Emma Kimilainen

Emma Kimilainen (Liuski) is single-seater and touring car driver from Finland.

The early part of her career was spent in single-seaters, after beginning karting at the age of three. She first raced cars in 2005, in Finnish Formula Ford, coming second overall and winning a string of rookie awards.

As well as the Finnish title, she was also fifth in the Northern Europe Formula Ford Championship, and did some races in the Swedish series.

She missed out on a Finnish Formula Ford title in 2006, finishing second again, and it was an even more close-fought thing in the NEZ series. Emma was tied for points with Sami Isohella of Finland at the end of the season, but he edged her out with five wins to her four.

In 2007, she switched to sportscars and was consistently in the top three in Swedish Formula Radical. Her three wins were enough to cement her third place in the championship, as well as a runner-up spot in the National class. She was supported by Swedish ex-Formula 1 driver Stefan Johansson.

She competed in German Formula ADAC in 2008, after undertaking a DTM test during the off-season for Audi. The German marque supported her in this after she was unable to get a DTM race seat.

Her overall result was tenth, with a single podium finish: a second place at Assen. Most of her finishes were in the top ten and she out-performed her Van Amersfoort Racing team-mate, Marcus Eriksson. Daniel Abt was another of her rivals.

In 2009, she travelled to the UK to race in Formula Palmer Audi, after a successful test. She was the series' fastest female driver, with two seconds and two thirds, and a fifth place overall. This came after a difficult start at Brands Hatch, the only time she finished out of the top ten. She was racing against Felix Rosenqvist, Josef Newgarden and Maria de Villota.   

She was set to return in 2010, but does not appear to have raced, although she did test for the Charouz AutoGP team.

She was not involved with motorsport for a long time after that. Partly this was due to the ever-present sponsorship problem, but she used her time away to finish her education, get married and become a mother. The result was a degree in chemistry and two daughters. She was also briefly involved in politics in Finland.

She came back to motorsport in 2014, driving a Saab 9-3 in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship. She had an eventful season, crashing into Prince Carl Philip of Sweden in her first race, at Knutstorp, then crashing again, at Göteborg. One high point was a second place at Falkenberg, and she did manage some other top tens. She was eleventh overall, admitting herself that she was out of practice.

A second season in Scandinavian Touring Cars ran more smoothly, with a more consistent Emma finishing seventh overall. Her best finish was third, achieved at Mantorp Park and Anderstorp. She earned four more top-five positions and only had one DNF all season.

She raced a SEAT Leon in the 2016 STCC, but unreliability problems struck. Her best finish was a sixth place at Anderstorp. After the tenth race, she left the championship abruptly due to issues out of her control, leaving her in eleventh place. She had already missed another round earlier in the season.

For 2017, she announced that she would be taking part in a new electric racing initiative, Electric GT: this did not come together in time.

Instead, she drove a thirsty Ford Mustang in Thundercars, in Sweden and Finland. She won two of her six races in Finland, and finished the rest on the podium. She earned one podium in the Swedish series; a second at Ahvenisto.

Emma was set to race a Tesla P1000D in Electric GTs from late 2018, but it is unclear whether this happened. She did not race much at all that year.

In January 2019, she made the cut for the female-only W Series, hoping to resurrect her single-seater career. Her season was one of contrasts; she was punted off by Megan Gilkes in the opening race and later had to sit out a round due to delayed concussion, but she got stronger as the season went on, winning at Assen and finishing second at Brands Hatch. She was fourth in the championship.

The cancellation of W Series for 2020 meant that she did not race. In December, she spoke candidly on a Finnish-language podcast about the obstacles she had faced during her career and told the interviewer that she had had interest from an Indy Lights team in 2010. This team's main sponsor was a men's magazine and part of the deal for Emma was that she would have to pose topless for the magazine. She declined.

She returned to W Series in 2021 and picked up another win at Spa, mid-season. A pole position in the next race at Zandvoort could not be converted to a win and she had to settle for third. Having finished on the podium in five of the eight races, she was third overall.

She did not do as well in the 2022 W Series and did not repear her win, although she did manage a second place at Silverstone and was mostly a top-ten finisher. Her final championship position was eighth.

There was no W Series in 2023 due to its financial collapse into administration and Emma did not race. She was announced in January 2024 as one of Team Brady's pilots for the E1 electric powerboat racing series. She and her co-pilot Sam Coleman went on to win the championship.

