Natalia Kowalska

 

Natalia Kowalska is a Polish driver best known for racing in the revived Formula Two championship in 2010. 

Her F2 campaign came after sitting out the 2009 season due to lack of funds. Her best finishes were a ninth and tenth at Algarve and she was 19th overall. 

Prior to this, she did a part-season in the 2008 Formula Star Mazda championship in the USA, managing one tenth place at Mosport out of four finishes. She was driving for John Walko Racing, having taken over from Filipina driver Michele Bumgarner.

Her American sojourn was only her second year of circuit racing. Her first was in 2007, when she had a part-season in Northern European Formula Renault and two races in the Formula Renault Eurocup. She managed to score a few points in the former. 

In 2011, she drove in Formula Two again, but only took part in four races due to injuries sustained in the previous season. She had crashed three times in 2010. Further neck injuries from a road traffic accident meant that she did not compete in 2012, although a prospective GP3 drive was mentioned in Polish media.

She was involved in karting in 2016, mentoring and instructing younger drivers. Her own karting record is quite impressive, with a Polish ICA title in 2005 and two Junior ICA runner-up spots in Polish championships in 2002. She followed a fairly normal single-seater path, switching from karts to cars at 17.

In 2019, she attempted to qualify for the W Series and reached the second round of assessments, but was not chosen to race. Shortly after, she said on social media that she had only entered to see if she was still competitive and did not think she would get through.

She has since returned to working with young karters.

Ashley Freiberg

Ashley (centre) on the Sebring podium

Ashley Freiberg has competed in the prestigious Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hour races. She is a racewinner in the IMSA GT Challenge series and the Continental Sportscar Challenge.

Ashley began her senior racing career in 2008, after several successful seasons in karting.

Initially, she progressed through the Skip Barber racing school ranks, and in 2009, she was the first female winner of a Skip Barber National Series event, in New Jersey.

Initially she specialised in single-seaters. She did her first Formula Star Mazda races in 2009, before winning another National Series race in a Formula Mazda, and then winning the 2010 Skip Barber Summer Series outright. She added to her win tally with another Summer Series race victory in 2011.

In 2012, she competed in Formula Star Mazda full-time, and was eleventh in the championship. Her best finish was sixth, at Baltimore.

After this, she switched to sportscar racing, and contested the 2013 IMSA GT Challenge, in a Porsche 997. In her first season, she won once at Watkins Glen, a first for a female driver, and was second twice, at the Glen and Monterey. She was ninth in the championship, after missing the last round.

In 2014, she made history again by winning the Continental Sportscar Challenge race at Daytona, supporting the 24 Hours, in a BMW M3 Coupe. Funding was an issue, but she did secure enough sponsorship to race again and took part in another four Challenge races. Her best finish was seventh, at Laguna Seca.

In 2015, she was a BMW North America Scholarship driver, and raced an M3 in the Continental Sportscar Challenge again. She won one race at Road Atlanta. This was one of three podium finishes: the others were a second at Watkins Glen and a third at Road America. Her co-driver was Trent Hindman.

In 2016, she competed in the Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours for Turner Motorsport, in a BMW M6. She was second in class at Sebring, and 23rd overall. Later in the season, she drove for the team again at Road Atlanta, and was ninth in the GTD class. In between, she tried out a prototype for Starworks Motorsport and contested another three rounds of the Weathertech Sportscar Championship. The car was an LMP2 and she secured two class finishes, at Long Beach and Laguna Seca. She was a temporary team-mate to class winners, Alexander Popow and Renger van der Zande.

She stuck with sportscars for 2017 and entered the Lamborghini Super Trofeo, contesting the Pro class with DAC Motorsport. This resulted in five podium finishes from eight races, the best of these being second at Watkins Glen, her lucky track. She was third overall, just behind her earlier team-mate, Trent Hindman. She had taken a chance with her entry and was not sure how her season would go. Early on, she described her plans as “going race by race”.

In 2018, she only made one major race appearance: the Daytona 24 Hours. She raced in the IMSA Continental Tires Sportscar Challenge with Gosia Rdest, driving an Audi R8. They were 18th in their race.

After a long break, she raced in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, in the Grand Sport class. She and her M1 Racing team-mate Ryan Nash entered the second round at Road Atlanta in a McLaren 570S GT4, but they did not finish. They came out at the same track again in October but a testing crash by Ryan Nash destroyed the car. Fortunately, Volt Racing was in the process of replacing their Porsche 718 Cayman and M1 was able to use it. The unhurt Nash and Ashley were fourteenth overall. They raced the Porsche again at Sebring, finishing twelfth.

She continued to race Porsches in 2023 and was hugely successful in the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America. She won the 991 class from 17 other drivers and won seven races during the season.

She is also making a name for herself in cyclocross.

(Image from www.ashleyfreibergracing.com)

Julia Ballario

Julia in Star Mazda

Julia Ballario is an Argentine driver who competes in both single-seaters and touring cars, at home and in the USA.

She was born in 1992, in Marcos Juárez near Cordoba. Her father was a racing driver who had competed in Formula Renault. Taking advantage of rules allowing very young drivers to race as seniors, he got her start in senior motorsport in Formula Renault in Argentina, in 2007, competing in the Plus series. This followed six years of karting.

2007 was a learning year, and although she was not among the frontrunners, she was nominated for a driver award. Detailed results for Julia in 2007 are not widely available. The Formula Renault season itself was shortened that year, due to the death of a competitor.

It was another learning year on the tracks in 2008, but she got on the leaderboard, finishing thirteenth. She was driving for the Baypal Scuderia team. They kept her on for 2009, and she was thirteenth again.

In 2010, she entered both the Plus and secondary Interprovencial series, finishing fourteenth in both.  Judging by her points tally in both, her performances were roughly equivalent. Detailed results are no longer readily available, as before.

2011 started with Formula Renault, driving for the Baypal Scuderia again. She took part in the first four rounds of the Argentine championship, with a best finish of fifth, at Alta Gracia. After that, she took her first steps in saloon racing, driving a Renault Clio in Class 2 of the Argentine National Touring Car Championship. This was somewhat of a baptism of fire for Julia, who finished two of her four races, and had a best finish of 19^th at Posadas. Undeterred, she signed up for the last three Buenos Aires rounds of the Turismo Carretera Pista Mouras series, in a Chevrolet. Her finishes were slightly better, with a fifteenth her highlight. At about the same time, she rejoined Formula Renault for the last two races of the season, adding another top-ten to her tally, a sixth at Marcos Juárez, her home track.

