, but retired after an accident, having run as high as sixth. Her third attempt at the event in 1992 also ended in retirement, very early in the event. The rally was removed from the WRC calendar for the 1993 season and has not returned.

In the year of her Bandama top ten, she scored another impressive finish in the Rallye de Gagnoa, also held in Cote d’Ivoire. With Jean-Charles Suzeau on the maps, she was fifth in the Corolla. 

Sadly, very little information about Viviane or the rest of her career seems to exist.

Maxine Wahome

 Maxine Wahome is the leading female rally driver currently active in Africa.

She competes in rallies and autocross in her home country, as well as being a major figure in Kenya’s Women in Motorsport association. 

Her car for 2021 was a Subaru Impreza, which she used in the African championship, finishing tenth. Her best finish was fifth in the KCB Thika Rally, although she also featured strongly in the Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally, finishing sixth and winning Group N. She was tenth in both the Kenyan and African championships and third in the African Junior championship.

She was the first woman for several years to finish the Safari Rally in 2022. The event was running as part of the World Championship after a long hiatus. Two female drivers had entered, but Danish Lisa Christoffersen’s car failed scrutineering. Driving a Ford Fiesta Rally3 for the first time on gravel, Maxine was one of a large proportion of the competitors who had to finish under SuperRally rules, earning a 17th place and a WRC3 class win. 

This was her second Safari, although she only entered the national event in 2021.

This followed a win in the Lioness Rally, the first all-female event held in Kenya. She drove the Impreza this time.

Maxine has rallied across East Africa. In 2022, she competed in Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda in addition to Kenya. Her best event was a home one, the Bamba Rally Mombasa, in which she was fifth.

Originally she was a motocross rider and was one of the top three fastest in Kenya. She switched to autocross in 2020, then rallying in 2021.

(Image copyright FIA)

Ann Taieth

 

Ann Taieth is a highly successful rally driver in Africa who competed between 1972 and 2011. 

She was born in Norway but lived in Kenya, where she did almost all of her rallying. 

She became the first female driver to win a Kenyan rally in 1984, when she was the victor in both the Guru Nanak and Raymond rallies. Her car was an Opel Ascona and she was second in the Kenyan championship after a second place in the Kenya Sanyo 2000 Rally, behind Shekhar Mehta. 

She did enter the Safari Rally at least seven times (in 1972, 1973, 1974, 1980, 1982 and 1984) but did not always get to the finish. Her first attempt was in a Datsun 1600 and she was 18th from 18 finishers, although 67 others did not complete the event. She had received penalties for exceeding speed limits on the road sections, which prompted some newspaper writers to express surprise that she worked as a driving instructor away from the stages.

In 1973 she drove a Datsun and was sponsored by a cosmetics company called ”Lady Gay”, finshing fourteenth. The same combination of car, driver and co-driver Silvia King did not finish the 1974 edition and they were absent from the scene for some time. Ann and Silvia did not finish the 1977 Safari in a Datsun 120Y and then retreated from the scene again. 

Ann paired up with the experienced Yvonne Mehta for the 1980 Safari, although further information is hard to find. It is likely that their car was a Datsun, as both were associated with the make at the time. A final run in a Datsun in the 1982 event ended in another DNF and it was only when she switched Japanese power for German that she really started to get the results.

Her first podium finish was in the 1983 Sanyo 2000 Rally, held around Lake Nakuru. Her car was now an Opel Ascona 400. She and Silvia were third. At the end of the year, they were seventh in the Cholaco Jamhuri Rally. Ann then teamed up with Quentin Thomson and was fourth in the Firestone Coast 600 Rally. 

Her winning season followed in the Ascona and she was second in the Kenyan championship before retiring for many years.

After a long break, she returned to the Kenyan stages in 2010, driving a Volkswagen in the S&L Mortgages Rally. At 61, she was the oldest driver to ever tackle the event. She came back in 2011 for the KCB Bankika Rally in the same car. 

She has been involved in dog breeding in East Africa in recent years.

(Image copyright Robin Hutton)

Susan Muwonge

Susan Muwonge is a multiple rally-winning Ugandan driver active since 2005. She is also known by her nickname, “Super Lady”.

At first, she drove a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 2 in rallysprints. She first competed in 2005, but burst onto the African rally scene in 2007, finishing the Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally in fifth place. Her car was a Subaru Impreza and she was the only woman to do complete the rally. She also won her country’s Clubmans’ championship.

The following year, she made the finish in Uganda, in fifth place. She also took part in the East African Rally Challenge, and was fourth in the Pearl of Africa event. At around this time, other female drivers began to appear in the Ugandan championship, and they often went by nicknames like Susan’s “Super Lady”. Rose Lwakataka, another Ugandan driver, was “The Black Bullet”.

In 2009, she concentrated on the Ugandan National championship, and was rewarded with her first outright win on the UMOSPOC Rally. She was fifth in the final standings.

She went back to rallysprints in Uganda in 2010, then returned to the African stages in 2011. This resulted in two wins in the season-opening MMC Rally and the Independence Rally, on the way to a Ugandan national championship title. She scored points in all of her events and earned two additional podium finishes. This was the first time this title had been won by a woman driver.

She planned to take a break in 2012 after certain rivalries went too far, but ended up back in the Ugandan championship. She did not win this time, but was the sole female finisher in the Pearl of Africa rally, in fifth place.

In 2013, she contested three rallies, coming seventh in the Pearl of Africa Rally in the Impreza, but recording DNFs in the MPU Challenge Rally and the Mosac Easter Sprint.

In 2014, she made another appearance in the Pearl of Africa Rally, and was thirteenth, in the Impreza. This was her only rally, as she had lost her major sponsor.

She was back in action in 2015, in an Impreza. Her best finish was a fifth place, in the Mountains of the Moon Rally. She was also sixth in the Pearl of Africa Rally.

In 2016, she was fourth in the Mountains of the Moon event, in the Impreza.

Susan returned to winning form in 2018, winning the Oryx Energies Elgon Rally outright in the Impreza. She also scored one second and two third places from seven events, the second spot on the crucial last round, which she started five points behind her nearest rival. This was enough to take her to a second Ugandan championship, even before she was promoted to winner of the Mbale final round due to a 10-minute penalty to Hassan Alwi.

Her critics claimed that she only won because three-time champion Jas Mangat withdrew, but she pointed to her previous title and said “you can’t fluke twice.”

2019 had a much lighter schedule with just three major rallies, one of which Susan finished. She was eleventh in the Lato Milk Mbarara Rally, in the Impreza.

She made a small comeback in 2023, bringing the Impreza to the Boxing Day Sprint at Busiikaa gravel event. She was sixth overall from 26 drivers.

Away from rallying, she is a teacher and runs a small school with her husband.

(Image from https://sports.chimpreports.com)

Female Rally Drivers After 1950: Kenya

Stella Macharia and Helen Shiri

Kenya has a long history of motorsport, compared with most other African countries, although rallying is becoming more popular every year in many of them.
The Kenyan championship has a very healthy number of female competitors, most of whom have appeared in the last three years or so. However, even during the days of the first Coronation Safari Rally, female drivers have been a fixture on the scene. Then, they mostly came from colonial backgrounds. Now, most of them are from "local" Kenyan families. Their numbers are still growing. Ann Taieth, Natasha Tundo and Maxine Wahome have their own profiles.

