Claire Descollas

 

Claire Descollas was a French rally driver who enjoyed a long career in the 1930s and 40s. 

Born in 1905 as Claire Mancis, she began competing very young, and was driving an Amilcar in French hillclimbs from at least 1923, when she was seventeen. She normally raced in the Marseilles area where her family lived and her father worked in the motor trade. Earlier, he had been an agent for Le Gui and Zebre cars in modern Vietnam, where Claire was probably born.

Claire continued to race after her marriage to Gaston Descollas, the brother of a childhood friend. Her car at the time was an Amilcar, described as white with a 5hp engine. her first major result as Madame Descollas was a sixth place in the 1932 Paris-St.Raphael Rally. Claire was second in her class and the first Amilcar finisher. That year, she ran in her first major open rally, the first running of the Rallye des Alpes Francaises. She did not finish and also did not finish in 1934, when Gaston Descollas won.

With Gaston, she won several class awards and rallies, often in a distinctive and quite famous Bugatti Type 57 Atalante with aerodynamic bodywork. She entered the 1935 Paris-St. Raphael in this car, but retired with mechanical problems. In 1936, she used it again for the Alpes Francaises event, and in 1937, for another Paris-St. Raphael, but she could not get it to the finish. As a consolation, she did win the Mont Ventoux hillclimb section in the Alpine rally and was third in her class.

The Amilcar was still very much in evidence. She won her class in the 1936 Chamonix Rally and was ninth overall in the Rallye de Lyon.

In the later part of her career, particularly after World War II, she favoured Lancia cars. She won her class award and finished without penalties in the 1939 Rally des Alpes Francaises, driving an Aprilia. She was 17th in the same event in 1947. One of her best Paris-St.Raphael showings was in this car in 1938; she was third and won the 1500cc class.

She does not appear to have driven in any more rallies after 1947, although she co-drove for Gaston in an Aprilia in 1948. The couple divorced in 1953.

As well as rallying, Claire was part of the Yacco speed trial team in 1937, although she withdrew after the first runs. Her team-mates for the Montlhery record attempt were Helle Nice, Simone des Forest and Odette Siko. Claire may have clashed with Helle Nice. Despite her departure, the Matford car itself was named Claire, possibly after her.

Claire died in 1985, aged 80.

For more information, see this Zebre site.

Image from Wikimedia Commons

The Paris-Rome Rally

 

The Duchess d'Uzes waves off the starters

The Paris-Rome Rallye Feminin was held in 1932. It was organised by the French Automobile Club Feminin and was one of the last events in which the club’s founder, the Duchesse d’Uzes, was involved. The 83-year-old duchess signalled the start of the rally alongside Viscount Rohan-Chabot, the editor of the club’s magazine.

The drivers came from both France and Italy, with separate prizes for each nationality. Compared to some of the other events of the time, entrants had a distinctly upper-class slant, as opposed to the actresses and other performers who were often asked to take part. Among the Paris-Rome contestants was Laura Rospigliosi, an American socialite who had married into the Italian aristocracy, and Constance de Lubersac, a French-American heiress.

Frenchwoman Jeanne Terouanne was the winner, driving a Bugatti. She was a noted equestrian of her time. She and some of the other competitors also took part in the “rallye-ballon” events of the time, where cars followed a hot air balloon.

Despite the heavy presence of socialites on the entry list, the rally itself was quite a demanding journey, with a 1700km route. There were four stages: Paris to Lyon, Lyon to Nice, Nice to Pisa and Pisa to Rome. A half-kilometre speed trial and tests for steering and car control were held, with awards for each.

Results

1. Madame Jeanne Terouanne (Bugatti)

2. Baronessa Fiorenza Aliotti (Alfa Romeo)

3. Principessa Laura Rospigliosi (Lancia)

4. Madame Felix Goudard (Mathis)

5. Madame Calbet (Citroen)

6. Madame Mennesson (Talbot)

7. Comtesse Constance de Lubersac (Citroen)

8. Baronessa Marincola (Alfa Romeo)

9. Madame Frascani (Lancia)

10. Madame Carraro (Citroen)

11. Madame Spina (Citroen)

12. Madame Blandin (Renault)

Entered, did not finish:

Mademoiselle Gouvion (Citroen)

Madame Henriet (Citroen)

Madame Sainte-Marie (Talbot)

500m speed test: Principessa Laura Rospigliosi, 26.2s

Steering lock test: Baronessa Fiorenza Aliotti 

Braking and reversing test: Comtesse Constance de Lubersac

Acceleration and deceleration test: Madame Mennesson

When the rally arrived in Rome, club members were granted audiences with the Pope, the Italian royal family and other dignitaries. The party then carried on to Florence, where some of the drivers joined a mixed speed trial held by the Auto Club of Rome. This ran over two laps of a street circuit, totalling 8km. Jeanne Terouanne was fifth quickest, but the two fastest women were Suzanne Deutsch de la Meurthe, better known as a pilot, and rally driver Magdeleine de Ganay, who both drove Hispano Suizas. They were second and fourth respectively. Although not part of the rally itself, they had driven the route from Paris together in 33 hours.

