Arianna Casoli

Arianna Casoli races in the Whelen Euro NASCAR series. The Italian is the most prolific female driver in the championship and is one of its longest-standing competitors.

It was in 2016 that she first strapped herself into a stock car, aged 42. She raced in the Elite 2 development class and her car was a Ford, one of the championship's stock bodies. Her best finish was 15th, at Adria, and she was 19th in the championship, although she was that year’s top lady driver. Prior to her first races, she had only done a little testing in a car that was the most powerful and heaviest thing she had ever driven.

She fared better at the wheel of a CAAL Racing Chevrolet in 2017, almost getting into the top ten at Venray. She was 15th overall that year.

Another season in Elite 2 in 2018 gave her a championship 17th. She improved this to 15th in 2019, with a best finish of twelfth at Zolder.

An accident in 2020 threatened to end her Euro NASCAR adventure, but she completed the four-round championship, finishing tenth with a best finish of fifth at Zolder.

A full championship ran in 2021, with Arianna in the EuroNASCAR2 class. She was 18th in the championship, with one top-ten finish, a tenth place at Most.

She did a part-season in the same class in 2022, with a best finish of 17th at Brands Hatch. This was repeated in 2023.

Another EuroNASCAR season in 2024 ended with a trip to Brazil for the final rounds of the NASCAR Brazil series.

Prior to 2016, she raced in a number of one-make series in Italy, including the Saxo and MGF Cups, beginning in 1996, when she was 22. Her first car was a Renault Clio. This stopped in 2002 so she could finish her education and have children. She began racing seriously again in 2015 in the SEAT Ibiza Cup in Italy, having made a guest appearance in 2013 with her friend Valentina Albanese.

(Image copyright @suomi1985)

Nathalie Maillet

 

Nathalie Maillet was a successful club racer from the 2000s onwards, as well as becoming the chief executive of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

She only earned her racing license aged 33, in 2004. When she was younger, she concentrated on her growing career as an architect. Despite growing up in a motorsport-oriented family, she never got to compete herself as a teenager and then her studies took over.

Success came fairly quickly. She was the 2006 Belgian VW Fun Cup champion and also won that year's Fun Cup 25 Hour race. 

She won a second Fun Cup 25 Hours with the Dubois Racing team in 2008. The same team, comprising Nathalie, Ronnie Dubois and Benoit de Keijser, entered some Belgian Touring Car rounds, with midfield results. 

The same team raced an Audi A4 silhouette in the BTCS in 2009 and 2010, and won at least one round. They won the Spa 12 Hours in 2009. In 2011, Nathalie used the same car in the BTCS for three races. 

In 2012, she contested the Euro RACECAR series, a European version of NASCAR. She was twelfth overall with one top-ten finish: eighth at Spa. 

RACECAR became the NASCAR Whelen Euroseries in 2013. Nathalie was twelfth overall again, with two eleventh places. In 2014, she drove a Toyota Camry in the Euroseries and had a best finish of sixth, achieved at the Nürburgring and Le Mans. She was twelfth in the Elite 2 category. 

She did not race in 2015, although she continued to be involved through management. This had begun with the Racing Club Partners team in the Euroseries. She was also the organiser of the American Festival Finals event.

In 2016, she was named as the new director of Spa-Francorchamps. 

Nathalie was from France but lived and worked in Belgium. She was murdered at home in August 2021 by her former husband Franz Dubois. She was 51.

(Image copyright Euro NASCAR)

Carole Perrin

Carole Perrin is a former single-seater racer from France who has competed most recently in stock car racing in Europe. She was nicknamed “Pink Panther” due to her preference for pink cars.

Her first senior experience after three karting titles was when she tried ice racing in the 2004-05 Andros Trophy, and was third in the Trophée Féminin. She was 18 and also managed to earn the “Ice Girls” rookie award.

She tried to enter Formula Ford in 2006, but the championship was cancelled. Switching abruptly to tin-tops, she found a seat in the Clio Cup in France. Her season lasted four races before she was sidelined by a heavy crash at the Pau street circuit.

