Paulien Zwart

Paulien in the Lotus Ladies Cup garage

Born in 1978, Paulien is the daughter of historic Formula One racer, and Ascari sportscar team boss, Klaas Zwart. Although she is Dutch by birth, she spent her formative racing years in Scotland, as a karter and novice single-seater driver. She was fifth overall in the Scottish Kart championships in 1994, and came third in the Jim Russell Racing School championships in 1995, her first year of car racing.

A lengthy hiatus from the track followed while the young Paulien concentrated on other areas of her life, but she was back in 2000, and enrolled in the Renaultsport racing school to get back up to speed. She was fourth in its end-of-term championship. With more experience under her belt, she entered some Dutch Citroen Saxo Cup races as well.

In 2001, Paulien entered three different one-make touring series, with varying degrees of success. She took part in three Dutch SEAT Ibiza Enduro Cup events without great results, but in the Dutch Clio Cup she secured her first podium. She described the Renault Clio as her favourite ever racing car to date and used one to contest two rounds of the Dutch Supercar Challenge that season too. However, her main focus for the year was the Toyota Yaris Cup, in which she came an excellent fourth overall.

2002 was even better. After being at the head of the Yaris standings for part of the season, Paulien was third overall in the championship. More outings in the Clio netted her two podium positions in the Supercar Challenge, and she earned her first major wins: two first-place finishes in the Dutch Winter Endurance Cup in a Renault Megane. This was good for third in the championship. For a change, she raced a Radical sportscar as well, and was linked with a Le Mans drive in her father's Ascari squad alongside Vanina Ickx, which never happened.

After competing in the British Formula Ford Winter Series in the off-season, it was back to business in 2003. Paulien's main drive of the year was the Alfa Romeo 147 Challenge one-make series. Unfortunately, it took a while for her to even record a finish, following a series of accidents and mechanical gremlins. At the end of the season she had recorded some good finishes in the Olympic class, but it was not one of her more polished performances. Two races in the Yaris Cup World Series yielded an eleventh and ninth position, and she also ran a few races of the Dutch BMW Compact Cup.

Despite 2003 not being a vintage season, she gathered enough support and funding to run in the European Touring Car Championship in 2004. She was driving for the Carly BMW team, and although she had yet to match the performances of team-mate (and boyfriend) Tom Coronel, she was learning the car and making progress when disaster struck. A high-speed testing crash at Magny-Cours for Carly left her with a broken pelvis and ankle. Her place in the team for the next meeting was taken by her father.

Paulien's injuries were severe, but she recovered in time for the start of the 2005 racing calendar.

She paired up with Renate Sanders to contest the SEAT Cupra Cup in the Netherlands. They scored a number of fine top-ten finishes, although Paulien was not always able to match the pace of her experienced team-mate in the single-driver sprint races.

After a good recovery year, Paulien took another break in 2006, as she was pregnant. She returned in 2007, to the SEAT Cupra championship. Her team-mates was Jeroen den Boer and Daan Stots, and they were racing in the Dutch Army’s promotional car. They managed to finish in the top ten on several occasions, but did not challenge for overall honours. They lagged far behind their sister car, driven by Sandra van der Sloot and Sheila Verschuur. At the end of the season, Paulien also enlisted in the Dutch Winter Endurance Championship. Results for this series have proved hard to track down.

The 2008 main season was spent in the Dutch Diesel Touring Car series. Paulien was driving for her partner’s racing operation, with Gaby Uljee, who is the partner of Tom Coronel’s twin brother, Tim. They competed as the Coronel Ladies, and their car was a BMW 120d. They finished the season third in the championship, after a string of solid top-ten finishes.

During the off-season, Paulien entered the Winter Endurance Championship once more. She returned to the Diesel Cup in 2009, still driving for the Coronel team in the BMW, but with Ruben van Doorn. She improved on her 2008 performances and recorded her first win in the series at Zandvoort, in the Pinksterraces endurance event. As well as her win, she scored four more podium places, and was ninth in the championship.

She did not race in 2010, due to her pregnancy with her second child. However, she returned to the scene in 2011, and to the Diesel Cup. She was driving a BMW 123d for Equipe Verschuur, with Liesette Braams as her team-mate. She was fourteenth in the championship, with a best finish of third at Zandvoort. She also drove in the Barcelona 24 Hours in the same car, but did not finish.

