Nabila Tejpar

 

Nabila Tejpar is a British rally driver who mainly competes in Europe. She has won several women’s awards in the European Rally Championship.

She began rallying in 2015 in a 1600cc Proton Satria, after she had finished university. She did four single-stage rallies and had a best finish of 22nd, on the Wethersfield Stages. Even at this early stage, she looked beyond her home country and drove a DAF 55 in the Eifel Rally Festival, held near the Nurburgring. At this event, she drove alongside her father Aziz, who was in a Ford Escort. Both Nabila’s father and grandfather are or were rally drivers, with her grandfather Aziz Sr active in his adopted homeland of Kenya. The DAF was among the cars he used in the early ‘70s.

At the start of 2016, she took a big leap forward in her career and entered the British Rally Championship, competing in the Junior championship. Her car was a Ford Fiesta R2. Although it was not her best overall finish, the Circuit of Ireland was probably her best rally; she was fourth in the Junior rankings, and won a European Ladies award for her 43rd place finish. She was eighth in the British Junior championship at the end of the season. 

Driving the Fiesta, she was British Ladies' Champion in 2017, and fifth in the Cadet class. She entered her first Wales Rally GB and finished in 65th place. Her best overall finish was a 15th place in the Nicky Grist Stages. She carried on with her forays into Europe, entering the Ypres Rally and finishing 88th.

For 2018, her focus switched to the Iberian Peugeot Rally Cup, which offered prize money, although her best result of the year, a 15th place, came from the Ulster Rally. Her Iberian campaign included WRC rallies in Spain and Portugal. She was the leading female driver in the Catalunya Rally, finishing 41st from 53 in her 208. Her Portugal entry was only for the National event. Back at home, she was 43rd in the Wales Rally GB.

A pan-European campaign in the 208 followed in 2019, which left her second in the ERC ladies' standings. Again, she tackled the Iberian WRC rounds, earning a 31st place in Portugal this time. She was 40th in Catalunya but had to pull out of the GB event as her co-driver Richard Bliss was unwell. As well as Spain and Portugal, she travelled further east into Europe this year, entering the Polish and Barum Czech rallies.

Her 2020 programme was based in Portugal, where she used the Peugeot in three events, the best of which for Nabila was the Alto Tamega Rally, in which she was 31st. The season was curtailed by the coronavirus crisis. Later in the year, she also tried out a Proton Iriz R5 car at the Goodwood Speed Week. 

In June 2021, she made her ERC debut in the Iriz. Her first event was the Rally of Poland. The first three stages went well and she was running in 37th place, but she rolled the car and had to retire. Although she was not seriously injured, she had to pull out of the Rally Liepaja and Rome Rally to allow time for the car to be repaired and for her and her co-driver Matt Edwards to be fit.

Nabila first competed in the Proton as co-driver to her father in 2019, when he drove it as the course car for the Eifel Rally Festival.

(Image from essex-tv.co.uk)

Female Rally Drivers Around The World: Bulgaria

Diana Stoyanova in 2015

Women have been part of the rally scene in Bulgaria since the days of Communism and are still a strong presence now. The best-known Bulgarian female rally driver is multiple European ladies’ champion, Ekaterina Stratieva, who has her own post.

Elena Apostolova - Bulgaria’s leading female driver in the 1980s and early 1990s. As she was active during the Communist era, her cars were always VAZ Ladas. Her career began in 1972, driving a Trabant with her husband Stoyan. She competed in Bulgaria itself, including the Albena Rally which was a round of the ERC, and sometimes in Yugoslavia. Her best finish was probably a 25th place in the 1985 Rally Vida, also an ERC counter. Both of her daughters, Pavlina and Gergana, are involved in rallying. After her retirement, Elena began organising a women-only rally in Bulgaria. In recent years, she has returned to co-driving for Stoyan.

Gergana Apostolova - rallied in Europe in the 1990s. She is from a notable Bulgarian rally family and began her career as navigator to her father, Stoyan. This was a job she alternated with her sister, Pavlina. In 1996, she began driving herself, and competed in Germany. She was 59th in the ADAC 3-Städte Rally, driving a Suzuki Swift. In 1997, she drove a Ford Ka in the Monte Carlo Rally’s Prince Albert Challenge. Unusually, her navigator was her mother Elena, an experienced driver herself. They did not finish. “Geri’s” best overall result was 29th in the 1997 Rally Albena. Her car was a Nissan Sunny and Elena was co-driving once more. 

Victoria Garkova - Bulgarian driver who started competing around Eastern Europe in 2017. Her car is a Hyundai r20 Coupe and she contested the Hyundai Trophy, as well as the Romanian junior championship and a Turkish rally. In terms of major events, her best result has been a 27th place in the Rally of Bulgaria, assisted by Velislava Pavlova. Her best outright finish was 15th in the Tvardica-Elena Rally. She was fourth in the Hyundai Trophy standings.

Tsvetomira Georgieva - rallied a Renault Clio, mainly in her home country of Bulgaria. She began competing in major rallies in 2009, and posted top-twenty finishes from the beginning, with a fifteenth place in the Rally Trayanovi Vrata. She also finished her first rally abroad, the Prime Yalta Rally in Ukraine. In 2010, she was ninth in the Hebros Rally, and finished the Vida Rally in fourteenth. Her other events, including the Serbia Rally, ended in DNFs. In 2011, she only managed two major rallies, including the IRC-counting Prime Yalta Rally, which she did not finish due to mechanical problems. She was also twelfth in the Rally Stari Stolici. She did not compete after that, and died in early 2015, aged 33.

Maria Gocheva - rallied a Lada VAZ 2105 in Bulgarian rallies in the 1990s. She was most active in 1997, when she entered several rounds of the Bulgarian championship. Her best finish that year was eighteenth in the Rally Stari Stolici. Her programme included two European championship rounds: the Albena and Hebros rallies. She was beaten to the ladies’ award in the Albena event by her chief rival, Gergana Apostolova. 