Lucille Cardwell - Kenyan-based driver of the 1950s and 1960s. She specialised in African rallies, as a navigator and driver. As a navigator, she was third in Class E of the 1961 Safari, partnering Anne Hall. They competed again together in 1965. Lucille also co-drove for her husband on occasion. As a driver, she was fourth overall in 1964, driving a Mercedes with Jill Lead. She was also seventh in 1968, driving a Datsun. Lucille also won some ladies' track championships in Kenya in the late 1950s.

Caroline Gatimu - has been rallying in Kenya since 2012. For her first season, she drove a VW Golf, navigated by Linet Ayuko, but did not finish either of her events. Her first rally, the KCB Advantage Baking Rally, ended in her car getting stuck in mud. In 2013, she acquired a Toyota Levin, and together with Margaret Mungai, her new navigator, became “The Divas On Wheels”. She drove in four Kenyan events, with a best finish of 27th, in the Kajiado Rally. She was also 38th in the Nyeri Rally. The Divas entered the KCB Machackos Rally in 2014, in the Levin, and were 26th overall. They also drove in the Kiambu Rally, but the result is proving hard to track down. Caroline persevered with the Levin in 2015, and was 40th in the Guru Nanak Rally. Her co-driver this time was Saima Khan. She is now involved in administration of the Kenyan rally championship, but she was back out on the stages in 2022, driving a Toyota Levin to third in the all-female Lioness Rally and finishing the East African Mini Classic Rally in 22nd, in a Datsun 1600.

Stella Macharia - Kenyan driver active in the Kenyan and African championships. In 2012, she drove a Subaru Impreza in three rounds of the Kenyan series, co-driven by Helen Shiri. She finished two of her events, and her best finish was 35th in the KCB Asset Finance Rally. She was registered to compete in the 2013 championship, but had to miss the first round for unstated reasons. Her best result seems to have been 34th, in the KCB Nyeri Rally. Stella and Helen were supported by a cosmetics company.  

Joan Nesbitt - has been rallying in Africa, mainly Kenya, since 2011. Her navigator is Tamara Jones, and they are known as the “Haraka Mamas”. Joan drives a Toyota Tercel. Their first event was the 2011 Safari Rally, which they did not finish. They also ran in that year’s Guru Nanak Rally and the S&L Mortgages Rally. In 2012, they made a second attempt at the Safari Rally, although it is unclear whether or not they finished. The story is the same for the Eldoret Rally and the Mtaani Rally, which they did enter. In 2013, they made a concerted effort at the Kenyan Championship, running in the 2WD class, despite being a self-funded team and not being able to complete all of the rounds. They were 36th in the Safari Rally, and had their best result in the Kilifi Rally, a 30th place. The Njeri Rally and the Kajiado Rally were not as fruitful, although they did finish the Njeri Rally in 35th.  The “Mamas” carried on in 2014, and completed one training rally, the Sikh Union Clubman Rally, at the beginning of the season. They were active in the Formule Club Series, and finished eighth in the second round, at Migaa Estate. Later, they were 29th in the KCB M-Benki Nanyuki Rally. 

Helen Shiri - erstwhile navigator, now driving in Kenyan rallies. She spent most of 2012 navigating for fellow Kenyan woman, Stella Macharia. At the beginning of 2013, they were still “together”, and took part in the Kajiado and Nyeri Rallies. Later in the year, Helen swapped seats, driving a Subaru Impreza in at least two rallies: the Pearl of Africa event in Uganda, and the Mountain Gorilla Rally in Rwanda. She does not appear to have finished the Mountain Gorilla Rally, but she was 18th overall in the Pearl of Africa, navigated by Tuta Mionki. In 2015, she entered the Safari Rally, in an Impreza, but did not finish. Her given name is also sometimes spelled “Hellen”. She is now a senior adminstrator within African rallying. 

Meschell (Michelle) Van Tongeren - Kenyan driver who competed from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s, initially in circuit racing. She has contested the Safari Rally five times, between 1999 and 2003. Her best finish was eighth in 2003, although the event was no longer a part of the WRC. Her car has been a Subaru Impreza on all occasions. From 1999 onwards, she finished in the top five of the Kenyan, Ugandan and Tanzanian rally championships, as well as recording top-five finishes in FIA African Championship rallies. After a long break, she returned to the stages in 2012. Using a Subaru Impreza, she was fourteenth in the Safari Rally. 

Phyllis Wambui - 2013 Kenyan Ladies’ champion. Her first event was the Eldoret (KCB Asset Finance) Rally in 2012, in which she drove a Toyota Levin. She was 37th. She also may have driven in the Guru Nanak Rally, but the result is not forthcoming. In 2013, she did seven rounds of the Kenyan championship, starting off in the Toyota, but upgrading to a Subaru Impreza for the second round, the Nyeri Rally. Sadly, she did not finish. After that, however, she got to the end of the rest of her events. Her best result was 19th, in the Kisumu Rally. She also entered the Safari Rally that year, finishing 35th. This was her first competition with her new navigator, Linet Ayujo. Phyllis also appeared at some motor shows, doing driving exhibitions. She was set to contest the Kenyan championship again in 2014, but does not appear to have competed. Her given name is also sometimes spelled “Phylis” or “Philis”.

(Picture from http://www.michezoafrika.com/commentary/warembo-bila-makeup-confident-ahead-of-kisumu-cruise/5861.aspx)

Female Drivers Racing in Africa

Sandra Bocandé

This page profiles some female racers active sportscar and saloon racing in Africa. Mostly, they are Europeans who travel over to compete, but hopefully, more local African drivers will appear.

For African single-seater drivers, go here.

Ingrid Aupaix - Belgian driver who raced in Africa in 2011-2012. She was taking part in the Senegal Endurance Championship, in which she finished fourth, with her countrywoman Gaëtane Bachy. They drove for the Penelope and Divoy teams, using a Honda Civic and a VW Polo. They performed very well in the under-1300cc class. Before the Senegal endurance series, Ingrid was Belgium’s most successful female slalom driver, usually driving a Mini run by her family team. She seems to have returned to slalom and speed events in 2013 and 2014. 

Gaëtane Bachy - well-travelled Belgian racer. In 2011 and 2012, she raced in the Senegal Endurance Championships, beginning with the Dakar 12-Hour race in a Renault Clio. In 2012, she teamed up with Ingrid Aupaix in Africa, first in a VW Polo, then a Honda Civic. Their best finish was seventh, second in class, at the Dakar circuit. In Belgium, Gaëtane has also entered two 24-hour races for Citroen 2CVs at Spa, finishing once. In 2011, she drove in several slalom events, and one round of the Belgian “Gentlemen” Drivers’ Cup, in a Civic. Her team is normally Penelope Racing, and she sometimes uses the nom de course of “Penelope”. She is still actively involved in motorsport in Belgium, on the administrative side.