Julia’s career was now at something of a turning point. She chose to pursue tin-tops further in 2012, and was signed by the HRC Pro-Team for the TC2000 championship in Argentina. This was only the second time a female driver had raced in the series, after Delfina Frers in 2000. In an interview, she admitted that she might not be able to progress beyond Formula 3 if she persevered with single-seaters. This was a move which paid off, as she was on the pace very quickly in her Peugeot 307, describing it as easy to drive. Her second race, at Rosario, led to a fourth place, and although the season was marred somewhat by DNFs and one disqualification, she was a regular top-ten finisher, and managed her first podium at Salta, in third place. She was fifth in the championship.

Although she had proved a success in touring cars, she still harboured hopes of a single-seater career, perhaps outside Argentina. Her season began in the popular Top Race tin-top series, driving a Ford Mondeo for Schick Racing. Again, it was a steep learning curve, and she managed a thirteenth place at Junin as her best result, from five races. Mid-season, she travelled to the USA to compete in Formula Star Mazda, the entry-level series for the “Road to Indy”. She was driving for the Juncos Racing team, who were running three cars that year. This followed a series of tests in late 2012, in which she performed well. Julia’s four races showed promise, with three top-tens: a seventh at Trois Rivières, and ninths at Trois Rivières and Mid-Ohio.

Her second series of Star Mazda, in 2014, led to better results, the best of these being a fourth place, at Houston, on a wet track. Still with the Juncos team, she had eight top-ten finishes, and was eleventh in the championship. There were three female drivers in the series that year, and Julia was the best of them.

She returned to Argentina for the Top Race series in 2015, and was second in the Copa Damas, just behind Violeta Pernice. Her car was a Chevrolet Cruze, and she was thirteenth in the overall championship. If it had not been for a few DNFs mid-season, she would have been higher up the rankings; she scored three podium positions, including a second place at Río Cuarto.

She also did some TC2000 races in a VW Vento, making guest appearances at Buenos Aires in May. She was fourteenth and seventeenth.

In 2016, she raced a Mercedes for the 3M Racing team, in Top Race. It was something of a topsy-turvy year for her. She won two races, at Chaco and Rio Cuarto, the first of these from pole. At Rio Cuarto, she recorded the fastest lap. However, for the rest of the season, a fourth place at Concordia notwithstanding, she struggled for pace, and did not reach the top ten. Still, she was eighth overall in a competitive series.   

Her 2017 Top Race season was a disappointment. She ran in the V6 class with the GT Racing team, driving a Chevrolet Cruze. Her best finish was a tenth place at San Juan, her seventh race of the season, but this was her last event of the year. She pulled out due to a lack of sponsorship.

She attempted to get her career back on track in 2018, entering the first five Top Race rounds in a Volkswagen. Sadly, she only finished two, both in 15th place. In a different car, a Chevrolet, she made a guest appearance in Argentine Turismo Carretera, at Buenos Aires. In another car again, a Ford, she did the Olavarria round of the TC Pista Mouras series, finishing in sixth place.

She managed two Top Race events in 2019, driving a Mercedes. Her results were a twelfth at Rio Negro and fourteenth at San Nicolas. 

(Image from http://www.losandes.com.ar/)

Female Single-Seater Drivers Around the World: Argentina

Maria Jose Lorenzati in 2013

In the past ten years, a number of female drivers have come through the junior single-seater ranks in Argentina. Some remain in open-wheel racing, whilst others moved into saloon-based competition. This post consists mainly of material split from the Single-Seater Drivers of the Americas post. Julia Ballario now has her own post.

Maria Abbate - Argentine driver who started in motorsport in 2007, at the age of 27. She contested two races of the Argentine Formula 4 (Formula Renault) championship. In 2008, she entered more races with the Casalins team, and was 17th in the final standings. The following year, she continued with Formula 4, driving for Scuderia Ramini, but could only manage 28th after a disastrous season with one finish. She also guested in the GT2000 Championship, driving a Scorpion, and scored her first career podium, a second at Olavarria. For 2010, she switched to saloon competition in the Top Race Junior series, and scored a best finish of twelfth at Salta, in her Ford Mondeo. She returned to GT2000 in 2011, in a Honda, but only appears to have driven a part-season, scoring no points. Her activities since 2010 have been curtailed by an injury she picked up during the Top Race season, and she has apparently retired.

Lucila Diaz – races in Formula Renault in Argentina. She made her debut in the Formula Renault Plus series in 2015, making two guest appearances at Río Cuarto. Her best finish was a thirteenth place. This seems to have been her first season of racing as a senior; from at least 2012, when she was sixteen, she was active in karting in Argentina. In 2016, she was 31st in the Formula Renault championship, after contesting six races. The best of these was at Cordoba, where she was eighth. She earned praise in 2016 for her improvement. She returned to karting in 2017.

Dahiana Jaciura - Argentine driver who appears to have started her major career racing in the 2017 Formula 4 Nueva Generacion championship. She entered the La Plata rounds and had a best finish of 23rd. She did not do any more races for personal reasons until 2018, when she returned to the APAC 1.4 Series, a Renault-powered prototype series she had raced in since at least 2014. More recently, she has been working as an engineer for the Vitarti Girls all-female team in Top Race.

Maria Jose Lorenzati - Argentine driver who has competed in Formula Renault since 2008. She began in the Interprovencial series, and was thirteenth overall, after some visits to the top ten. In 2009, she improved her finishing position to sixth. She maintained this position for the 2010 season, as well as stepping up to the more competitive Formula Renault Plus. In this championship, she was eighth. In 2011, she only managed to enter five races, and her final position suffered badly. She switched to touring cars in 2012, driving in the Argentine Turismo Nacional series in a Renault Clio. After six races, she was 32nd in the championship, with a best finish of fourteenth. As well as this, she had one guest run in Formula Renault Plus, although she did not finish. In 2013, she ran a limited schedule, with two races in TC2000 in a Peugeot 308. She also took part in one Mini Cooper Challenge race. The following year, she returned to TC2000, in a Fiat Linea. Her best finish was ninth, at Parana, and she was 24th overall. In 2015, she raced a Renault Fluence in TC2000, for a part-season, and was 28th overall. She was recently described as Argentina's most successful female driver. Language barriers have prevented more detailed investigation of her career. 

Ana Paula Morales – raced in Formula 4 in Argentina in 2011, when she was eighteen. She took part in eight rounds of the series, and had a best finish of thirteenth, at La Plata, towards the end of the season. She was 41^st in the championship, the first woman to race in Formula 4. Since then, she does not appear to have competed in circuit racing, although she may have done some karting.