Auto Club of Rome Speed Trial

1. Baron Edgardo Lazzaroni (Hispano Suiza)

2. Suzanne Deutsch de la Meurthe (Hispano Suiza)

3. Caragnani (Bugatti)

4. Magdeleine de Ganay (Hispano Suiza)

5. Jeanne Terouanne (Bugatti)

6. Prince de Schoenburg (Bugatti)

7. Marquis Lelio Pellegrini (Lancia)

8. Mademoiselle Steinbrugge (Bugatti)

9. M Frascani (Lancia)

10. Commendantore Lezzi (OM)

11. Madame Frascani (Lancia)

This was held over two laps of a circuit at Littorio, totalling 8km.

Image copyright Excelsior newspaper

Marguerite Mareuse

Marguerite Mareuse raced at Le Mans in 1930 and 1931 with Odette Siko, in a Bugatti. Alongside Odette, she was one of the first women to enter the famous 24-hour race.

They were seventh on their first attempt in 1930, but disqualified in 1931 for refuelling too early after Odette misunderstood a pit signal. If their result had been allowed to stand, they would have been ninth. The Bugatti was a T40 and belonged to Marguerite.

Marguerite entered the 1933 race with Jean-Pierre Wimille, but did not start. Marguerite had been sponsoring him for the previous year in his racing endeavours.

At the time of her first Le Mans 24 Hours she was already 41 years old, older than her team-mate Odette Siko.

As well as Le Mans, Marguerite entered a few Grands Prix, including the Tunisian and Oranie events of 1932 in North Africa. The Tunisian race was held at Carthage in April and she was fourteenth overall, sixth in the Voiturette class.

A few weeks later, she crashed out of the Oranie race in Algeria; her Bugatti T51 suffered a collapsed front wheel, which triggered a tyre blowout and ended with the car flipping over. Its driver received facial injuries that needed hospital treatment. She was understandably missing from the Casablanca Grand Prix in May.

Her car made it to the Dieppe Grand Prix but it was mostly driven by Pierre Leygonie, as Marguerite had not really recovered. She raced wearing a protective leather mask, in red to match the rest of her outfit.

She was not averse to the publicity-focused, female-only events that proliferated around Paris at the time. Driving her Bugatti, she was fifth in the 1931 Grand Prix Feminin at Montlhery, two places behind Odette Siko. She was an early member of the Club Automobile Feminin and took part in its Paris-Cannes Rally in 1930. A little later, she was fourth in the Paris-Brussels Rally, another ladies-only event, driving a Peugeot.

She and Odette sometimes drove together, as they did for the 1930 Circuit des Routes Pavees, then run as a six-hour race. They competed over 560km in their Bugatti, but the race was stopped a few minutes from the end due to a serious accident in which spectators were killed. Marguerite returned to the event in 1931, driving solo. She won the Coupe des Dames from two other women and took the prize in the 1600cc racing car class.

She was also an accomplished rally driver and won the Coupe des Dames in Monte Carlo in 1933, driving a Peugeot and starting from Tallinn. Her co-driver was Louise Lamberjack and they were thirteenth overall. The Peugeot was her favoured car for rallying, and she entered the Monte again in 1934, starting at Umea and with Simone Gonnot as navigator. Her earliest victory was probably her Coupe des Dames in the 1932 Paris-Juan les Pins Rally, in which she was sixth overall.

It was not such plain sailing on the 1935 Monte, in which she suffered another terrifying accident. The Peugeot burst into flames after hitting a lorry that Marguerite’s co-driver Mlle Cormet tried to swerve. They were on the first leg of their journey between Umea and Stockholm in Sweden and the car was completely destroyed. Neither crew member was seriously injured.

Occasionally, for faster events such as the 1934 Criterium Paris-Nice, she still used the Bugatti. Later, she tried other cars, including a Hotchkiss in which she finished the 1936 Monte Carlo Rally, with Fernande Hustinx. She used the same or a similar car for that year’s La Turbie hillclimb, competing against the likes of Rene le Begue.

Her car for the 1937 International Morocco Rally is not recorded, but she shared it with Anne-Cecile Rose-Itier. They did not finish.

It is occasionally mentioned that Marguerite’s daughter or daughters was also involved with motorsport, and that one of them may have been married to rally driver and film-maker Christian de Cortanze, according to posters on the forum-auto message board.

She died in 1964, aged 75.

(Image from http://www.les24heures.fr)

Marie-Luise Kozmian (Kozmianowa)

Marie-Luise Kozmian is the anglicised name of Maria-Ludwika Kozmianowa, who raced a Bugatti T37 and other cars in central and eastern Europe in the 1930s. She is occasionally also called Maria von Kozmian.

She was born in 1892 as Maria Komorowska and married Andrzej Kozmian, an engineer. She was a wealthy landowner in what is now Poland.

Her first racing car seems to have been an Austro-Daimler.

The first major outing for this car may have been the Rajd Pan (Women’s Rally) in 1930. She was the winner of the fourth edition of this event, held that year, as well as one other running of the rally. This was a city-to-city road rally; the 1930 route passed through Warsaw, Zakopane and Wisla then back to Warsaw, some 1150km.

Many sources describe her as winning the 1930 Lwow (Lemburg) Grand Prix, but contemporary results do not support this. Other sources call it a race for touring cars. Motor Sport magazine reports that she won the class for “dominant type cars”, run over 15 laps (45km). “dominant type” cars were “the models on which the manufacturer was concentrating”, which suggests it was a production car class. There were additional races for Sports and Racing cars.  

The next big event for her was the 1931 Baltic Cup, in which she won the Touring class. The event was held in Poland and was a 7km time trial.  