Samira el-Bennani – Moroccan driver who became the first African ladies’ circuit racing champion, and the first ladies’ champion of Morocco, in 1998. Her car was a Renault 5, and it was her first season of racing. The following year, she travelled to Spain, and competed there in the Renault Megane Supercopa. In 2008, she seems to have been active again, in a Renault Clio, taking part in a raced at Casablanca. In 2009, she raced in the Casablanca Grand Prix, in the 2000cc class, alongside her son, Mehdi Bennani. That year, she also drove a Legend car in the WTCC support race, and a Renault Clio in the Moroccan circuit championship, in which she was eleventh.  After that, she continued to compete, often in a Renault Clio. She was in action in 2014 in the Moroccan championship. As well as circuit racing, she has also competed in the Dakar Rally, in 2005, in a Mercedes. Her son, Mehdi el-Bennani, races touring cars internationally. 

Sandra Bocandé - Senegalese driver, active since 2010, after getting into motorsport through her photo agency work. After learning to drive in France, she competed in the Endurance and 2L Sprint championships in Senegal, in a Renault Clio run by 25 Racing. She won the second round of the Sprint championship, and was 20th overall in the Endurance series, after entering three races. In 2012, she drove a Nissan buggy in the Africa Eco Race with Pierrick Legendre, as a navigator. She was the first Senegalese finisher, and they were 30th overall. She was racing again in 2014, and was sixth in the Dakar 6 Hour race, with Laïla Chekir. They were driving a Renault Clio. In January, Sandra also won a ladies' race, the Ronde des Lionnes, at the Dakar circuit. Sandra is a former dancer.

Fabienne Lanz - Swiss/South African driver, based in South Africa. Her motorsport achievements have mainly come from karting, where she has earned good championship positions in various formulae, in South Africa, the Middle East and Europe. She has raced cars occasionally since 2011, when she drove a VW Golf in the South Africa Coastal Championship, winning her class. Since 2012, she has competed in two saloon endurance races in the Golf. She retired from the LUK 3 Hours at Port Elizabeth, but was fourth in class, with the Stephen2Racing team, in the Africa 6 Hours at Phakisa, in February 2013. She has also driven in hillclimbs in South Africa, and raced in Legends cars. She attempted to qualify for the 2019 W Series, but was eliminated during the first round of driver selections.

Joy Monareng – one of South Africa’s first black female racers. She started in 2002, in the Sports 2000 series. Her first race was at Zwartkops, after winning a place on a racing development programme. She raced in Sports 2000 for at least three seasons. In 2003, she finished in the top ten of the championship. As well as Sports 2000, she has raced motorcycles, and competed in some rallies in the Gauteng province. She is a TV motoring journalist. 

(Picture from mezario.over-blog.com)

Claudine Trautmann (also Vanson-Bouchet; born Claudine Bouchet)

Claudine was a multiple French champion, active from the 1950s to the 1970s. She won the French national title nine times, between 1960 and 1968, with the Citroen and Lancia teams. During this time, her participation in non-French events was mostly as co-driver to her second husband, René Trautmann.

She was not from a motorsport background, but a generally sporting one. Skiing was her sport of choice before taking up rallying. She was working in her father’s clock business when she entered her first rally, driving her own Simca Aronde. This was at the suggestion of a friend, who worked as a Simca dealer, who had noticed Claudine’s flair for driving. She was a surprising fourth overall, and first in the Touring class. This was no local club rally either, but the Mont Blanc International Rally. In order to even enter, she had had to engage the services of Lise Renaud, an experienced navigator with the correct license. An entry in the Rally of Beaujolais followed, which led to a drive in the Tour de Corse, encouraged by René Cotton. Sadly, the Aronde lost a wheel early on.

Still in the Simca, she continued to enter French rallies in 1958, winning Coupes des Dames in the Mont Blanc. Limousin and Lavande rallies. During her travels, she met Patrick Vanson, another French driver, and the pair married. This cut short Claudine’s driving opportunities somewhat, but she returned to the stages in 1959, her marriage in no way curtailing her ambition. This year, she entered her first Monte Carlo Rally, although she did not finish. After Coupes des Dames in the Mont Blanc, Limousin and Printemps rallies, she was second in the French ladies’ championship, after Annie Soisbault.

1960 saw her take another step on the road to international rally glory. Another meeting with René Cotton led to a seat with the Île de France Citroen team, after coming third in class in the Austrian Alpine Rally. Coupes des Dames followed in the Mont Blanc, Cévennes and Armagnac rallies, but her best result was probably an eighth place overall in the Liège-Rome-Liège marathon rally, driving a Citroen ID19 with Renée Wagner. Earlier in the year, still in the Simca, she had finished her first Monte Carlo Rally, in 38th place. At the end of the year, she was French ladies’ champion for the first time.

The association with Citroen continued for another three years. In 1961, she drove alongside Ginette Derolland, and came to the end of the Monte once more. Her second outing in the other major French rally, the Tour de Corse, gave her a Coupe des Dames this time, and she added more ladies’ trophies for French rallies to her collection. Her best result was a fourth overall in the Rallye Neige et Glace. Away from the stages, she competed in the last running of the Mille Miglia, and won the Coupe des Dames, in an ID19 with Renée Wagner. With Mlle Kissel, she won the Coupe des Dames in the Touring class of the Tour de France, finishing sixth overall in class.

Claudine carried on driving the Citroen ID19 in 1962, gaining more and more experience. The Liège-Sofia-Liège rally gave her another Coupe des Dames, but no top ten. A string of fastest lady awards in French rallies ensured that she kept her Ladies’ title. 1963 was a more exciting year, with two top-ten finishes in major international rallies: sixth in Corsica and third in Catalunya. She also won the Coupe des Dames in the Spa-Sofia-Liège and several big French rallies, including a seventh Mont Blanc ladies’ award.

Away from the stages, she was also very busy. She had befriended Marie-Claude Beaumont, who would become her regular navigator for a while, then go on to much bigger things, on the circuits as well as the stages. She had also become close to her fellow Citroen driver, René Trautmann, and practically ended her marriage to Patrick Vanson, although the couple would not divorce until later.

It was all-change in mid-1964. Claudine and René both moved to the Lancia works team. Initially, they were both taken on as drivers. After another finish on the Monte in a Citroen DS19, Claudine set about defending her French title, and increasing her international tally. This year, she debuted at San Remo, in a Lancia Flavia. She also finished strongly in French rallies, with a class second on the Alpine Rally and a class third on the Neige et Glace event, one of her favourites. This year saw her first win: the Paris-St. Raphaël ladies’ rally.  

The following year, the pace of Claudine’s career changed. Although she was still a fixture on the French rally scene, her involvement in international events decreased, as a driver at least. She began navigating for René on a regular basis, still with Lancia. They scored their first win that year, on the Alpine Rally.

This arrangement continued until 1969. During this time, Claudine still performed well in French rallies, winning four more Paris-St. Raphaël events and repeating her débutante finish in the Mont Blanc Rally in 1968 with a fourth place. She was also third in the Forez Rally that year, and had been fifth in the Rallye Pétrole the year before. However, for major events, she travelled with René and acted as his navigator. In 1967, they got married. By 1969, she was in semi-retirement, and did very little driving, apart from a few road races. This was the first year for nine years that she did not win the French Ladies’ title.

Her international career began again with a drive for Citroen, in the World Cup Rally. She managed to get a good deal of the way from London to Mexico City, and although her car broke down in Colombia, 1000 kilometres from the finish, she was classified 24th.

