Michele Vallet

 

Michèle Vallet is a rally driver who competed in France in the 1970s. 

She drove an Alfa Romeo 1750 Spider in 1971, and won her class in the Paris-St. Raphael women’s rally, finishing fifth overall. She was also eleventh in the Alpine Rally, 15th in the Mont Blanc and 20th in the Cevenole Rally. Only an accident in the Tour de France Auto was a disappointment.

For a couple of years, she competed less frequently, although she was a regular in the Mont Blanc Rally. She used a Fiat 127 and an Alpine-Renault A110. During this time, she also navigated for her husband Roger Vallet, who usually drove a Fiat. They did three major rallies together: Monte Carlo in 1975 and 1976, and the 1975 Morocco Rally. The couple had been active in rallying since at least 1969 and their early cars included a Simca. Michèle may also have done some hillclimbs with Roger.

Later, she drove a more powerful Alfa 2000 GTV. It was in this car that she finished the 1976 Mont Blanc Rally in 20th place, from 63 finishers. Her second Tour Auto gave her a 24th place in September. 

A couple of years in an Opel Kadett followed. She used this car in two Monte Carlo rallies, finishing 71st in 1978 after recording a DNF in 1977. Her best result in this car was a 21st place in the 1977 Tour Auto.

The last car that she used in major rallies was a less powerful Autobianchi A112 Abarth, a car that would surprisingly become popular in rallies. She entered the Monte and the Tour Auto in it, but did not finish either.

During her career, Michèle remained loyal to a couple of co-drivers, including Monique Rodt who sat beside her on and off between 1971 and 1977, and Martine Peirone.

Unusually, she was never part of the Aseptogyl setup, preferring to compete on her own account.

(Image copyright user “thais66” from Caradisiac’s Forum Auto)

Lilou Wadoux

 

Lilou Wadoux is a French driver who competes in sportscars and saloons. She is supported by the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission.

She raced a Peugeot 208 in a one-make series in France. She began in 2017, when she was only 16 years old and required special permission as she did not have a road traffic license. This was after only a couple of seasons of karting, mostly recreational.

In her first year, she was eighth in the Peugeot Sport championship, and second in the junior standings. Her second part-season in a Peugeot was in the 308 Racing Cup. She scored four to-ten finishes, with a best result of fifth at Paul Ricard. 

In 2018, she was one of 15 elite female drivers invited to Navarra for an assessment in both sportscars and single-seaters, held by the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission. 

She ended up competing in European TCR in 2019, driving a Peugeot 308, but her season ended after three rounds when she barrel-rolled her car at Spa. She had started reasonably well with a 19th place at the Hungaroring.

Later in the year, she made a couple of guest appearances in the French Clio Cup. The second of these yielded a third place at Paul Ricard.

Her 2020 season was based in the Alpine Elf Europa Cup, driving an Alpine A110. She was seventh in the championship after a steady season, with three fourth places as her best results. These were achieved at Magny-Cours and Portimao.

A second Alpine Cup followed in 2021. This time, Lilou was one of the front-runners from the start, finishing third and second at Nogaro. She earned podium finishes at every circuit the championship visited, five from the first eight races of the season. Her final position was third, after a debut win at Estoril which she followed up with a second place.

Her best moment of the year was probably her victory in the Porsche Sprint Challenge race that supported the Le Mans 24 Hours. This was a guest appearance.

Her Le Mans support victory was upgraded to an actual Le Mans 24 Hours start in 2022. She was signed up to the Richard Mille LMP2 team with Charles Milesi and the pair were joined by World Rally champion Sebastien Ogier for Le Mans. Driving the same Oreca-Gibson prototype as the rest of the field, Lilou had a best finish of eighth, achieved three times at Spa, Fuji and Bahrain. She was ninth at Le Mans itself. This equated to twelfth in a competitive championship.

She stayed with WEC in 2023, but moved with Richard Mille's sponsorship to an AF Corse-run LMGTE Ferrari 488. Her team-mates were Luis Perez Companc and Alessio Rovera. Their season got a shaky start with a non-finish at Sebring and their early exit from Le Mans was a disappointment, but a second place in class at Portimao and a class win at Spa helped them to eighth in the championship. 

Lilou and Luis made a guest appearance at Watkins Glen for the IMSA round there, driving an LMP2 car and finishing sixth in class. She also joined a different AF Corse line-up for the the Spa 24 Hours and the Barcelona round of the GT World Challenge Europe. She was 26th in the Spa race, in a Ferrari. A late-season entry into the Indianapolis GT World Challenge America race for the Conquest team did not go to plan and the team's Ferrari 296 did not complete enough laps to be classified.

Her 2024 season was split between the US and Japan. Driving for the Ponos team, she was part of a two-driver squad for Super GT, using a Ferrari 296 in the GTEAm class. It was a year of reliable finishes, but nothing spectacular, with sixth being her best finish, at Suzuka. She and team-mate Kei Cozzolino were twelfth overall.

In the States, she joined up with Richard Mille again for some rounds of the IMSA championship. Sharing an LMP2 prototype with Luis Perez Companc, Nicklas Nielsen and Matthieu Vaxiviere, she won the third round at Watkins Glen. This came after finishes at Daytona and Sebring. She returned for the final round at Petit Le Mans at was sixth in class.

(Image copyright Leandre Leber/Gazettesports.fr)