Some time after this she acquired a new car, a Bugatti T37. This car could run in Voiturette races and she used it in two editions of her home Grand Prix, at Lwow. She was sixth in the voiturette race at the 1933 event and was an entrant for the 1934 race, which did not go ahead.

During her career, Marie-Luise travelled around central Europe to compete. In 1933, she travelled to Hradec Kralove in what is now the Czech Republic for a street race. She was second in the 1500cc class.

In 1934, she took the Bugatti to Switzerland for the Berne Grand Prix, run to Voiturette regulations. This race supported the Swiss Grand Prix. She was tenth overall, behind the French driver Anne Itier.

The same year, she took part in the Klausen hillclimb, also in Switzerland. She was second in the 1500cc class, behind “Johnny” Lurani’s Maserati.

Hillclimbs were said to be her best events, although results are not often forthcoming. A series of pictures show her racing the Bugatti up the Semmering pass in Austria, but it is not known which year she entered. She did set a new ladies’ record on that course in 1933 and was third in the 1500cc Sports class, but she may have driven there more than once. She is meant to have raced until 1937.

She died in 1955.

Marie-Léonie ("Albertine") Derancourt

Mme Derancourt, centre, 1929

Marie-Léonie Derancourt, who used the name “Albertine”, was a popular but not particularly successful French racer of the late 1920s and early 1930s.

In 1927, she entered the Grand Prix de la Marne in a Salmson, but did not finish. Earlier, she had also entered the Formula Libre race at the Grand Prix de l’ACF, and was fourth, and last classified finisher. This was her first entry in a Grand Prix, and although it was not a headline event, she was up against the likes of George Eyston and Louis Chiron. That summer, she was quite a busy racer. Her best confirmed result was a third place, from eight finishers, in a ladies’ handicap at Montlhéry, in August. She was driving the Salmson, and was only beaten by Elisabeth Junek and Charlotte Versigny.

Away from the Grand Prix scene, she had more success in the ladies’ races that became popular in Paris in the late 1920s. Driving her Salmson, she was one of the participants in the original Journée Féminine de l’Automobile in 1927. A little later, she won her class in the Paris-La Baule women’s rally, picking up the prize for 1100cc racing cars.

She later owned one of Elisabeth Junek's old Bugattis. In this car, she was eighth in a heat for the 1928 Bugatti Grand Prix. It was a Bugatti that she drove in the Paris-La Baule event, but it is unclear whether it was the same one. She was twelfth overall, and won the class for 2000cc sportscars.

In 1929, she drove a Bugatti T35, almost certainly the same car, in the Grand Prix de la Marne. She was fifth in the 2000cc class. Early in the season, she drove the Bugatti in the same class of the Circuit de l’Aisne, and the Bourgogne Grand Prix. These were all mixed events. In June, she is listed as a finisher in the Lyon Grand Prix, held at Quincieux, and was third in the 2000cc supercharged class. 

The latest motorsport activity that can be found for Madame Derancourt is in 1930. She drove her two-litre Bugatti in the Moroccan Automobile Club’s Grand Prix, held in French-ruled Morocco, in April. Among her rivals was Hellé-Nice.

She is sometimes referred to as “Albertine”, probably after her son, Albert, who drove a Salmson and a Bugatti as a daredevil act when he was a child. He was only five years old when he started, and he was billed as the youngest driver in the world. He was awarded an official driving license a year later, in 1921, and set a speed record at Montlhéry in 1922. His own driving career overlapped with his mother’s considerably. They may have contested the Paris-La Baule Rally together at some point; many sources claim that Albert won this event when he was eight, although it was not run until 1925, and was a women’s rally. At the Marne Grand Prix in 1927, in which Marie-Léonie raced, Albert did a demonstration run.

Marie-Léonie disappears from the public eye after 1930. Her son remained in the limelight for a while longer. It is unclear what she did for the rest of her life, or when she died.

(Image from http://pastouch.fr/category/circuit-de-gueux/cdg-autrement/)

"The Paris Scene", c1927-1932

"Albertine" Derancourt in her Bugatti, 1929

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, there was a considerable vogue for women’s motorsport events in Paris, and women in motoring generally. It seems to have started with Concours d’Elegance, then informal rallies, sometimes attached to hot-air balloon races, and then bigger organised events. The best-known and longest-lived of these was the Paris-St Raphael Rally, which began in 1929. The Journée Féminine de l’Automobile, promoted by the newspaper, Le Journal, was a yearly racing championship. There was also a regular Paris – La Baule ladies’ rally, and other rallies to Cannes and Juan-les-Pins, among others.

These rallies and races attracted some star names, such as Elisabeth Junek, and more drivers, such as Charlotte Versigny and Jannine Jennky, went on to enjoy success in mixed-sex competition. Others stuck to the women-only events.

Below are short profiles of some of the main participants in the Paris ladies’ motor racing scene.

"The Baroness d'Elern" (Aniela d'Elern) - Frenchwoman who raced and rallied a Bugatti T35 internationally in 1929 and 1930. She entered the first Paris-St Raphael Rally in 1929. She died during the 1930 Algerian Grand Prix, trying to overtake another driver. Her car hit a telegraph pole and she was killed.