At about the same time, a new enterprise in French rallying brought her back into the fold. Robert Neyret was putting together his Team Aseptogyl, an all-female rally-driving force in pink, toothpaste-sponsored Alpine-Renaults, and persuaded Claudine to take part. Eventually, she would manage the day-to-day running of the team, alongside René in a business capacity. However, to begin with, she was one of the drivers, and even joined in with the promotional activities, matching colourful outfits and all. “Les girls” of Team Aseptogyl competed around France from 1971 onwards. Claudine drove in that year’s Tour de France, with Marie-Odile Desvignes. Her best result was a fifth place, in Bayonne. She also navigated occasionally for Neyret himself.

Claudine and Marie-Odile Desvignes, Morocco, 1972

She only really excelled again in international events after 1971, when she was third in the Bandama Rally in a Renault 16. Desert events seemed to be her favourite, despite her background on the Tarmac of the French stages. She was sixth in the 1972 Moroccan Rally in a Renault 16 TS, after failing to get to the end of the Monte in an Alpine-Renault A110. The following year, she was eighth in the Bandama and tenth in that year’s Moroccan event, driving a Peugeot 504 run by Team Aseptogyl. Her co-driver that season was Marie-Pierre Palayer.

One of her last major events was the 1974 World Cup Rally, which ran from London to Munich via the Sahara desert, in which she was fourth, driving a Peugeot 504. It was another Aseptogyl entry, and her navigator was Marie-Odile Desvignes. Back at one of her more fruitful stamping grounds, she was eighth in Morocco in 1975, the year she retired into team management. She was 44.

(Images from forum-auto.com)

Female Single-Seater Drivers Around the World: Africa

Tasmin Pepper

The African continent has produced a few female drivers, the most famous being Desiré Wilson. This page will hopefully expand in future. Drivers in other types of racing in Africa can be found here. 

Tannith Gardner - races karts and cars in South Africa. In 2007, she substituted for Tasmin Pepper in the SA Formula Ford championship at Zwartkops, when Tasmin was on international karting duty. Her final championship position that year was thirteenth. In 2011, she raced in the SA Production Car championship, driving a Subaru WRX STi. She scored at least two eighth places that year at Port Elizabeth, before contact with another driver sent her car rolling off the track. She was unhurt. Early in her career, she won a gearbox karting title outright.

Vicki Kemp - raced in South African Supercars in 2010, aged 18, with a view to moving into NASCAR. She was selected for 2010 NASCAR Driver Talent Search and Shootout, but did not get through. Her finishing record in Supercars was not good, but she did manage eighth and ninth places. After that, she switched to single-seaters, and competed in Formula VW in 2011. Her car was more reliable, and she  had a best finish of sixth, at Killarney. She was tenth in the championship. During her second Formula VW season, her performances were similar, and she was eleventh overall. After that, she does not seem to have raced. As a junior, she was the first girl to win a South African karting championship in 2007.

Glenda Mann - raced single-seaters in South Africa in the 1980s. She competed in the South African Formula Ford championship between 1983 and 1985. Among the cars she raced was a Donelly FF1600 and a Formula Vee car which she used in 1983. Her results are proving hard to find, but she won several races outright. She often competed alongside her brother, Basil Mann, who was a successful driver in both South Africa and Europe.

Jennifer Murray - South African driver who was part of their A1 GP team, driving in one test session in 2006. She was taken on following her performances in Formula Ford, in South Africa and at the 2004 Formula Ford Festival in the UK. In 2006, she was a consistent top-ten performer in the South African series, and was fourth overall. Between 2007 and 2009, she mostly competed in the Shelby Can-Am sportscar series in South Africa, in a 3300cc Dodge. Her best season was 2008, during which she won two races, visited the podium ten times and was the overall runner-up. She has also competed in Formula Volkswagen, and in the all-female Formula Woman Nations Cup. 

Helene Visser - raced single-seaters in South Africa in the 1980s. She did at least one season in Formula Ford in 1984, driving a Hawke DL19. During her career, she won at least one race outright, possibly in 1984 at Killarney International Raceway. That year, she entered the “Mini Monaco” event held around a golf course in Cape Town. Her husband Chris Visser also raced at the time.

Brittany Vorster - Formula Three driver from South Africa. She competed in Formula 3 in South Africa in 2010, as well as travelling to Brazil for the Brazil Open. She did not qualify. Her South African results are not forthcoming. Prior to this, she raced in Formula GTi in South Africa, and was fifth in the 2009 championship after three podium finishes. A serious accident at the end of the 2010 season meant that she decided to retire. Before that, she was active on the karting scene, both nationally and internationally. Away from the track, she is a model and TV personality. 

Sofia Zanfari - Moroccan driver who competes in Europe. She started racing cars in 2025, aged 18, and signed up for the French F4 Championship. At the time of writing, her best finishes have been two 18th places, at Spa, although she is often on the podium for the Women's award, contested by six drivers in 2025. Before F4, she competed in karting around Europe and also in the USA, including a run in the FIA World Championships in 2023.

(Image from http://www.runridedive.com/)

Female Rally Drivers After 1950: Africa

Stefanie Botha and Angela Shields

Women have featured in African rallies since they first appeared in the 1950s. Below are some short profiles. This post only covers stage rallying; rally raids such as the Dakar have their own page.
Susan Muwonge's profile is located in the Rally Winners post. Viviane Evina has her own post.
Kenyan drivers have their own post, here.

Irene “Leila” Blick (Mayanja) - Ugandan driver who came to prominence in 2013, after navigating for her husband, Omar Mayanja, since at least 2005. In 2013, she was tenth in her first event of the year, the Mbarara Rally, and won her class. Her car was a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo II, and her navigator was Faridah Ndagire. She retired from her next three rallies, including the Pearl of Africa event, but her fortunes changed when she switched to Toyota power. She was fifth in the Mukwano Independence Rally, driving a Run-X, and seventh in the Oilybia Mount Elgon Rally, in an Allex. The last event also gave her a class win. She competed quite extensively in Uganda in 2014, in the Allex. She finished in the top ten on three occasions: eighth in the Mbarara Rally, fourth in the Source of the Nile Rally, and sixth in the SMC Challenge Rally. She also entered the Milles Collines event in Rwanda, which was cancelled due to a fatal accident. She had another season in the Allex in 2015, and her best rally was the Mountains of the Moon event, in which she was twelfth. She was quite busy in 2016, in the Allex, rallying in both Uganda and Rwanda, although her finishing record was not brilliant. Her best result was an eleventh place in the Gorillas in the Mist Rally. She returned to the stages in a Subaru Impreza in 2018, with a best finish of fourteenth in the Jinja Challenge Rally. Irene is from a motorsport family: her parents both rallied as a team.

Stefanie Botha - second generation rally driver, originally from Namibia. She co-drove for her father Willem Hugo from the age of 15, then switched to driving at 18 in 2007, with Willem as navigator. In 2008, she drove in her regional championship in South Africa, using cars including a Subaru Impreza. For 2010, she was part of the RallyStar driving academy and moved up to the SA championship, scoring two class wins. Team Total signed her for 2011, driving a Toyota RunX in the SA championship. With Angela Shields, she ran well, although mechanical troubles caused many retirements. The situation has been the same in 2012. In 2013, she really stepped up, and was second in the Band Windhoek Azurite Tsumeb Rally. She also achieved thirds in the Total Tara and Walvis Bay rallies, in South Africa and Namibia. In 2014, she rallied a Subaru Impreza and a Toyota Corolla in Namibia, but did not finish any of her events. She tried again in the Subaru in 2015, in the Namibian championship, but still did not finish any of her events. After a long break, she came back to the Namibian championship in 2024, in an Impreza. She finished one rally, the Tara Rally, in seventh place. Away from rallying, Stefanie also competes in dirt-track circuit races.

