Helene Bittner

 

Helene Bittner was an Australian driver who raced single-seaters in Formula Libre events in the 1960s. 

She began in 1961, at her home track of Mallala which had opened recently. Her car was a 1200cc Vitesse-Ford. In her first year, she entered the Australian Grand Prix, which was then run as a Formula Libre race. Sadly, she retired after only one lap, with a broken gear lever. 

She raced the car on and off for the next couple of seasons, finishing eighth in the Australian Gold Star championship round at Mallala in 1963. In 1966, the Vitesse was replaced by the 1500cc “Rebelle” special, also Ford-engined. 

Helene was the only woman racing at the level she did and that in itself attracted attention, but she was also known for her glamour in the car and the paddock. She favoured open-face helmets and always wore red lipstick. According to Wayne Wilson in the Historic Sports & Racing Car Association newsletter, a rumour abounded that scrutineers objected to the lipstick in case it proved flammable. Another commenter, Wes Dayton, remembers her using a cigarette holder in the paddock.

Mallala was one of her favourite circuits. She entered a round of the 1966 Australian Gold Star series there in the Rebelle, finishing seventh. In 1968, she qualified for the same race but did not finish.

She continued to race this car until the 1970s. Her best major result in 1970 was a fifth place in the Advertiser Trophy at Mallala, although she continued to finish strongly in club races. She was second at Mallala in a short race for racing cars held at the SCC Trophy, then won the handicap race at the same meeting.

She competed in three more Australian Grands Prix, and finished one, in 1970, in thirteenth place. These races were part of the Tasman series.

In 1972 she was second in another club race at the Adelaide International circuit. This was a race on scratch, supporting a round of the Australian Sports Car Championship. She followed this up with another second at the next ASSC meeting. 

Later, she raced historics, still in the Rebelle, until 2011. She died in 2012.  

(Image copyright Peter Schell)

Madeline Stewart

 

Madeline Stewart races sportscars and saloons in Australia.

She is a former junior and senior karter from New Zealand who began racing in the Super3 Series in Australia in 2019. This championship is the official third-level series for V8 Supercars and she went straight into it from karting.

The then 19-year-old drove a Holden Commodore for Brad Jones Racing and picked up three top-ten finishes. The best of these was an eighth place at Winton. She was fourteenth in the championship. 

As well as saloons, she also raced single-seaters in the bike-engined Formula 1000 series. She was sixth in her state championship, driving a Stohr F1000. She was racing against her sister Ashleigh in a Radical. 

Her 2020 Super3 season was limited to two races due to the international coronavirus crisis, but she showed promise with a pair of fourth places at Sydney Motorsports Park. The team entered her for the Townsville Tin Tops meeting the following month, using the same car. After one second and two third places, Madeline was declared the winner. 

Later, she joined the McElrea team for Super Tin Tops at The Bend, this time racing a Porsche 991 in the Super Cup class. She was fifth, finishing fifth or fourth in all three races. This in turn led to a guest spot in the Australian Super GT championship at Queensland, where she was sixth in the first race and fourth in the other two.

In 2021, she continued racing a Porsche, entering both the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge and part of the Australian Carrera Cup, for Earl Bamber's team. The hookup with Bamber was meant to begin with a run in the 2020 Asian Carrera Cup, but this was cancelled.

The Sprint Cup brought more success, with Madeline narrowly missing out on a top ten at Sydney Motorsports Park. This eleventh place was her best finish in the car; her guest appearance at Mount Panorama for the December Australian Carrera Cup meeting had a best result of 18th. It was a short season, finishing in May.

Her best race of the year was the Bathurst 6 Hours, in which she drove an HSV VXR Turbo with Chris Holdt and David Ling. They were fifth in class. 

Another Bathurst 6 Hours in a Holden Astra in 2022 followed, as well as an extensive sportscar programme. She was tenth in the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge, driving for the Bamber team again, with a best finish of third at The Bend. 

Before beginning the Sprint Challenge, she also made a guest appearance in a Ginetta G55 for the Fanatec GT World Challenge races at Phillip Island, finishing third twice for Griffith Corp.

For the first time, she raced outside Oceania in 2023, entering the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America. She was competing in the 992 Pro-Am class and finished third, with four third places at Sebring, Barber and Mid-Ohio. She combined this with karting in Australia.

Her American adventures continued in 2024, when she moved up to the Carrera Cup, still with JDX Racing. In a large field, she was 15th overall, finishing in the top ten twice. The best of these was a seventh place at Road America.