Maria Jimena Oviedo – raced in Formula Renault in Argentina, in 2013 and 2014. Both times, she did part-seasons, driving for the Barovero Racing Team. Out of both seasons, her best finish was eleventh, in 2013, at Cordoba. In 2014, she managed a best of fourteenth, at La Rioja, and was 29^th in the championship. She started karting in 2006, and did some saloon racing in a Fiat 128 before moving into single-seaters, in 2013.

(Image from http://www.diaadia.com.ar/)

Michele Bumgarner

Michele Bumgarner is a Filipino driver, although her father is American. She started racing at ten, in karts, having learnt to drive at seven. Her father owned a kart track at Subic, so she had plenty of opportunity. To begin with, she combined karting with competitive junior tennis, but karting, and senior motorsport, interested her more. Soon, she was competing all over southeast Asia, and also in Europe. Almost unbelievably, when she was fourteen, she did her first car races, in Formula Toyota in the Philippines. Even more unbelievably, she was third in the championship.

A return to karting beckoned in 2005, but she was still looking for her big chance in full-size motorsport. She travelled to the Bahrain for the Formula BMW Scholarship, which she won, although it did not translate into an actual drive.

In 2006, she moved more fully into circuit racing, at the age of 17. Instead of taking her first steps in Formula Toyota or Formula Renault, she jumped straight into Formula Three. She drove for Team Goddard in Formula 3 Asia, in the Promotion class. The series was run from the Philippines. Her first three rounds were somewhat of an ordeal, with stalling, spins and a crash, but she learnt quickly, and by the end of the season, had climbed to third in the Promotion class, for older cars. She was 12th overall.

Her next big step was a move to America in 2007, in order to further her single-seater ambitions. She enrolled at the Jim Russell Racing School, and even competed in two of its Formula Russell races, scoring a podium finish in one.

She put together a deal for Formula Mazda for 2008. Her season consisted of the first five rounds, and she had a best finish of 15th, at Portland. She was one of four women racing in the series that year, and was the third fastest of them. At the same time, her younger brother, Mark Bumgarner, was also competed in the States, in the Skip Barber Series. He has since left motorsport. In September, she tested an Indy Lights car at Putnam Raceway.

Later in  the 2008 season, her Indy Lights testing appeared to have paid off; she was selected for the NexGen team’s driver development scheme and was set to compete in Indy Lights in 2009, with Walker Racing, as part of a five-year development deal. However, the deal fell through, and she returned to karting.

During this time, she was also in talks with the Newman Watts team about a Formula Atlantic drive, but this too came to nothing, as the team’s backer, actor Paul Newman, died.

In 2008 and 2009, she won the Rock Island Grand Prix, a major street kart race. Although she had to take a lengthy hiatus from circuit racing, not competing at all between 2010 and 2012, she used it as constructively as she could, and was very competitive in a kart.

She made a small return to Formula Mazda in 2013, entering two races and finishing one, in ninth. This performance, at Houston, earned her an award for the most places made up during a race. This was a more positive end to the year than its start, which had involved Michele travelling to Charlotte Raceway for a “NASCAR RaceEX World Circuit” event for Filipino drivers, which turned out to be a scam.

2014 saw her full-time return to motorsport, in Formula Mazda, after a long series of false starts. She was racing for World Speed Motorsports. Her main sponsor was Mazda Philippines, and she was now part of the Mazda Road to Indy development programme. Her schedule took in eleven of the fifteen races, and her best result was eleventh, at Houston. Usually, she finished just outside the top ten. Her finishing record was good, with only one retirement all year, and she was fifteenth in the championship.

Michele planned to progress up the Indycar ladder, with the aim of competing in the Indy Racing League in 2016, but she does not seem to have raced in 2015.

(Image from www.leblogauto.com)

Vicky (Vittoria) Piria

Vicky with her F3 car

Vicky, who is half Italian and half English, began her senior racing career early in 2009, at the age of sixteen. Previously, she had driven karts since childhood, although she had only a couple of years of serious competition behind her.

Her first season was a busy one, with rides in Formula Renault, Formula Light 2000 and Formel Lista Junior, in Italy and Europe. She started with Formel Lista Junior, racing at the first event of the season, at Dijon in France. She was fifteenth in her second race, but did not finish her first. After a break, she tried out Italian Formula Renault in July, again, for one meeting. She was fourteenth and thirteenth at Misano. A little later, she joined the Light class of Italian Formula 2000 for the second half of its season. Her best finish was ninth, at Varano, her second race. She also managed tenth places at Misano and Adria, and was 19th overall. Despite gaining a lot of experience, she did not compete in enough races in any series to mount a serious challenge. After the close of the main motorsport season, she returned to Formula 2000 for the Winter Trophy, and scored one fourth place, at Adria. This year, she raced under a British license, which she is entitled to hold, due to her mother’s nationality.

In 2010 she concentrated on the Campionato Italiano Formula ACICSAI Abarth championship, but found it tough-going, competing against older drivers with at least a year’s more single-seater experience. She did not score many points. Her best finish was 16th, at Magione. Her early season results were better than her later ones, and she did prove herself capable of running in the top twenty.

She had a full season in 2011, driving in the Formula ACICSAI Abarth series, and Formula Abarth Europe. She was racing for Prema Powerteam in both series. In the Italian championship, she only entered four races, finishing three of them. She was closer to the pace this year, with two eleventh places and a fourteenth, at Varano. In the European championships, she was quite competitive, with a best finish of eighth, at Monza. She also scored two ninth places, at Valencia and Catalunya. The Valencia result was her first of the season. She was eighteenth overall.

In 2012, she raced in GP3. Her initial plan had been Italian Formula 3, and she had posted some very competitive times in testing. However, an offer of a higher-profile series was too tempting for Vicky, and she accepted, despite having limited experience of racing at this level, or in a car this powerful. Her best finish was twelfth, at Monte Carlo. Mostly, she finished in the lower part of the top twenty, although she did manage a fourteenth at Hockenheim. Unfortunately, she crashed quite heavily in the second race, and was injured. She was unplaced in the championship.

Away from GP3, Vicky travelled to Austria for a guest appearance in the Lotus Ladies Cup, early in the season. This was her first experience of sportscar racing. At the end of the season, she travelled somewhat further, to India, for four rounds of the MRF Challenge, at Irungattukotai. She was eleventh, fifteenth, eighth and fifth, learning the track as the race weekend wore on.