Madeleine Britz - rallies a Volkswagen Golf in her native South Africa. She seems to have done her first major rallies in 2017, when she finished four of her seven events. The best of these for her was the Volkswagen Regional Rally, in which she was twelfth. In 2018, she did even better, scoring her first top-ten finish in the Trade Brand Natal Rally, the first round of the South African championship. She was tenth overall. 2019 was not quite as successful in the Polo, but she did manage one top-twenty finish, a 19th place in the Fountains Mall Rally. Her usual navigator is Maryka Britz or Wendy Mitchell.

Michelle Fortmann - Zimbabwean driver who has been rallying on and off since 2007. She was eleventh in her first event, the Dunlop Zimbabwe Challenge, in a Ford Escort. Her best result seems to have been eighth in the 2010 Zimbabwe Challenge Rally, in a Toyota Corolla. She has also driven a Subaru Impreza. Away from active competition, she works as a motorsport photographer.

Natasha Fourie - rallied a Toyota Tazz in South Africa in 2017. Her best event was the Bapsfontein Rally, in which she was seventh. She was also tenth in the Secunda Regional Rally. These were two of her six finishes that year. Her 2018 season included five rallies. She only finished one, the Sam 100 Rally, in eleventh place. In 2018, she also seemed to be co-driving for Johann Fourie, in another Toyota Tazz. She returned to driving in 2021, entering the Toyota Delmas Rally in the Tazz. She rolled. “Natasha Fourie” is a common name in South Africa, which does not help efforts to find out more about this one.

Megan Heine - South African driver, active since at least 2013. She usually drives Volkswagen cars. Between 2013 and 2015, she was a regular on South African rallies, particularly the Volkswagen Rally, which seems to be her local event. She was 18th in the 2013 Ocean Basket Rally in a Volkswagen Golf. Apart from driving, Megan co-drives occasionally, and in 2015, she piloted the support helicopter for some rounds of the South African championship.

Melissa Heyman - rallies Volkswagens in her native South Africa. Her first season looks to have been 2013, when she used a Golf. She scored her first top ten, a ninth place in the Peotr Club Rally. She entered club and national rallies, including the Volkswagen Rally which she did not finish. In 2014, she entered this event again and was fifteenth. The following year, she improved her best finish to sixth in the Algoa Steel Rally. A break from competition ensued after 2015, but she returned in 2017. The Golf was exchanged for a Polo. She was tenth in the Valley Bash and Fountains Mail Rallies. She continued with the Polo in 2018 and had a best finish of eleventh in the Stu Davidson & Sons Rally.

Queen Kalimpinya - Rwandan driver and co-driver who became the first Rwandan woman to finish a national rally. She first attempted the Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally in 2022, driving a Subaru Impreza, but did not finish. In 2023, she drove a GC8 model Impreza and finished third overall in the Huye Rally. The driver she sat beside in 2022, Fabrice Nyiridandi Yoto, did not finish. Together, they were second in the 2022 Nyirangarama Sprint Rally. In 2024, she was third in the Huye Rally, in an Impreza.

Sandra Labuscagne - rallied a Toyota Tazz in her native South Africa in 2017. She was co-driven by Jaco Jonk. During the season, she scored one top-ten finish, an eighth place in the Witklip Fram Bronkhorstspruit Rally. She was also eleventh in the Sam 100 Rally. In 2016, she tried her hand at cross-country rallying; as a navigator, she was selected by the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission for the Qatar Sealine Rally, with Cristina Gutierrez-Herrero as her driver. They were 24th. Sandra competes regularly in South African off-road rallies with her father, Coetzee.

Janine Lourens – rallies in South Africa, often sharing a car with her twin sister, Michelle. Rather unusually, the sisters share driving duties, alternating every season. In 2012, Janine took the wheel, and was 19^th in the Polokwane Rally. Her car was a Toyota Conquest. She also rallied in her regional championship, finishing thirteenth in the SA Earthworks All Tar Rally and seventh in the SAHRA Night Rally. She began her career at 17, in 2009, driving in rallysprints with her sister, navigated by their father. In 2010, she alternated driving duties with Michelle in regional rallies. Janine also navigates for Craig Trott. 2015 had her take the wheel again, with Michelle on the maps. She was sixth and seventh in the two-part Secunda Regional Rally, and sixth in the Motomid Rally. 

Michelle Lourens - South African driver who competes as part of a family team. Her twin sister, Janine, is her current navigator, and the pair have swapped seats several times in the past. They began rallying together, in 2009, at 17, in rallysprints. They did the Northern regional championship in South Africa in 2010, and took turns driving. After a quiet year, without significant sponsorship, in 2011, Janine took the wheel in 2012, again, contesting their regional championship. In 2013, with Michelle driving, they moved up to the South African championship, driving a Toyota Conquest, mainly. Her best result was fifth, in the East Rand Rally, and she also won her class in the Ford Dealer Rally, finishing 25th overall. In 2014, Michelle continued to drive in the South African championship, in an S2000-spec Toyota Tazz. She was seventh in the Hallspeed Rally, in South Africa. In 2015, she filled in as both driver and co-driver, to Janine. She drove a Toyota Run-X in the South African championship, but did not finish any of her events. Back in the driving seat in 2017, she entered the Sam 100 Rally, and was thirteenth overall.

Rose Lwakataka - Ugandan driver who has been rallying on and off since around 2008. She is the wife of former Ugandan champion Ponsiano Lwakataka, and shares his car, a Subaru Impreza, on occasion. She was seventh in the Pearl Rally in Uganda in 2008. As well as stage rallies, she competes in rallysprint events in Africa, and is promoted as a great rival to Susan Muwonge.

Laureen Marufu - Zimbabwean driver who has been competing since 2010. She was ninth in her first event, the Toyota Challenge Rally. The following year, she was sixth in the same event. The same year, she was also eighth in the Zambia International Rally, again driving a Toyota  Corolla. In 2012, she entered the Zimbabwe event again, but could not finish, driving the Toyota. She intends to contest more African rallies in the future.

Bianca Njeneza - Burundian driver who competes in her home rally championship. In 2018, she rallied a Peugeot 205 and a Toyota Curen. She retired from her first event, the Rally Ngozi, but was third in her second, the Burundi Rally. She was using the Toyota this time. In 2021 she entered the Rallye de l'Imbo in a Toyota Avensis, although it is not clear whether she finished. Bianca is Burundi’s first female rally driver, after being offered a car by a friend.

Britney du Piesanie - rallies a Volkswagen Golf in South Africa. She competes in the Algoa Rally Club championship and has been active since 2017. In March 2018, she scored her career-best result in the first round of this series, finishing thirteenth overall in the Stu Davidson & Sons Rally. Britney’s Golf is provided by the school where she is a sixth former. The car was donated to Daniel Pienaar School and it is the only school in the country that runs its own motorsport team.

