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.

Jess Bäckman

Jessica Bäckman is a Swedish driver who races touring cars. She was a long-term karter who has won two Swedish championships and switched to cars for the 2018 season, aged 21. Her first-ever races were the opening rounds of the British TCR series, driving a Volkswagen Golf for Westcoast Racing. She was eighth and sixth at Silverstone. By mid-season, she was much improved and she scored one podium finish, a second place at Brands Hatch. She was fourth in the championship. In Sweden, she also raced in TCR, for the same team, although she did not do quite as well, finishing 19th with a best finish of twelfth. This was achieved at Falkenberg.

2019 was a busy year, with a full season in the European TCR series, plus appearances in its German and Scandinavian equivalents, all in a Hyundai i30. Her TCR Europe season was rather inconsistent but she did manage one third place at Hockenheim, one of three top tens. Later in the year, she revisited Hockenheim with the German championship and claimed a second place during a guest appearance for the Hyundai factory team. In November, she also took part in the inaugural FIA Motorsport Games, racing an i30 for Sweden in the Touring Car Cup.

She often races with her brother, Andreas, who is two years older than her. They began competing at the same time.

When the delayed 2020 season finally started, her main focus was the European TCR Championship. Her car was an i30, run by Target Competition. It was an unsatisfactory year for her, with a best finish of seventh at Monza and a lot of car trouble.

The Target team ran her in the World Touring Car Cup in 2021, driving a Hyundai Elantra. After a half-season, she was 21st in the championship, just ahead of her brother, with a best finish of fourteenth at the Nurburgring. Both siblings left the series voluntarily, with Jessica stating that she was not happy with her performances or her progress. She joined the Scandinavia TCR series for its final three rounds, achieving a second place at Anderstorp. Her car was an Audi RS. She also did a round of the NLS in April, driving a Hyundai i30N.

She moved to the German series in 2022, first driving a Hyundai Velostar for ROJA Motorsport, then an Audi RS3 for the Comtoyou team. After a succcessful early season with four wins and five more podiums, she was second in the championship.

In 2023, she switched to sportscars, doing part-seasons in the ADAC GT4 and GT4 European series. She and Andreas drove an Aston Martin Vantage in the first round of the ADAC championship, finishing 24th in one race, before moving to the European championship in a similar car, for two different teams. Their best finish was 16th at Monza.

Apart from some testing and a Time Attack event in a Lamborghini, she has not competed during 2024.

(Image copyright Jess Bäckman)

Angelique Detavernier

 

Angélique Detavernier is an endurance racing specialist from Belgium.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Image copyright Angelique Detavernier)

Carlotta Fedeli

 

Carlotta Fedeli races saloons in Italy and has been a regular in both one-make series and the Italian TCR championship.

Her first year as a competitive racing driver was 2011, when she took part in the Italian production touring car championship in a Mini. Before that, she was active in karting.

Keeping the Mini but jumping into a new championship, she raced in the Italian Mini Challenge for two part-seasons in 2012 and 2013. The second season was combined with a part-season in the Cupra Ibiza Cup. This was the beginning of a long-term relationship with SEAT, usually in endurance-based competition. 

Following another year in a Cupra one-make series, she made her debut in the Italian Touring Endurance Championship (CITE) in 2015. Supported by the SEAT factory, she was third in the TCR section with three podium finishes. She won the Junior and Ladies’ titles. 

She did a fourth season in a SEAT in 2016, racing in the Leon Eurocup. Her best result was a second place at Mugello, and she would have been a contender for a top-five championship result without a DNF and an indifferent round mid-season. This drive included guest appearances in the TCR International Series in Italy and she picked up a ninth position at Imola. 

It was time for a new challenge. She entered the Italian TCR championship again in 2017, this time driving an Audi RS3. Unfortunately, she was disqualified from one race and did not finish the other. 

After a year off to have a baby daughter, she returned to motorsport in 2019, racing a SEAT Cupra in the TCR DSG Endurance series. She was fourth overall with three third places at Vallelunga, Monza and Misano. 

A second season in the series gave her sixth place, with one third at Mugello. Her car was a Volkswagen Golf run by Scuderia del Girasole (“Team Sunflower” in English).

The same year, she attempted to qualify for the all-female W Series, but was rejected after the first round of assessments. She returned to the TCR championship in 2020 and was sixth in the DSG class, with a best finish of third at Mugello. She was driving the Golf again.