Diana Stoyanova - Bulgarian driver who usually uses a Citroen Saxo VTS. Her first rally seems to have been a women-only event in 2007. She has been competing in national and international rallies in Bulgaria since 2010, including the Rally of Bulgaria itself in 2012, although she did not finish. The Hebros Rally has given her her best results so far: eleventh in 2010 and twelfth in 2011. In 2012, she did not finish any major events, although she entered at least three. In 2013, she was thirteenth in a Rallysprint event in Greece, driving the Citroen. In addition to rallying, Diana also competes in hillclimbs in the Citroen, and has concentrated on this in recent years. A return to the stages in 2016 gave her the Bulgarian ladies' title, driving a Saxo. She won her class on the Serbia Rally, and was fifteenth overall. In 2017, she only ran a limited programme in the Saxo, and did not retain her title. 2018 was a much better year; she was fourth in Rally Bulgaria and ninth in the Serbia Rally. Her car was a Honda Civic. Using the same car, she won her class in the 2019 Balkan Rally Trophy, picking up two top-ten finishes: eighth in the Serbia Rally and tenth in the Rally Sliven in Bulgaria.

(Image from www.dro4cars.com)

Asja Zupanc

Asja Zupanc is a Slovenian driver with many top-ten finishes in European rallies. She won the Mitropa championship in 2011. 

She began as a navigator in 2002, sitting beside Tine Milic in a Peugeot 106 on the Rally Saturnus. Between 2005 and 2008 she was the regular navigator ro Boris Pozeg, mainly in Slovenia. This followed four years of teenage karting. At this time, Asja was undecided between rallying and circuit racing. She was a leading driver in the Slovenian Fiat Seicento one-make series in 2003 and 2004, winning several races and the 2003 Fiat championship.

Her first events in the rally driving seat were in 2005, when she drove an EZ Racing Nissan Micra in Slovenian rallies. Until 2008, she only competed sporadically as a driver, using cars including a Zastava Yugo and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI. The best of her early results was probably a 22nd place in the Rally Maribor, driving the Micra. She was still dividing her time between rallying and other motorsport at this point, competing in hillclimbs. 

She began rallying seriously as a driver in 2009, using a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. In events across Europe she managed to get into the top twenty, with a best finish of eleventh in the Slovenian Rally Primorje Ajdovscina. 

In 2010, driving the same car, she improved dramatically, with five top-ten finishes in Germany, Slovenia, and Austria. Her best finish was third in the Rallye Baden-Württemberg in Germany. She was also fourth in the ADAC Drei-Städte-Rallye. Her results left her second in the Mitropa Rally Championship. For her last event of the year, the Rally Porec in Slovenia, she joined up with navigator Blanka Kacin, who would sit beside her for most the rest of her career.

In her next season, 2011, she won the Mitropa championship after being the fastest Mitropa driver in the Baden-Württemburg Rally, the Citta di Bassano Rally in Italy and the Drei-Städte-Rallye. This was also the scene of her best overall result of the year: seventh. 

In 2012, she had a full schedule spread over a smaller area, mainly based in Germany. Her best result was a second third place in Baden-Württemburg, albeit in a different Lancer Evo IX. She picked up another third place in the Stemweder Berg Rally and a fourth in the Voralpen Rally. Mid-season, she entered the Freilassinger Schotter Sprint, a rare rallysprint outing, and was rewarded with second place.

Her only international outing was the Sibiului Rally in Romania, a round of the International Rally Challenge, and she finished tenth.

Her 2013 programme took in a wider selection of rallies, including the Croatia Rally which was then a European championship event. She was eleventh and picked up her first ERC Ladies’ points. Her best results of the year were four fifth places, two in Germany and two in Slovenia. They came from the Saturnus, Idrija, Pegasus Rally Sulinger and Litermont events. She also competed in Austria and Italy. Her cars were both Lancer Evo IXs, although two different chassis.

In 2014, she rallied the Lancer in Central European Zone events, in the European Championship. She scored three top-ten finishes, including a fifth place in the Fuchs Rallye Velenje in Slovenia and sixth in the Rebenland Rally in Austria. She was eleventh in the Mitropa championship.

She retired from competition after this but still works as a precision driver for film and TV, a role she first took up in 2007. She made a one-off guest appearance at the 2022 Rally Show Santa Domenica in Croatia, driving the Lancer with Blanka Kacin. They were twelfth overall.

(Image copyright Martin Trdla)

Martina Danhelova

Martina (right) with co-driver Karolina Jugasova in 2015)

Martina Daňhelová (also known as Martina Jerhotová-Daňhelová since 2015) is from the Czech Republic and is one of the leading female drivers in Eastern Europe.

She has been rallying since at least 2008. Her first car was a VW Polo, which she used for her first two seasons. She entered two rounds of the 2008 Czech Sprintrally Championship in the Polo and finished both times, then did six more rallysprints in 2009.

In 2010, she started to participate in some longer stage rallies, including the Rallye Český Krumlov. Her first big Czech rally ended in an accident on the eighth stage but she managed to finish four rallysprints.

However, reliability was an issue that year. Engine trouble put her out of her second Czech championship round, the Herkul Rally Pribram. Her next event, the Rally Jeseníky, was done in a Honda Civic, and she was 51st.

The Polo returned to service for much of the 2011 season, in which Martina did her first European Rally Cup event (the Rallye Český Krumlov), and her first rally outside the Czech Republic (the Thüringen Rally, in Germany). She was 38th in both, her best-ever overall finish. Her other events, a mix of rallysprints and Czech championship outings, gave her a few decent class positions.

For the last two Czech Sprintrally events of the season, she switched to Renault Clio, and continued her good class finishes.

The Clio proved the more reliable of her two cars in 2012; the Polo’s gearbox gave way twice and then had another mechanical failure on the Hustopece Rally. Her best finish was 35th, third in class, in the Rally Agropa, in the Clio.