(Image from madelinestewart.nz)

Chelsea Angelo

 

Chelsea Angelo races single-seaters and touring cars in Australia. Her career began in Formula Ford and she almost won a National class Formula 3 championship in 2014, but she now races saloons.

She has been involved in senior-level motorsport since 2012, when she was 16. At first, she raced a Formula Ford in the Victoria state championship,  but that turned into an attack on both the Victorian and Australian championships in 2013. She scored her first outright win in the Victorian series. Her best finishes in the Australian championship were sixth places at Surfers Paradise and Sydney. She was thirteenth overall. Despite her win in the Victorian championship, she was only 15th overall as she did not do the whole calendar. 

She raced in Australian Formula 3 in 2014, in the National class, where she was a front-runner. She was either first or second in all of her races, winning seven times, and missed out quite narrowly on the championship. This was the high point of her single-seater career, although the issue of finances was beginning to rear its head.

As well as single-seaters, she has also tested Supercars, and this led to a last-minute race seat for 2015 with the THR Developments team. However, this only stretched to the first round and Adelaide, and she sat the rest of the season out. She finished 18th and 22nd in her two races. 

She signed with the Dragon team for the 2016 Supercar Dunlop championship. After almost a full season she was 21st overall, getting into the top ten once at Sandown. This was impressive, as it followed a DNF due to contact with another car. Her car was a Prodrive Ford Falcon FG and the only known Supercar to be fitted with a cup holder, a nod to her sponsor, Rush Iced Coffee.

Her programme was very limited in 2017, with only one major race. The Dragon team had signed Renee Gracie in her place. She drove a Ford Falcon in the Winton 300 but did not finish. 

2018 was spent in the Australian Porsche Supercup with Wall Racing, who won the championship the year before. Sportscars suited her and she was fifth overall. Her best finish was second at Sandown, one of four podium places including one third place at Phillip Island. 

Hoping to resurrect her single-seater career, she put her name down to try out for the inaugural season of W Series. She was long-listed and attended the winter selection event at Melk in Austria, but was not selected. Chelsea took to social media to express her anger and lack of confidence in the W selection criteria, which she claimed were very unclear and not fully related to on-track performance.

After her W Series disappointment, she threw herself into the Australian TCR Series, driving a Holden Astra for Kelly Racing. It was not the easiest of seasons and she had car problems to contend with, as well as being taken out by another competitor in the third race. She sat out the middle part of the season while the team sorted out the car troubles and returned in November at The Bend. Sadly, a first-race crash put her out for the weekend. Her best finish was twelfth and she was 25th in the championship. Among her team-mates that year was Molly Taylor. 

She also raced a Hyundai Excel in some one-make endurance races with the Brett Parrish Race Organisation, finishing tenth and sixth. Her co-drivers were Ashley Izod and Tim Slade. The sixth spot was with Ashley Izod and was a charge through the field from 20th to sixth.

She planned to race in TCR again in 2020, but the season was cancelled due to coronavirus. 

The following season ran and Chelsea did most of it in a Volkswagen Golf. It was a hard year for her and her best finish was eleventh at Phillip Island. She was 20th overall.

At the beginning of 2022, she posted on her social media that she did not have sponsorship to race, although she has not retired and has not ruled out a return later in the year. She works as a driver coach and personal trainer.

(Image copyright Chelsea Angelo)

Caitlin Wood

Caitlin Wood is an Australian driver who races in Europe. In recent years, this has been in sportscars, although she started in single-seaters.

She began her senior motorsport career in 2013, supported by the Women’s Australian Motorsport federation as one of their most promising young drivers, following a successful karting career. Her brother had raced previously and she helped him and their father rebuilt his Spirit Formula Ford. She did part-seasons in the Australian and Victorian Formula Ford championships, earning two fourteenth places in the Australian series. More races in the Victorian championship gave her more experience.

In late 2013, she was selected as Australia’s entry for the FIA Women in Motorsport Scirocco-R shootout, in an attempt to win a VW Scirocco prize drive in Europe. She did not win and returned to single-seaters in Australia. 

Another season in the Australian Formula Ford championship followed in 2014. It was a hard year for her, but she managed to get into the top ten three times towards the end of the season. She was 21st overall. As well as her national series, she got some extra seat time in the New South Wales state championship, where she fared better, finishing sixth overall after five races. 

She put together a deal late in the season to run in the 2015 Australian Formula 4 championship, the first female driver to do so. She was thirteenth in the championship after just under half of the season, with a best finish of sixth at Sandown. 

In 2016, she intended to race in F4 for the full season but ended up in Europe, racing a KTM X-Bow in the GT4 European Series. This followed an invitation by former Formula 1 driver Tomas Enge to join a Young Stars programme run by Reiter Engineering.