Going back to Audi power, she signed for RC Motorsport in 2021, racing in the Italian TCR championship. She won the DSG Endurance title with five class wins. She shared her car with multiple Le Mans winner Emmanuele Pirro for the last race of the season.

After a break, she returned to the Italian Touring Car Championship for 2023. She drove an Audi LMS in TCR trim and later, DSG trim. The latter car worked better for her; she won the first race at Imola and was second or third in the other three races of the series.

2024's racing was limited to three guest appearances in the Italian Touring Car Championship, driving an Audi RS3 LMS DSG. She was ninth and eighth at Vallelunga.

(Image from iltornante.it)

Caty Caly

 

Caty Caly (sometimes Cathy Caly) is the winner of five French Ladies’ Rallycross titles. 

Her first car was a Simca Rallye 2 which she started racing as a teenager in 1983, having been a fan of rallycross for some time. 

Her first women’s title came at the wheel of a Volkswagen Golf in 1985. 

After her first success in rallycross, she tried her hand at stage rallying in 1986, driving a Citroen Visa Mille Pistes. These Group B cars were popular in French rallying at the time and there were several female exponents of the brands after the 1984 Citroen Visa Total Trophy. 

It proved a short diversion. Caty had an accident on the Mille Pistes Rally itself and injured her neck after just a few events, bringing an end to her rally career. Her best finish had been a 28th place in the Terre de Charente Rally. This had followed another scare at the beginning of the year, when Caty attempted her first Paris-Dakar. She was driving a six-wheel-drive Mercedes 190GE with Christian de Leotard when they crashed on a night section in Niger midway through the rally. Caty was rescued by French pop singer and Dakar enthusiast Daniel Balavoine in his own aircraft and taken to hospital. Two days later, he crashed the aeroplane and died.

Later, she drove for Audi, after their redundant Group B rally cars were put into rallycross service in 1987. Her trademark on-track was a bright pink colour scheme, with black trim, carried through into her racewear. She raced an A2 in Division 2 of the French championship, earning a best result of third at Pau.

This was her last full season in the Audi for a few years. She still raced it in French rallycross occasionally, as well as a Peugeot 205 T16 and another Citroen Visa. Towards the end of the 1980s she combined part-time competition and work, developing business interests in automotive paintwork and an agency supplying promotional staff.

She won another Ladies’ championship in an Audi Quattro in 1993, following her return to regular competition. With the same car, she retained her title in 1994 and finished 15th in the overall championship.  

In 1995 and 1996 she racked up her final two ladies’ championships in a Citroen ZX. She was driving for the Dupuis team, which was supported by Citroen itself. She was ninth in the 1995 championship and fourth in Division 1, with two outright podium positions, a second and a third.

Her second Coupe des Dames as an official Citroen driver included four third places from seven rounds.

She was fourth in the Tourism class, as the ZX had been reclassified during the 1995-96 off-season.

At this time, the ladies’ championship was relatively competitive. Carolyn Boniface was Caty’s principal rival. 

Citroen ended its rallycross programme in 1997. Rather than trying to compete with the factory rallycross teams, she moved into sportscar racing. She started with the Ferrari 355 Challenge in 1997 and raced in this one-make series across Europe in 1998. Having got to grips with the car, she was second at Oschersleben and third at Spa. She raced the 355 in the Magny-Cours round of the 1999 French GT championship, sharing the car with Florence Duez. They were 31st in both races, seventh in GT4.

Driving solo, Caty also raced in the Porsche Supercup and picked up a couple of podiums, including a second place at the Hungaroring. The car suited her and a 996 became her preferred car for French GTs. She used two different models in 2000, one her own and one run by Perspective Racing. 

She continued to race a Porsche in French GTs in 2001, but as part of Team Kalliste. She normally partnered Jean-Claude Andruet, although her best result was at Pau, where Franck Legorce deputised. They were ninth overall. She planned one more race with Kalliste in 2002, sharing the 996 with Philippe Brocard, but did not actually start.

Her final French GT season was in 2003, back in a Ferrari. She drove a 360 Modena for the Auto Palace team, sharing with Steeve Hiesse. They were normally midfield finishers, although they were fairly strong in the GT class and earned two podium places. One of these was a class second that came along with a ninth place overall.