(Image copyright Yle/Mikael Oivo)

Female Single-Seater Drivers Around the World: Finland

Emma Kimilainen

Sanna Pinola  and Milla Makela now have their own posts. 

Pinja Forsman – raced in Formula Ford in 2010. She was driving for the Söderman team. Her best overall finish was sixth, at Alastaro. She was eleventh in the final championship standings, and fifth in the Zetec-engined class. Her race programme also included two North European Zone Formula Ford Cup races, which gave her 19^th in that championship. After 2010, she does not seem to have raced again. 

Laura Koivoluoma - former karter in Europe, who also did some single-seater racing. In 2007, she drove for the Pekka Saarinen team for two rounds of the Asian Formula Renault Challenge. After a few more years of karting, she entered the Finnish  Formula Ford Junior Championship in 2011. She was seventh overall. In summer 2012, she announced her retirement from motorsport, at the age of 24, for reasons never fully explained.

Netta Pekkala – former karter who raced in the 2014 Formula Ford championship. Despite being only fifteen years old, she already had ten years of karting experience, plus some Formula Ford testing, undertaken in 2013. Her best finishes in 2014 were two fifth places, at Ahvenisto and Alastaro, and she was seventh in the championship, winning the Zetec class from three other drivers. This class win was her objective for the year, and she hoped to make an attempt at the outright championship in 2015. Unfortunately, she does not seem to have raced in 2015. She now races snowmobiles.

(Image from http://pwrracingteam.com/)

Female Single-Seater Drivers Around the World: Scandinavia and the Baltic countries

Christina Nielsen

For Finnish single-seater drivers, click here.

Nathalie Abrahamsson - Swedish single-seater racer. She competed in the Swedish and North Europe Zone Formula Ford championships from 2005 to 2007, and the Finnish championship in 2006 and 2007. Her best overall finish was fifth, in the 2007 Swedish series. She secured one fastest lap. As early as 2005, she was finishing in the top ten in Sweden, but she did not manage to break into the podium positions. She does not appear to have raced since the end of the 2007 season, and now works as a motorsport journalist.

Ayla Ågren – Swedish/Norwegian driver who races in the USA. She won the US F1600 championship in 2014, after taking three wins and five podium positions. This was her second season in F1600, having finished fourth in the series in 2013. 2013 was only her second season as a senior racer, having graduated from karting in Scandinavia at the end of 2011. Like many single-seater racers in the States, she began in the Skip Barber championships. In recent years, she has not done quite so much active racing, but has been involved with the Mazda Road to Indy training programme, in the hope of getting onto the oval racing ladder. To this end, she took part in the Cooper Tires USF2000 series, for a part-season. She was 17th overall, with a best finish of seventh at Indianapolis. It was her third season in the championship. In 2019, she attempted to qualify for the W Series but was unsuccessful at the first selection. Despite expressing some misgivings about the event, she tested again at the end of the year and was accepted for 2020. The 2020 season was deferred until 2021, but she took her seat and finished 17th overall. This was not helped by missing the Spa race due to a crash, but her best finish was only ninth at Circuit of the Americas and she may not be invited back in 2021. At the start of the season, she also drove at Duqueine prototype in the Le Mans Cup, finishing 19th in her class at Paul Ricard. She continued as a reserve driver in W Series in 2022, making one appearance for the Puma team at Singapore, substituting for the injured Tereza Babickova. She was 16th. 

Alexia Danielsson - Swedish driver who began her senior career in 2022, aged fourteen. She raced in Formula Aquila 1000 Sweden, finishing seventh overall. The following year, she was seventh again, but did score her first podium position in the championship. This was a third place at Mitsverigebanan. Her 2024 Aquila season was very similar, although her third place came at Kinnekulle this time. She combined Aquila with the Nordic 4 (Danish F4) championship in 2024, finishing tenth overall. Her best race was at Padborg, where she was fifth. 