Marcelle Leblanc – winner of the Championnat race at the 1929 Journée Féminine de l’Automobile, driving a Peugeot 5CV. The same year, she entered the Tour de France Auto, in the same, or a similar, car. She finished the event with no penalties. In 1931, she entered the Paris-St. Raphaël women’s rally, and won her class. In 1933, she won the Paris-St. Raphaël outright, in another Peugeot. The following year, 1934, she entered the Monte Carlo Rally, and was fourth in the Coupe des Dames. According to Paris-Soir, she won the Paris-Les Pyrenées-Paris Rally outright, in a Peugeot 401. Driving a 601, she won her class in the Paris-St. Raphaël.

“The Comtesse de Lesguern” (Arlette de Lesguern) – born in 1900, she seems to have begun her involvement in the motoring scene in the late 1920s, entering Concours d’Elegance. She was an active and enthusiastic participant in the many women’s motorsport events that happened in and around Paris in the late 1920s and early 1930s, including the early runnings of the Paris-Saint-Raphaël  Rally. She entered the first Rallye in 1929, driving a Rosengart, and again in 1931 and 1932. In between, she won the Championnat Féminin of the Journée Féminine de l’Automobile at Montlhéry, in a Simca-Standart. It was not only women-only events which she entered: she won her class in the Ostend Rally at least twice, in 1929 and 1930, driving the Simca, which was a showroom-spec model. After 1932, she appears to stop rallying. She died in 1977, after possibly having a career as a translator.

“Madame Liétard” – winner of the first two Paris-Saint-Raphaël  Rallies, in 1929 and 1930. Her car was a Salmson on both occasions. Her 1929 win was not her first triumph; she won the 1100cc Touring class of the Paris-La Baule Rally in 1928, another female-only event. Her car was a Salmson. She was a regular on the Paris-based women’s motorsport “scene” of the late 1920s and early 1930s. After about 1930, her name disappears from the entry lists. Her given name is never used.

Lucienne Radisse - noted French cellist and actress who had a brief rallying career in the early 1930s. She is reported to have won the Paris-St. Raphaël Rally in 1931, driving a small-engined Renault. She used the same car on that year’s Paris-Nice rally. Later, in 1932, she acquired an eight-cylinder Delage D8, which she used in the Paris-Juan les Pins rally. At this time, she was undertaking a series of driving adventures around the world, as well as shooting a film.

Colette Salomon - raced a Bugatti T35 in 1927. She was listed as an entrant in that year's Course de Formule Libre de l'ACF. She was the winner of the first Journée Féminine de l’Automobile in 1927, driving a Salmson. She was active in the women's motorsport circuit in France in the late 1920s, usually in the Salmson. This was the car in which she was photographed for French Vogue in 1927. Prior to taking up motorsport, she had been a dancer, and had made some films.

(Image from http://www.bugatti-trust.co.uk/)

Charlotte Versigny

Charlotte (left) in a Bugatti T35, 1928

Charlotte Versigny competed in races and rallies in France, in the late 1920s. She often drove a Talbot or a Bugatti.

Her beginnings in motorsport are not very clear, like most of her private life and biography. She was involved in motoring generally, and ran a large driving school in Paris.

Her first major motorsport event seems to have been the Monte Carlo Rally in 1927. She drove a 1460cc Fiat, and was 26^th overall, second in the Coupe des Dames rankings, behind Mildred Bruce. This was not her first event, however; she is listed in an article in L’Aérophile as having won the Ladies’ Automobile section of a “Rallye-Ballon”, combining motor races and a hot air balloon race. Her car was a 15hp Oakland. This American vehicle was her first competition car, which she initially entered into Concours, from 1926 onwards.

By 1927, she was racing her Talbot 70 in France. Her first big race was the Grand Prix de la Baule, in which she was fourteenth, just behind Lucy O’Reilly Schell in her Bugatti. She was sixth in class.

That August, she was one of twelve drivers, including the eventual winner Elisabeth Junek, who took part in a “Championnat Féminin” held at Montlhéry (not the Journée Féminine del’Automobile). The race was over 60km, and Charlotte was second. Another women-only event, the Paris-La Baule Rally, saw Charlotte and her Talbot in action again in September. In mixed competition, she was fifth in the Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, having started at Pau, the same start point she used for the Boulogne-Le Touquet Rally.

The Talbot came good at the start of 1928. Charlotte won the Coupe des Dames in the Monte Carlo Rally, and was third overall, one of the best-ever results for a female driver, to this day. This was followed by a run in the Paris-Nice Trial, in the 2000cc class. Her car was a Bugatti, and she won the Dauphinois Automobile Club trophy, plus another award for being the only woman driver to finish without penalties, and a fastest time in a speed trial at Grenoble.

The Bugatti was her chosen car for that year’s  Journée Féminine de l’Automobile. She qualified for the final race, and won the speed trial for open cars. This was her second entry into this particular event, although she had to pull out in 1927.

She had first driven the Bugatti towards the end of 1927, in hillclimbs. Another all-female event was held at Saint-Germain in July, as part of the Bol d’Or, and Charlotte was on hand for the Formula Libre race.

She also drove the car in the Coupe de Bourgogne that year, against Jannine Jennky.

The Oakland had not been forgotten this year, either. Charlotte drove it in Concours d’Elegance events, and in the hillclimb attached to the “Rallye-Ballon”.

Charlotte was an enthusiastic and skilled addition to the already-vibrant, Paris-based ladies’ motor racing scene. Some sources have her down as entering the Paris-St. Raphaël Rally, and while this is certainly possible, I have been unable to find any results. She disappears from the entry lists after 1928, and the Paris-St. Raphaël began in 1929.