Magriet Potgieter - competes in South Africa in a Ford Fiesta. 2021 was her first season in a car, having supported her husband but never done any co-driving or other motorsport before. Her first event was the NTT Toyota Delmas Rally, which took place on and around her own farmland. She was eleventh on the first day and tenth on the second, from 17 entrants. She also finished the Rallystar National Rally in eleventh place. A second season in the Fiesta gave her a string of top-ten finishes, the best of these being sixth in the TRAC and Lake Umuzi National Rallies.In 2023, she rallied the Fiesta again and suffered a lot of retirements, but she was also fifth in the TRAC National Rally. 2024 was better from a finishing point of view; she finished three rallies, the best of these being a fourth place in the TRAC Rally.

Andrea Raaths - rallies a Volkswagen Golf in South Africa. She has been active in the Womza National championship and the African Regional Rally Organisation series since 2017. Her first top-ten finish was a ninth place in the 2018 Zane Rencken Tribute Rally, co-driven by Mauritz Britz. She picked up six top-tens in 2018, the best of these being a fifth in the Secunda Rally. At the end of the season, she was unofficially named as South Africa’s fastest female driver. After a year off, she returned to the Northern Regions championship, picking up a best finish of ninth in the Rallystar National Day 2 event. She rallied a Toyota Run-X in 2022 and competed extensively in the Northern Regions championship, but she suffered multiple car problems and only finished three events. A switch to an Auris gave her a thirteenth place in the 2023 Bronx National Rally.

Riane Rautenbach - rallies a Volkswagen Polo in South Africa. She competes in the Algoa Rally club series and is co-driven by Stephno Pieterse. Her best result so far has been twelfth place in the 2019 Baywest Regional Rally, third in class. She has also been second in class in the Stu Davidson & Sons Rally. The Polo came out again in 2020 and she was ninth in an ARC Rally Club sprint. Her two rallies in 2021 gave her a ninth and tenth place. A longer schedule followed in 2022, including a seventh place in the SCC Fountains Night Rally. Although she appears to have been involved in rallying for several years, she only began competing at the start of 2019.

Sonika Rautenbach - rallied a Toyota Yaris in Algoa Rally Club events in South Africa. Her best finish was an eleventh place in the Heinesport Night Rally. 2020 appears to have been her first season in a rally car, although she did do some oval racing in 2018 and 2019, in a Beginners’ class. She also took part in a women’s oval championship in 2018. In 2021 she rallied the Yaris again, earning a best finish of eleventh in the Fountains Mall Rally. This improved to a seventh place in the Triple L Pant Despatch Rally in 2022.

Carole Roinet - Ivorian driver who has competed in Cote d’Ivoire since 2022. Her first car was a Dacia Logan, which she used for the first half of the 2022 season. She then switched to a Peugeot 207 RC and came away with three class wins from the four rallies she entered in it. The best of these was a fifth place in the Top Chrono de Cocody event. In 2023, she was eighth in the Bandama Rally, after retiring in 2022. She and co-driver Adjoua Yarene Kouassi-Lenoir won their class. She rallied quite extensively in 2024, picking up fourth places in the Rallye de Tafire and the Rallye RCAA, both in the 207.

Luné Snyman - South African driver who rallies a Toyota Tazz in her home championship. In 2017, her best result has been an eighth place in the York Regional Rally. 2017 was only her second year of rallying, after buying her car in 2016 and entering one event in Heidleberg. She was ninth in the 2018 Natal Rally, driving the Tazz. She is co-driven by her father, Edward Strydom. In 2019, she entered Rally South Africa in a Subaru Impreza, but did not finish.

Bianca Theunissen - South African driver who started driving herself in 2017, after several years of navigating for Nick Theunissen. Her car is an Opel Corsa, which she first started using in 2017. Her best result in her first year was a sixteenth place in the Tzaneen Midas Rally. She continued to compete in 2018 and her first event was the York Rally. She did not finish. The Tzaneen Midas Rally was her best result again: she was ninth. In 2020 she entered one major rally, the TRACN4 National event, but the car's head gasket blew. She was tenth in the 2021 Lowveld 100 Rally and thirteenth in the Tzaneen Rally, driving the Corsa. In 2022, she only did one rally in the Corsa, finishing eleventh in the TRAC National Rally. Her co-driver is Yvonne Theunissen.

Lola Verlaque - South African driver who competes in the African championship, often with her sister Megan as her co-driver. In 2008, they were third in the Rally of Tanzania, driving a Subaru Impreza. They were eleventh in the same event in 2009, driving a VW Polo S2000 this time. They also competed in the revived Safari Rally in 2007 and 2009, but retired both times. Their cars were the Impreza and the Polo. In 2008, Lola drove a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 and was sixth in the African championship. Her best overall result was her Tanzanian third, although she was also fifth in Zambia. In 2007 they were third in the championship, with a best result of second in Zambia. After a break from competition, which included a couple of events where Megan did not navigate for her sister (in 2010), they returned to action in 2011, driving a VW Golf in the East African Safari Classic Rally. In 2015, she rallied both a VW Golf and a Toyota Corolla in the South African championship, with a best finish of ninth, in the Classic Rally South Africa. Her car was the Golf, and her co-driver was Edward Verlaque. The same pairing tackled the Top Fry Rift 1000 Classic Rally in 2016, in the Golf. They finished in 24th place. The Verlaque duo tackled four rallies in 2017, finishing two. Lola was eleventh in the Caledon Rally and 16th in the HMC Electrothread Rally. She entered the Classic Safari in 2018 in the Golf and was 29th overall, ten places below her sister. In 2019, she ran the Golf in the Cape Overberg Grand Prix but did not finish, then drove a Mk1 Ford Escort in the Top Fry Rally in Kenya. She was 17th, one place ahead of her sister this time. After a break, she netered the 2022 East African Mini Classic Rally in the Golf, finishing 23rd. She was 43rd in the same event in 2023, having finished under SuperRally rules. In 2024, she used a historic Datsun, entering the Jim Heather-Hayes Memorial Rally.

Michelle Yorke - Zimbabwean driver who has been competing in Africa since at least 2008. She has driven in three Zimbabwe Rally Challenge events, in 2008, 2011 and 2012. For the first two rallies, she used a Toyota Corolla. In 2012, this was replaced by a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV. She has finished the event once, in 2008, when she was tenth. 

(Image from http://www.timeslive.co.za/)

Cross-Country Rallying

Syndiely Wade

Specialist drivers who have competed in rally raids across the globe. Those who are better-known as stage rally drivers or circuit racers are listed in their respective sections. The best-known female rally-raid exponents, Jutta Kleinschmidt, Isabelle Patissier, Martyna Wojciechowska, Monique Delannoy, Estelle Hallyday, Sara Price and Andrea Mayer, have their own profiles.

