Alexandra Asmasoebrata (Allida Alexandra)

Alexandra Asmasoebrata, also known as Allida Alexandra or Andra, is an Indonesian driver who competed up to international Formula Renault level. 

After four or so years of karting, she first stepped up to single-seater racing aged 16, taking part in the 2004 Formula BMW Scholarship shooutout in Spain. She was not among the winners and did not make her competitive debut until the following year. Her first races were in 2005, when she did some rounds of the China Formula Campus series, winning her class.

She first drove in the Asian Formula Renault Challenge in 2006, aged eighteen. She was 24th overall after participating in seven races. The best of these was her last one at Shanghai, where she was ninth overall. The following year, she did six races, starting at Zhuhai, Sepang and Beijing. Her best finish was a fourteenth place at Beijing.

In 2008, she reappeared in AFR. She was twelfth this time, with a best finish of fifth at Zhuhai, in her first race of the season. This was one of four top-ten finishes she had that year, the others being an eighth and two ninths at Shanghai and Sepang.

For most of her career, she combined Formula Renault and karting. The following year, she was third in the 

A shorter season in 2009 meant that eighth was her best finish, also at Zhuhai, a feat she bettered in 2010 with a fourth place at Zhuhai. She was eighth in the championship. By then, the series was being held entirely in China. 

In 2011, she drove in both the Asian Formula Renault Challenge and Formula Pilota in China. It was her best season yet; she was third in Formula Renault with five podium finishes, four thirds and one second, at her favoured Zhuhai. 

Unfortunately, she only entered four races in 2012: three rounds of Asian Formula Renault. Her finishes were two sevenths, and two DNFs. 

She bounced back in 2013, taking part in six Asian Formula Renault races and earning two thirds and four fourths. She was fourth overall. 

In 2014, she was set to race in Asia Formula Renault again, but does not appear to have competed. A long lay-off followed, where she had three children among other things. She returned to the tracks in 2026, racing in the Mandalika Kartini race, a women's championship held at the Mandalika circuit in Indonesia. There were seven other entrants in Krida Agyas. Alexandra was third.

Alexandra is the daughter of former Indonesian racing driver and politician, Alex Asmasoebrata. It was him who first took her karting and she is open about how this helped her during her own career.

(Image copyright Alexandra Asmasoebrata)

Naomi Ran Zhang

Naomi Ran Zhang is a Chinese driver who has been active since at least 2009 and is currently racing GTs in Asia.

Her Chinese name is Ran Zhang, but she uses the Western name Naomi.

She has been showing her versatility since her first year, when she raced in the Clio Cup and Asian GT Masters. Driving a Ferrari 360 Modena in the GT Masters, she won Class B, with one victory.

The following year, she tried single-seaters, in the form of Asian Formula Renault, but was not as fast, and only finished 17th at the end of the season. Her best finishes were two eighth places, at Zhuhai.

In 2011, she kept her options open, with guest appearances in the China GT Challenge, in the Ferrari, and the Volkswagen Scirocco-R Cup. However, her main focus was Formula Pilota in China. She was 24th overall after a part-season, one of four women who entered that year.

From 2012, she concentrated on the Audi R8 LMS Cup in China. In 2013, she got into the top ten once - a ninth place at Ordos. She was 20th overall, after finishing 25th in 2012.

A break from motorsport followed.

More recently, she has been active in the Blancpain Endurance Series. Her first race in the Blancpain championship was in a Mercedes AMG GT4 run by Craft-Bamboo Racing, shared with Diana Rosario. They were fourth and sixth at Ningbo in 2018.

She raced in Europe for the first time that year, taking the wheel of a familiar Audi R8 LMS Cup car at the Nurburgring. A large number of Asian LMS Cup drivers came over for the two races, in which Naomi was twelfth and thirteenth.

In 2019, she joined up with the iRace team, sharing a similar Mercedes with Alan Yeo at Sepang and finishing fifth in the GT4 class twice.

At the age of 35, she also returned to single-seater racing in 2019, driving for KRC in the Asian Formula Renault series. She was tenth and ninth in the Pro class in her two races at Zhuhai in March.