Her biggest rally was the Barum Czech Rally Zlín, part of the IRC. She drove the Civic and was 63rd overall, sixth in class. At the end of the season, she also drove an Alfa Romeo 147 at the Rallyshow Uherský Brod, although the event was cancelled after first stage following a serious accident.

Her cars for 2013 were the Clio, and the 147, which she drove for two different teams. The 147, run by the Rada Martin team, was mainly used for the Sprintrally championship. Her best rallysprint result was 29th with a class win, at the Rally Agropa.

In January she made another foray into the rest of Europe:  the International Jänner Rallye in Austria, driving the Clio. She was 48th overall, third in class. This was one of four European Cup rallies she contested that year, three of which she finished.

Her best result also came from driving the Clio: she was 24th in the Rally Bohemia and won her class. A second attempt at the Barum Czech Rally Zlín gave her 36th, and third in class. She won her class in the Rally Bohemia, driving the Clio for CK Motorsport.

In 2014 she stuck with one car and team, rallying the Clio in the Czech Republic. Her programme included one European outing, the Jänner Rallye, in which she was 40th. She entered two European Trophy rallies in the Czech Republic: a rear axle broke on the Barum event, and she was 21st in the Hustopeče Rally. Her best results came from rallysprints; she won her class in the Czech Sprintrally Championship.

Her car for 2015 was a Clio, and she was second in the ERC Ladies' Cup after a class win and 42nd place in the Jänner Rally in Austria. This class victory her first points finish in the Ladies’ Cup. The rest of the year was spent in the Czech Republic, taking in one further ERC round, the Rallye Český Krumlov in which she was 34th, third in class.

2016 featured a reduced programme for Martina, who drove a Clio in the Krumlov Rally in May, finishing 46th. She became a mother to a daughter that year and took a step back from motorsport. She still retains an interest in rallying as her family compete - her father Vlastimil Daňhel has co-driven for her on occasion - but she is now involved in breeding horses.

(Image from www.fiaerc.com)

Tamara Molinaro

Tamara Molinaro won the 2017 European Ladies’ Rally Championship, driving an Opel Adam.

She was interested in rallying from a very early age, and apparently drove rally cars as early as 2008, when she was eleven years old. Her father, Giorgio, is involved in rallying.

At the start of her career, she was mainly known as a co-driver, sitting beside Luca Maspoli and former Mitsubishi works driver, Gigi Galli. She partnered Galli in a Ford Fiesta WRC and helped him to ninth at the 2014 Monza Rally Show. He had seen her driving on an ice circuit at Livigno before she was old enough to enter rallies and supported her during the first part of her career. She was quickly picked up by Red Bull as one of their sponsored athletes.

In 2013 and 2014, she did her own first rallies in her native Italy in a Citroen C2. The best of these for her was a 42nd place in the Misano World Circuit Rally Event. She concentrated on rally show-type events, both as a driver and co-driver.

In 2016, she drove an Opel Adam as the course car in the Schneebergland Rallye in Austria, with Ilka Minor as her co-driver. This drive was the first of three course-car outings in the Adam, the other two being Rallye Wartburg and Rallye Deutschland.

Her first competitive outing of the year was the Skoda Rallye Liezen in Austria. Tamara drove the Adam, and was thirteenth overall. She was third in the Austrian Junior standings. Later in the year, she did another Austrian rally, the Waldviertel International event. She was 30th, and seventh in both the Junior and RC4 classes. In between, she entered the ADAC 3-Stadte Rallye in Germany, finishing second in the RC4 class and 23rd overall.

Next, she was 22nd in the Mikulas Rally, in Hungary. She won her class. Her final event of the year was the Rallye Ronde Prealpi Rally Show in Italy. She retired on SS2.

She took a big step forward in her career in 2017, entering the ERC3 category of the European Rally Championship. Her car was an Opel Adam again, but this time run by the Opel Junior team. The Austrian Ursula Mayrhofer, who had sat beside her in Hungary last year, was her regular co-driver for the first part of the season. They did three ERC rounds together, the best of these probably being the Azores Rally, in which Tamara was 24th overall and first lady, as well as fourth in the ERC3 and Junior classes. Their last rally together was the Rzezsowski Rally. Although Tamara was only 42nd overall, she was seventh in both the ERC3 and Junior Under 27 classes.

She repeated her 24th place and seventh in ERC3 in the Roma Capitale Rally, driving with Giovanni Bernacchini this time. This was another of her Coupe des Dames wins, and she was the sixth Under 27 driver. She entered six ERC rounds - the Azores, the Canary Islands, Rzezsowski, Barum Czech Rally Zlin, Roma Capitale and Liepaja - and was the top female driver in four of them. Away from the ERC, she competed in Austria and Eastern Europe again, and was sixth in the Austrian Junior championship.

At the end of the season, she even found some time for more co-driving. She sat beside Citroen WRC driver Craig Breen in a Citroen DS3 WRC for the Monza Rallyshow. They did not finish. She was dating Breen at the time.

She ended the year as the ERC Ladies' champion, tenth in ERC3 and seventh in Under 27s. She is the second-youngest champion after Catie Munnings, who was born a month after Tamara, but won her title a year earlier.  

In 2018, she moved up again, to the World Championship. She rallied a Ford Fiesta R5 in the WRC2 class, but her season was sadly halted by a lack of sponsorship. She was 14th in the Azores Rally and then got to do her only WRC event of the year, Rally Sweden. She was 35th overall from 58 finishers.

In 2019, she planned to make another attempt on the WRC2 class, this time with a Citroen C3 R5. However, she only got to one WRC rally: Sweden, where she was 28th. Apart from a couple of Italian rallies, she spent the rest of the year in the Titans RX rallycross championship. She was fifth in the championship, with three fifth places from Fuglau and Nyirad her best final positions. She won several qualification races.