Throughout her career, Caty was a regular in ice races, like many rallycross drivers. She competed in the Andros Trophy every year between 1992 and 1999, in several different cars, including a Mini, Citroen, Lancia and Mercedes. She also raced on the ice at Chamonix at least once. 

Her last full season of competition was in 2004, when she raced in the French Supertouring Championship in an Opel Astra. She was 18th in the final standings. After that, she made occasional appearances for the next two years alongside TV work for the championship.

She made a comeback in 2013, driving in two rounds of the Euro NASCAR stock car championship in France. Her car was a Chevrolet Camaro and her best finish was tenth at Nogaro.

A recent article in La Nouvelle Republic described her as a “former racing driver”.

(Image copyright Sun Star)

Susanne Kottulinsky

Susanne Kottulinsky was Sweden’s leading woman rally driver in the 1980s and 1990s. 

Her best WRC finish was thirteenth, in the 1986 Swedish Rally. She was driving a Volvo 240. This was one of ten World Championship rallies she entered, five of them in Sweden and five in the UK. Her best year for the RAC Rally was 1985, when she was 17th and first in Class A8, also in the Volvo. The RAC was also her first WRC event in 1982, before she even entered her home rally. She was 47th overall in an Opel Ascona.

She sampled a number of cars during her long career (over 20 years), but was most competitive in the Volvo, her regular car between 1984 and 1986, and the Audi 200 Quattro she used in 1987 and 1988. She picked up multiple top-ten finishes in both of these cars. 

From the beginning of her international career in 1982, Susanne always seemed to run best in Germany and Austria, better even than on the Swedish snow rallies in which she would be expected to excel. Her first international top ten was a tenth place in the Eisenwurzen Pyhrn Rally, held in Austria in 1983. She was driving the Ascona. The same event in 1984 gave her a sixth place in the Volvo and she followed this up with her first big German finish, an eighth place in the ADAC 3-Städte Rally. After a year spent competing all around northern Europe in the Volvo in 1986, she began to concentrate almost exclusively on the German championship.

Her first season proper in Germany coincided with her move to Audi as a works-supported driver for VAG Sweden. She was following in the wheeltracks of 1986 champion Michele Mouton and part of a strong cohort of female talent that was finally being taken seriously again. The season started well, with a fifth place in the Sachs Winter Rally. This was five places better than her future husband, Jerry Ahlin managed and the best of the group N finishers. Two more top-tens and a class win in the Rallye Hessen were enough to secure championship fifth.

Although Susanne became a more consistent top-ten finisher in 1988, the podium places were locked out by fellow Audi driver Armin Schwarz and Ronald Holzer’s Lancia Delta Integrale. She was fifth again, with another fifth place at Baden-Wurttemberg as her best rally finish. 

After this, she appears much more infrequently on the entry lists. She married Jerry Ahlin and the pair teamed up as “Team Ahlinsky” for a few rallies in Sweden and Germany between 1990 and 1991, using an Audi. Susanne earned a sixth place in the 1991 Berglagsrallyt in Sweden.

After a long lay-off, she proved that she still had it in 2002. She was eighth in the ADAC 3-Städte Rally, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer, despite not having driven in a major rally since 1995. Since then, she has occasionally come out of retirement for German rally show events, driving the Audi.

Her daughter is touring car racer, Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky. Mikaela is the third generation of Kottulinskys in motorsport, alongside her brother Fredrik Ahlin who competes in rallying. Susanne’s father was Freddy Kottulinsky, who mostly rallied in Sweden, and even her mother Barbel had a go at navigating.

(Image copyright Audi/VAG Sweden/rallymemory.blogspot.com)

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)

Fabienne Wohlwend

Fabienne Wohlwend is from Liechtenstein and is mostly known for racing in the Ferrari Challenge in Europe.

2016 was her first season of senior motorsport, after eight years of karting. She won two junior karting titles at home in Liechtenstein and also ran well in the Swiss championships.

She raced in Italian Formula 4 in 2016, as Liechtenstein has very few motorsport facilities of its own and no major championships. Switzerland hosts no petrol-powered motorsport at all. She did almost a complete season for Aragon Racing, as a single-car team. Her best finishes were two seventeenth places, at Adria and Vallelunga, and she was unplaced in the championship. At the end of the year, she chalked it all up as experience, describing Formula 4 as a “racing school”.