2013 was the year she finally got a seat in a Formula Three car. She drove for RP Motorsport first of all, in the European F3 Open Winter Series, where she was fourth at Jerez. For the Open Series proper, she was with BVM Motorsport, alongside Mario Marasca. As had happened before, her season started quite badly, with a 23rd place at Paul Ricard, but she then rallied, and was fourth the next day. She did not manage to better her fourth place for the rest of the season, but she did obtain six more top-ten finishes, eighth and ninth places at Portimao, the Nürburgring, Jerez, Silverstone and Catalunya. She was tenth in the championship, one place behind her team-mate.

In 2014, Vicky decided to move to the States, in order to take her first steps on the Indycar ladder. She signed up for the Formula Star Mazda Pro Series, with JDC Motorsports. Again, she had a difficult start to the season, and was sent out of her first race, at St Petersburg, by a crash, which also put her out of the second race. At Barber, she was thirteenth in both of her races, out of twenty drivers. Sadly, this seems to have been her last involvement with the series.

In 2015, she returned to Europe, and moved into saloon-based competition. She did not race for most of the season, but in October, she took part in the Imola round of the Mitjet silhouette racing series. Part of her year was taken up with her participation in the Roadto24 contest, a TV-based challenge to find a driver for Le Mans.

She did not race in 2016, although she remained involved in motorsport as an instructor and as a brand ambassador. After another long break, she made a comeback as part of the all-female W Series, driving an F3 car for the first time in six years. She was ninth in the championship with a best finish of fifth at Misano.

Opportunities were limited for Vicky in 2020 as W Series was cancelled due to coronavirus. She made a couple of appearances in the Formula Renault Eurocup, which uses a similar car to W Series. Her best result from four races was a tenth place at Magny-Cours. She was also one of the guest drivers for the Smart E-Cup in Italy, racing at Magione. This is a one-make championship for electric Smart cars. 

W Series ran again in 2021 and Vicky was part of it. Unfortunately she was not one of the leading drivers and only once managed to finish in the top ten. Her best finish was tenth at Silverstone, although she came close with an eleventh at Zandvoort. She was 19th in the championship and was not invited back in 2022.

Post W Series, she moved into GT racing, entering the Italian GT championship in a Porsche 991 GT3. Sharing the car with Francesca Linossi, she finished as high as third in the Pro-Am GT Cup class at Mugello. They got quicker towards the end of the season. Her second season in the championship, in 2023, was in another 991, shared with Kikko Galbiati. They did three races togethe,r with one win at Vallelunga.

Vicky's new challenge for 2024 was electric powerboat racing: she was signed by Sergio Perez's E1 Championship team alongside Dani Clos. However, she still found time for a round of the Italian GT Championship, driving a Porsche 911 and finishing second in the Pro-Am class at Monza. She also did some races in the Swiss Porsche Sprint Challenge. 

(Image from http://www.toilef1.com/Semaine-des-femmes-en-sport-auto.html)

Tatiana Calderón

Tatiana in British F3 in 2013

Tatiana is originally from Colombia. In common with several other Colombian racers of the time, including Manuela Vasquez, she moved out of her home country very early on, to pursue her motorsport career. Even as a teenage karter, she was travelling to the States in order to compete in US and international races. This was combined with the Colombian championship, and her school studies.

Tatiana debuted in full-sized cars in 2009, at 16. Unusually, she chose sportscars, rather than one of the junior single-seater series, for her first championship. She drove in the Radical European Masters Series with Natacha Gachnang. They were driving for the PoleVision team. Tatiana finished on the podium four times, and won the SR5 class outright. This was in addition to karting, in Europe and the States.

In 2010, she returned to America to contest Formula Star Mazda, driving for the Juncos team. After a shaky start to the season, beginning with a DNF at Sebring and a 19th at St. Petersburg, she was soon closer to the pace, with ninth at Laguna Seca. After four more top-tens, including a best finish of seventh, at Autobahn, she was tenth overall in her first season of single-seaers.

A second season in Formula Star Mazda with Juncos beckoned for 2011. Again, her season started badly, with a DNF at St. Petersburg, but she immediately got back on the pace, with a third at Barber. At Mosport, she achieved a second third place. This was a first for a female driver in this particular series. For the rest of the season, apart from one non-finish, she was never out of the top ten, and was sixth overall.

As well as American single-seaters, she also returned to Europe for the latter part of the Euro F3 Open series. Her first round, Monza, gave her a tenth and eleventh place. She was not quite as fast at Jerez, but she was ninth in her second race at Catalunya, enough to give her 21st overall.

In 2012, she raced in Euro F3, and scored one third place at Paul Ricard, in the Winter Series. She did not fare quite as well in the summer series, at least to begin with, although she picked up some speed towards the end of the season. At the Paul Ricard round, she was fifth and seventh, and at the next meeting, in Hungary, she was fourth and seventh. The fourth was her best finish. At the end of the season, she was ninth. In addition to this, she also entered some Alpine Formula Renault events, at Mugello and Catalunya. She was not among the front-runners. On a visit back home, she entered the 6 Hours of Bogota, sharing a Radical with Juan Camilo Acosta, Juan Esteban García and Luis Carlos Martínez. They were third, and second in class. Tatiana’s sister, Paula, was also racing in the event, for a different team.

2013 was also focused on F3, mainly the FIA European Championship, but before the northern hemisphere season began, she travelled to New Zealand, for the Toyota Racing Series. After a consistent run of finishes, she was twelfth overall. Mid-season, she had a good meeting at Taupo, and scored her best finishes, a fifth and an eighth place.

Back in Euro F3, she struggled somewhat. Although she consistently made it to the end of her races, with the exception of the sixth round, at the Norisring, her best finish was only fifteenth, at Silverstone. Her team had trouble finding a suitable car set-up, which meant that qualifying was an issue. Subsequently, Tatiana’s confidence took some knocks, but she carried on.

Britain was a better hunting ground for her.  She scored one podium place in the British International series, at the Nürburgring, as well as fourths at Silverstone and Spa. She was seventh overall, the second of the Double R drivers in the standings..

The two races she did in the Euro F3 Open series were also better - she was sixth and seventh. She was driving for Emilio de Villota’s team, as she had for the 2012 Winter Series.

Late in 2013, she tested for the Auto GP series, at Jerez. 