She is credited as the one of the inspirations behind Hellé-Nice’s decision to become a professional racing driver.

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

La Journée Féminine de l’Automobile

Colette Salomon in her Bugatti

France between the wars had a thriving women’s motorsport scene. As well as comparatively high levels of female participation in Grands Prix, rallies and other races, there were a number of dedicated women’s events. The best-known and longest-standing of these was the Paris-St. Raphaël Rally, which began in 1929. The competitions varied from celebrity gymkhanas to races for serious drivers in highly prepared cars.

One such contest was La Journée Féminine de l’Automobile, one of the biggest of its kind.

This event was held at Montlhéry, from 1927. It was organised by the newspaper, Le Journal, who promoted it and ran the Concours d’Elegance. The French Women’s Automobile Club also had a hand in it. The first event was officially started by the Duchesse d’Uzes, Anne de Rochechouart de Mortemart, who was the club’s founder, and the first French woman to obtain a driving license.

The first event was held on the twelfth of June in 1927. Contemporary reporting of the Journée concentrates mainly on the Concours d’Elegance part, which attracted both female motorists, such as the rally driver, Madame Mertens, and music-hall celebrities such as Mistinguett, who won one of the categories. There were cars bedecked with flowers, driven by members of the Women’s Automobile Club, cars and drivers in classical-themed decor, and interiors made from exotic materials.

Actual racing played a supporting role. There was at least one major race, a handicap, for which three prizes were awarded, for the overall winner (the Coupe de l’AC), the winner on scratch (Coupe du Journal) and a production car prize. As well as wheel-to-wheel racing, a prize was awarded for the best time in a speed trial. The drivers were a mix of enthusiasts and genuine racers, including Lucy O’Reilly Schell, Jannine Jennky in her Bugatti, the Belgian driver, Madame Mertens, in her Lancia, and Albertine Derancourt, in a Salmson. Colette Salomon, an actress and dancer who also raced, was crowned the winner.

The races were all handicaps, with the fastest cars being penalised. The handicapping was arranged the day before the Journée, and was carried out by a group of male professional racing drivers, who drove each car and assessed its chances.

The next Journée was held on the eighth of July, 1928. It incorporated a sprint speed trial as well as the handicap races. There were fewer established names this year, although Charlotte Versigny and Marie Depret, who later raced at Le Mans, performed well. This was also the competitive debut of Hellé-Nice, then still a nightclub performer. She was driving a Citroen.

A third Journée on the third of June, 1929, included Hellé-Nice scoring her first win, in the “Grand Prix Féminin”. She won ahead of the favourite, Violette Morris, in a Donnet. This year, the blue riband event was the “Championnat Féminin”, run over 150km. There was also a “Grand Prix Féminin” of 50km in length. The Grand Prix was for the five fastest cars in the championship race. The focus of the 1929 event was more on the sporting side, the novelty value of an all-female race meeting having worn off. Marcelle Leblanc, a regular at Montlhéry at the time, won the Championnat, despite some disputes over handicapping from a Madame Le Bigot. Other famous names present included Lucy O’Reilly Schell and Gwenda Stewart.

By 1929, there were at least nine circuit races run, according to Miranda Seymour’s The Bugatti Queen. Le Journal in 1930 mentions a “Challenge” and “interclubs”. A club prize was certainly awarded in 1930, to a three-woman team from the Automobile Club de l’Île-de-France.

The 1930 meeting did not attract quite as many of the top names, although the grids were healthy. The event was downsized somewhat for a year in 1931, with only 16 entrants, then does not seem to have run in 1932, before returning in 1933. Reports describe the 1933 event as the sixth, suggesting the 1932 meeting did not happen.

This year, the Championnat element of the competition was a one-make race in 301s provided by Peugeot. At this point, Le Journal may not have been involved, as there is little reporting of the event in its pages, apart from a few references to the 1933 Journée, in a discussion of a one-make Renault series for women, held in 1939.

As well as motor racing, there was an array of other entertainment on show, including dancers, air displays and celebrity appearances.

Below are the available results of the major races.

1927

Coupe du Journal: Colette Salomon (Salmson)

Coupe de l’Auto Club: Marguerite Dupêchez (Amilcar)

Production car class: Madeleine Bachmann (Chatou)

1928

Coupe de l’AC: Mme Johnston (Steyr)

Coupe du Journal: Marie Depret (Lorraine)

Speed Trial, open cars: Charlotte Versigny (Bugatti)/Marcelle Leblanc (Peugeot)

Speed Trial, closed cars: Mlle Sauer (Amilcar)

1929

Championnat Féminin: Marcelle Leblanc (Peugeot 5CV)

Grand Prix Féminin: Hellé-Nice (Omega Six)

Speed Trial: two class wins for Violette Morris in two different cars, one for Madame Mertens.

1930

Championnat Féminin: Comtesse de Lesguern (Simca-Standart)

Grand Prix Féminin: Marion Rogée (BNC)

Coupe du Journal: Helene Véniel (Chenard-Walcker)

Interclub Challenge: Automobile Club de l’Île-de-France (Comtesse de Lesguern, Mlle du Verger, Mme Lemaitre)

1931

Championnat Féminin: Estelle Lang (Rosengart)

Grand Prix Féminin: Lucy O'Reilly Schell

Coupe de l’Auto Club de l’Île-de-France: Estelle Lang

Coupe du Journal: Odette Siko

1933

Championnat Féminin: Fernande Hustinx (Peugeot 301)

Grand Prix Féminin: Hellé-Nice

This article was made possible by the Le Journal holdings at http://gallica.bnf.fr/

(Photo by George Hoyningen-Huené, first appeared in French Vogue in 1927.)