In 2017, she moved focus from single-seaters to tin-tops and sportscars. One reason for this was that she wished to continue her banking apprenticeship as well as her racing, and single-seaters required more intensive commitment. She was eleventh in the final season of the Audi Sport TT Cup, with four top-ten finishes. The best of these was an eighth place at Hockenheim. This was impressive considering that she had no budget to test the car, relying on track tests in a TCR-spec car and simulator work.

On the sportscar side, she raced in the Ferrari Challenge Europe in a 488, and won a race at Imola. Despite only doing six rounds of the fourteen-round championship, she was sixth overall, due to her four podium finishes. At the end of the year, she was third in the World Final, driving for the Octane 126 team.

Octane 126 retained her services for the 2018 season. She was racing their 488 in the Pirelli Trophy Amateur class of the Ferrari Challenge. The class was dominated by British driver Chris Froggatt, but Fabienne managed to win three times at Misano, from pole each time, and secure seven additional podiums. She was second in the class.  

At the end-of-season world finals, held at Monza, she won the Trofeo Pirelli for amateur drivers outright, leading comfortably from Martin Renaldi Hutasoit.

She was accepted as a driver for the all-female W Series in 2019 and often showed great pace in qualifying which did not always translate to on-track position. She was third at Misano after starting from pole and this was her best finish of the year. She was sixth in the championship.

As well as W Series, she continued in the Ferrari Challenge in 2019. Her best finish during her Trofeo Pirelli Europe part-season was a fifth place at Imola, and she was fourth in the World Finals at Mugello.

Branching out further, she also entered a round of the VLN at the Nurburgring in a BMW, although she did not finish.

In 2020, she wanted to continue her double-headed attack on W Series and the Ferrari Challenge, but the ongoing coronavirus crisis meant that W Series was cancellled. Some possible races in the Formula Renault Eurocup were also shelved.

The Ferrari Challenge went ahead and she was one of the leading Trofeo Pirelli drivers from the start, finishing third at Imola. Even after missing the last four races due to car damage, she was second in the Trofeo, with five seconds and three thirds.

Despite her previous success, she left the Ferrari behind in 2021, racing in W Series and in the NLS (previously VLN). Her W Series season was inconsistent but generally positive, with a third at the Red Bull Ring and a second at Silverstone as her highlights. She was sixth overall and retains her place in the 2022 championship, should she choose to take it.

Her first NLS experience was in April, when she joined the Adrenalin Motorsport/Alzer team in their BMW G20. She was fourth and third in class in the first two rounds of the series. In June, she returned to the Nurburgring for the 24 Hour race, driving a BMW F30 for Giti Tyre Motorsport and sharing it with Nicolaj Kandborg, Niklas Kry and Tobias Wolf. They were ninth in their class.

Another visit to the Nurburgring followed in 2022, driving for the Gti Tyre/WS Racing Girls Only Team in the 24 Hours. The car was a BMW M4, shared with Carrie Schreiner, Pippa Mann and Celia Martin. They were third in their class, 35th overall.

Fabienne drove a CortDAO-branded car in W Series and had an inconsistent year, with a fourth place at Silverstone as her highlight. She was tenth in the championship. The season was shortened due to financial troubles and it is unclear whether it would run again, or whether Fabienne will take part.

At the end of the year, she travelled to India for the Indian Racing League, driving for the Godspeed Kochi team. The series used street circuits and a motorcycle-engined single-seater. The first round was cancelled due to problems with the track itself and with the cars, and the rest of the championship suffered many other issues, but Fabienne was the best of the female drivers and helped Godspeed Kochi to the teams' championship. Her best overall finishes were two second places at Chennai. 

She spent most of 2023 in the ADAC GT4 series, racing an Aston Martin Vantage with Celia Martin for the PROSport team. It was a fairly challenging season for them and they were 34th in the championship. Sachsenring was their best race and they were twelfth overall.

The was no W Series in 2023 due to its financial collapse, but Fabienne was able to revisit some of her other regular outings. She rejoined the Girls Only team for the Nurburgring 24 Hours, finishing in 81st place in a BMW with Celia, Beitske Visser and Pippa Mann. She also entered a round of the NLS with them. During the winter season, she raced in India again, going back to the Godspeed Kochi team. She shared a car with Ruhaan Alva but did not finish any of her own races.