During the winter season, Tatiana went back to America, and raced in the Florida Winter Series, a Formula Renault championship run by the Ferrari Driver Academy. She began very well, with a win at Sebring, but her performance tailed off towards the end, averaging sixth place. Not long after, she decamped to Europe again, and took part in one race of the Euroformula Open Winter Series, finishing fourth for the Emilio de Villota team.

The main part of the season was spent in the European Formula 3 Championship, with Jo Zeller Racing. It was an abrupt decision to sign with the team, just days before the start of the season. This left no time for testing. She did not get the best of starts in the first meeting, at Silverstone, finishing a lowly 23rd in her first race. Towards the middle of the season, her results began to improve, and she was fifth at Spa in June. She managed seven more top-ten finishes, and was 15th in the championship. 

At the end of the season, she got herself an entry in to the Macau Grand Prix. There have been virtually no female drivers in the single-seater event there, prior to Tatiana. She was thirteenth, from 16th on the grid, in a challenging race with a lot of high-profile retirements. 

In 2015, she returned to the European Formula 3 championship, with the Jagonya Ayam Carlin team. For the first part of the season, it was an uphill struggle, and driving standards by all participants were called into question. Tatiana picked up some speed at the Norisring, getting up to twelfth place, and she repeated this at Zandvoort. She was unplaced in the championship.

During the 2015-2016 Winter season, she had a try at the MRF Challenge in the Gulf states. She was second in her second race, at Yas Marina, and won one race, at Dubai. She was second in the championship. 

She drove in GP3 for Arden International in 2016, and scored her first GP3 top ten, a ninth and tenth at Hockenheim. However, several DNFs at the end of the season broke up her rhythm, which she found very disappointing. She was 21st in the championship. 

Driving for another team, Teo Martin Motorsport, she also tackled the 2016 Euroformula Open. She was almost always in the top ten, and got onto the podium at the Red Bull Ring, in third place. She was ninth in the championship. 

In March 2017, Tatiana was announced as a development driver for the Sauber Formula One team. She undertook testing duties and simulator work. Her Sauber role ran in tandem with another GP3 season, with the DAMS team. It took a while for the team to get their cars running well, but Tatiana was the second-best of the team, with a seventh and a ninth, at Monza and Jerez. She was 18th in the championship.

At the end of the season, she made a guest appearance at the last-ever World Series Formula V8 meeting, held at Bahrain. She was fifth and third, despite never having driven the car before.

2018 was a mixed year. She continued to be affiliated with Sauber and made two appearances in a Formula 1 car, both demonstration runs, one in Mexico and one at Sauber's Fiorano track. Her GP3 season with Jenzer Motorsport was somewhat lacklustre; she became a consistent top-ten finisher towards the end of the season but never challenged for podiums, despite setting some good times in practice and qualifying. She was 16th in the championship.

Towards the end of the year she became involved with 2017-18 Formula E champions Techeetah. Initially, she was brought in for the women drivers' test day organised by the Saudi motorsport authorities, but she was invited back for official testing after the Marrakech race and set the second-fastest time of all the rookie drivers.

She raced in Formula 2 in 2019 with the Arden team, supported by BWT. She was the first female driver to take part in the revived championship and she started well enough with a thirteenth place in Bahrain. At Paul Ricard, she almost got into the top ten, but she was off the pace of her team-mate Anthoine Hubert. She was also affected when Hubert was killed in an accident at Spa. 

She was 22nd in the championship and it was unclear whether she would get another season. She was quietly dropped by the team.

At the end of 2019, she signed up for the Asian Formula 3 championship, driving for Seven GP. She was unable to finish the first race but was fourth in the second.

In 2020, she was meant to be one of an all-female driving squad for IMSA, driving a Grasser Racing Lamborghini with Katherine Legge and Christina Nielsen. The team lost its funding and only appeared at Daytona, where the car did not finish. 

After the Grasser attempt concluded, she was not finished with sportscar racing. Watchmaker Richard Mille was putting together an all-female LMP2 squad, backed by the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission, and Tatiana was quickly signed. The original line-up was Tatiana, Katherine and Sophia Floersch, but Katherine was injured and Sophia was unable to make all the rounds due to other commitments. Andre Negrao filled in at the start, but Beitske Visser was drafted in after the first round. Only Tatiana did all the races. Her best result was a class fifth at Paul Ricard, but her biggest achievement was probably Le Mans itself, where she helped steer the car to 13th place and ninth in the LMP2 class.

Back in single-seaters, she joined the Drago Corse team for the Japanese Super Formula championship, the first female driver to do so for many years. It was a difficult season and she had to miss two of the seven races. Her best results were two twelfth places at Motegi and Suzuka.

A second season in Super Formula was cut to four rounds. Her best race was the first round at Fuji, in which she was thirteenth. She finished two of her other three races but was not hugely competitive, partly due to a lack of seat time and testing.

Tatiana was also retained by the Richard Mille team and did five of the six races in the WEC LMP2 Endurance Trophy. The team did not finish Le Mans after crashing, but they made the finish at the other four in which Tatiana participated. Her best finish was sixth at Portimao.

At the end of 2021, she was announced as the AJ Foyt Enterprises' newest team member for the 2022 Indycar season. Sheplanned race on the road and street courses.

Her Indycar season began with a 24th place at St Petersburg, then a better 16th place at Long Beach. Ironically Indianapolis was her best result of the year: 15th. Sadly, her funding ran out at the end of July and she had to leave the championship. 

More fortunately, a Formula 2 seat became vacant at Charouz Racing System when the injured Cem Bolukbasi had to pull out. Tatiana did the last eight races of the season, although she only finished half of them. Her best finishes were two 18th places at Spa and Yas Marina.

In 2023, she returned to sportscars, joining Team Virage for the European Le Mans Series. Their car was an Oreca LMP2 and Tatiana's usual team-mates were Alexander Mattschull and Ian Rodriguez. Their best finish was fifth in class at Spa and Tatiana was 16th in the LMP2 championship. 

At the start of 2024, she joined the Gradient team for IMSA, alongside Katherine Legge and Sheena Monk. She did five races with the team, driving an Acura NSX. The original three drivers tackled the Daytona 24 Hours, finishing 19th, and the Sebring 12 Hours, in which they were 17th. Katherine Legge was then replaced by Stevan McAleer, who partnered Sheena and Tatiana for the Watkins Glen, Indianapolis and Petit Le Mans events. Petit Le Mans was their best race and they were twelfth in class. Tatiana was 41st overall in the GT drivers' standings.

She returned to the Gradient team in 2025, driving a Ford Mustang with three male drivers. 