Mille Villads Hoe - Danish driver who races in the Danish F4 championship. She competes in the F5 class, which uses a Mygale Formula Ford chassis. 2021 is her third year in the series, which was originally called “F4 Light”. She scored five F5 podium finishes in 2019, and was ninth in the F4 championship. She was thirteenth in F4 during the shortened 2020 season, with a sixth place in F5. Her best finish was fourth at Djursland. She was eighth in Danish F4 in 2021 and fourth in the F5 class, with several class podiums. She won five F5 races in 2022, all at Padborg. She began 2023 in the F4 class, finishing fifth at Padborg during the first meeting, but moved into F5 for the rest of the season. She scored a few more top tens and was ninth in the championship. Still in F5, she was eleventh in 2024, normally a top-ten finisher with two seventh places as her seasons' best.

Julia Holgersson - raced in Formula Renault in Sweden in 2015. She was sixth in the Northern European Zone championship, which was comprised of Swedish drivers almost exclusively. In the same year she tackled most of the Swedish championship. Her best finish was a fifth place at Ahvenisto in Finland. This was one of nine top-ten finishes that she recorded and she was eleventh in the championship. After that, she seems to have returned to karting; 2015 was her only season in cars.

Eva-Marie Holst - Danish driver who switched from karts to cars in 2001, after only taking up karting seriously at 19. She raced in the Danish Formula Ford 2000 series in 2001. In 2002, she was thirteenth in the championship. The following year, she raced in Formula Ford Zetec, in both Denmark and Sweden. She did slightly better in the Swedish championship, finishing eleventh. She was twelfth in Denmark. 2004 seems to have been her last year of major competition, and she was twelfth in the Danish Formula Ford Zetec championship.

Alba Hurup Larsen - joined the all-female F1 Academy in 2025, driving for MP Motorsport in a Tommy Hilfiger-sponsored car. She was only 16 years old and this will be her first full season in cars. In 2024, she began her senior career in F4 India, also run by MP, driving for the Speed Demons Delhi team. She did the first two rounds at Madras and Chennai. Chennai was the better circuit for her and she was sixth and eighth. During the winter season, she competed in the Formula Winter Series, for the first three rounds. Her best finish was fourteenth at Aragon and she was 32nd overall. 

Laura Lylloff - races in Danish F4. 2021 was her first season, driving for JEL Racing. Her first race was at Padborg and she was quite off the pace, finishing eleventh. She did not start the other two Padborg races, but returned to the same track for the next meeting, finishing the two races that she entered in tenth and twelfth. Mid-season, she found some pace, and her bet finish was a class fourth at Jyllandsringen. She was 16th in the championship. 2021 seems to be her first season in motorsport and she does not appear to have been active in karting beforehand.

Ina Neumann - Danish single-seater racer of the 1990s. She competed for Denmark in the Formula Vauxhall Nations Cup in 1991 and 1992. Her best result was fifth at Estoril in 1992, alongside Henrik Larsen. They were fifth overall. Ina’s previous team-mate was Thomas Mullin. They were fourteenth.

Nanci Ristla - Estonian driver who became the first Baltic female racer to win a single-seater race in 2013, when she won two Formula Scandic races at Pärnu, in August. She also came second in two races at the same track, a month later. In 2012, she competed in Formula Baltic, and had two further runner-up finishes, both again at Pärnu. In 2011, she did some races in the Finnish Formula Ford Cup, but was not yet on the pace. Before that, she competed in karting in the Baltic region. She has now returned to karting as a senior. 

Vibe Smed - Danish single-seater driver who has competed in the UK since 2007. After a successful karting career, she started racing in Formula Ford in 2006. In 2007, she was sixth in the Danish championship. As well as the Danish series, she took in four Swedish Formula Ford races, in order to pick up points for the NEZ regional championship. By then, she was also a "student" at the Silverstone Racing Academy and finishing well in their races. In 2008, she competed in UK Formula Palmer Audi. Her best finish, a fourteenth place, came at Brands Hatch. She struggled somewhat throughout the year and was 20th overall. In 2009, she raced a Porsche 996 Cup in Britcar. In 2010, she stayed in British sportscars, racing a Ginetta G50 in British GTs. She was third in the G4 class, alongside Nathan Freke, after a long run of third places and one second. After funding problems, she returned to karting in Denmark in 2011.