It was back to rallying in 2020. Tamara was active in the Italian gravel championship, driving either a Citroen C3 or Ford Fiesta R5 car. Her best result, an eleventh place in the Rally della Val d'Orcia, was in the C3. This was one of four top-twenty finishes, including a 16th place in the San Marino Rally and 17th in the Tuscan Rewind event. She finished the year second in the Under 25 standings and first in the Ladies.

2021 was another good year for her in the Italian championship, although she lost her Ladies title to Rachele Somaschini. Driving the C3, she was seventh in the Italian gravel championship after two top-ten overall finishes. The first of these was a seventh place in the Rally of Sardinia, two places ahead of Rachele Somaschini, then she was tenth in the San Marino Rally. At the end of the season, she made a guest appearance for the Hyundai Italy team and was fourth in the non-championship Fiorio Cup, driving the i20 R5.

Away from stage rallying, she was named as a "championship driver" by Extreme E after their regular series reserve Jutta Kleinschmidt was called into action at the Cupra team. In 2022, the Xite team signed her as a permanent driver alongside Oliver Bennett, Timo Scheider and Ezequiel Perez Companc. She and Timo achieved the team's best finish, second in Sardinia. Tamara was eleventh in the championship.

With her Extreme E commitments, she still found time for a few stage rallies in a Skoda Fabia R5. She was eleventh in the Rally del Brunello and fifth in the Fiorio Cup rallysprint event.

She moved back to a championship driver position in 2023 but made three appearances, one for McLaren in Sardinia and two for JBXE in Chile. She and Andreas Bakkerud were eighth both times in Chile. The JBXE drive came about when Hedda Hosas moved to McLaren to cover for the long-term injured Emma Gilmour.

She did one stage rally in 2023: the Fiorio Cup in Italy. Her car was a Citroen C3 Rally2 and she was fourth. Her relationship with rallying suffered after her erstwhile boyfriend Craig Breen was killed in a testing accident.

She returned to gravel stages in 2024, doing five Italian gravel rallies in a Skoda Fabia Rally2. All apart from the Val d'Orcia event yielded top-twenty finishes, including eleventh in the Rally delle Marche and thirteenth in the Rally Citta di Foligno. Her best result was a third place in the Fiorio Cup, behind 2023 WRC champion Kalle Rovanpera in a Toyota Yaris. 

(Image copyright Red Bull)

Emma Falcon

Emma Falcón is a Spanish driver from the Canary Islands. She has been rallying since 2011.  

Her first rallies were in the Canaries, driving a VW Polo with Eloy Rivero. Her best result was eleventh, in the Rally of Lanzarote. She had managed a second top-twenty finish in the Tenerife Rally, two months earlier.

She spent another year rallying on her home islands, picking up a tenth in the Rallye Villa de Teror and a thirteenth in the Ciudad de Telde Rally. The Maspalomas Rally was her last event before moving to mainland competition in 2013, and she was 28th overall..

Her new car for 2013 was a Ford Fiesta, and she was now navigated by Rogelio Peñate. This was a busy season for Emma, with thirteen rallies at home and in Spain. Apart from two accidents, she adapted well to the Spanish gravel, and managed an eighth place in the Rally de Tierra del Bierzo, which meant she also won the Fiesta Trophy class. Another highlight was an eleventh in the Tierras Alta da Lorca Rally, which was won by Xavi Pons in a Mitsubishi Lancer.

She also entered her first WRC event, the RACC Catalunya Rally, but did not finish, after a fuel tank broke on the last stage. She was third overall in the Spanish Fiesta Trophy, eighth in the Canary Islands championship, fourteenth in the Spanish gravel championship, and Spanish Ladies’ champion.

In 2014, she had a shorter rally season, and managed two thirteenth places, in the Senderos de la Palma and Islas Canarias El Corte Inglés rallies. Her car was a Fiesta again. Both of her finishes were in the Canaries championship; her one visit to the Spanish mainland ended in an accident on the Rally Sierra Morena.

2015 saw her take on more rallies, and also some outings as a course car driver, in a VW Amarok. Her best finish was 17th, in the Cóbreces Rally. She normally used the Fiesta, apart from one rally in a VW Polo, the Isla de Tenerife Rally, which she did not finish.

2016 was a very strong year for her, with three top-ten finishes, the best of these being a fifth place in the Rally Senderos de la Palma. The others were a sixth place in the Maspalomas Rally and ninth in the Ciudad de Telde Rally. She was back to a full programme of rallies and took part in thirteen events, plus a couple of course car outings with her boyfriend, Surhayen Pernia.

In terms of awards, she also picked up an ERC Ladies' trophy in the Corte Ingles Rally in the Canaries, and was fourth in the Canary Islands championship. Her car was a Citroen DS3.

2017 was an important year for Emma. She rallied outside Spain for the first time in her career, driving a Citroen DS3 for the RMC Motorsport team. Her season began with a 16th place in the Rallye Sierra Morena in Spain, before her first ERC rally of the year, her home event in the Canary Islands. She was 39th overall, and picked up another ERC Ladies’ award, as well as a C2 class win and seventh in ERC3.

The Villa de Adeje and Ourense rallies gave her a 20th and eleventh place respectively. Her first trip to northern Europe was for the Rzeszowski Rally in Poland. This, unfortunately, ended in a heavy crash. Her Citroen had a puncture and was being pursued closely by another car. She rolled on a small bend, colliding with some trees. Spectators immediately came to her and Rogelio Penate’s aid. Emma was not seriously harmed, but Rogelio hurt his back.

Less than a month later, Emma and the RMC DS3 were back in action in the Czech Republic. She won yet another ERC Coupe des Dames in the Barum Czech Rally Zlín, and was 49th overall. This was in spite of brake problems.