2024 was split between Germany and the VLN, and India and the Indian Racing League. In the VLN, she did three races with the Girls Only team, which included Pippa Mans, Carrie Schreiner and Beitske Visser. They drove the WS BMW in three races and the Nurburgring 24 Hours, finishing second twice and third once. Although they did not finish the 24 Hours, they were classified 47th and third in class. 

The Godspeed Kochi team had been bought out and renamed Rarh Bengal Tigers in 2024, but the four drivers were retained, including Fabienne. She and Ruhaan Alva were third in the championship; Fabienne's personal best finishes were three fourth places.

Fabienne still worked part-time in banking to help fund her sporting activities until 2019.

(Image from motorsport.com)

Emma Kimilainen

Emma Kimilainen (Liuski) is single-seater and touring car driver from Finland.

The early part of her career was spent in single-seaters, after beginning karting at the age of three. She first raced cars in 2005, in Finnish Formula Ford, coming second overall and winning a string of rookie awards.

As well as the Finnish title, she was also fifth in the Northern Europe Formula Ford Championship, and did some races in the Swedish series.

She missed out on a Finnish Formula Ford title in 2006, finishing second again, and it was an even more close-fought thing in the NEZ series. Emma was tied for points with Sami Isohella of Finland at the end of the season, but he edged her out with five wins to her four.

In 2007, she switched to sportscars and was consistently in the top three in Swedish Formula Radical. Her three wins were enough to cement her third place in the championship, as well as a runner-up spot in the National class. She was supported by Swedish ex-Formula 1 driver Stefan Johansson.

She competed in German Formula ADAC in 2008, after undertaking a DTM test during the off-season for Audi. The German marque supported her in this after she was unable to get a DTM race seat.

Her overall result was tenth, with a single podium finish: a second place at Assen. Most of her finishes were in the top ten and she out-performed her Van Amersfoort Racing team-mate, Marcus Eriksson. Daniel Abt was another of her rivals.

In 2009, she travelled to the UK to race in Formula Palmer Audi, after a successful test. She was the series' fastest female driver, with two seconds and two thirds, and a fifth place overall. This came after a difficult start at Brands Hatch, the only time she finished out of the top ten. She was racing against Felix Rosenqvist, Josef Newgarden and Maria de Villota.   

She was set to return in 2010, but does not appear to have raced, although she did test for the Charouz AutoGP team.

She was not involved with motorsport for a long time after that. Partly this was due to the ever-present sponsorship problem, but she used her time away to finish her education, get married and become a mother. The result was a degree in chemistry and two daughters. She was also briefly involved in politics in Finland.

She came back to motorsport in 2014, driving a Saab 9-3 in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship. She had an eventful season, crashing into Prince Carl Philip of Sweden in her first race, at Knutstorp, then crashing again, at Göteborg. One high point was a second place at Falkenberg, and she did manage some other top tens. She was eleventh overall, admitting herself that she was out of practice.

A second season in Scandinavian Touring Cars ran more smoothly, with a more consistent Emma finishing seventh overall. Her best finish was third, achieved at Mantorp Park and Anderstorp. She earned four more top-five positions and only had one DNF all season.

She raced a SEAT Leon in the 2016 STCC, but unreliability problems struck. Her best finish was a sixth place at Anderstorp. After the tenth race, she left the championship abruptly due to issues out of her control, leaving her in eleventh place. She had already missed another round earlier in the season.

For 2017, she announced that she would be taking part in a new electric racing initiative, Electric GT: this did not come together in time.

Instead, she drove a thirsty Ford Mustang in Thundercars, in Sweden and Finland. She won two of her six races in Finland, and finished the rest on the podium. She earned one podium in the Swedish series; a second at Ahvenisto.

Emma was set to race a Tesla P1000D in Electric GTs from late 2018, but it is unclear whether this happened. She did not race much at all that year.

In January 2019, she made the cut for the female-only W Series, hoping to resurrect her single-seater career. Her season was one of contrasts; she was punted off by Megan Gilkes in the opening race and later had to sit out a round due to delayed concussion, but she got stronger as the season went on, winning at Assen and finishing second at Brands Hatch. She was fourth in the championship.

The cancellation of W Series for 2020 meant that she did not race. In December, she spoke candidly on a Finnish-language podcast about the obstacles she had faced during her career and told the interviewer that she had had interest from an Indy Lights team in 2010. This team's main sponsor was a men's magazine and part of the deal for Emma was that she would have to pose topless for the magazine. She declined.