Line Sønderskov Abildgaard - races in Formula 5 in Denmark. Formula 5 is a Formula Ford series that runs as a class in Danish Formula 4. She first raced in Danish Formula Ford in 2016, and was 11th in the championship. She did her first season of Formula 5 in 2017, earning one podium finish: a third place at Djursland. Her final position was sixth. She became a regular podium finisher in 2018, starting the season with a second place at Padborg. She was fourth in Formula 4 Light in 2019, with one second and five third places. She was twelfth in the main Renault F4 championship. Still racing a Ray Formula Ford in Formula 5, she was fifth in the 2020 championship, and tenth in the Danish F4 series of which Formula 5 forms a part. In 2021, with Mille Hoe as a team-mate, she was fifth in F5, with three third places. She was tenth in the overall championship. She only did a part-season of four races in 2022 and a longer part-season in 2023, although she had to withdraw from a few mid-season. Her final position in the 2023 championship was 18th and she had a best finish of tenth. She did another part-season in 2024, picking up two twelfth places at Djursland.

Karlīne Štāla - Latvian driver competing in northern Europe. She won the Belgian Formula Renault 1600 championship on her second attempt in 2007, winning twice. Previously, she raced in Legends in Finland, as well as the Toyota Yaris Cup in Estonia. In 2008, she contested half of the German Formula 3 Championship for the Racing Experience team and a further six races with SRT. This was combined with some outings in the Finnish Formula 3 series. She did better in Finland than in Germany, achieving a fifth and a tenth place. Her best finish in Germany was thirteenth at Hockenheim. She was planning a return to German Formula 3 in 2009, but this does not look to have happened. In 2011, she made a small comeback, entering two races of the Benelux Radical Cup, at Zandvoort. She was ninth in one race and did not finish the other. In 2012, she raced in some rounds of the Benelux Radical Cup, sharing a car with Henk Thuis for the longer races. 2013 was similar, with two races in the Mitjet 2L Supersport Championship for touring cars, based in France. She was second and 19th at Nogaro.

Monica Stråth - raced mostly single-seaters in Sweden, mainly in the 1990s. She seems to have jumped straight from karting in 1988 to Formula 3 in 1989, in the Swedish championship, where she finished 16th. In 1990, she entered Swedish F3 again, but was unplaced, as well as travelling to the UK for one British F3 race, at Donington, where she was second in class B. She returned to Swedish F3 in 1991, a stronger driver, and broke into the top ten, finishing ninth, but after that, she seems to take a break from competition. In 1994, she made a low-key return, driving a Corsa in the Lady Opel Cup and finishing tenth. In 1995, she returned to Formula 3, the Nordic series this time, and was seventh. After another year out, she was seventh again in the 1997 Nordic championship. After that, she returned to karting as a senior, and ended up in Superkarts.

Emma Svensson - Swedish driver who raced in STCC Formula Nordic in 2016. This followed a ten-year karting career. Emma scored one podium position in the Formula Renault-based STCC Nordic series, a third at Skovde, as well as two more top-five finishes. She was seventh in the championship, one above Amalie Wichmand. Amalie managed to finish above Emma in the NEZ Formula Renault championship, however: she was seventh to Emma’s eighth.

Amalie Wichmand - Danish driver who races single-seaters and sportscars in Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia. She first raced as a senior in 2016, in NEZ Formula Renault. She was seventh overall. This was combined with a season in STCC Formula Nordic, another Formula Renault-based championship. She had a best finish of fourth at Alastaro and was eighth in the championship. Among her sponsors was Ilse Jacobsen, a fashion designer. After a year out, she raced in the Ginetta GT5 Challenge in Sweden, with a best result of ninth at Falkenberg and Karlskoga. In 2019, she came back to the GT5 Challenge was was fourth overall, with one second and two third places. The following year, she did the Knutstorp rounds of the GT5 Challenge, finishing one of her two races in fourth place. Her long-term career aim is to race in Formula E.  

(Image from http://www.gt3me.com)

Female Single-Seater Drivers Around the World: UK & Ireland

Laura Tillett

This post is about drivers who have mostly competed in single-seater classes other than Formula One, or Indycars. A few may need to move between categories in the future. Heather Baillie now has her own profile, as do Logan Hannah, Natalie Goodwin, Amanda Whitaker and Ann Moore.

Megan Bruce - English driver who competed in the F4-based GB4 series in 2024. This was her second season in cars, having done some races in the Caterham Academy championship in 2023, earning one podium finish. She drove for the Fox Motorsport team in GB4 and was a frequent top ten finisher, the best of these being a sixth place at Snetterton in the middle of the season. She was eleventh in the championship.