She was a solid top-ten finisher in the Pro class, partnered with male drivers including Marko Helistekangas. Her best overall finish was seventh at Pau, and she was seventeenth in the main championship. However, she won the Young Stars class.

She stayed with the Reiter team in 2017 and drove both the X-Bow and their Lamborghini Gallardo. The X-Bow came out for the Dubai 24 Hours, where Caitlin was part of a four-woman Reiter team with fellow Young Stars drivers Anna Rathe, Marylin Niederhauser and Naomi Schiff. They finished the race in 72nd place.

For most of the year she drove the Gallardo in the Blancpain Endurance Series, as a prize for her Young Stars win. She was tenth in the Sprint Cup Silver Cup, having been entered in different classes over the year with Marko Helistekangas. 

She missed some of the 2018 season due to injury but managed the early and late part of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo, racing in Europe. At first, she drove for Mtech in the Pro-Am class, before doing the Silverstone rounds in the Am class with The Energy Check. She returned to Pro-Am for the closing races at the Nurburgring, picking up her best finish of sixth.

She also did her first Bathurst 12 Hours in the X-Bow, although she did not finish. Sadly, she did not finish the race in 2019 either. 

The 2019 summer season was spent as a W Series driver in Europe, having gone through several rounds of selection alongside her former Reiter team-mates, Naomi Schiff and Marylin Niederhauser. Naomi was also selected. 

Her best finish by far was fifth at Assen and she was thirteenth in the championship. She did not race in W Series in 2020 as it was cancelled, but she returned as a reserve driver in 2021. Despite her reserve status, she did four of the eight races, earning one fifth place at Spa. She also drove the Tatuus F3 car up the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

After being released by W Series, she remained in Europe and joined up with the Adrenalin Motorsport Alzer team for the NLS. Their car was a BMW 330i. She did one NLS race in 2022.

She returned to competition in a high-profile hook-up with Mattel's Barbie brand in 2024, competing in the Porsche Sprint Challenge in the UK. Sadly, fudning ran out after four rounds. Later in the year, she was drafted into the Bangalore Speedsters team for the Indian Racing League. She shared a car with Rishon Rajeev and they were seventh in the championship, ahead of the team's sister car. Caitlin's best individual finish was a fifth place at Chennai.

(Image copyright Caitlin Wood)

 

Ellexandra Best

 

Ellexandra Best is most known for racing in the Australian Production Car Championship, where she is an outright race winner. 

She shot to prominence in 2016, she drove a Toyota Echo in Class E of the APC and was second in the class standings. Her best overall finish was twelfth, at Sydney. She was the youngest driver ever to compete in the series, at seventeen. 

Previously, she raced a Hyundai Excel, first in the 2015 NSW Excel Racing Series, and then in the 2016 Victorian Excel Championship. 

Back in the APC in 2017, she raced a Toyota Corolla and had a best finish of seventh overall, at Winton. She was 24th in the championship as she only did three quarters of the rounds. This was her second year with Lauren Gray Motorsport, founded by racer Lauren Gray. Her team-mate was Michael Gray. 

In 2018, she split her time between the APC and the Toyota 86 Racing Series. Her car for the APC was a Kia Pro Ceed run by Conroy Motorsport. It was not the most successful year; she was unable to start the first two rounds and only managed a thirteenth place at Winton as the best of her three finishes. Her two Toyota 86 races were part of an Aussie Driver Search programme and she was competing against her brother Zak.

She also returned to Lauren Gray's team for the Bathurst 6 Hours, finishing third in the Production class. She and her two team-mates used a Toyota Corolla. 

Her first race win was in 2019. She had missed the first few rounds of the APC but her debut in a Mitsubishi Lancer gave her a win at Phillip Island. She returned for the races at The Bend later in the season but the best result from her four races was a fourteenth place. She was 15th overall. This time, she and Zak were team-mates.

After a break, she entered the 2021 V8 SuperUte Series for four rounds at Sydney Motorsports Park, finishing in the top ten each time. She was twelfth in the championship. She returned to Ute racing for 2022, having acquired and tested a Mitsubishi Triton pickup. She was twelfth in her first race at Symmons Plain on her first visit to the circuit. The top tens began at the next round at Barbagallo, where she was ninth and eighth. These were the first of nine top tens, leading to championship ninth.

She was 13th in SuperUtes in 2023, not having had as good a season as the year before. She was thirteenth in the championship, with two twelfth places at Barbagallo and Mount Panorama as her best finishes. Cars had also not been forgotten: she was part of a three-woman team in a BMW E82 for the Bathurst 6 Hours, with Courtney Prince and Karlie Buccini. They were third in their class and 21st overall.