In 2012, Paulien became a Dutch "Racing Diva", as part of a team with Gaby Uljee, Sandra van der Sloot, and Liesette Braams. Their first event together was the Dubai 24 Hours, in a Renault Clio. They were 39th. Paulien and Liesette also intended some rounds of the Diesel Cup again in the BMW, but they did not have enough funding. Paulien competed in the Salzburg round of the Lotus Ladies Cup in Salzburg, which supported the WTCC race. She was fifth in both races.

Paulien continued as a Racing Diva in 2013, although the team's schedule was seriously cut short by a lack of funding. Her only real competitive outing was the Dubai 24 Hours, driving a Schubert BMW 320D with Liesette Braams, Sandra van der Sloot, Gaby Uljee and Sheila Verschuur. They were 26th overall, with a class win. They also took part in the Rotterdam Street Races, but that event is only a sprint.

She continued to race with the Divas in 2014, hoping for an increased schedule, but their season was again restricted to the Dubai 24 Hours. Driving the same car as in 2013, with Sandra, Gaby, Shirley van der Lof and Natasja Smit Sø. They won their class again, and were 31st overall. The Divas appeared together at the Zandvoort Easter meeting for promotional and charity activities, but did not race. 

She did not join the Divas for the 2015 Dubai race, but she did go to the event to support them, and Tom Coronel.

(Image from http://www.mcsatorna.hu/)

Gaby Uljee

Gaby as a Racing Diva

Born in the Netherlands in 1976, Gaby started racing at eighteen. The first championship she entered was the Dutch Citroen AX GTI Cup in 1994. She raced Citroen hot hatches for four years, working through the make's driver development scheme and winning races on the way. Her best finish was second overall in the Saxo Cup in 1998.

It was time to move on to bigger things in 1999, so Gaby raised some funds and competed in the Alfa Romeo 156 Challenge one-make series. After a learning year in the popular championship, she became a real contender in 2000, ending the season in fourth place overall.

People had started taking notice of the Dutchwoman now, and 2001 saw her taking another step up the racing ladder. Returning to French power, she drove in the Dutch Touring Car Championship in a Renault Clio. She usually managed to finish the races but was unable to make much of a mark on the top ten until the last meeting of the season, when she finished fifth and eighth. The second race was an excellent recovery drive after being involved in an incident with her boyfriend Tim Coronel's car.

She returned to the DTCC a much improved driver the following year. Still in the Clio, she was fifth in the points at the end of the year, after some excellent finishes. She was third twice at Zandvoort, and generally finished in the top five throughout the season, apart from the Nürburgring race, where she could only manage tenth. The opposition was of a high calibre: Tim Coronel, his F1 tester brother Tom and sportscar star Jeroen Bleekmoelen, to name a few.

Sponsorship for the DTCC was not forthcoming for Gaby in 2003, so she stuck with Clios and raced in the Clio Cup instead. She gained a few reasonable results, but the lower horsepower and crowded grids were obviously not to her liking.

She did not return to the DTCC the following season. However, there was no shortage of guest drives available in 2004. Gaby drove a new Mini at the Nürburgring round of the German Mini Challenge, but again the Ring was not kind to her and she failed to finish the second race, having come ninth in the first. Her other outings included a return to Alfas in the Alfa Romeo 147 Challenge race at the Marlboro Masters F3 meeting at Zandvoort. She also tried her hand in some rounds of the Benelux Racing League, a championship for Ford Mondeo touring cars and Benelux-based racers.

2005 saw a return to a full racing programme for Gaby. She registered for the Light division of the Benelux Racing League again and showed herself to be one of the best, coming second in the final standings after a string of impressive wins, including both legs of a double-header at Zandvoort.

Sticking with the Benelux countries, she also crossed the border to Belgium, to join the Daikin team for two major Belcar races. At the popular Zolder 24 Hour race, she helped bring the Daikin Mini home 22nd overall, third in class TB, assisted by a crack all-female squad of Vanina Ickx, Alexandra van de Velde and Caroline Grifnée. For the Belcar Masters later in the year, Gaby and Alexandra started from pole in class TB and were third again, 25th overall. A guest drive in the SEAT Cupra Endurance championship netted her a win at Assen.

In the 2006 season, Gaby returned to the BRL, hoping to repeat her 2005 triumphs. However, she only competed in four races in her Ford Focus, and was a lowly 18th overall. Later in the season, she drove in the Belcar 24 Hours again for Daikin. The team’s BMW 120d, driven by Gaby, Alexandra van de Velde, Caroline Grifnée and Stephanie Halm, went out of the race during the twelfth hour.

At the beginning of 2007, she took on a totally different challenge, in the form of the Paris-Dakar Rally. Her first attempt at the desert classic gave her 46th place, and second rookie team. The car was a Bowler Wildcat and she was navigating for Tim Coronel.