The Roma Capitale Rally was her final event of the year. Emma was ahead of the Italian, Tamara Molinaro, in the ERC Ladies’ standings, but only just. The Citroen held out until the final stage, but then suffered an engine failure, leaving Tamara Molinaro to take the win. Catie Munnings also finished, which left Emma in third.

In 2018, she returned to the ERC with the aim of improving her performances on gravel. She drove the Citroen again and was fifth in the ERC3 standings, as well as the ERC ladies' champion. Her best result was probably in the notoriously rough Acropolis Rally, where she was 22nd out of 46 finishers, second ERC3 car and second in the RC3 class. She was also 34th in Cyprus, another very rugged gravel rally.

She did not manage to defend her ladies' title in 2019, but in all other ways it was one of the best years of her career. For the first time, she piloted an R5 car in Spanish and European rallies. It was a Citroen C3 and its first outing gave her an eighth place in the Ciutat de Gandia Rally.

This was one of five top-ten finishes this year. The best of these was a third in the Rally de Maspalomas, a round of the Spanish championship. Her best ERC result was in Italy, on the Rally di Roma Capitale. She was thirteenth and won the Ladies' award. In one of her other forays abroad, she was eighth in the Rali de Castela Branco in Portugal.

Rallying in 2020 was restricted due to coronavirus; Emma competed in the Canary Islands and did not travel extensively. This included a run in the Rally Islas Canarias, a round of the ERC. Driving the C3, she was 30th overall out of 65 finishers. 

Her season in the Canary Islands championship was a a strong one. Her best finish was another third place in the Comarca Norte de Gran Canaria Rally. This came after a fourth place in the Villa de Santa Brigida Rally early in the season. The only time that she was out of the top ten was the Maspalomas event, where the car's suspension failed on the third stage. She finished the season fifth in the championship.

2021 was another good season in the Canary Islands, driving a Citroen C3 Rally3. Her best result was third in the Ciudad de Telde Rally, then fourth in the Villa de Teguise event. Her only disappointment was retiring from the Rally Islas Canarias itself, a round of the ERC.

There was only one major rally for her in 2022, the Rali Vinho da Madeira. She drove a Rally2-spec DS3 and was 19th overall.

Emma considers herself an ambassador for sport in the Canary Islands.

(Image copyright Copi Sport)

Burcu Çetinkaya

Burcu Çetinkaya is a Turkish driver who has competed in Europe, and in the WRC.

She began her rally career in 2005, after several years of representing Turkey in snowboarding competitions. Her first car was a Fiat Palio, and her first rally, the Hittite Rally, in which she was 45^th, ninth in class. Not long afterwards, she entered the Fiat Rally, an ERC round, and was 23^rd overall. This was her best result of the year.

After her first European championship rally in 2005, she entered her first World Championship event in 2006. She drove in the Rally of Turkey, and was 50^th overall, driving a Ford Fiesta. Another run in the Fiat Rally gave her a 21^st place, and she performed strongly in the Istanbul Castrol Rallysprint events, earning a ninth an eighth place. This year, she won her first Turkish ladies’ championship.

The Fiesta would prove to be her regular car for several seasons. In 2007, she kept expanding her horizons, and entered her first overseas rallies. She took part in four rounds of the Belgian championship, taking in classic events like the Ypres-Westhoek and Condroz-Huy rallies. She ran quite well in the Haspengouw Rally, and was 28^th overall. Mid-season, she travelled to the Czech Republic for the Barum Rally, and was 43^rd, with a class second. Her season finale was a second WRC round, the Wales Rally GB, in which she was 63^rd. In between, she still played an active part in her domestic championship, and won a second Turkish Ladies’ Cup. Her best events were the Istanbul and Yeşil Bursa rallies, in which she was fifteenth.

Her involvement with Ford deepened in 2008, when she entered the Fiesta Castrol Sporting Trophy, supported by Castrol Ford Team Turkey. Her WRC programme expanded to six rounds: Italy (Sardinia), Turkey, Finland, Germany, Spain and Great Britain. She finished all six. Predictably, the Rally of Turkey was her best event, and she won her class. She was 25^th overall. Away from home, she continued to enter Belgian rallies, with mixed results, the best of these being a 31^st place in the Rallye de Wallonie. At home, she achieved her first top-ten finish, a tenth place in the Yeşil Bursa Rally, with a class win. Another class win in the Istanbul Rally was very welcome, and helped her to twelfth in the Turkish championship, and a Class N3 title. The only real bad point of 2008 was a spectacular crash in the Ypres Rally, in Belgium.

At the end of 2008, Burcu experimented with other cars, and drove a Mitsubishi Lancer in the Istanbul rallysprints. The beginning of 2009 saw her continue to experiment, with a Fiat Abarth Grand Punto. She guested in the Italian championship, entering the Rally Adriatico with none other than Fabrizia Pons, the former co-driver of Michele Mouton. They were 39^th overall. Later in the season, Burcu returned to Italy for the Azzano Rally, on gravel, but in a Peugeot 207 this time. She was 17^th, with her usual navigator, Cicek Güney.

Despite the new cars, the Fiesta remained her main mount, and she had a second try at some of the Fiesta Sporting Trophy rounds. Poland was her best outing in the WRC, and she was 28^th, fifth in class. She retired from the RACC Rally Spain, and finished in the forties in the UK and Finland. It was in the Turkish championship that she really found her feet, with four top-ten finishes: fifth in the Kocaeli Rally, eighth in the Hittite Rally, seventh in the Istanbul Rally and ninth in the Ege Rally. Two of these were also class wins.

For 2010, she switched allegiance from Ford to Peugeot, and drove for the Peugeot Turkey team in a Super 2000-spec 207. Her schedule was a mix of WRC and IRC events, beginning with the Rally of Turkey in April. She was a career-best twelfth. Retirements from the Sardinia and Ypres Rallies followed, then a 19^th place in the Rally Vinho Madeira. Her second WRC event, Germany, ended in another retirement, before indifferent finishes in the Barum and Sanremo Rallies. Her best result of the year was in the Scottish Rally, where she was eighth, getting herself onto the IRC points leaderboard, in 37^th place. Her last IRC rally was Cyprus, in which she was fifteenth.  