Another season in SuperUtes beckoned in 2024, this time driving a Mazda pickup. She was 16th in the championship, with a best finish of eleventh  at Mount Panorama.

(Image copyright Ellexandra Best)

Bridget Burgess

 

Bridget Burgess is an Australian stock car driver who lives and competes in the USA. 

The Burgess family moved to the States in 2008, when Bridget was seven. Both of her parents were involved in off-road racing and drifting and she grew up working on cars.

She raced in the Lucas Oil Off-Road series from the age of 16, alongside her mother Sarah, before switching to stock cars in 2019. Sarah Burgess remains integral to her daughter’s racing efforts, acting as car entrant and crew chief. The team, BMI Racing, is family-based, with Bridget’s father Adam spotting for her. Sarah is often Bridget’s chief (or only) mechanic during races too.

In her first year, she did two rounds of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series at Meridian and Roseville. Both times, she made her way up from the back of the grid. She was eleventh at Roseville and twelfth at Meridian. This was in spite of her car being an unreliable rented machine.

In 2020, she attempted to run in the ARCA Menards West series, although her season was curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic. She did not finish the first round at Las Vegas due to a broken rear gear. In the end, she managed nine races, with a best finish of seventh at Las Vegas.  

She did all rounds of the West series in 2021, driving a Chevrolet entered by her mother. The nine races yielded another two top-tens: eighth at Sonoma and ninth at Colorado.

The BMI team registered for a full season in the West series in 2022 and Bridget had a reliable but slightly inconsistent year. Things started to get going in the fourth round at Portland, where she was seventh, the first of four top-ten finishes. She was seventh in the championship. A single main ARCA series outing at Phoenix led to a 23rd place.

(Image copyright Meg Oliphant/ARCA)

Rhea Sautter

 

Rhea Sautter races historic saloons and sportscars, mainly in Europe.

She has been competing in historics since 2010, having grown up in a historic racing family with several cars at their disposal. Her father Stefan Sautter also races, and they sometimes compete together.

Her main car is a turquoise 1961 Jaguar E-Type, which has been run by Gotcha Racing and also her family team. She raced often in the Historic Touring & GT category, and was seen in action at the Nürburgring’s Oldtimer Grand Prix. 

After a solid start in the car, she paired up with British racer Andy Newall in 2015 and formed a strong team capable of top-three finishes. One of their highlights was a pole position in the 2017 Jaguar Challenge at the Spa 6 Hours, which led to a second place in a field of 33 cars. They repeated this finish in 2018 and perhaps could have won, had Rhea herself not helped to change a condenser on winner Marcus de Oeynhausen’s car. She has said in interviews that the Spa 6 Hours is her favourite event.

Since 2015, the Sautter E-Type has been a regular entrant in the Masters Gentlemen Drivers Pre-’66 GT series, racing at Zandvoort, Brands Hatch, Estoril and Imola.

In 2015, she raced in Australia for the first time, taking part in the Phillip Island Historic Touring Car Championship. Her car was a Ford Mustang and she was eleventh overall. On her next visit to Australia, she took her E-Type to the Phillip Island Classic and finished 25th overall, driving solo. She has continued to make trips Down Under in both the Jaguar and an Austin A30, which she raced in 2017. As well as Phillip Island, she has raced at Winton for the Goldfields Cup, driving the Jaguar in 2019.

She raced the A30 in the UK in 2018, including runs in the Jack Sears Memorial Trophy at Goodwood and the HRDC race at Silverstone. 

Rhea was still racing the E-Type with Andy Newall in 2021. The pair were tenth in the Jaguar Classic Challenge at Thruxton in June. They won their class in the 2022 Le Mans Classic and raced at Goodwood and the Algarve Classic Festival in 2023.

Image copyright Balz Schreier

Kerryn Brewer

Kerryn Brewer took part in Australian Touring Car races in the 1990s, including the Bathurst 24 Hours. 

Her earliest motorsport success was a championship win in the Australian Superkart championship, when she was 20. She won the 100cc non-gearbox class of the full-circuit karting series before moving on to cars. 

In 1996, she was fourth in the all-female Mazda 121 Challenge. Her first race in the one-make series was eventful; she finished fourth despite spinning twice and tangling with other drivers at Eastern Creek. The third round at Symmons Plain gave her another fourth. She was quick and aggressive but unable to match the pace of leaders Paula Elstrek and Tania Gulson. Unfortunately, the rest of the race results are not forthcoming. 