Dania Akeel - winner of the T3 championship in the 2021 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas. Her car was a Mamba SSV. She competed in her first Dakar in 2022, driving a Can-Am Maverick SSV and finishing eighth in the Light Prototype class. Her second Dakar, at the beginning of 2023, ended with 93rd place, driving another Can-Am. She was invited to enter the Dakar by the Saudi Ministry of Sport, which is keen to use female drivers to promote the country. After problems early on, she was 28th in the 2023 Dakar. In 2024, she joined the Extreme E grid, driving for JBXE with Andreas Bakkerud. She did the first two races in Saudi, finishing seventh and eighth, but was then replaced by Amanda Sorensen. At the end of the year, she entered the Dakar and was one of the leading drivers in the Challenger class, driving a Taurus. She won a stage, but late hold-ups dropped her to 27th. Previously, she raced motorcycles on circuits.

Mashael Alobaidan - Saudi driver who entered her first Dakar in 2022, driving a Can-Am Maverick in the Light Prototype class. She was 17th in class. Along with Dania Akeel, she is supported by the Saudi Ministry of Sport in order to promote the country via female drivers. Although she had been involved in other sports, including diving, and also driven recreationally in the sand dunes, she only started rallying in 2021, entering Baja events in Sharqiyah, Aragon and H’all. She did the Dakar again in 2023, finishing 83rd in a Can-Am light prototype. She was due to enter again in 2024, but pulled out for unexplained reasons. That year, she began racing electric powerboats in the E1 Series, partnering Saud Ahmed in the Aoki Racing team. She remained with the team for 2025 and won the first round, with new team-mate Dani Clos.

Madalena Antas (Cupertino de Miranda)  – competed in rally raids, often for the Nissan Dessoude team. She drove a Pathfinder pick-up for the team in the 2007 Dakar, the last to be held in Africa, but did not finish. This was her third attempt at the Dakar for Nissan. In 2005, she was 17^th in the Baja Espana Aragon, driving a Toyota Landcruiser. Early in her career, she also won the Portuguese off-road championships. Madalena is following in the footsteps of her mother, Teresa, another Dakar competitor.

Victoria Carrasco - Chilean driver. She has competed in off-road rallies in South America from 2004, using a Kia Sorrento. She was eleventh in the 2006 Por las Pampas Rally, her only Cross-Country World Cup outing. Now, she is more commonly seen as a navigator to Juan Francisco Carrasco, in rally raids and stage rallies.

Hend Chaouch - one of Tunisia’s foremost drivers. She has driven in the Rally Tunisia fourteen times, as driver and navigator. Her first time in the driving seat was 2001, when she finished the Tunisian, Moroccan, Dubai and Paris-Dakar raids. Her best finish was 17th with a class win in Dubai. These have been her best results, although she has won several honours for being the first Tunisian, African or female finisher. She has taken part in the Dakar twice. As well as the Cross-Country World Cup, she has competed in women-only rallies, and was third in the 1994 Rallye des Gazelles. She has also organised rallies in Tunisia and worked in assistance teams. Her cars have been a Toyota Landcruiser, Mitsubishi Evolution and Nissan Patrol. She was banned from competition for 2010, after an incident on the 2009 Tunisia Rally. In 2011, she returned to the Rally Tunisia in a Toyota. After this, she does not appear to have competed, and her website has been taken down. In 2013, she spoke out publicly in support of Saudi women being permitted to drive, alongside Ari Vatanen. In 2014, she returned to desert rally raids, and won the Ladies' award on the Rallye du Maroc. Her car was a Toyota HDJ80. She planned to enter the Rally of Tunisia again in 2015, but did not make the start. In 2017, she was second in the Rallye El Chott, driving a Toyota, an event she won in 2018.

Martine de Cortanze - Frenchwoman who raced both cars and bikes in long-distance events. She entered the first Dakar in 1979 on a motorcycle, and entered every race until 1983. She also had a considerable career in stage rallying, winning ladies’ awards in the Monte Carlo and Corsica rallies, among others. She also took part in the Paris-St. Raphaël Rally at least once, in the 1970s.

Sylviane Goutaland – French veteran of many Paris-Dakar rallies, beginning in 1980, when she entered in a Lada Niva, up to 2007. Her vehicles have included a Toyota Landcruiser and a Nissan Patrol. She has usually finished, but not been among the top drivers. As well as the Dakar, she competed in other raid-type events around the world, but not always successfully or happily. She has kept a low media profile since 1994, when she was involved in a fatal accident in Australia.

Pascale Geurie - one of the first women to enter the Paris-Dakar rally, in 1979. She was contesting the motorcycle class. She also drove a Range Rover in the 1982 event, but did not finish. On the track, she attempted to qualify for Le Mans as well, driving a Lola with Martine Renier and Anna Cambiaghi in 1978. Prior to this, she had raced on the French circuits, in touring cars.

Elisabete Jacinto - began her career as an international motocross rider, before moving up to rally raids and the Dakar, She was the highest-placed female motorcyclist in 2000. In 2003, she got her licence to drive trucks and began entering rally raids in this class. She did her first four-wheeled Dakar that year. Since then, she has won the Truck class of the 2006 Shamrock Rally and the 2007 Morocco Rally. On the 2007 Dakar, she was 21st overall and sixth in the Truck class, her best finish. Since then, she has really upper her game to become one of the leading drivers in the Truck class. In 2010, she won the Tunisian and Moroccan rallies. Returning to those events in 2011 gave her another win, and a third place, as well as a second overall in the Rally Africa Eco Race. 2012 was not quite as fruitful, with a fourth overall (second truck) in the Rally Africa Eco Race, and a third in the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles, in a VW Amarok. Late in the season, she was third in the truck class of the Rally Morocco. Driving a MAN truck in 2013, she won the truck class of the Rally of Morocco and came second in the Baja Aragon and Africa Eco Race. In the MANTGS, she was seventh overall in the 2014 Africa Eco Race, and third in the Truck class. Later, she was tenth overall in the Rally of Morocco, and fourth truck. In between, she drove the Amarok again in the Rallye des Gazelles, and was second. In 2015, she drove a MAN truck for the Oleoban team. She was fourth in the Africa Eco Race, and took part in the Morocco Rally. For Volkswagen, she was sixth in the Rallye des Gazelles. She entered the Africa Eco Race again in 2016, and was fourteenth overall, and third in class, in the MAN. Driving a VW Amarok, she was fifth in the Gazelles event. She also participated in the Libya Rally, but did not finish. In 2017, she was back in the MAN truck, run by the Bio-Ritmo team. She was third in the Truck class of the Morocco Desert Challenge, but did not finish the Rallye du Maroc. The truck got stuck in a sand dune and it took 14 hours to get it out. Bio-Ritmo concentrated on alternative-fuel events in 2018; Elisabete did not finish the Africa Eco Race and was seventh in class in the Morocco Desert Challenge. She was second in the 2019 Africa Eco Race, driving a MAN truck.

Véronique Jacquot (Muringer) – took part in rally raids in a truck in the mid-2000s. She was 29^th in the 2004 Dakar, as part of an all-female team in a MAN truck. Her team-mates were Geraldine Brucy and Uta Baier. She first entered the Dakar in 2003. In 2004, she also became the first driver to enter the Rallye des Gazelles in an HGV, a Mercedes Unimog. She first competed in the Rallye des Gazelles in 2002.