Natalie Butler - former karter and saloon racer who did a season of Formula Palmer Audi in the UK in 2001. More recently, she has won races as part of the Formula Woman female-only motorsport franchise. She represented England in the Formula Woman Nations Cup in 2005, and won the trophy. She did some more Formula Woman races in 2006. Both times, she was driving a Caterham. Previously, she raced an MG in club championships, and competed in karting. In 2014, she raced a Smart in the Birkett 6 Hour Relay, alongside her father. She is now known as Natalie Harris.

Tiffany Chittenden - graduated to Formula Renault part-way through the 2006 season after a long career in karts, although she did not achieve great success. She also tried Formula Ford, but that did not give her the results she wanted either. As a karter, she was a front-runner in National 100 for several seasons. She returned to karting after leaving Formula Renault. For this, she was rewarded with the British Rotax DD2 Championship, and good results in the World and European series, in which she scored one podium place. For 2008, she joined the Wild Kart team for the European Championships. The following year, she tried a few more car races, making two appearances in the UK Porsche Carrera Cup. She finished fifteenth and twelfth. In 2011, she accepted an offer to drive in the AMOC GT4 Challenge series, and won a race at Donington, in a Vantage. She returned to karting in 2012, plus demonstration driving for Abarth UK. In 2015, whilst karting in New Zealand, she got herself a race seat in the Toyota 86 championship. Her best finish was a seventh place, at Manfeild. She was thirteenth in the championship. She returned to karting in 2017 and was second in the Rotax Challenge New Zealand, where she now lives.

Chloe Chong - former karter who made her debut in cars in the inaugural F1 Academy all-female F4 championship. She drove for the Prema team alongside Bianca Bustamante and champion Marta Garcia. At 16, she was the youngest driver on the grid. Her best results were three sixth places in Austria, Spain and the USA, but she was only fourteenth in the championship, partly due to a couple of non-finishes. She did not return to F1 Academy for 2024, moving into the British F4 championship instead for JHR Developments. It was a challenging year for her, but she found some pace towards the end, picking up a seventh place at Donington. She was 24th in the championship.

Alyx Coby - Irish driver who began her senior motorsport career in 2022, after several years of karting as a junior and a senior. Her first race was the first round of the US AER Endurance championship, driving a BMW M2 run by the Random Vandals team. She and her team-mates Jessica Tracy and Michael Kaniszcak won both races. She then entered the Danish F4 championship with the FSP team and finished second in class in her first race at Padborg. She did the first six rounds, finishing seventh overall three times. In 2023, she rejoined Random Vandals for some rounds of the World Racing League.

Kayleigh (Kayls) Cole - karter who made her move into cars in 2021. She signed up for the 750MC F1000 championship for bike-engined single-seaters and made her debut at Silverstone. Her final championship position was 24th and she admitted to struggling with starts. In 2022 she was quicker, finishing tenth in one race, but a series of mechancial problems put her out of contention. As well as some F1000 rounds, she entered the Formula 3 class of the BOSS Ireland championship, finishing fifth and winning her class. In 2024, she returned to F1000, competing in the Clubmans Cup. She had intended to start her senior career in 2020, but the coronavirus crisis and its related financial problems intervened. She is a former BWRDC Junior Gold Star winner.

Molly Dodd - began racing in the Junior Saloon Car Championship in the UK. Her car was a series-standard Citroen Saxo. In 2018, she had a best finish of ninth at Rockingham and was 16th in the championship. As well as racing the Saxo, Molly took part in the FIA’s Girls on Track all-female karting challenge in October 2018. In 2019, she competed in both the JSCC and Ginetta Juniors. Her results in the JSCC were better; she finished as high as seventh at Snetterton. It was more difficult in the Ginetta and her best finish was 15th at Brands Hatch. 2020 was her final season in the JSCC as she turned 17 that year. She was ninth overall and best female driver, just missing the podium once at Croft. From there, she moved into the Historic Formula Ford 2000 championship, driving a Royale. She quickly got on the pace and won a qualification race at Donington, only to be demoted for a faulty transponder. She also raced Mandie Hadfield's Merlyn Mk20 FF1600 car at the Walter Hayes Trophy, running as high as fifth in the Historic final before spinning at Brooklands. She did some modern Formula Ford races in 2022, finishing eighth in her heat at the Formula Ford Festival in October. She has raced historic sportscars occasionally since then.