After her 1996 performances she was picked up by the Castrol Cougars team, run by Larry Perkins. Supported by Castrol in order to promote its products to female drivers, it was originally meant to be a two-car effort, with a four-woman line-up of Kerryn, Melinda Price, international netballer Michelle Fielke and TV presenter Kim Watkins. Despite her two wins in the celebrity race that supported the Australian Grand Prix, Michelle was prevented from racing by her other sporting commitments and Kim also dropped out. 

The team made its debut in the latter part of the V8 Supercar season, with Kerryn and Melinda alternating in the team’s Holden Commodore. Kerryn was the first Cougar to take the wheel at Lakeside. She was fourteenth and last in the first race, which was a dramatic one with a first-lap crash. The other three races resulted in safe but unspectacular fourteenth places, although she did finish ahead of Mike Conway in the last race. When it was her turn in the car again at Mallala, things panned out in a similar manner, with a 15th and 17th place, but she was unable to start the third.

The Cougars entered the 1997 Bathurst 1000 and it turned out to be their best run of the year. They were twelfth overall, the highest finish for an all-female team. Forty-one cars started and 21 finished. 

They also entered in 1998, and came eleventh, beating their own female team record. This time, 45 cars made the start and 20 finished. It was a hard race with several crashes and spins by experienced drivers. 

Her Supercars season was quite similar to 1997. Melinda was the main driver for the Cougars car and entered nine races to Kerryn’s six. Kerryn raced at Launceston and Lakeside, picking up a best result of 16th at Launceston. This was probably her best meeting in the Commodore; she did not run as well at Lakeside after a spin in the first race. Her best finish was 21st.

The Cougars project was retired for the 1999 season. Kerryn attempted to return to Supercars with Owen Parkinson’s team but this only amounted to a single appearance. She did not finish in another Commodore.

Kerryn tended to leave most of the promotional chat to Melinda, so we hear less about her than her team-mate. 

She made some appearances in the Shell Australian Touring Car Championship in 1999. She appeared in a “Beauties and their Beasts” calendar of glamorous female racing drivers in 2000, but does not appear to have competed. 

After this, Kerryn faded from the scene. In 2011, she tweeted that she missed racing cars.

Alexandra Whitley

Alexandra Whitley is an Australian driver who is chiefly known for racing a Ute in New Zealand, as part of the SsangYong Actyon Ute series. She is one of its most successful female drivers.

The 2014-2015 season was her first in senior motorsport, after several years of karting. Compared to many of her contemporaries she was quite a late starter at 16, but she still got a few years in, winning seven Australian ladies’ titles. She had written off a switch to cars for financial reasons until she met New Zealand racer and speed record competitor Heather Spurle, who lent her a car and helped her to find a race seat. They tried for the Australian Suzuki Swift series to begin with, but then put a package together for Alexandra to race in New Zealand.

It was a cautious start in Utes, with Alexandra’s deal only for the first rounds as a trial. She was only 23rd in her first race but she impressed fellow driver and Ssangyong importer Deon Cooper, who offered to support her for the rest of the year. His faith was repaid; by February, Alexandra was winning races. She was sixth overall, having been in contention for the title for part of the season. 

Having decided to decamp to New Zealand from her home in Toowoomba, she committed herself to her Ssangyong drive. The following season, she added another win to her tally, as well as some more podiums. It was not all plain sailing as she had to contend with her share of truck trouble, but she kept hold of her sixth place.

She undertook her third Ssangyong season from 2016, and was tenth overall. She scored two podium finishes: third at Hampton Downs and Pukekohe. By now, the calibre of drivers in Utes was getting higher and many of them were able to undertake more testing than Alexandra. She also had more mechanical problems and was taken off-track by another driver.

She continued to add to her tally of successes in 2017-18, with three podiums this time. She continued to work with Deon Cooper and they even teamed up in Cooper’s SuperUte, which races in endurance events against Porsches and other sportscars. 

As well as the Ssangyong single-make championship, she entered the NZ V8 Ute series, the first female driver to do so. She drove a Holden truck and was fifth overall, with best finishes of fourth at Manfeild and Hampton Downs. At Manfeild, she also posted a fastest lap.

At the end of 2018, Alexandra was announced as one of the qualifiers for the first season of the all-female W Series. She got through two qualification events but was not selected to race.

In 2018-19, she raced in the NZ V8 Ute championship and was one of its leading drivers. She was sixth overall, with one win at Pukehohe and two third places, at Hampton Downs and Manfeild. 