She returned to the scene in 2008, in the Formula Academy Euroseries, another single-seater series based on the cars previously used in Formula Campus. Her best finish was 12th at Spa.

She first raced a NASCAR-style stock car in the Racecar series in France in 2009, finishing third once at Albi. She was 16th overall in the championship but ran well in the Open class, scoring wins at Albi and Lédenon. Her final class position was fifth.

In 2010, she continued in Racecar, now running as the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. She finished fifth in the championship, this time in the Elite class. Her best finishes were a third at Le Mans and fourth at Lédenon.

Driving a Chevrolet Monte Carlo in Euro NASCAR in 2011, she scored her first win at Motorland Aragon, as well as a fastest lap. The series had official FIA backing this year. She did not complete the season, and was only 17th overall.

Carole stayed in the Euro NASCAR Elite class for the following season, driving a Chevrolet Camaro. She was 16th overall, with one podium finish: a third at Spa. Her other top-ten finish was an eighth place at Nogaro. A single Open class race at Brands Hatch in May gave her an outright win. As well as her on-track results, she gained some attention for her “Pink Panther”- themed art car, designed by French painter Didier Chamizo.

In 2013, she ran a limited programme in Euro NASCAR, in the Elite class. Her best finish was fifth, having started from a lowly 19th place. One of her team-mates at Autosport 42 was French rallycross driver Caty Caly.

She struggled for sponsorship in 2014 and tried to use crowdfunding to secure a race seat. She made a guest appearance at the Loire meeting of Euro NASCAR and finished one race, in 20th place.

Her sponsorship position was better in 2015; she took part in the whole Whelen NASCAR Euro series, in the Elite 2 class. Her best finish was sixth, at Zolder, one of four top-ten finishes. She was tenth overall. Despite doing quite well in 2015, she did not have enough sponsorship to race in 2016. She had been supported by the town of St Etienne itself, but they pulled out.

She has been absent from the circuits since then.

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

Francesca Linossi

Francesca with her Ford Mustang

Francesca Linossi is a versatile Italian racer, active since the age of 16. She is from Brescia.

Her senior career began in 2007. Following several years of karting, she drove in four rounds of the Citroen C1 Cup, the youngest competitor to do so in Italian saloon racing history.

Unsatisfied with the little C1, she moved up to the Italian Touring Car Endurance Championship, in a BMW 120d, the following year. She was driving for Team Millennium with Stefania Grassetto. This earned her a third place in the diesel class. She also raced in the Porsche Cayman Cup, and was the youngest driver in Italian history to drive a 2000cc+ car.

By then, she was gravitating towards GT racing, and she raced in the Coppa Shell Ferrari Challenge in 2009. She was a solid eighth in the championship.

Ever-keen to advance, she drove another  Ferrari 430 in the Italian GT Cup in 2010, and scored her first podium places, a third and a second at Vallelunga. She also managed a fifth at Misano. The rest of her season was rather up and down, with several DNFs, and she was 21st overall. This year, she drove some races against her father, Luciano Linossi, who was racing a Lamborghini. They also teamed up for one round, at Mugello, but did not finish.

In 2011, she retained some involvement with the GT Cup, driving the Ferrari in the GT2 class this time, but she only did two races. These both resulted in class wins, and she was fifth in the championship. This was largely down to her third place overall at Mugello. Her co-driver was her father, Luciano.

However, apart from some guest runs in the Lamborghini Pro-Am Trophy, which did not result in many points, her focus this year was touring cars, once more. She raced in the Superstars championship in a BMW M3, which proved rather difficult, and her best finishes were a pair of elevenths, at Algarve and Misano. She was unplaced in both the International and the Italian championships.

Not surprisingly, she did not return in 2012, instead competing in a familiar Ferrari F430 run by Black Team. She was racing in the International GT Sprint Series, in which she was seventh, after nine races. Her best result was fourth, at her favoured circuit of Mugello.

In addition to this, she did a part-season in the MINI Rushour series, and was tenth.