Vicky Dyson - has competed in Formula Jedi in the UK since 2004, usually in the 600cc Class A. She scored well in her class consistently. 2005 and 2006 were her best seasons, points-wise. She was sixth in class in 2005 after a strong of top-five places, including one third. After the A class declined and then disappeared after 2007, she has done less well, but continues to compete.

Josephine Ferrada (Van Braeckel) - Anglo-German driver who raced single-seaters in 2009 and 2010. After two years of national-level karting, she raced in the 750MC’s Formula Vee championship in 2009, for two races, aged only 16. In 2010, she did almost a full season of the BARC Formula Renault championship, alongside eventual victor, Alice Powell (they did not drive for the same team). Her best finishes were three eleventh places, at Silverstone and Snetterton. She was fourteenth overall. After that, she does not seem to have competed again, and her website has been taken down.

Lucy Grant - races a Formula Ford in Scotland and the UK. 2021 was her debut season. She got into motor racing through the mechanical side and works on Legends cars as part of her motorsport engineering studies. Her race debut was at Knockhill, a year after she decided against joining the Mini Cooper Cup. Driving for Graham Brunton Racing, her best result has been a fourth place at Knockhill. She is the sister of Chloe Grant, who races in the JSCC and GB4.

Katherine (Kat) Impey - has raced a Formula Jedi in the UK since 2004. Her career began as part of a schools motorsport project, but ended up with her own team, IMPKAT Racing. She won two Formula Jedi 600cc class races in 2006, and was usually on the pace in her class in that championship. In 2008, she combined Formula Jedi with the Monoposto Club Championship and picked up another two wins and a lap record towards the end of the season. She was third in class in the Monoposto single-seater series in 2009, then moved up to club Formula Three. Her best finishes were a string of thirds. In 2011, she raced in the MSV F3 Cup. This was a series of stand-alone races, so no championship tables were compiled. Katherine scored one third place, at Spa, and when she finished, was never out of the top ten. She entered the Oulton Park round in 2012, and recorded two DNFs. The rest of her season was spent as a Porsche driving instructor, a role she continued in 2013, alongside some historic demonstration driving. In 2014, she intended to head to the States to compete in the USF2000 series. It is unclear whether this actually happened. She applied for a scholarship to compete in the VW Cup in 2016, but did not win.

Sheila Islip (Underwood) - raced in the UK from the late 1960s. She first raced in Formula Ford and was quite competitive from the beginning, scoring a fourth place in her first race of 1968. A native of Birmingham, she learned to drive at the Jim Russell racing school in 1966 or 1967. By early 1969 she had entered more than 30 races and held an International license, according to an article in the Brentwood Gazette. Her Formula Ford cars included two Alexis chassis and a Merlyn Mk20 which she raced in 1971, alongside another driver called Sandy Morgan. As well as Formula Ford, she entered some of the women-only races organised by the BWRDC, including the Fast Girls Consul Challenge, held at Brands Hatch in 1972. She was tenth.

Kirsty Jeffrey - competed in the Formula Palmer Audi Autumn series in 2006. She was 23rd overall. Previously, that year, she had been one of the leading drivers in the all-female Formula Woman championship, in a Caterham. She was scheduled to race in Caterhams in 2007, but did not appear on the start lists.

Bryony King – had her debut season in senior motorsport in 2016, racing in Formula Jedi in the UK. Her best result was a fourth. Throughout the season, she improved her finishes, and she was sixth in the championship. Switching to tin-tops, she raced in the second half of the 2017 Mini Challenge, and was twelfth in the Cooper Pro class. Before beginning her single-seater career, she raced karts from 2010 to 2015, and performed well, despite receiving some injuries in the course of racing. She is supported by the MSA Academy and coached by Alice Powell.

Margaret McEwen-King - raced a Formula Ford for at least one season in 1977. She was filmed for the BBC racing an Elden Mk8 at Brands Hatch. A mother of five, she took up motor racing fairly late. She had bought the car with an insurance payout she received after writing off her own road car. Race results are not forthcoming, but she had taken part in some races when the film was made.