In Australia, she raced a VW Golf in the TCR championship and had an inconsistent season. Her best finish was ninth at Phillip Island and she was 15th overall. She had not raced on all of the Australian circuits, on slicks or in a front-wheel drive car before.  

She raced in the BNT V8 series in 2020, in New Zealand, driving a Toyota Camry. Despite starting the season with no testing, she scored podium finishes in her first five races at Pukehohe, two third and three seconds. She was second in the championship.

When the Australian Grand Prix was cancelled due to coronavirus fears, Alexandra missed out on a drive in the Asia Pacific TCR Cup in a VW Golf. The New Zealand TCR series, in which he was set to compete, was also cancelled.

It was back to a full season in 2021 and she raced in the New Zealand Toyota 86 Championship, a one-make series for the Toyota TR86. Although she was not among the front-runners, she was a consistent top-ten finisher. Her best finish was seventh at Pukehohe and she was ninth in the championship.

(Image copyright The Chronicle)

Ruth Bowler

Ruth Bowler, affectionately known as Ruthie, has been a regular in Aussie Racing Cars since 2008. She started her 200th race in the series in 2016.

Driving a Ford Falcon, she was 25th in her debut season. The car was leased from the factory for part of the season. When the lease expired, Ruth bought a Yamaha-engined Ford Coupe, which she originally used for testing. This car and versions of it became her regular ride for the next ten years.

She was 19th in her first season driving the Ford, in 2009. This was the first year of a six-season partnership with Armstrong Motorsport. She did full seasons for the team until 2014. She was not the most competitive driver out there, but she had a decent finishing record. In 2013, she became Aussie Racing Cars’ most prolific female driver, having amassed more starts than Danielle Walton and Brooke Leech.

Her best season points-wise was 2012, when she was 14th overall.

In 2014, she had a part-season in Aussie Racing Cars with Armstrong Motorsport. She took part in four races for the team. This was her last year with them and she set up her own “Ruthie Racer” team for 2015. Her support crew at Symmons Plain, Australia’s Tasmanian track, was the all-female “Tassie’s Fastest Ladies”. They were local kart racers raising awareness of both breast cancer and women in motorsport.

A complete season in 2015 gave her a championship 20th place, with a best finish of eighteenth, at Highlands and Phillip Island.

She did not do quite as well in 2016, and sat out some of the mid-season races. Her best finish was 24th, and she was 28th in the championship. This was still enough to pick up a women’s championship at the Clipsal support race. She now had rivals for the ARC “fastest lady” crown, with Charlotte Poynting and Emma Clark improving.

Her overall finishes in 2017 were better, the best of these being a 15th place at Symmons Plain. A few DNFs mid-season meant that she was 30th on the leaderboard. The ARC had four regular female drivers that year, including Ruth.

Her season was cut short due to needing reconstructive surgery on her left leg. This was not the result of a racing accident, but a serious problem with the lymphatic system. The surgery meant that she was unable to walk for some time. When she returned to the track in February 2018, she had only been walking unaided for three weeks. Her intention was to complete as much of the season as possible and regain as much fitness as she can before she has the next round of operations on her leg. She managed the meetings at Baskerville and The Bend.

She now races the only original Ford Coupe in the series.

She did not race in 2019.

(Image copyright Girls Torque Motorsport)

Melinda Price

Melinda in 2017

Melinda Price is an Australian saloon car racer. She has completed five Bathurst 24 Hour races and jointly holds the record for the highest all-female team finish.

She was 12th in the 1997 event, driving a “Castrol Cougar” Holden Commodore with Kerryn Brewer. During the 1997 and 1998 seasons, the pair competed together on and off.

She has raced in a number of saloon championships in the 1990s, beginning in 1992. Her first major race was the 1992 Bathurst 12 Hours, the second running of the race. She had her first experience of an all-female team, driving a Nissan Pulsar run by Garry Rogers Motorsport with Michelle Callaghan and Tracey Taylor. They were fifth in Class B.

That year, she also contested the Sandown 500 with Steven Richards. They were driving a Garry Rogers Pulsar.  

Melinda was part of the Garry Rogers setup for another season, and drove the team’s Pulsar in the 1993 Sandown 6 Hour race. She was was 17th, sharing the car with Paul Fordham and Steven Richards.

She moved teams to Inspired Racing for 1994, driving their Toyota Corolla. The team entered her into that year’s Bathurst 1000, with Garry Jones and Andrew Reid. They did not finish.

Driving solo in 1995, she tackled the first rounds of the Australian Super Touring Championship in the Corolla, although she was unable to start one of her races. She was twelfth in one race at Calder Park. Earlier in the year, the team had run her in a couple of rounds of the Gold Coast Super Touring series. This yielded a thirteenth place and a DNF at Surfers’ Paradise.