She returned to W Series in 2021 and picked up another win at Spa, mid-season. A pole position in the next race at Zandvoort could not be converted to a win and she had to settle for third. Having finished on the podium in five of the eight races, she was third overall.

She did not do as well in the 2022 W Series and did not repear her win, although she did manage a second place at Silverstone and was mostly a top-ten finisher. Her final championship position was eighth.

There was no W Series in 2023 due to its financial collapse into administration and Emma did not race. She was announced in January 2024 as one of Team Brady's pilots for the E1 electric powerboat racing series. She and her co-pilot Sam Coleman went on to win the championship.

(Image copyright Yle/Mikael Oivo)

Carrie Schreiner

Carrie Schreiner started racing GT cars in 2017, after some years of single-seater racing. She won the Pro-Am class of the Middle East Lamborghini Super Trofeo in early 2018.

Carrie is a former karter with two German championships under her belt. She took her first steps in senior motorsport when she tested a Formula 4 car in the UK at the end of 2014, with a view to competing in the Winter Series. She did not take up the drive.

In 2015, she raced in the German ADAC Formula 4 championship. Her best results were two 15th places, at Hockenheim and Oschersleben. She was 44th in the championship, and was the best of the three female drivers taking part this year.

She managed to race in both British and German F4 in 2016, performing much better in the UK. She managed one fourth place, at Thruxton, and two other top-tens, leaving her 17th in the championship. Her team in the UK was Double R Racing.

She struggled in the German series. She only managed to get in the top twenty at Hockenheim, in the last meeting of the season, and was unplaced in the championship.

In 2017, she switched from small single-seaters to big sportscars, spending much of the year racing a Lamborghini Huracan in the European and Asian Super Trofeo. She was second in the Pro division of the Middle East championship, driving for the FFF Lamborghini Squadra Corse with Richard Goddard. Their best overall finishes were two fifth places at Chang.

In the European Trofeo, she drove for Konrad Motorsport, competing in both the Pro and Am classes at different times. Her Pro drives were at Silverstone and yielded a sixth and seventh place. Later, she drove as an amateur in the Nürburgring and Spa rounds, scoring a fifth place in each.

She drove for FFF in the World Finals, and finished ninth and eighth in the Am class, with one fastest lap.

Back home, she also tried out an Audi R8 LMS in the DMV Gran Turismo Touring Car Cup. She was third in her second race at Hockenheim.

For 2018, she switched to the Konrad team for the Middle East Lamborghini Trofeo, driving with Axcil Jeffries who had been her rival in 2017. It was a good partnership; Carrie ended the winter season as the Pro-Am champion, with three wins and two second places. Her best overall results were two second places, at Dubai and Yas Marina. Pro-Am is the biggest class in the championship.

She also returned the Audi R8 and the DMV Cup, racing in Class 1. The first two rounds at Hockenheim gave her a third and her first win in the series. The second races of the season were held at Dijon and she scored another win and a second place with co-driver Kevin Arnold. Her wins came from pole positions and she set fastest laps in the process.

In 2018, she was also announced as an official member of the Lamborghini junior racing squad. She contested the 2018 European Super Trofeo with Konrad, picking up a best finish of fourth at Vallelunga. Earlier in the year, she had entered the Middle East Trofeo, winning the Pro-Am class three times on the way to a class championship.

Despite her Lamborghini involvement, much of 2018 was spent in the DMV Gran Turismo Touring Car Cup, based in Germany. Carrie drove an Audi R8 with Fabian Plentz and won Class 1 outright, scoring victories in four races and only finishing off the podium once.

Carrie decided against qualifying for the 2019 W Series to concentrate on racing in the VLN with an all-female team, Girls Only. This endeavour included female mechanics, managers and media reps. The WS Racing Girls Only Volkswagen Golf did two rounds of the VLN, driven by Carrie, with either Jasmin Preisig and Ronja Assmann or Laura Kraihamer and Petra Baecker. They earned two second places in the SP3T class but did not finish the Nurburgring 24 Hours due to mechanical problems.

The rest of Carrie's year was spent racing an Audi R8 again. She did most of the ADAC GT Masters with Dennis Marschall, picking up a third place at Hockenheim during a somewhat difficult season. They were 24th overall. Driving solo in the same HCB Rutronik-run car, Carrie fared better in the DMV Dunlop 60 championship, finishing fifth from pole in her first race at Hockenheim, her first of four top-five finishes. Later in the season she switched to the GT Touring Car Cup which is part of the same championship with Marco Seefried. They were second at Hockenheim and fourth twice at Zolder.