(Image from www.thegrid.co.uk) 

Female Single-Seater Drivers Around the World: the Rest of Europe

Malgosia Rdest with a VW Scirocco-R

Fabienne Wohlwend, Natalia Kowalska, Gabriela Jilkova, Victoria Blokhina, Kornelia Olkucka and Veronika Cicha now have their own profiles.

Ljubov Andreeva (Ozeretskovskaya) - Kazakh driver racing in Russia. She took part in Formula Russia in 2014, and was one of the youngest drivers, at 18. She was no among the front-runners, and seems to have usually finished in around tenth place. She did better in the Tatarstan Formula 3 championship rounds, securing one fourth place, and a series of fifths. A second season in Formula Russia, now Formula Masters, saw a more consistent Ljuba. She had two third places at Sochi, and was fourth in the championship. In 2016, she raced a prototype in the Russian Endurance Championship, as part of a four-driver team. She was excluded from the Moscow 4-Hour race for taking an illegal shortcut. She attempted to qualify for the 2019 W Series but was unsuccessful. Later in the year, she did the first tow rounds of the SEA F4 Championship at Sepang, picking up two ninth places. After that, she took time out from racing to have some surgery on her legs. She competed quite extensively in Esports in 2020. Language barriers prevent in-depth research about Ljubov.

Annabelle Brian - moved up to cars from karting at the start of the 2025 season. She signed for the French F4 championship after advice from the director of MP Motorsport, who she contacted for guidance. During the first round, she impressed onlookers by moving up to eleventh place from near the back of the grid. She is the second-fastest of the six female drivers in the championship and usually finishes in the top twenty. Before 2025, she had considerable success as a karter, winning a senior championship in 2023, aged fifteen.

Ksenia Bystrova – raced in Formula Masters in Russia, in 2015. Her best finishes were two second places, both achieved at Sochi, and she was also third at Kazan. This appears to be her first season of senior-level motorsport, although she has been active in karting, and continued to race karts in 2015. Although she is a Russian national, and competes in Russia, she lives in the USA. In 2016, she seems to have done some karting. She works in the motorsport industry. 

Melissa Calvi – Luxembourgish driver who races a Formula Renault in the VdeV Monoplace Challenge. Her first season in VdeV was 2015, and she had a best finish of eighth, at Magny-Cours, after a part-season. In 2016, she has repeated that achievement twice, at Catalunya, out of the six races she did. Previously, she competed in junior karting, up to 2013. She was twice Belgian girls’ champion, and once Luxembourg champion.

Judit Forro (Hunter) - Hungarian-born. She raced in Formula Renault in the UK in 1998, and the MGF Cup in 1999, after a successful kart career in Hungary and Europe. She was married to Jamie Hunter who died while competing in the MGF Cup, and appeared to stop competing after his death. She is now a sky-diving instructor.

Emely de Heus - Dutch driver competing in single-seaters around Europe. 2021 is her first season of senior racing and she entered the Spanish F4 championship, driving for the MP Motorsport team. Previously, she was active in international karting as both a junior and senior driver. Her best result in a single-seater was a fourteenth place at Valencia and she was 29th in the championship. Despite this, she was accepted as a W Series driver for 2022, with the Sirin team. Her best finish in the shortened seven-round season was tenth at Miami, in the first race of the season. After the demise of W Series in early 2023, she was announced as a driver for F1 Academy, an F4-level women's racing series. She drove for MP Motorsport and won one race at Catalunya. Her final championship position was ninth. Earlier in the year, she had done the F4 UAE championship for the same team, but was unplaced. Her second and final season in F1 Academy started very slowly. She only picked up speed near the end, earning her best finish of fourth during the final rounds at Abu Dhabi. She was eleventh in the championship. A part-season in the Eurocup-3 series was also somewhat disappointing. After that, she decided to switch to sportscars, first joining the 24H Series Middle East Trophy with WS Racing for the Dubai 24H, in a BMW, then signing up for the 2025 German Porsche Carrera Cup. She comes from a motorsport family; her father Bert races GT cars.

Michelle Jandova - Czech driver who moved up to cars from karting in 2024. She entered the F4 CEZ championship with SAPE Motorsport, a Czech team. She and her team-mate Marek Micik only did the first three rounds, although Micik joined another team for the rest. Michelle was tenth in her first race at Balaton Park, then was withdrawn from the whole of the Red Bull Ring round. Her best finishes were three eighth places, achieved at the Slovakiaring and Most. She had a couple more DNFs, which dropped her to 24th in the championship.

Branislava Lapínová - Slovakian driver competing mostly in Eastern Europe in 2014. She raced in the Eset championship, in the Formula Car class. Her car was a Formula Gloria. Her best result was 21st, at the Hungaroring. She began her senior career in 2012, after some success in karting. She was driving the Formula Gloria in a Czech championship. Although she did not race in 2013, she did test a Formula Renault.

Shirley van der Lof - Dutch driver, granddaughter of Dries van der Lof. In 2008, she was one of the front-runners in the Trophy class of German F3, having won the Nürburgring round. She was fourth overall at the end of the season, with two more wins at Lausitz and Oschersleben, and a string of podium places. Previously, she drove in Benelux Formula Ford for two years, gaining a reputation as a fast but accident-prone competitor. As a junior, she ran well in the Dutch karting championships. She drove well at the 2006 UK Formula Ford Festival, winning one of her races and gaining some attention from the press. She continued in German F3 in 2009, driving for the Zettler team. This time, she was running in the Cup class, and did not score as highly, finishing 20th overall. Her best finish was eighth, at Oschersleben. After not racing at all in 2010, she switched to sportscars in 2011, driving a Ferrari F430 and 430 GT2, and a Radical. She used the F430 in one round of the Belcar series, at Zolder, but did not finish. The Radical was for the Bridgestone Special Open Trophy race at Assen, and she was fourth, with a fastest lap. She drove the GT2 in a round of the Dutch Supercar Challenge. In 2012, she was not as active, and seems to have concentrated on historic racing in an AC Cobra. After a year on the sidelines, she reappeared in 2014, as part of the Racingdivas team for the Dubai 24 Hours. She won her class, and was 31st overall, in a BMW 320d. The team did not have the funds for any more races in 2014. In 2018, she did some historic racing, driving an AC Cobra in a Masters event at Zandvoort. She tried to qualify for the W Series in 2019 but was unsuccessful.