In between top-line Australian Touring Car drives, Melinda took part in the Mazda 121 Challenge in 1996. This was a one-make series for female drivers. She was second in the championship, behind Tania Gulson. Her future team-mate Kerryn Brewer was one of her rivals.

The team that hosted the Castrol Cougars had been a feature of Australian racing for a few seasons before 1997, managed by Larry Perkins and usually running under the Perkins Engineering banner. The idea for an all-female team came from Castrol’s marketing department and Perkins, who usually raced for the team himself, got on board.

The Cougars car was a third Perkins Engineering entry for the Australian Touring Car Championship. It had won the 1995 Bathurst 1000, driven by Perkins and Russell Ingall.  

The Cougars were originally a four-woman team consisting of Melinda and Kerryn, plus Michelle Fielke, an international netballer, and Kim Watkins, a TV presenter. Michelle was prevented from racing by her prior sporting commitments and Kim also dropped out. Melinda and Kerryn alternated driving duties.

Melinda did six of the ATCC races, competing at Wanneroo and Oran Park. The latter was the better circuit for her, and she earned her best finish there: a thirteenth place.

The two Cougars drove together for the big V8 Supercar races. They were a twelfth at Bathurst, just behind former F1 world champion Alan Jones in a Ford. The pair were also 17th in the Sandown 500.

Melinda took on nine rounds of the ATCC in 1998, with Kerryn taking a small step back and doing six. Her best result was 18th at Melbourne, and she was 41st in the championship.

Again, she did better in the longer endurance races, sharing the car with Kerryn. They were fourteenth in the Sandown 500, and a career-best eleventh in the Bathurst 1000.

In 1999, she drove in the Production category of V8 Supercars, using a K-Mart-sponsored Holden Vectra. The Castrol Cougars team had now been disbanded, having run as “Castrol Perkins Racing” in 1998. Driving solo, she was second in Class D.

She also had a couple of runs in the main V8 Supercar draw, now running as the Shell Championship. She drove a Holden Commodore for Clive Wiseman Racing and partnered Dean Lindstrom for the two races, the Queensland 500 and the Bathurst 1000. They were 20th and 17th respectively.

Clive Wiseman’s team gave her another drive for the Bathurst 1000 in 2000. Her car was a Holden Commodore, shared with her 1999 team-mate, Dean Lindstrom. They were 20th overall.

Melinda also drove a Holden Vectra for Gibson Motorsport in the Production Car Championship. She was fourth in Class E. At one point, she shared Peter Boylan’s Honda Integra Type-R for the Supercheap Showroom Showdown 3 Hours. They were 32nd overall.

In 2002 and 2003, she entered the Bathurst 24 Hours, driving two different cars. She used a Honda S2000 in 2002, and was third in class, with Peter Hansen and Hermann Tilke. The Porsche 996 she drove in 2003, along with Tilke and Jonathan Rowland, did not get to the finish.

After 2003, she retired from the circuits for a long time. She became a mother in 2011 and was diagnosed with breast cancer during her pregnancy. This meant she had to prioritise her health and personal life for a long time.

In 2014, she made a comeback, after eleven years. She raced a classic Lotus 20/22 single-seater in the Phillip Island Classic series, finishing 21st in the championship.

She continued to race this car for a couple of seasons and was 21st in the 2016 Phillip Island Classic. The year before, she was thirteenth in the Australian Formula Junior championship.

Saloons were still on her agenda. At the 2016 Ken Leigh 4-Hour Classic Enduro, she joined Team Brock and raced a Holden HQ Kingswood, but did not finish.  

In 2017, she raced a Ford Falcon in the Touring Car Masters series and earned a third and fourth place. She picked up the same at Sandown in the GT Trophy Series, driving a Mazda 3 with Liam McLellan.

She took another year out in 2018 to complete a degree, but plans to return.

(Image copyright Dirk Klynsmith)

Sue Ransom

Sue with Lella Lombardi

Sue Ransom mainly raced saloons in Australia, in the 1970s and 1980s. She drove a variety of cars and entered the Bathurst 1000 five times between 1973 and 1980.

Her earliest big races seem to be in 1973, in an Alfa Romeo GTV 2000. She drove this car at Bathurst, then running as the Hardie-Ferrodo 1000, sharing with Christine Gibson. They did not finish. The same pairing drove in the Phillip Island 500, but did not finish there either.