In 2011, she tried three different cars: an S2000 Fiat Punto and Skoda Fabia, and a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. At the start of the year, she used the Fiat in Turkish rallies. She retired from the Bosphorus and Kocaeli rallies, but was eighth in the Istanbul Rally. Her first event in the Skoda was a second visit to the Scottish Rally, but this too ended in retirement. After that, her schedule was centred around the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, as opposed to Europe, as in previous years. She did two more events in the Skoda, the Cyprus and Hittite rallies, finishing 17^th in Cyprus and fifth in the Hittite Rally. Moving on to a new “playing field” and a bigger car, she was fifth in the Dubai Rally, and third in a round of the Qatar championship.

Driving the Group N Lancer, she competed exclusively in the Middle East in 2012. She rallied a lot in Qatar, and started the year with a fourth place in the Qatar International Rally. A string of podium finishes in the Qatar championship gave her second overall, and she managed another top ten in the Middle East championship, finishing eighth in Dubai.

Her season in 2013 was quite similar, although she only finished on the podium once in Qatar, and was seventh in the championship. In the MERC, she was eleventh in Kuwait and fourteenth in Jordan, but retired from the Dubai Rally.

She did not compete in 2014, instead returning to her studies, moving to a new area and embracing religion.

In 2015, she returned to the Turkish championship, which was now the home of a few other female drivers. Her best result was ninth, in the North Cyprus Rally, and she was also tenth in the Kocaeli and Çanakkale rallies. Her car was still the Group N Mitsubishi.

She took another year out in 2016, but returned to the Turkish championship in 2017. Initially, she drove the Lancer. She only recorded one finish in it, then it caught fire on the Troia Rally. It was replaced by a Ford Fiesta. This car was more reliable. She picked up one top-twenty finish in it, a 14th place in the Kocaeli Rally.

In 2018, she entered Rally Turkey with Inessa Tushkanova as her co-driver. They were 31st in the main event and sixth in the National rally, driving a Ford Fiesta.

After a lengthy gap, she made a comeback in 2023, mainly competing in Turkey. She used both a Fiat Egea and a Renault Clio Rally3, as a well as a Mini Cooper for the Logiman Mythical Cars Rally in Italy. Her best finish was in Turkey, driving the Clio, where she was twelfth in the 100 Yil Rallisi.

She began 2024 in the Clio and was ninth in the Sarikamis Rallisi in February. After that, she teamed up with legendary co-driver Fabrizia Pons, taking on the Turkish championship and also that year's Acropolis Rally. She used a Rally2-spec Skoda Fabia and finished 43rd, after needing to rejoin under SuperRally rules. She drove a Fabia again in Italy, finishing fourth in the Trofeo Masseria Camarda class of the Fiorio Cup with Pietro Elia Ometto. In between, she also drove a Group N Subaru Impreza and a Rally5 Clio in Turkey. She ended the season by retaining her Turkish women's title.

Between 2008 and 2010, Burcu was the highest-ranked female rally driver in the world. As well as her motorsport activities, she also works as a presenter on Turkish television.  

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

Inessa Tushkanova

Inessa in 2015

Inessa Tushkanova is a driver and co-driver from Ukraine, now based in Russia. A quick Google image search for her would suggest that she is one of the models parachuted into motorsport from time to time, in order to promote something or someone. Although Inessa has modelled professionally, she is the real deal as a rally driver.

Inessa took part in various sports as a teenager, and rode a motorcycle from a young age. In 2006, she took her first steps in rallying, driving a Daewoo Sens in Russian club rallies. A couple of months after passing her driving test, the boyfriend of one of her friends was organising one of these rallies. Inessa and her friend Tatiana had the idea of entering as an all-girl team. She won a bronze medal in one of the club championships she entered, which was a good debut, especially since she and Tatiana were excluded from one of their first rallies, after oversleeping and turning up late.

After her small successes in 2006, she started entering bigger rallies as a navigator in 2007. Sitting alongside her fellow Ukrainian driver, Ivan German, she was not successful. She took the wheel herself in 2008, in a Subaru Impreza. Immediately, she impressed in Ukrainian rallies, finishing second in the Rally Boyarka. She also recorded two more top-ten finishes in Stolitsa Cup events: seventh in the Rally Stolitsa and ninth in the Mariupol Rally.

Quieter years followed in 2009 and 2010, although she did manage a sixth in the 2010 Rally Bukovyna, in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. The year before, she had been 24^th in the Bukovyna Rally, in the Impreza.  2010 saw her expand her motorsport repertoire from straight stage rallies, and she was third in class in an ice slalom in Lithuania in 2010.

If 2010 was a quiet year, then 2011 was a busy one for Inessa. She continued to branch out, into circuit racing. Her chosen championship was the Russian Mitjet Cup, a one-make series. She was on the pace very quickly, and won two races that year, at Smolensk, and Kazan in Poland.

Non-motorsport activities placed additional demands on her time. Her modelling career, which she had pursued since her teenage years, took off quite strongly this year. Although she achieved considerable success, she has claimed that she only did it to raise money for her rallying.

Rallying was still very much a priority. She mostly used the Lancer in 2011, and competed quite extensively in the Baltic countries. Her best finish was 18^th, and sixth in class, in the Rally Vilnius in Lithuania. In December, she tried out a Renault Clio for the Babórka Rally in Poland, and was 26^th out of 69 finishers.

Back in the Lancer, this pattern continued in 2012, with her activities concentrated again in the Baltic states, although she also competed in Russia and Poland. Her best finish was fourteenth, in the Russian Rally Masters Show, won by Evgeniy Novikov. She scored another top twenty finish in the Vilnius Rally. While she was in Lithuania, and working with a Lithuanian navigator, Irina Jankovskaya, she competed in some rallysprints at Shirvintos, earning two third places. This year saw her first European Championship event, the Rally Poland, in which she was 29^th, and fourth in class.