Eileen Ellison

Eileen Ellison began racing in around 1930, perhaps slightly earlier. She was born in 1910, and was one of the younger members of the Brooklands ladies’ motor racing set. Her quiet, watchful demeanour and blond hair led some to believe that she was a German or an Austrian, who did not speak much English, according to Sammy Davis.

Her early involvement was as a car entrant, with Thomas Cholmondeley Tapper as driver in her Bugatti, and other cars. Eileen was wealthy and well-connected, and had access to any number of high-quality racing cars.

Her first major achievement was winning the Duchess of York's race for lady drivers in 1932. Her car was a a Bugatti T37. The opposition was stiff, and included Kay Petre (who was second) and Elsie Wisdom, both race-winners. The same year, she was third in the August Senior Mountain Handicap, driving with Cholmondeley Tapper.

The following year, she entered the Cobham Junior Short Handicap in the Bugatti, and finished second to Esson-Scott. In 1934, she was part of the all-female Singer works team for the Brooklands relay race, with Kay Petre and Sheila Tolhurst. They were fifth overall, after sandbagging when they discovered that the Ladies’ Prize could not be awarded to a top-three finishing team. As the Ladies’ Prize meant a Le Mans entry, they slowed down. For various reasons, Eileen never got to Le Mans, nor did Sheila Tolhurst.

Starting in 1935, she attempted several major races abroad, beginning in France. The Albi Grand Prix was one of her first, and she was seventh overall in the T37A after two heats, running as high as fourth in one race. Later, she was meant to drive in the Coppa Acerbo in Italy, but could not make the start for some reason.

Her best solo result was third, in the Voiturette class of the 1935 Lorraine Grand Prix. She was twelfth in the main standings, driving a Bugatti T40. Her Voiturette Bugatti was the T37. Both times, Cholmondeley Tapper finished one ahead of her.

In 1936, she travelled even further afield to race. She entered the South African Grand Prix in the T37, but could not finish, due to engine trouble. An entry into the Hungarian Grand Prix did not lead to a race appearance. Closer to home, at Limerick in Ireland, she shared a Maserati with Cholmondeley Tapper, and was second.

She is also said to have excelled at hillclimbs, by none other than Sammy Davis, in his book “Atalanta”. These are described as being “long continental climbs”, but results have proved tricky to track down. She is known to have raced a Maserati at Shelsley Walsh in 1936. The Continental events included the long Grossglockner climb, which she tackled in a Bugatti, and was once fourth in class. At the famous Klausen circuit, she is said by Davis to have been third in one event.

As well as Grands Prix and hillclimbs, Eileen also tackled the odd rally. She first entered the RAC Rally in a Bugatti in 1932, starting in London. She is also said to have driven in the same event in a Lagonda at some point.

After 1936, Eileen’s racing career seems to peter out, following one of her busiest years.

She lost her first husband, a fighter pilot, during the Second World War. She later remarried and settled in South Africa, scene of some of her earlier racing activities. She moved between here and Jersey until her relatively early death from liver cancer, in 1967. Her death is often attributed to jaundice, due to prejudices surrounding cancer in the past.

The relative merits of Eileen’s career are still debated today, with some observers regarding her as a talented driver, while others consider her a plucky amateur at best. She appears to have been one of those characters on whom everyone has an opinion, both during life, and after death.

(Picture from http://www.eileenellison.com/)

Women at Le Mans: pre 1950

The MG "Dancing Daughters" team of 1935, in their Midgets

The first Le Mans 24 Hours was held in 1923, and won by Andre Lagache and Rene Leonard, driving a Chenard & Walcker. No female drivers entered until 1930, but by the end of the decade, women drivers were commonplace, even making up some of the works entries.
Below is a list of all of the female participants up to 1949, with their results. In the case of a male/female driver pairing, the woman's name is always given first.

1930
Odette Siko/Marguerite Mareuse (Bugatti T40) - 7th

1931
Odette Siko/Marguerite Mareuse (Bugatti T40) - 9th, but disqualified for refuelling too early
Joan Chetwynd/H.H. Sisted (MG C-type Midget) - DNF

1932
Odette Siko/"Jean Sabipa" (Alfa Romeo 6C) - 4th

1933
Odette Siko/"Jean Sabipa" (Alfa Romeo 6C) - DNF
Marie Desprez/Pierre Brussienne (Bugatti T50S) - DNF
Elsie Wisdom/Mortimer Morris-Goodall (Aston Martin 1 1/2) - DNF

1934
Dorothy Champney/Kay Petre (Riley Ulster Imp 9) - 13th
Anne-Cécile Rose-Itier/Charles Duruy (MG Midget PA) - 17th
Gwenda Stewart/Louis Bonne (Derby L8) - DNF

1935
Anne-Cécile Rose-Itier/Robert Jacob (Fiat 508S Balilla) - 18th
Joan Richmond/Eveline Gordon-Simpson (MG Midget PA) - 24th
Doreen Evans/Barbara Skinner (MG Midget PA) - 25th
Margaret Allan/Colleen Eaton (MG Midget PA) - 26th
Gwenda Stewart/Charles Worth (Derby) - DNF
Elsie Wisdom/Kay Petre (Riley MPH) - DNF