The Australian touring car scene in the 1970s is not particularly well-documented. Sue does not appear to have entered the Bathurst 1000 in 1974, but she was eleventh in 1975. Her car was a Ford Escort RS2000, run by Jubilee Motors and shared with Bill Brown.

She was fifth in the Australian Supercar Championship in 1978, driving a Ford Capri. Her best finish was seventh, at Waneroo, and she was second in the under 3000cc class. This was one of four top-ten finishes, from seven starts.

In between, she had driven the Capri at Bathurst in 1977 with Russell Skaife. They just finished the race, but were unclassified.

During the 1980s, she moved more into drag racing, and even raced a jet car in 1981 and 1982. At the time, she was the only woman to do so. She still holds the outright speed record at the Tasmania Dragway in this car. A little later, she tried her luck in the USA and competed in NHRA Top Fuel events.

However, she did make one return to the circuits and teamed up with Cathy Muller and Margie Smith-Haas for the World Endurance Championship race at Sandown Park in 1984. They drove a BMW-engined Gebhardt JC843, but retired early on, due to suspension failure.   

She continued in drag racing for a while. After her retirement from active competition, she remained involved in motorsport for many years.

(Image from http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au)

Sue Hughes

Sue with her Radical SR3

Sue Hughes, also known as Sue Hughes-Collins, is a longstanding figure in Australian motorsport. She has experience in most disciplines, but is most known for saloon racing.

She has raced on and off since 1988, when she started driving in hillclimbs. Motorsport is part of her family background; she uses her family name of Hughes as a tribute to her father. He was a speedway rider. In hillclimbing, she won her class in the New South Wales championship, and was runner-up in the Australian championship. Her car both times was a Formula Vee.

She was part of the all-female Mazda 121 Challenge in 1996, which brought her into the limelight. Her solid on-track performances gave her a fifth place. The championship was dominated by Tania Gulson and Paula Elstrek.

The next ride for Sue was a Suzuki Swift in the Australian Production GT Championship. Her first appearances were one-off drives, then a full-season in the series followed in 1999. This was a good year; she was third in Class E and won some rookie awards. Hughes Motorsport, Sue’s family team, made its first appearance this year.

She returned to the GTP series in 2000, and switched between a Mazda MX-5, Ford Falcon and BMW 323i. She was not as competitive in these cars as she had been in the Swift; the Falcon was probably the best drive for her. Competing in Class D, she was ninth. Her combined efforts in the BMW and the Mazda in Class B gave her a fourteenth place.

In 2001, she stuck with the BMW. This was her favourite of her three 2000 cars. She was ninth in Class B. Her season ended with the two-hour GTP Showroom Showdown, in which she shared the BMW with David Lawson. They were 24th, with a class fifth.

A break from active competition followed. Sue worked as a driver trainer for BMW, including teaching celebrities to race for a BMW Mini Celebrity Challenge. She also drove the medical car at Mount Panorama.

Her return to the circuits came In 2008, when she raced a BMW M3 in some national production races, but with no spectacular results.

In 2010, she tried single-seaters, racing a 1600cc Formula Ford, but in 2011, she settled on a Radical sportscar as her car of choice. In her first year of Radical racing, she won one race and was fourth in Class Two of the Australian Sports Racer Series. She was also thirteenth in the Radical Australia Cup and earned one podium finish.

Three more seasons in the Radical Cup followed. Sue was not quite as competition as in 2011, although she was active for most of the season each time. She was 22nd in 2012, then 17th in 2013 and 2014.

She continued to race Radicals in 2015 and 2016, increasingly with her son, Jon Collins. 2015 was spent mostly in the Australian Sports Racer Series, in which she was ninth. Her best finish was a runner-up spot at Phillip Island. At different times, she made guest appearances in the NSW Supersports Cup and the Radical Cup.

In 2016, she was 20th in the Australian Sports Racer series, in spite of a bad end to her short season which included two non-finishes. Two appearances in the Radical Cup at Mt Panorama gave her a fourteenth and eleventh place.

Sue was still racing the Hughes Motorsport Radical in 2017. She drove in some rounds of the Australian Prototype Championship. Her best finish was twelfth at Sydney. This continued in 2018, although she also added some rounds of the Australian Radical Cup to her schedule.

She raced in five rounds of the 2019 Australian Prototype series, with a best finish of eighth overall at The Bend. She made two further appearances in the series in 2020, finishing thirteenth and eleventh at Sydney Motorsports Park. Her annual Sydney Motorsports Park appearances in 2021 resulted in another thirteenth and eleventh.

Sue continues to support her son Jon in his sporting endeavours, including Formula 3.

(Image copyright Hughes Motorsport)