In 2013, she initially switched her focus to western Europe, rallying in Finland and Italy, but was let down by car unreliability with the Lancer. She crashed out of the Arctic Rally, and did not finish the Itäralli in Finland, or the Italian Ronde Valtiberina either. After her Western adventure, she went back to a Subaru Impreza for one rally in Russia, the Rally Masters Show, in which she was 18^th. The rest of the season was spent in the Russia Cup, driving a VW Polo. Her best result was tenth, in the Rally Gornuy Vershiniy. At some point this year, she also won a Time Attack event at Zandvoort, in the Netherlands.

In 2014, she competed mainly across Eastern Europe, with mixed results. She was excluded from the Rally of Estonia, and did not finish the Barum Rally, due to a crash. Her best finish was a 26th, in the Tarttu Rally, in Estonia. She scored two points in the ERC Production Cup. This year, she won her first European Ladies’ Cup, in the Rally Liepāja in Latvia.

She won another ERC Ladies’ Cup in 2015, again in the Liepāja Rally. She was 39^th overall. This year, she was entered in the ERC2 class, and the Liepāja event gave her a ninth place in ERC2. This was her second rally of the year, after the Halls Winter Rally in Lithuania, which was not part of the ERC. She was sixth overall, the best result of her season. A run in the Pohjanmaa Rally in Finland gave her a 62^nd place, but after that, her season started to go wrong. She crashed out of her first Circuit of Ireland, then did not finish the Harju Rally in Estonia, and Rally Estonia itself. She was set to change her Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX for a Renault Clio, for the Acropolis Rally, but this does not appear to have happened, and she did not rally in Greece.. She was third in the ERC Ladies’ Trophy.

2016 was a very quiet year in contrast. She drove a Lada Kalina in the St Petersburg Rally, but did not finish. Other than that, she remained very much under the radar.

After a year out, she came back to the stages in 2018 as co-driver to Burcu Cetinkaya for Rally Turkey. She had previously sat alongside Evgeny Novikov for the Rally Masters Show in a Quattro.

Despite Ukraine being at war with Russia in 2023, Inessa managed to compete a little in Italy. She was second in a women's race at the Adriatic Champions event, driving a Skoda Fabia. In October, she entered the Terra Sarda rally in the same car, but only got to the finish thanks to SuperRally regulations and was not classified.

Inessa intends to continue in rallying. 

(Image from www.drive.net)

Ekaterina Stratieva

Ekaterina at the 2014 Acropolis Rally

Ekaterina Stratieva is a Bulgarian driver who competes in the European Rally Championship (ERC). She has won two European Ladies’ Championships.

Her family were motorsport fans, and she was a spectator at the circuits from a young age. When she was 21, she took her first steps towards a competition career of her own, starting with hillclimbs and club circuit racing in a Suzuki Swift. She began rallying in 2006, at the age of 24, driving a Citroen Saxo in Bulgarian events. This was a brave step, and Ekaterina claims herself that being “Bulgarian and blonde” is not an ideal start to an international rally career. Not one to shy away from a challenge, one of her first rallies was the Rally of Bulgaria itself, then a European championship round. She was 25^th, and third in class. Her best result came from the Rally Victory Sofia, in which she was 22^nd, fifth in class. As well as rallies, she spent some time competing in hillclimbs in Bulgaria, winning a class championship. She used her rally car.

Her second year of rally competition, 2007, was spent in the Bulgarian championship. The Saxo was run all year by Astra Racing. Ekaterina steadily improved her rally performances, and had five top-twenty finishes. The best of these was thirteenth in the YU Rally, which was part of the Bulgarian championship, despite being held in Serbia. In the Rally Bulgaria, she was the winner of class N2, and was 24^th. Her first rally outside the Bulgarian championship, the Saturnus Rally in Slovenia, ended in a retirement on the first stage. She was 21^st in the Bulgarian championship. Away from rallying, she won another class championship in the Saxo, in the Bulgarian hillclimb championship.

In 2008, she drove a Citroen C2 R2 in rallies the Bulgarian championship. This year, she did not finish as many rallies as previously, but her final positions kept improving. She scored the first top-ten of her career, a sixth place in the Victory Rally Sofia, then followed it up with a tenth place in the Rally Tvardica, at the end of the season. Her performances were enough to get her a Pirelli Star award, which gained her entry to the ERC rounds in Italy, Croatia and Bulgaria for 2009.

She ran quite well in her three Pirelli Star rallies: she was 45^th in the Mille Miglia in Italy, 19^th in Croatia (with a class second) and 20^th in the Rally of Bulgaria itself. Her year was more international than ever before, with an entry into the Barum Czech Rally as well as the Bulgarian championship. She was 52^nd in the Czech Rally. The Bulgarian championship was a happier hunting ground; she was tenth in the Serbia Rally, and won class A6 in the Trayanovi Vrata and Vida rallies. Her finishing positions were twelfth and thirteenth respectively. She was second in class in the Bulgarian championship, and was never out of the top twenty.

Despite her partnership with her long-term co-driver, Rumen Manolov, ending after the 2009 season, Ekaterina continued to improve in 2010. She began the year with two gravel rallies in Greece, the Halkidiki Rallysprint and the Rally Thermaikou, finishing a competent thirteenth and 19^th. A rare mechanical fault put her and the Citroen out of the Serbia Rally, then she was excluded from the Rally of Bulgaria, for a technical infringement. A somewhat disappointing Czech Rally and another retirement, from the Rally Sliven, then gave way to two top-ten finishes. She was eighth in the Rally Tvardica, and then fourth in the Hebros Rally, with a class win. This was enough to score her a second in class for the championship.