Alexandra Marinescu – Romanian driver who competes internationally. After several years of karting, she had her first senior experience in 2014, at the age of fourteen, in the Skip Barber Racing Series in the USA. She was 16^th in the championship. In 2015, she moved to the UK, to race in the MSA Formula, a Formula 4 championship. Although she registered for the series, she does not appear to have raced. She did compete in British F4 in 2016, for six rounds. She almost made it into the top ten at Snetterton, with a twelfth place. She was 22nd overall. She tried to qualify for the W Series in 2019 but was unsuccessful and was eliminated after the first assessment event.

Aurelia Nobels - Belgian driver who began racing in Formula 4 in 2022. Her first race in the Danish championship at Jyllandsringen gave her a seventh place, which she improved to a sixth the next day. In an unusual move, she also entered the Brazilian F4 championship, picking up a twelfth place as her best finish at Mogi Guacu. Back in Europe, she joined the Spanish F4 series for its Spa away round, but was not competitive, only managing one 23rd place. In July 2022, she was selected as a senior driver for the FIA’s Girls on Track initiative. This led to a run in the Italian F4 championship in 2023, along with its related Euro4 championship, for Prema. She was unplaced in both series. In 2024, she joined Sainteloc Racing for the UAE F4 championship, in preparation for a season in F1 Academy. She was linked with a Ferrari-backed seat. Her UAE races didn't go brilliantly, with a 19th at Yas Marina her best result. She then did some Saudi F4 races and earned one third place at Losail. Most of 2024 was taken up by F1 Academy, where she was twelfth for ART Grand Prix, despite several top-ten finishes, including a fifth at Zandvoort. She also found time for guest spots in Eurocup-4 and British F4.

Wiktoria Pankiewicz – Polish driver who races in Formula 4 in Italy. 2015 was her first season of senior motorsport; she was one of the younger drivers on the grid, at fifteen years old. Her best result has been fifteenth, at Imola. Although her finishing record was good, she was not strong enough to be among the front-runners, and she did not race for the full season. She competed alongside her twin sister, Julia, and finished one above her in the championship, in 32nd place. She did not race in 2016. 

Michalina Sabaj - Polish driver who began competing in CEZ F4 in 2024. This was her first season in cars, after some time spent in karts. She entered the championship with AS Motorsport, a Slovenian team. The season started slowly for her, with a twelfth and eighth place at Balaton Park. Following a disappointing weekend at the Red Bull Ring, she picked up towards the end of the season, scoring a best place of fourth at Salzburg. She was fifth in the championship. Her F4 campaign was meant to be complemented by a drive in a Wolf in the Italian Prototype Championship, but this did not happen.

Valerie Theuwissen – Belgian driver who raced in Belgian Formula Renault in 2007. She was driving for a family team, Theuwissen Racing, in the Renault Stars Challenge. Her final finishing position was twelfth, after twelve races. The following year, she raced in Formula 16, another Formula Renault series. Although she did not compete for the whole season, she was second overall, after two wins and two second places. She does not appear to have raced since then.

Lucia Zivec – Slovenian driver who raced in Formula 3 in Europe in the 1990s. In 1999, she made appearances in the Austrian and Czech series, driving a 1993-spec Dallara, driving for Wolfgang Krebitz Racing. Her best finish seems to have been a twelfth place, at the Ceska Open, held at Most. Mid-way through the season, her team stopped entering races. She does not appear to have competed since. Now, someone of the same name works in the aerospace industry. 

(Image from http://www.motofakty.pl/)

Female Single-Seater Drivers Around the World: the Americas

Suzane Carvalho

Drivers who have competed in the US oval racing feeder series, if they are not on this page, are likely to be found here. Maria Cristina Rosito, Samin Gomez, Roxie Lott, Bruna Tomaselli, Veronica Valverde, Chloe Chambers, Lindsay Brewer, Maite Caceres, Cecilia Rabelo and Ianina Zanazzi now have their own profiles. Argentine drivers now have their own post, as do Canadian drivers.

Maria Francisca Aceitón – Chilean driver who did one season of her national Formula 3 championship, in 2001. She was recruited by a team looking specifically for a female driver, and jumped straight from karting to full-scale single-seater racing, at the age of 22. She was tenth overall. After her single F3 season, she returned to karting, winning a 125cc championship in 2013. She is from a motorsport family; her father was a racing driver too.

Lindsey Adams – raced between 2006 and 2009, starting in regional championships, following five years of successful karting in multiple classes. In 2006, when she was 19, she was second in the Southwest Formula Mazda championship, with two wins. In 2007, she moved into Formula BMW, entering six races in the US championship. Her best result was thirteenth, achieved twice at Miller Raceway. She was 18^th in the championship. She also raced in Formula Mazda again, for more experience, as part of the Skip Barber championship. After that, she stepped away from single-seaters, racing Legends and Late Model stock cars. She won at least one Legends race in 2008. After deferring her college place to race professionally, she started a business career in 2009. During her time on the circuits, she was a spokesperson for breast cancer charities.

Valeria Aranda - usually races single-seaters in Mexico. She has been competing in Formula 1800 since 2017, for part-seasons, although she managed seven races in 2019 and had a best finish of eighth at Monterrey. This and a ninth at San Luis were her first top-ten finishes. For the past two years, she has been racing for the Del Rio team. In 2019, she tried pickup truck racing for the first time and was thirteenth in a round of the Mikel’s Trucks championship at Mexico City. In 2020, she drove a SEAT in 1800cc touring car races, making appearances in three different championships. She did best in the Copa Notiauto, finishing second and fourth at Pachuca. At the beginning of 2021 she was part of an all-female team for the 1000 Milhas Brasil, then she raced in the Mikel's Trucks Series for almost a full season. She was tenth in the championship. Her best finish was seventh at Puebla, one of four top-ten finishes that year. A second season in Trucks led to championship eighth, with a best finish of fourth at Monterrey. In 2023, she raced again in Trucks and her best finishes were two sixth places. She was tenth in the 2024 Truck series, although she improved her best finish to fifth, in the last round at Mexico City. She has been involved in motorsport since the age of seven and first raced a car at 17.