Girls Only raced again in 2020 once the season finally got under way. The three-woman team entered four VLN races and had a best finish of second in class in the first round. They also teamed up for the Nurburgring 24 Hours. Carrie, Laura Kraihamer and Celia Martin faced many problems during the race, including a break for extremely heavy rain, but managed to finish third in class. 

Carrie's VLN season was a double-duty one; she also raced in Girls Only's parent team's Audi R8 with Henrik Bollerslev and Niklas Kry. The team won its class in all four races it entered.

She used an R8 for the ADAC GT Masters but had a frustrating time of it. Partnering Dennis Marschall again, the year started with a pair of non-finishes at Lausitz and the pair could not build up any momentum. Their best results were two eighth places at the Nurburgring and Sachsenring, which were their only top-ten finishes.

Moving into a different car completely, Carrie finished her year on a higher note in the Mugello 24H Series race. This was a double six-hour race and she was driving a Aston Martin Vantage GT4 for PROsport Racing. She and her two team-mates were second in class in both parts, finishing thirteenth overall both times.

The Girls Only R8 ran better in the 2021 Nurburgring 24 Hours, winning the SP8 class with Carrie as team leader. The other drivers were Pippa Mann, Celia Martin and Christina Nielsen. They were 45th overall. Carrie and Celia also won their class driving together in one round of the NLS. In a completely different team, Carrie drove a Ferrari 488 GT3 in another two NLS races. This was in the FIA Pro-Am class and she managed one third and one fourth place.

Italy featured heavily in the rest of her season; she was racing the Ferrari for AF Corse in the Italian GT championship. Her best finish in the Endurance series was a second place at Vallelunga and she was a consistent top-ten finisher. The Sprint series gave her three podiums: a third at Monza and a second and third at Imola. She was fifth in both championships. 

Carrie continued to run the Girls Only team but did not race in the GT Masters in 2022. That said, she was extremely successful. She spent most of the year in the Porsche Cup Germany, driving a 992 with Lars Joosten. They won their class and finished third overall in the championship. She also raced in the GTC Race series for GT cars, in the GT60 one-hour enduros. For some of the season, she was partnered by David Schumacher. Although she crashed during the last race, she still won the GT3 title.

The Girls Only team came out for the Nurburgring 24 Hours again, with Carrie leading a four-woman squad. They were 35th overall and won their class in their BMW. The race was a one-off; Carrie drove with Peter Terting in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the main NLS season. They had a best finish of fourth overall, third in the GT3 class. She joined the NLS again in a BMW for two of the 2023 races, sharing with Walkenhorst's Christian Bollrath and Charles Weerts.

In a surprise move, Carrie switched back to single-seaters for 2023. She was signed by ART Grand Prix for the all-female F1 Academy series, which uses F4 cars. Despite an indifferent start to the season, she won the second Zandvoort race at the year's midpoint, from frontrunners Marta Garcia and Lena Buhler. Although she did not get onto the podium again, she was stronger in the second half of the season and finished eleventh overall. She re-signed for 2024, this time for the Campos team, running as the Sauber F1 squad's supported driver. This will be her last year in F1 Academy as she is already 25, the maximum age allowed.

She also entered the UAE F4 championship at the beginning of 2024, driving for AGI Sport. It wasn't one of her best performances and she could only manage two 21st places at Yas Marina as a highlight. A short run in the Formula Winter Series in Spain yielded similar results, although she did get into the top twenty, taking 17th place once at Jerez. Later in the year, she had a little more success in British F4, finishing thirteenth at Zandvoort. She did six races overall.

This was to be her last year in F1 Academy, as she turned 25 that year and had also had her two permitted seasons. She drove for Campos, posting regular top-tens. The best of these were two sixth places at Zandvoort and Abu Dhabi and she was ninth in the championship. 

Girls Only had not been forgotten either: Carrie joined the four-woman team for the Nurburgring 24 Hours, sharing a BMW with Pippa Mann, Beitske Visser and Fabienne Wohlwend. They were classified third in class in the shortened race, 47th overall. 