Camelia Liparoti - Italian off-road rally driver who has competed on two and four wheels. She won her first event on a motorcycle in 2007, winning the all-female Trophee Roses de Sables. She went on to win the women’s world off-road title six times between 2009 and 2014. She has entered the Dakar every year since 2009; nine times on a quad and three times in an SSV. She was fifth in the SSV class in 2017 and has won stages in the class. Since 2016, she has raced extensively in Middle Eastern rally raids. Her best year was 2017, when she scored third places in the Quad class in Dubai, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. In 2022, she entered the Dakar again in the Light Prototype category, finishing sixth in a Yamaha X-Raid. In a similar vehicle, she entered the 2023 Dakar, but problems dropped her to 11th place. The following year, she drove an experimental Avid UTV in the Dakar Future Mission 1000 which ran alongside part of the 2024 Dakar. She did not start racing until she was in her thirties.

Merce Marti - record-breaking pilot who entered her first Dakar in 2022. She drove a Can-Am Maverick in the Light Prototype class as part of an all-female team, with co-driver Margot Llobera and women mechanics and engineers. Her car suffered problems and she was only 33rd overall. She tried again in 2023 but did not finish. Her previous motorsport experience was in historics, racing a Porsche and a Ferrari. Her first off-road event was the 1995 Paris-St Raphael Off Road Rally in a Jeep Cherokee, an all-female rally.

Christine Martin – French driver who drove in rally raids in the early 1980s. She raced motorcycles in rally raids for much longer, and was one of the first women to finish the Dakar on a motorcycle. In 1984, she entered the four-wheeled Dakar, and drove a Lada Niva. She did not finish. Unfortunately, the following year, she scored another DNF in the Dakar, this time driving a Peugeot 504 Dangel. She does not appear to have rallied again after this.

Guo Meiling – Chinese driver who entered the Dakar in 2016, driving a Mini. Unfortunately, she was injured in a crash during the prologue, when her car left the road and hit spectators. Previously, she had driven the car in rally raids in China, finishing 22^nd in the 2015 Taklimakan Rally, and 21^st in the 2014 Grand China Rally. Her start in rallying came through competing on a quad in Chinese raids.

Carole Montillet (Carles) – former Olympic skiing champion who turned to motorsport after her retirement. Initially, she concentrated on rally raids, and won the Quad class of the Rally Aïcha des Gazelles in 2004 and 2005. Her partner was Mélanie Suchet. In 2006 and 2007, she was second in the Car class. She then moved into mixed competition, in the French Tout-Terrain championship, and the Transafrican Rally. She was sixth in the Transafrican event in 2006. In 2007, she took part in her first Dakar Rally, driving a Nissan, but could not finish, due to problems with the car’s electronics. Later, in 2011, she returned to the Rallye des Gazelles, in a Springbok prototype with Syndiely Wade, and won the event outright, a feat she repeated in 2012, navigated by Julie Verdaguer in a Jugand Buggy. In between, she tried circuit racing, in the form of the Racecar stock car championship in France, in 2010. She did four races, and was 24^th overall. In 2015, she won the expert category of the Rally Aïcha des Gazelles, driving a Toyota. 

(Maria) Céu Pires de Lima – Portuguese driver who competes in rally raids in Europe and further afield. She drove a Toyota with Pedro Silva Nunes in the 2006 Dakar, and finished in 66^th place. At the time, she was 58 years old. This was her second attempt at the Dakar, having entered, but not finished, in 1997. In her home country, she has won multiple Ladies’ titles in off-road rallying, as well as class wins, in the 1990s and 2000s. She has occasionally been co-driven by Teresa Cupertino de Miranda, her cousin and the mother of Madalena Antas. The two rallied together in the 2011 Baja Portugal. She has often driven Toyotas, but also used a Nissan Navarra for the 2004 Baja Portugal.

Yara Shalaby – Egyptian driver who competes in cross-country rallies. She has raced both cars and motorcycles, but now concentrates on four wheels. In 2014, she entered the Pharaons Rally, in a Toyota Landcruiser. In 2015, she drove in a series of local raid events, including the El- Remal Desert Challenge and the El-Gouna Rally (on a motorcycle), where she had an accident and injured herself. She is not from a motorsport background, and initially struggled to prepare her car to the correct scrutineering standards, and to find a reliable navigator who would not get the team lost.  At the end of 2015, she vied for a funded place in the 2016 Sealine Desert Rally Challenge, through the FIA’s Women In Motorsport event in Qatar. She was not one of the winners. In 2016, she competed in the Al-Remal Challenge, as well as setting a record for kayaking, and founding the Gazelle Rally Team, and all-female, all-Egyptian rally raid team. She drove in the 2018 Fujairah Rally in the UAE but did not finish in her Nissan Pathfinder. In 2019, she entered the Sharjah Rally in the same vehicle, but again did not finish.

Amanda Sorensen - competed in drifting for several seasons before being signed up for the Extreme E championship in 2023. She joined the GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi team alongside RJ Anderson, another American driver. They scored third places in Scotland and Sardinia during their first season, qualifying on pole in Scotland. She was recalled to the JBXE team for the Scottish rounds, after the departure of Dania Akeel. In drifting, Amanda drove a BMW M3 E46 and got as far as the Drift2 class in Formula Drift. She also did some off-roading as a teenager, plus karting and figure skating.

Tatiana Sycheva - Russian driver who entered her first Dakar in 2022. She drove a Can-Am Maverick in the Light Prototype class and finished 30th in the category after a slow couple of final stages. She is the first Russian woman to tackle the event in a car. Previously, she did rally raids in Russia and its surrounding countries, finishing eighth in the 2020 Baja Russia. She has also done the Silk Way Rally at least twice, in 2019 and 2021, in the same car.

Makiko Tomokawa – competed in rally raids in the 1990s and early 2000s, usually in a Mitsubishi. Frustratingly little information about her career is readily available, but she appears to have driven in the Dakar from at least 1995, using a Mitsubishi T1 that year, and other Mitsubishi models in subsequent additions. In 2000, she is described as a “veteran”, alongside her regular co-driver, Akemi Asada.

Luisa Trucco - competes in the Truck class of international rally raids, using an Iveco racetruck. She entered her first Dakar in 2005, and has competed in every edition since then. In 2010, she seems to have branched out and entered more rounds of the Cross-Country World Cup, still in the Iveco. Her best result has been a win in the Truck class of the 2010 Pharaons Rally, and  a third in class in the Tunisian Rally. She also competes in motorcycle enduros in her homeland of Italy. It is unclear whether she raced after this.

Syndiely Wade - Senegalese rally raid specialist who has participated in four editions of the Dakar. Her first entry, in 2003, resulted in the 58th spot. She drove a Nissan Terrano in the event in 2004, but could not finish this time. Another Nissan vehicle gave her a 52nd place in 2005, as well as a finish in the all-female Rally Aicha des Gazelles, with Valerie Dot navigating. After a break from competition in 2006, she tried the Dakar again in 2007, but did not finish. She and Valerie competed in the 2008 Rally des Gazelles, although the Dakar was cancelled. In 2010, she entered the Rallye des Gazelles again, alongside Carole Montillet Carles. Their vehicle was a Nissan Springbok. They repeated their win in 2011, and Syndiely triumphed again in 2013, this time with Florence Pham. They were driving an Isuzu D-Max. Her profile has been lower since her father was deposed as the President of Senegal, although she competed in the 2022 Dakar as part of an Iveco truck crew. She returned as a truck crew member in 2024.

(Image copyright www.motorsport.com)