Having found a tin-top she liked, she ran in all twelve Italian Mini Challenge races in 2013. It was a good career move, which saw her recording her first win, at Red Bull Ring, and four further top-three finishes, at Mugello, Franciacorta, Imola and Monza. She was fourth in the final standings.

In 2014, she raced in the NASCAR Whelen Euroseries, in a Chevrolet stock car. Her best finish was eighth, at the Nürburgring, and she was 20th overall. This was mainly down to a shaky start to the season; she had to miss one of the early races at Valencia, after a DNF, and then did not finish round three at Brands Hatch, either. She picked up speed shortly after.

Later in the year, she made an appearance in the EuroV8 Series in Germany, driving a BMW M3. She was substituting for Maurizio Copetti, and was tenth at the Sachsenring.

Most of 2015 was spent on a second season in the NASCAR Whelen Series, in the Elite 2 class. A more assured Francesca managed five top-ten finishes, the best of these being a seventh, at Brands Hatch. She was ninth overall in her Ford Mustang.

Early in the season, she also took part in the Mugello 12 Hours in a Porsche 911, but did not finish. She was driving for the Dinamic team, with Niccolo Mercatali, Tiziano Cappelletti and Alex de Giacomi, all from Italy.

In 2016, she moved away from stock cars again, and back to the Italian GT championship. In another departure, her car was not a Ferrari, but a Nissan GT-R Nismo, which she raced in the Super GT3 class with Lorenzo Bontempelli. Her best finish was a fourth place, at Misano, and she earned another top-five place, a fifth, at Monza. She was thirteenth in the championship, partly due to missing the last four rounds.

In addition to Italian GTs, Francesca did three races in the Italian Porsche Carrera Cup. She finished two of them, and was tenth at Mugello.

A second Carrera Cup season followed in 2017, driving for Dinamic Motorsport. A second place at Mugello mid-season really gave Francesca the push she needed to make an impression. During the second half of the season, she had five more top-ten finishes and started a race at Mugello from pole. She was seventh in the championship.

Moving from one one-make sportscar series to another, she contested the Pro-Am class of the European Lamborghini Super Trofeo in 2018. She earned third places at Vallelunga and Silverstone. At the end of the season, she was ninth and sixth in the two World Final races at Vallelunga.

She was one of the original 55 drivers who were assessed for the all-female W Series, but she did not make the final 20 and forewent a reserve role in order to "pursue other activities". These activities centred on the Italian GT Champiponship, which proved a good move. She won the Pro-Am GT3 Endurance title in a Merecedes-AMG GT3, with one win at Mugello and three seconds. She was third overall at Mugello and was in the top five in the other three races.

Motor racing worldwide was affected by the coronavirus crisis in 2020, but Francesca managed a guest spot in the Italian GT championship, driving a Mercedes GT3 for AKM Motorsport. She was seventh at Mugello.

Another season in the Italian GT championship gave her a GT Cup class win. Driving a Ferrari 488, she won three races at Monza, Imola and Mugello, with a second place in the second Mugello race. Her team-mate was Swedish Daniel Vebster.

She started off the 2022 Italian GT championship, starting in the Sprint category in a Porsche 991. This was a slightly disappointing season, with a seventh place at Misano its highlight. For the final race of the season, she switched over to Endurance in a Mercedes-AMG run by Antonelli Motorsport. She and her Dutch and Italian team-mates kept pushing back after issues caused by changing weather conditions, finally finishing sixth in their class.

(Image from http://www.bresciaoggi.it/)

Stock Car Racing Outside the USA

Carole Perrin

This post is about women drivers racing stock cars outside of the USA, in NASCAR-style series and in Pickup Truck races. These have been a feature of South and Central American racing for many years. Mara Reyes now has her own profile, like Gisela Ponce and Arianna Casoli. More recently, a European NASCAR series has been successfully launched, after a British version did not take off.