1937
Suzanne Largeot/Just-Emile Vernet (Simca-Fiat Balilla) - 12th (class win)
Joan Richmond/M.K.H. Bilney (Ford 10) - 14th
Dorothy Stanley-Turner/Enid Riddell (MG Midget PB) - 16th
Marjorie Eccles/Freddy Clifford (Singer Nine Le Mans Replica) - DNF
Kay Petre/G. Mangan (Austin Seven Grasshopper) - DNF
Anne-Cécile Rose-Itier/Huschke von Hanstein (Adler Trumpf Rennlimousine) - DNF

1938
Anne-Cécile Rose-Itier/Claude Bonneau (MG Midget PB Special) - 12th
Prudence Fawcett/Geoffrey White (Morgan 4/4 Coventry Climax) - 13th
Fernande Roux/Germaine Rouault (Amilcar Pegase G36) - DNF
Suzanne Largeot/Just-Emile Vernet (Simca Huit Fiat) - DNF
Elsie Wisdom/Arthur Dobson (MG Midget PB) - DNF

1949
Viviane Elder/René Camerano (Simca Huit) - DNF

(Image copyright prewarcar.com)

Female Racing Drivers in Continental Europe, 1910-1950

Nina and Vincenzo Lo Bue

While Brooklands was operational in the UK, motorsport in Europe was also flourishing. The French oval circuit of Montlhéry was home to many drivers, male and female, and women were not excluded from the road-racing scene which centred around Italy. Its most famous events, the Targa Florio and Mille Miglia, were never closed to them, and drivers of the calibre of Elisabeth Junek were among the front-runners. As well as these high-profile events, other circuits hosted a whole series of races. Many of the drivers also raced at Le Mans; there were far more female entries then than there are now.

Below are short profiles of some European female racers, who mostly competed in the period between the two World Wars. Maria Antonietta d'Avanzo, Margot Einsiedel, Madame Hellé-Nice, Lucy O'Reilly Schell, Jannine Jennky, Anne-Cecile Rose-Itier, Charlotte Versigny, Marie-Luise Kozmian, Lia Comirato Dumas, Elena Samsonova, Marguerite Mareuse and Odette Siko have their own posts. Rally drivers from this period appear in their own posts (1, 2). Lists of female participants in the Targa Florio and Mille Miglia are also available. American drivers of the early 20th century can be found here. French drivers of the period also appear here.

Mimi Aylmer - competed twice in the Mille Miglia, in 1929 and 1936. She drove a Lancia Lambda Berlina to 29th place in 1929, with A. Strignasacchi. In 1936, she and Gambellini drove a Fiat 508 Balilla Gas, but did not finish. Mimi was better known as a film actress.

Patrocinio Benito - one of Spain’s first female racing drivers. She competed between 1926 and 1932. Her first big race was the 1926 Madrid 12 Hours, a road race held between Guadarrama and Navacerrada. This was a race for motorcycles and cyclecars and she was ninth in an Amilcar. Later in the year, she was third in another race at Sitges de Terramar. She then made a few appearances in regularity trials in 1928 , driving an Essex and then a Rosengart. Her last event was a hillclimb in 1932, although it isn’t clear whether her Triumph was a car or a motorbike.

Lina Christiansen - Norwegian driver active in the 1930s. She entered at least one Monte Carlo Rally in 1935 in her own Plymouth, as part of a four-woman team with Irma Darre Brandt, Borghild Bieltvedt and Else Castberg. In 1936, she drove a Graham in the Norwegian Grand Prix meeting at Gjerstad, finishing third in the Series race. She continued to race the Graham in 1937, recording third places in the Autumn Race and the NAF race. Previously, she had used a Studebaker in trials in 1934, finishing third in the Ladies’ class.

“Miss Comerford” – early Irish driver. She drove in the 1933 Phoenix Park 50 mile race in Dublin, and is claimed to be the first woman from the British Isles to enter a road race. Her car was a Hillman Minx, and she was ninth in the Senior Race. During the same season, she won the 1100cc class in the De Selby hillclimb, and was second in the Unlimited class. Her given name is never used, and even her initials are unclear. She does not seem to have raced again after 1933.

Giuseppina Conti - drove a Bugatti T37 in races in 1927. She was eighth in the Circuito del Pozzo that year.

Marie Cousinet - raced a Fiat 509 in European cyclecar events in 1928. She was fifth in that year's GP des Frontieres.

Marie Depret (Desprez) - raced in French GPs and at Le Mans during the late 1920s and 1930s. She and Pierre Brussienne shared a Bugatti T34 at Le Mans in 1933. Previously, she had raced against Jannine Jennky in France.

Viviane Elder - French competitor who drove at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1949, sharing a Simca 6 with Rene Camerano. They retired on lap 95 when the crankshaft broke. In 1950, she was due to return to the 24 Hours in a Simca 1100, but did not make the start. Away from motorsport, Viviane was a film actress and aviatrix in the 1930s. She may have driven in the celebrity races which were popular in pre-war France.