Sarah Playfair - has been competing in Formula Ford since 2003, first in Scotland, where she won races in 2004, then in the UK championship. Her first full season in the UK championship was 2007, and she was seventh overall, driving for the Jamun team. Her best race result was fifth. Previously, she had undertaken some part-seasons in the Scholarship class, combined with some more Scottish Championship drives. She won the last-ever Scottish Zetec race in 2005. Her activities in 2008 were restricted to charity karting events with all-female teams, although she did test a single-seater in Australia.

Clare Redgrave - raced in the UK in the 1990s. According to BWRDC records, she began in 1990. She was mainly a single-seater driver, and progressed as far as Formula Renault, although she did do some saloon competition. In 1993, she was seventh in the British Group N series, driving a Honda Civic for Mardi Gras Motorsport. She is now involved in a different role, as a motorsport administrator.

Lucy Rogers - raced in Formula Ford and saloons in the 1980s, often at Brands Hatch. Her career began at Brands in 1986 after a long time spent practicing, racing a Formula Ford in the Champion of Brands series. In that first year, she won at least one qualification race. In October, she also won the City Celebrity Challenge at Brands, driving a Ford Escort XR3i. A lengthy absence followed, partly due to the death of her brother, Peter, during a race. She was tipped for a seat in the BTCC in 1990 after impressing the BMW Junior team, but she did not race and disappeared from the scene shortly after.

Emma Selway - a former karter who started racing cars in 2006, in club Formula Renault. Her best result was third. She then competed in the last two rounds round of the National series and all of the Winter Series, with the Eurotek team. In 2007, she switched to Formula Palmer Audi for its Autumn Trophy, and signed up for the full championship in 2008. Her best finish was seventh at Snetterton, and she finished just outside the top ten for most of the season. Her final position was fourteenth. In 2011, she returned to motorsport in the form of the Lotus Elise Trophy. She won two races and was third in another. After a year out, she was set to contest the VW Cup in 2013, but only seems to have managed one round, in a Scirocco. She then switched to motorcycle racing, in preparation for a full season in 2014.

Laura Tillett - started racing in 2012, after a long and successful karting career, which included a trip to the World Championships. She drove in the BARC Formula Renault series, with a best finish of 16th, at Croft. This was her first experience of aero-assisted competition, and she was 26th overall. During 2013, she was not able to race much, but at the end of the year, she put together a deal to go to India and the Middle East, for the MRF Challenge. She entered the Buddh (India) and Bahrain rounds, with a best finish of fourteenth. In 2014, she planned to contest the North Europe Zone Formula Renault championship, but this plan did not come off. She returned to the MRF Challenge at the end of 2014, and had a best finish of seventh, at Bahrain. She was fourteenth overall. In 2015, she switched to touring cars, and took part in the VW Racing Cup. It was a hard transition, and she ended the season in 16th place. Later, she went back to India and the Gulf states for the MRF Challenge. Her best finish, at the start of 2016, was a sixth place, in Dubai. She was fifteenth in Formula MRF, but did not race during the summer season. 

Lucy Wardrop – raced a Formula Ford in the UK. She began in 1998, winning a racing school championship at Silverstone, and in 1999, narrowly missing out on a scholarship to the La Filiere Elf racing school in France. She resumed racing in 2002, in club Formula Ford races, moving up to the BRSCC national championship in 2003. She steadily improved throughout 2004 and 2005, becoming one of the leading drivers in the series, although she just missed out on a win. Another break followed, instigated by a rule change over Formula Ford engines in BRSCC competition. She reappeared in 2009, when she entered her first Formula Ford Festival, and reached the finals, finishing sixth. Her second Festival in 2010, was even better, and she was second overall in the Zetec class. 2011 started well, but she had a coming-together with another competitor and did not finish the final. She did not finish the 2012 final either, and does not appear to have raced for several seasons. In 2016, she did some more Formula Ford, racing in the FF1600 Super Series at Brands Hatch, and taking part in the Formula Ford Festival.  

Lily-May Watkins - began racing cars at the start of the 2025 season. Her debut was in GB4, driving for the KMR team with Megan Bruce and Alex O'Grady. She was 20th from 24 finishers in her first race, at Snetterton, having only tested the car once before that. Her best result, at the time of writing, has been a tenth place at Oulton Park. Before her GB4 debut, she was active in both karting and esports.