2011 was very international in nature for Ekaterina. She spent quite a lot of time competing in Romania. Her best finishes were two 22^nd places, in the Clujului and Iaşului rallies. Elsewhere, she managed a class win in the Croatia Rally, finishing 18^th overall, and a sixth in the Rally Tvardica. Her 19^th place in the Yalta Rally in the Ukraine, an IRC event, gave her a class second. At the end of the year, she was second in class in the Romanian championship, and was also named their female driver of the year. She also gained a new navigator, Carmen Poenaru, who is also Romanian. Their first rally together was the Rallye du Var in France, in which they were 91^st, in the Citroen.

In 2012, her season was split between the Eastern European and western European rallies, in the C2. She entered five rounds of the IRC, in the Canary Islands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Ukraine. Her best finish was eighth, in the Yalta Rally. She was also eleventh in the Rally Sliven, the Bulgarian round. Rally Bulgaria itself, an ERC round this year, gave her a ninth place, second in class. She was tenth in the Sredna Gora Rally, and won her class. That year, she also rallied in Romania and Switzerland, although she did not finish the Rallye du Valais. She was third in the Bulgarian championship, third in the 2WD class of the ERC (sixth overall), and won their unofficial Coupe des Dames. Her performances in international rallies earned her the Richard Burns Award.

2013 was a mixed year. She entered rallies across Europe, with two eighteenth positions, in the Hebros Rally and the Açores City Rally Show, her best finishes. She was also 21st in the Tour de Corse, part of that year’s ERC. A couple of accidents, in the SATA Rallye Açores and the Sibiu Rally Romania, may have knocked her confidence. She was not quite on form, and lost her European Ladies’ crown to the Australian, Molly Taylor.

Her 2014 schedule was similar, taking in the European Rally Trophy, including the Açores, Ypres and Czech Barum Rallies. Her best result was 22nd, in the Acropolis Rally. She was 38th in the ERC Production Cup. Of interest this year were two drives in a Subaru Impreza, in the Acropolis Rally and the Rally Liepāja, in Latvia. She finished the Acropolis Rally in 22^nd, but the engine failed in Latvia. She spent the rest of the season in her trusty Citroen C2. One consolation was her first official ERC Ladies’ Trophy.

Her 2015 season continued in the same vein. She had a shorter schedule, and was committed to ERC rallies. Her co-driver this year was Julianna Nyírfás, from Hungary, a highly-experienced ERC navigator. Her best finish was 27^th, in the Circuit of Ireland, and she was also 28^th in the Brasov Rally in Romania. As before, she mainly stuck with the C2, but experimented with bigger cars. She drove the Impreza again in the Bosphorus Rally, but did not finish. A drive in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX in the Barum Czech Rally gave her a 48^th place, which was not spectacular, but enough to net her another Coupe des Dames. She ended the season as the Ladies’ champion once more.

In 2016, she did not defend her ERC Ladies' title. She competed less than before, around Europe, although she did pick up an ERC Coupe des Dames in the Barum Rally, in a C2. She was 57th overall. 

2017 looked quite similar. She drove the C2 in some Balkan rallies, and picked up a few ERC Ladies' points via her participation in the Barum Czech Rally Zlin. Her best finish was fourteenth in the Rally Sliven, a Bulgarian rally.

She only did one major rally in 2018, the Barum event. Her car was a Hyundai i20 and she finished in 65th place. She was one of six female drivers contesting the rally.

Despite a relatively short rally schedule in 2019, Ekaterina regained her ERC Ladies' title in 2019. She drove a Peugeot 208 R2 and had a best ERC finish of 28th on Rally Hungary, third in the ERC3 class.

Away from the ERC, she entered the Ihtiman Rallysprint in Bulgaria and was seventh overall.

The ERC had a short season in 2020 due to the coronavirus crisis. Ekaterina only entered the Iberian rounds, driving the 208. She was 52nd in the Rally Islas Canarias but did not finish the Fafe Montelongo Rally due to mechanical problems. In Bulgaria, she was fifth in the Dryanovo Rallysprint and ninth in the Rally Tvarditsa-Elena. This was a good outcome for a year that started late, with a crash in the Serbian Rally Zlatibor.

Most of 2021 was spent rallying in and around Bulgaria and she did especially well in rallysprints, taking the Peugeot to fourth in the Dryanovo sprint and fifth in the Rallysprint Peshtera. In the Bulgarian championship, she was eighth in the Rally Stari Stolici and thirteenth in the International Rally Bulgaria. This came after a 17th place in the Evofone ESOK Rally in Turkey. 

She entered two ERC events, the first of these being the Barum Czech Rally Zlin, in which she was 66th. A one-off drive in the Rally Islas Canarias in an Opel Corsa Rally4 finished early when the car lost a wheel.

Eastern and central Europe were the focus of her 2022 activities in the Corsa. She did particularly well in Serbia, finishing fourth in the Valjevski Rally and fifth in the Rally Mionica. At home, she was fourth in the Pamporovo Rallysprint.

She mainly stuck to Bulgarian rallies again in 2023, with the Pamporovo event being her best one again: she was fourth. She was also fifth in the Rally Tvarditsa and sixth in the Rally of Bulgaria. These were among five top tens she achieved during the year. Elsewhere, she did some rallies in Romanian and one day of the Fthiotidos Rally in Greece, in which she was tenth. She was seventh overall in the Bulgarian championship.

In 2024, she had another go at the European championship, competing in Spain, Italy, Austria and Czechia, usually in an Opel Corsa, although she used a Peugeot 208 in the Canary Islands. She had her share of trouble, including a broken driveshaft in the Canary Islands and a medical emergency in Barum Czech Rally Zlin, but she also managed an 18th place in Austria's Rallye Weiz. Away from the European series, she did several more rallies in Greece, securing a best finish of seventh in the Rallye Kentavros. 

(Image from http://2014.acropolisrally.gr/)