Edith Frisch - raced and rallied a Bugatti and other cars in Europe, in 1933 and 1934. In May of 1933, she was sixth (although not classified) in the Eifelrennen Voiturette race at the Nürburgring, driving a 1500cc Bugatti T37A. Later that year, she entered the Czech Grand Prix at Masaryk, in the same car. She had to retire after spinning the car, and hitting her chin on the steering wheel. In 1934, she drove an Opel, concentrating on rallies and other non-circuit events. She won a Coupe des Alpes in the Alpine Rally, with Karl Treber as her navigator. Unfortunately, not long afterwards, she was killed in an accident at a level crossing during a reliability trial at Hammereisenbach, in Germany.

Bea Gilka-Bötzow - raced a Bugatti in Europe in the early 1930s. In 1932, she entered the Eifel Grand Prix in a T37A, but did not finish. She also competed in hillclimbs in Germany and its neighbouring countries, in the Bugatti and in an Austro-Daimler. Her results are not forthcoming. She is sometimes confused with Margot Einsiedel, as both had the title “Countess Einsiedel”. Bea was Margot’s sister-in-law.

Suzanne Largeot - took part in three Le Mans races between 1937 and 1939. With JE Vernet, she won her class in 1937 and was twelfth overall. She did not finish on the other two occasions. The car was a Simca, a make Suzanne used in most of her races. In 1939, she drove a Simca T8 to fourth overall in the Criterium Paris-Nice. That year, she also navigated Yvonne Simon to eighth position in the Monte Carlo Rally. She and Yvonne were also eighth in the 1938 Paris 12 Hours.

Nina Lo Bue - competed with her brother, Vincenzo Lo Bue, in 1929 and 1930. In 1929, she drove an Alfa Romeo in the Giro d’Italia and finished thirteenth. The following year, the siblings entered the Giro d’Italia once more in the same car, and were fourteenth. It is possible that she also took part in some hillclimbs in Sicily, as Vincenzo regularly used the car for this purpose.

Franziska Lüning - raced a Steyr in Europe in the 1920s. She competed in the ADAC trials in 1928. On occasion, she also drove a small Fiat sportscar. It was this car that she used in the 1927 Nürburgring Opening Races. She was twelfth in her class. That year, she also drove the Steyr in the Feldbergrennen hillclimb and placed well in class. She took part in hillclimbs in Switzerland as well. Driving the Fiat, she was second in the 1100cc class in the Klausen climb. This was her second attempt at the event, having finished 13th in the 1500cc class in 1926.

Irma Martelli - raced in Italy shortly after the Second World War. In 1947, she drove a Fiat in the Mille Miglia with “Geri”. They did not finish. A month later, she entered a Fiat 500, perhaps the same car, into the Coppa d’Oro della Dolomiti, but did not finish that race either.

Samiye Cahid Morkaya - believed to be Turkey’s first female racing driver. She was active between 1930 and 1934, initially in rallies. Her first circuit race was in 1932, when she took to a 10km track near Istanbul and won. One of her male competitors tried to get her disqualified but her result stood. She continued to race until 1934, when she crashed a Ford and lost the use of an arm. Away from motorsport, she was a respected teacher of the kemence, a traditional Turkish string instrument. She died in 1972.

Violette Morris - raced in France between 1928 and 1930, normally in Paris-based events. She drove a number of special-bodied cars, built to her own requirements. The Bol d'Or was a favoured event of hers and she won it in 1927. She was executed during World War II due to her Gestapo activities.

Vittoria Orsini - Italian noblewoman who campaigned a Maserati 26C in a few Grands Prix in the early 1930s. Her best result was probably a fourth place at the Circuit Cap d'Antibes in 1932. She was tenth in a heat of the 1933 Bordino Grand Prix, but did not finish the 1932 or 1933 Coppa Ciano, or the 1933 Grand Prix of Lwow.

Mirella Quadri - entered the Mille Miglia three times, in 1947, 1948 and 1949. In 1947, she drove a Fiat and did not finish. The following year, she used a Lancia Aprilia and was 20th. In 1949, she drove a Lancia, presumably the Aprilia, and failed to finish. Her co-driver on all three occasions was “L Quadri”.

Käthe Rantzau - Austrian driver who raced in Europe in the 1920s. She was fourth in the 2000cc class in the 1925 Klausen hillclimb, driving an Ansaldo. Later, in 1927, she entered the Semmering climb in a Grofri, which was a rebadged Austrian Amilcar. . Her first motorsport experience seems to have been a tenth place in a women-only road race held in Vienna in 1923. She was tenth, driving an Austro Daimler. She is best known as an opera singer.

Anni Roosdorp - commenced racing in 1947, using a Veritas single-seater at the Grenzlandsring in Germany. Her father, Hermann Roosdorp, also raced that car and others around Europe.

Fernande Roux - another French GP and sportscar racer of the 1930s and 1940s. In 1931, she spent a season campaigning in Voiturettes, in a Bugatti T37A. Her best finish was second, in Geneva. She partnered Germaine Rouault at Le Mans in 1938, driving an Amilcar Pegase. The Pegase seems to have been one of her favourite cars and she drove it in French and North African races in the latter part of the 1930s.

“Madame Suvorina” - one of Russia’s earliest female competition drivers. She drove an Opel and other cars in road races from 1910, winning her first St. Petersburg-Kronstadt winter road race that year, although that might have been a class win. With the same car, she entered the same race in 1914. That year, she also drove an Excelsior in a short speed trial near St Petersburg. She may also have been involved in aviaton. Her given name is not recorded. 

(Image source unknown)