Luli del Castello - races in the Euro NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. Her career in stock cars began in 2022, when she signed for Caal Racing’s EuroNASCAR2 seat. So far, her best finish has been a 15th place at Brands Hatch, driving the team’s Chevrolet Camaro. In 2024, she returned to the series for a part-season, with a best finish of fourteenth at Oschersleben. Previously, she raced sportscars and tin-tops in Italy. In 2021, this included some races in the BMW M2 CS Racing Cup, sharing the car with Francesco Malavasi for the first round. In 2019 and 2020, she raced in the Supercars Series, in a Chevrolet Corvette.

Michaela Dorcikova  - Slovak driver who raced in the Whelen Euro NASCAR Series in 2019. She entered the Hockenheim rounds with Alex Caffi Racing, in the Elite 1 division. She was taken out by another driver in the second race, having finished 17th and fourth in class in the first. In 2021 she made two more guest appearances, racing a Ford Mustang at Most. She was thirteenth and 16th in her two events. Her racing background is autoslalom, in which she has won championships, and karting, with some touring car races in Slovakia. She competed in drifting in the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games after a long lay-off due to injury, before coming back to EuroNASCAR in the Pro class, for a part season. Her car was a Mustang and her best finish was thirteenth at Most. In 2024, she won Slovakia's first gold medal at the FIA Motorsport Games, winning the Auto Slalom event with David Nemcek. She is the team manager for LMP2 outfit ARC Bratislava.

Nancy Gutierrez - began racing seriously in 2015, in the NASCAR Mexico Pro Series. During the season, she and her brother, Manuel, were both reprimanded by the authorities, although Nancy’s rebuke was for verbally abusing officials, rather than on-track conduct. She had a best finish of seventh, at Mexico City, and was sixteenth in the championship. She was the only woman taking part. In 2016, she entered the V6 Championship in Mexico, but only appears to have raced once, at Guadalajara. She was ninth.

Shantel Kalika - Canadian driver who competes in NASCAR. She first started in the Pinty’s Series in 2018, starting three races in Canada driving a Dodge. She scored two fourteenth and one fifteenth place. In 2019, she entered the series again and scored one twelfth place at Jukasa Motor Speedway, during the APC 200. This was one of five races she did in the series that year, although she did not finish two due to excessive vibrations in her car. She has been racing since 2010 in club-level events, mainly driving trucks, and won a title in 2016. Her family is involved in motorsport.

Alina Loibnegger - Austrian driver who races in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series championship. She made her first starts in the EuroNASCAR2 class in 2021, driving a Chevrolet Camaro for the Solaris team. Her best result so far has been a 16th place at Valencia, right at the start of the season. Im 2022, she equalled this at Brands Hatch. In 2023, she signed up for NASCAR2 again, but ended up doing a part season in the Pro class. Her best finishes in her Camaro were two 17th places at Vallelunga and Valencia. She first drove a stock car in the 2019 Club Challenge attached to the Euroseries. This is a series of speed trials rather than wheel-to-wheel races. She scored at least one second place.

Ana (Cecília) Mello - raced in the Stock Paulista championship from 2005 onwards, alongside her sister, Maria Izabel. They shared a car in their first year, but competed against each other after that. She continued to race in the championship until at least 2009. Her best result seems to be a win in the Light category in 2008, driving a Chevrolet Omega. In 2006, she drove an Omega with her sister in the Mil Milhas, finishing 17th. Her other results have proved hard to find, although she was usually strong in the Light class.

Maria Izabel Mello - sister of Ana Mello, who began racing at the same time. She raced her own car from 2006 onwards, although she and Ana were often in the same team. “Bel” seems to have been slightly less competitive than Ana, although she did have the upper hand on her in the 2006 Stock Paulista championship, finishing third in the Light championship to Ana’s fifth. She drove in the 2006 mil Milhas in a Chevrolet Omega, with Ana, Carlos Tigueis Batista and Leandro Mussio. They were 17th overall.

Maria Cristina Moreira - native of Rio de Janeiro who raced in Brazil in the 2000s, mainly in one-make series. In 2001, she participated in the Brazilian Women’s Ford Fiesta Championship, but was not among the front-runners. In 2002, she had a decent season in Pick Up racing (the Fiesta series toured with Pick Ups in 2001), and was eighth in the championship. She also raced in the Renault Clio Cup for at least some of its rounds in 2004, and finished fifteenth, from 25th on the grid, at Autodromo Nelson Piquet. Later, in 2006, she made some appearances in Stock Car racing, in a Yamaha-engined car. She was 16th overall. 