(Image copyright Gary Hawkins)

Jodie Hemming

Jodie with the Jordan

Formula Honda (now Jedi) is a well-supported budget single-seater formula in Britain. Former karter Jodie started racing in the series in 2002. In her debut season she was the first-ever female Formula Honda driver.

She began in the 600cc class, and scored top-ten finishes from her first race. Mid-season, she sustained a broken wrist in an accident, which put her out of several races, but she soon bounced back. Even with the enforced break, she finished the season twelfth out of twenty-three drivers.

Still with the 600cc Jedi car, Jodie returned to Formula Honda in 2003, and was a permanent fixture in the upper reaches of the top ten. Her best finishes were two second places, and she won the Scholarship Trophy for 600cc cars. She also tried out a few Monoposto races, a multi-marque single-seater series, and raced well, against much more powerful machinery.

For 2004 she secured sponsorship from Sywell Leisure and continued in Formula Honda, which was now renamed Formula Jedi. Now fully conversant with the 600cc machine, Jodie dominated her class completely, winning every race she entered (fifteen out of fifteen) and beating a number of 1000cc competitors in the process. The opposition was no pushover either, with as little as half a second between the top six.

After her stellar season was over, as well as collecting trophies from the BRSCC and the British Women Racing Drivers' Club, Jodie took part in some exciting testing. She had a 160mph run in a Jordan F1 car at Silverstone, with a view to racing in the EuroBOSS pre-2001 F1 series in 2005. Unfortunately, this deal did not come off, so she returned to her trusty Jedi Mk4 instead, after pondering a move to the 1000cc class and deciding against it.

2005 was something of a let-down for the Northants girl. She was unable to catch eventual champion David Hodgson and only scored one win, at Pembrey. Her five second places were enough to secure second place though, as no-one else could catch Hodgson either.

Over a year after her initial Formula One test, Jodie got back into a top-flight car again in 2006. She had secured enough sponsorship to compete in at least the British round of EuroBOSS. Her car was a Jordan fitted with a 3.5 litre Judd V10, as its original engine was too difficult to source parts for. At the first meeting of the season at Brands Hatch, she was fifth in the first race and a strong third in the second, equalling Sarah Kavanagh's previous best position. She was determined to take part in more rounds and a win was touted as a possibility.

As well as her post-historic antics, Jodie signed a deal to run in some rounds of Formula Renault too, entering the championship at Croft. Her start to the season was not good, marked by a couple of retirements due to gearbox troubles. She managed a 15th and a 20th place at Donington, and was 23rd and 21st at Silverstone. This left her well down the final points table.

She managed to enter five EuroBOSS races in 2007. A blown engine put her out of the first meeting at Hockenheim, which should have been her first European race meeting, but she was back on track at Donington. She was third again in the first race, but did not finish the second due to car trouble. The story was reversed at Snetterton: she was unable to start the first race after gearbox problems in qualifying, but did start the second. Unfortunately, she spun off. At the Champ Car meeting at Zolder, she was back on the pace and finished fourth. However, the Jordan proved unreliable again at the Ronda Superprix, and she did not compete at all. She also had to sit out the season finale at the Nürburgring. Despite her trials with the car and its engine, she was tenth overall.

In 2008, she intended to do some more EuroBOSS races, but these did not happen. Instead, she competed in Formula Palmer Audi for the whole season. Despite her expertise in single-seaters, she never really got to grips with the FPA car and she was not particularly competitive. Her best result was eleventh, at Oulton Park. She was 22nd in the final standings.

Although Jodie was linked with more EuroBOSS drives, these did not happen. The EuroBOSS series itself is now defunct. In 2009 and 2010, Jodie returned to Formula Jedi for a few races, but was far from being one of the frontrunners.

Her activities between then and 2013 are unclear. She did not race at all, and at some point, she  became a mother, to two girls.

In 2013, she reappeared on the scene, as a driver coach, and as an occasional driver. She did a couple of Formula Jedi races, but was not quite up to her former pace.

She made guest appearances in the 2014 Renault Clio Cup Road Series in the UK, alongside one of her mentees, Jessica Hawkins. She was fifth and fourth at Oulton Park.

At one point, in her day job, this Northamptonshire resident drove bulldozers and diggers on a construction site!

(Image from www.facebook.com/jodiehemmingracing)