The main season was once again focused on the BRL. Gaby took part in fourteen races, winning two of them and placing in the top three on five occasions. She was runner-up again at the end of the year. In addition to this, she returned to the SEAT Cupra Cup for two guest races, teaming up with the TV presenter Rob Kamphues.

For 2008, it was time for a slight change of scenery. Gaby left the BRL behind and took up a place in the well-subscribed Toerwagen Diesel Cup. She drove alongside Paulien Zwart in the Coronel Girlz Racing team, run by their partners’ family. The car was a BMW 120d, similar to the one Gaby had raced previously in Belgium. The pair were third in the final standings after finishing in the top three on four occasions.

Gaby had intended to enter the Dakar again after its cancellation in 2008, and she managed to secure a drive as navigator to Michel de Groot, a former motorcycle competitor. Their car was a McRae enduro special and they ran as the Dutch Vicking team. They were 39th and winners of the T3 class.

Gaby and Michel also competed together in the Netherlands shortly afterwards, sharing a car for an early round of the VW Endurance Cup.

Gaby and Paulien continued with diesel power in 2009, but drove for separate teams this time. Gaby moved to the Orbit team with Liesette Braams. Despite some technical hitches, they were regulars in the top ten, with one podium finish to their name. They were seventeenth overall.

She continued in the Diesel Cup in 2010, driving for Equipe Verschuur this time. Her team-mates were Liesette and Luc Braams and their car was an updated BMW 123d. They were much more competitive than in 2009, winning one race and finishing in the top three in two others. Gaby was seventh in the drivers' standings.

As well as circuit racing, she tried out a bioethanol-fuelled Nissan 350Z for the Exotic Green Rally, a rallysprint. This was her first attempt at a stage rally, although by now, she had entered two Dakar Rallies.

After a year on the sidelines in 2011, Gaby returned to the circuits in 2012. She was part of the Dutch Racingdivas team for the early-season Dubai 24 Hours, and finished 39th in a Renault Clio Cup. Her co-drivers were regular cohorts Liesette Braams and Sheila Verschuur, plus Paulien Zwart and a returning Sandra van der Sloot. Going by her Twitter feed, it looked as if Gaby was preparing to compete in touring cars in the Netherlands also, and she obliged with three races in the Burando Production Open, in a BMW 123d. Her three Easter appearances, sharing a car with Liesette Braams, gave her a fifth, a fourth and a win.

The Divas planned to race together again in 2013, beginning with the Dubai 24 Hours. Driving a Schubert BMW 320D, they were 26th overall, with a class win. The Divas also appeared at the Rotterdam City Races, a sprint event on a street circuit. Unfortunately, these seem to be the only appearances the Divas did make.

Gaby was still involved with Racing Divas in 2014, who had secured some innovative sponsors, partly through "selling" the pink hearts which will form part of their livery. They planned to race again, but once more, their participation was restricted to the Dubai 24 Hours. Driving a BMW 320D prepared by Schubert Motorsport, Gaby was part of a Diva team that won Class A3T. The other drivers were Paulien Zwart, Sandra van der Sloot, Shirley van der Lof and Natasja Smit Sø. They were 31st overall.

In 2015, Gaby, as part of Racingdivas, contested the Dubai 24 Hours, in a BMW prepared by Bonk Motorsport. She was 23rd overall, with a class win. 

The Divas did not enter the Dubai 24 Hours in 2016, partly due to key team member, Liesette's ongoing battle with cancer. Gaby drove for the Allied Racing Team in the Competition102 GT4 European series, in a BMW M3. She did a part-season, and had a best finish of fifth at Zandvoort.

Gaby returned to the European GT4 championship in 2019, driving a McLaren 570 for Equipe Verschuur. She scored three podium places in the Am class, at Brands Hatch, Misano and Zandvoort, which was enough for fifth in the class championship. 

She raced two different cars in 2020: an Equipe Verschuur McLaren 540C for a round of the Dutch Winter Endurance Series, then a BMW 240i for Day V Tec 240. She and her team-mates Tim Coronel and Jan Jaap van Roon did the Hockenheim 16 Hours, a double eight-hour race. They won the TCX class in both parts, finishing ninth and eighth overall.

The Equipe Verschuur McLaren was upgraded to a 570S in 2021 and Gaby did two rounds of the ADAC GT4 Championship in it, as part of a joint Verschuur/Las Moras team. She was 16th and fourteenth at Zandvoort.

(Image from www.racingdivas.nl)