Fernanda Parra - started racing in 2004, in a Chevrolet Omega, in São Paulo. She was 16th in the Light class. The following year, she did her first Mil Milhas race, in the Omega, and was 38th. One of her team-mates was her father, Fernando. In 2006, she raced in the Light class of Brazilian Stock Cars, in a Chevrolet Astra this time. She was 23rd. That year, she also tried sportscar racing, and did four rounds of the Brazilian Trofeo Maserati, finishing fifteenth. A second visit to the Mil Milhas, with Fernando, gave her thirteenth overall, in the Omega again. Her third season of Stock Cars gave her a 36th place, in the Astra, and in 2008, she switched to Pickup racing. She was 18th in the championship after five races. Her last definite major appearance seems to have been one Stock Car race in 2008, where she drove a Mitsubishi Lancer. She may have raced Pickups in 2009, but no results are forthcoming.

Gabriela Prado – Brazilian driver who raced in the Whelen NASCAR Euro Series in 2015. Her car was a Chevrolet. Brands Hatch was her best circuit, and she was fifteenth in one of her races there. She was fifteenth in the championship. 2015 was her first season of car racing, although she had previously done some karting. She also competes in surfing.

Estefania Reyes - NASCAR racer from Mexico. She has been competing in Mexican stock cars since 2007, using a MotorSpeed Dodge. In 2008, she was 28th in the championship after completing ten races. Her best finish was thirteenth, at Queretaro. She was sponsored by Mattel's Barbie in 2007. Previously, she raced single-seaters in Mexico and was a front-runner in the 1600cc class in 2006. She is one of the youngest recorded female racing drivers, having made her debut at fifteen. She sat out the 2009 season after being injured in a road traffic accident, and returned to NASCAR Mexico in 2010, towards the end of the season. She continued in 2011, but only managed four races and struggled with qualification.

Isabelle Tremblay – raced stock cars in Canada between 2009 and 2013. She began her career in 2008, racing on short ovals, and became the first woman to win a race at the St-Eustache Autodrome. In 2009, she took her first steps in the ACT Castrol Series, with a part-season. In 2010, she did four races in the NASCAR Canadian Tyres Series, in a Ford, with a best finish of 20^th, at Toronto. She did better in regional Sportsman races, finishing ninth in her championship. In 2011, she ran an expanded NASCAR programme, and her results improved, the best being an eighth place, at Mosport. If her finishing record had been better, she would have finished higher than twelfth in the championship, and could have won the Rookie title. That year, she also tried some single-seater racing, and won once in class in a Formula Ford race at Montreal. In 2012, it was back to NASCAR, in a Dodge this time, but she only took part in six races, finishing four of them. The best of these were two tenth places. She returned in 2013, but only for one round, at Trois- Riviéres. She was 20^th. Away from motorsport, Isabelle is a radio presenter.

Vanessa Vorcaro - races historic stock cars in her native Brazil. Her car is an Opala 250 and she has been racing in the Old Stock championship since at least 2018. So far, her results have not been the most impressive and she was disqualified at least once in 2018. Her best finish seems to have been a 15th place at Interlagos in February 2019. She narrowly avoided an accident on a bend in the second race.

Kelly-Jayne Wells - front-runner in Pickup Truck racing in the UK. She has been in Pickups since 2004 and scored outright wins in 2005, 2006 and 2007, in both the Rockingham and UK championships. This is in addition to many top-five places, including a third in her first season. She has won four times overall. Her best championship finish is fourth in the Rockingham series and seventh in the overall championship. Previously, she raced on short ovals from a young age. She also drove a Eurobrun F1 car for a EuroBOSS press day, but did not actually compete. A lack of funding hindered her participation in 2008, but she found a race seat with Hodgson Motorsport for 2009. She drove in the first three meetings, with a best finish of fourth.

(Image from www.julietonelli.com)