(Image from www.gt-world-challenge-asia.com)

Samín Gomez

Samín Gomez is a Venezuelan driver, who until recently raced in GP3.

She was born in 1992, in Maracay. When she was seven, she started karting. After ten years of junior kart competition, she made the switch to cars in 2008, at sixteen. As a junior, she mainly raced in South America, but her first steps in single-seater racing were made in Asia.

She was supported for much of her career by the state-owned oil company of Venezuela, PDVSA, who were investing in motorsport quite heavily, most visibly for Pastor Maldonado.

Her 2008 season started with two guest spots in Formula Renault Asia Challenge, driving for the March3 team at Shanghai. She was twelfth and thirteenth in her two races. After a short gap, she reappeared in the Formula Asia 2.0 series, another Formula Renault championship. March3 entered her into the first five rounds, all held at Sepang. Although she was off the pace set by her team-mate, Felix Rosenqvist, who was the eventual winner, she did manage to get into the top ten twice, in ninth and tenth place. She was thirteenth in the championship.

An expanded season in Asian Formula Reanult followed in 2009, still driving for March3. Samín was in the top ten from the start, with a tenth and eighth place at Shanghai. By the end of the season, she had secured her first top five finish, a fifth at Zhuhai. She was ninth in the championship.

Driving for a different team, she also made a couple of appearances in Ford Formula Campus in China. She was driving for the “Perfect Beauty” team, and managed one third place, and a DNF.

Her third and final season in AFR was a very positive one. She drove for Top Speed Racing, and started off her campaign with a fifth place, at Zhuhai. Towards the end of the season, she had a run of three podium finishes, also at Zhuhai: a second and two thirds. She was third in the championship, her best-ever result.

It was time for a move into the higher-profile world of European racing. 2011 was a transitional year for Samín, who spent time competing in both Asia and Western Europe. On the European front, she signed up with EuroInternational for Formula Abarth, based in Italy. She was registered for both the European and the Italian championships, with her main focus being the European series. This was a rather mixed experience for her, starting with a tenth place at Valencia, with a highlight of one seventh place, at Monza, plus another tenth at the Red Bull Ring. She was 17^th overall. In the Italian series, she was one place better, in sixteenth.

In Asia, she drove for the Jenzer team in Formula Pilota China. This was the beginning of a longer-term partnership between driver and team. Formula Pilota used very similar cars to Formula Abarth. 2011 was the first year it ran. Samín took over from Romanian driver, Robert Visoiu, half-way through the season. Her best finish was third, at Sepang, and she was tenth in the championship.

She continued with Formula Abarth in 2012, moving to the Jenzer team full-time. With a best finish of third, achieved at Imola and Valencia, she was sixth overall, just behind one team-mate, and ahead of another. Her performances were not completely consistent, but she showed improvement, and was normally in the top five.

After a solid, if unspectacular performance in tests at the end of 2012, Jenzer entered her into GP3 for 2013. This was a big step up and somewhat of a baptism of fire, and her best result was thirteenth, at Catalunya. The lowest point was probably her crash with Adderly Fong at Monza, although she was classified as a finisher. Fong ran over her wheel trying to overtake, causing his car to become airborne. Neither driver was hurt. She was unplaced in the championship, having not managed the necessary top-ten finishes.

In 2014, she made two appearances in Auto GP, at Monza. She finished one race in ninth place, driving for the Swiss Zele Racing team. Her second race was ended by a crash, when she was sent into the gravel by another car.

The following year, she had another try at GP3, racing for a part-season with the Campos team as their third driver. Unfortunately, she only managed a 16th place in Austria as her best position. There was additional unwelcome drama at the Red Bull Ring in June; Samín got caught up in a starting grid incident and sprained her wrist. In the second race, she received a penalty for speeding in the pitlane. These goings-on were only two of several incidents that year, which attracted criticism of driver discipline in the series. She was 30th in the championship.

After her 2015 run in GP3, she has not raced competitively. The sponsorship from state-owned Venezuelan oil company that she relied upon dried up, due to the worldwide economic downturn.

She attempted to return to single-seater racing via the all-female W Series in 2019, but did not get past the first round of selections.

(Image from http://hoyvenezuela.info/)