(Image copyright Carrie Schreiner)

Flick Haigh

Flick in 2016

Flick Haigh races GT cars in endurance events, in the UK and abroad.

She got into motorsport through a track day in 2005, when she was 21, and through her father’s historic rallying. For a long time at the beginning of her career, she was a Caterham racer. She started in the Caterham Classic Graduates series in 2007, and was seventh in her first year. In her second, she was fifth, and she won the series in 2009.

Between 2010 and 2013, she raced in the Caterham R300 Superlight Championship, finishing seventh overall in 2010 and 2012.

During this time, she also raced a Ginetta in some Britcar endurance races, as well as in the Dubai 24 Hours in 2013. She was 27th in a Ginetta G50, run by Optimum Motorsport and shared with Lee Mowle, Joe Osborne and Ryan Ratcliffe. Ratcliffe was her partner for Britcar; they won their class in a night race at Donington in 2012, despite Flick never having raced in the dark before, and almost running out of fuel at the end.

In 2014, she partnered Sarah Reader in the VdeV Endurance Challenge in France. The car was a Juno prototype. Their best overall result was ninth, at Paul Ricard, although they scored well in class. They were 39th overall, as their other results were not as good as their Paul Ricard efforts.

In 2015, Flick took part in her second Dubai 24 Hours, driving an Aston Martin Vantage for Speedworks Motorsport. She was third in the SP3 class, 29th overall, driving with Paul O’Neill, Devon Modell and Paul Gilbert. Driving a Ginetta G55 for Optimum Motorsport, she won her class in the Mugello 12 Hours, and was 16th overall, as part of a three-driver team. A similar team was 34th in the Barcelona 24 Hours.

Back at home, she made guest appearances in the GTA Cup and the Ginetta GT4 Supercup, driving the G55. In April, she entered the Donington rounds of the GTA Cup, and won the GTA class in her first race. She started the second from pole, but was seventh overall, and then did not finish. Later, in August, she tackled the Snetterton Ginetta Supercup meeting, and left with a tenth and two sixth places.

She did several international endurance races in 2016, starting with the Dubai 24 Hours, driving an Audi R8 LMS for Optimum Motorsport. She and her four team-mates were fourth overall. They were tenth in the Mugello round of the 24-Hour Series, but did not finish at Paul Ricard. A return to the track for the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup in August gave them a fourth place. In December, they were an impressive second in the Gulf 12 Hours, held at Yas Marina. This was a positive end to a strong year.

She stuck with the same car and team for 2017. Her first race was the Dubai 24 Hours, in which she was fourth in class. The other drivers were her regular team-mates Joe Osborne and Ryan Ratcliffe, plus Christopher Haase of Germany.

She was also fifth in the GT3 class of the Michelin Le Mans Cup, with three podium finishes from five races. She and Joe Osborne were third at Paul Ricard and the Red Bull Ring, and second in the season opener at Monza. They also entered the the two Le Mans races, and were ninth and fourteenth.

Her plans are more home-based in 2018. She is contesting the British GT Championship in an Aston Martin Vantage. The seat is a continuation of her long-running association with Optimum Motorsport and her team-mate is Jonny Adam.

Her first race in British GTs made history: at Oulton Park, Flick became the first female driver to win a British GT race, having started from pole. This was not only a first for a woman, but a first win for Flick the first time out in the car. She and Jonny Adam won again at Donington at the end of the year and were crowned British GT3 champions. This was the first time a female driver had won the top-level GT3 class and a remarkable achievement for a series debutant.

Flick had hoped to compete in Europe in 2019, but she was unable to raise sufficient sponsorship funds for the whole season, despite her 2018 triumph. She made guest appearances at the Le Mans rounds of the Michelin Le Mans Cup in an Aston Martin Vantage GT3, finishing eleventh and sixth with Tom Gamble.

At the end of the year she took part in the GT Cup section of the inaugural FIA Motorsport Games at Vallelunga, which pitted national teams against one another. She drove a Ferrari 488 with Chris Froggatt. They finished fourth in their first race but car problems intervened after that, dropping them to tenth and fifteenth places.

She was meant to join the Iron Dames team for the 2021 Italian GT championship, but was unable to take up her seat. After a year on the sidelines, she made a three-race return to British GTs in 2022, driving a Mercedes-AMG for 2Seas. Her best finish was a third place in the GT3 class at Snetterton.

(Image copyright AdrenalMedia.com)