Madison Aust - races in the US F4 championship with Kiwi Motorsport. She first worked with the team during a test organised by W Series in early 2022. She was not selected for further testing by W Series. She was 28th in the championship, peaking with a ninth place at New Jersey Motorsports Park but then struggling at Circuit of the Americas. This was in tandem with a part-season in USF Juniors, where COTA was her best track. She finished twelfth. At 16 years old, 2022 was her first season of senior motorsport, although she had done some karting. Her team had plans to enter her into some USF Juniors races in 2022 as well and she did six of the races, attending the Mid-Ohio and Circuit of the Americas meetings. Her best finish was twelfth at COTA. Twelfth was her bet US F4 finish in 2023; she did the first round at NOLA before switching to TC America. Driving a BMW M2, she won the TCX class twice at Virginia and finished on the podium multiple times, on the way to third in the class championship. In 2024, she carried on with tin-tops, competing in the Toyota GR Cup. This wasn't a hugely successful year, but she started 2025 well with a run in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at Daytona, driving a Hyundai Elantra. She and Suellio Almeida were fourth in the TCR class.

Julia Ayoub - Brazilian driver who raced in Formula Delta in 2021. After a part-season she was eleventh in the Mitsubishi-engined single-seater championship, with a best finish of fourth at Velo Citta. Prior to this, she was active in karting in Europe and was part of the the FIA Girls on Track Rising Stars programme in 2020 and 2021. She also tested an F4 car for W Series at the start of 2022 but was not selected for an F3 test.

Amanda Cartier - raced in US F4 in 2019. She was one of the oldest drivers on the grid at 42 and she only began racing karts in 2014. Her first experience of F4 was the SCCA’s 2019 Formula Pro USA Western championship, in which she was sixth. Her best finish was eighth at Sonoma and she also won the Masters class there. Driving a different F4 car, she made a guest appearance at Circuit of the Americas for the US F4 series for the same World Speed Motorsport team. Her team-mate was Courtney Crone and her best finish was 27th.

Juliana Chiovitti - raced in the Canadian Bridgestone F2000 Series in 2004. She was fourth overall, with two wins and three further podiums, just in front of James Hinchcliffe. Her performances brought her to the attention of Kathryn Nunn, who invited her to an all-female shootout for an Indy Lights seat at the end of the year. Juliana lost out to Sarah McCune. Previously, in 2000, she was assessed as part of a women’s training programme for Toyota Atlantics, with a view to CART in the future, but this did not lead to anything. She began racing very young, having grown up around her family’s kart track, and was second in a Formula 4 championship early in her career.

Sabré Cook - made her single-seater debut in the first race of the 2017 USF2000 championship at St Petersburg. She was 15th and 17th in her two races. Pre-season, she missed out on a scholarship race seat in USF2000 with the Mazda Road to Indy programme. She was selected on the basis of her karting results. These include three outright championships. Sabré’s first experience in a car was a run in a Spec Racer Ford in the 2017 SCCA National Runoffs. In 2018, she raced in USF2000 again, although she had to sit some rounds out due to damaging the car at Road America. Her best finish was fourteenth at Indianapolis. She also did some rounds of the US Formula 4 championship. She was one of the selected drivers for the W Series in 2019 and finished twelfth in the championship, making her the last automatic 2020 qualifier. Her best finish was eighth at Misano, although she did manage third in the reverse-grid non-championship race at Assen. The 2020 W Series was cancelled due to coronavirus, but she did do some rounds of the Indy Pro 2000 Series with Team Benik. Her best finishes were two tenth places at Road America. In 2021, she returned to W Series, but it was an indifferent year for her and she was 20th in the championship, with an eleventh place at Spa her best result. She also made guest appearances in the MX5 Cup in the USA, finishing twelfth and thirteenth at Daytona. Later in the year, she drove the Yeeti BMW M2 CS in one round of the NLS. For 2023, she signed for the Porsche Carrera Cup in the USA, in the Pro class, but she was unable to complete the season. A second Carrera Cup campaign in 2024 was split between two teams, and she was twelfth overall.

Courtney Crone - American driver who won the Formulaspeed National Championship in 2018, driving a two-litre Formula Mazda car and winning nine races from fourteen. She used the same car in SCCA Formula Atlantic and the West Coast Formula Car Challenge in 2017. In 2018, she also raced in F1600, which uses Formula Ford chassis and a Honda engine, as well as some classic Formula Ford. The following year, she tried out Formula 4, making a guest appearance at Circuit of the Americas. Her best finish was 15th. Previously, she raced midget cars from the age of four. She has tried to enter the all-female W Series twice and been unsuccessful. Since then, she has done a few races in midgets including the 2021 Chilli Bowl. In 2022, she signed for the IMSA Prototype Challenge, driving a Ligier LMP3 car for Jr III Racing. Her best finish was fifth in the season opener at Daytona. This continued in 2023, when she was fourth in the LMP3 class pf IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge. She also did some rounds of the German Prototype Cup, driving the Duqueine and a Ginetta. There was less racing in 2024, but more career progress: she did a few Lamborghini Super Trofeo races, then was selected as an F1 Academy wildcard for the Miami races. She was fourteeenth and eleventh. In 2025, she will drive in the series full-time for Prema, as well as racing in the Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship for preparation.

Caitlyn McDaniel - US driver based in the UK who started her senior career in 2025. She signed for the GB4 championship, driving for Fox Motorsport, aged 18. At the time of writing, her best finish has been a fourteenth place at Oulton Park. At the end of July, she also tried out a Caterham at Zandvoort. Previously, she had been active in karting since 2021, including a run in the Jamie Chadwick Series in England. Her long-term goal is top-level sportscar racing.

Ava Dobson - US driver who has competed in both her home country and the UK. She began racing aged 15 in 2023, winning a scholarship to compete in the USF Juniors series. She did the Road America rounds and managed and eleventh place. She returned to the championship for 2024, but had to pull out after injuring herself in an accident at Barber Motorsports Park. Later in the season, she moved to the UK to do some rounds of the GB4 championship, racing at Silverstone and Donington for VRD Racing. She finished once in the top ten, taking ninth at Silverstone. Her second GB4 season was with the Arden team.

Angela Durazo - raced in Formula 4 in the USA in 2018. She was the first female driver to enter the championship. Her part-season resulted in a best finish of 21st at Mid-Ohio, out of about 36 starters. She is possibly the only racing driver currently active who has rheumatoid arthritis, which curtailed her triathlon career. She works as an actress outside motorsport.

Zoey Edenholm - raced in US Formula 4. Her best F4 result so far has been a ninth place at Virginia in July. 2019 is her first year of senior competition after several years of karting, although she first tried to break into cars in 2017, testing a USF2000 car at Indianapolis. The following year, she took part in the Lucas Oil School of Racing at Sebring, as a recipient of the Pippa Mann Scholarship. In 2020 she made a surprise move into Stadium Super Trucks, entering two races in the Speed Energy championship. In 2021 she made a brief return to US F4 at Circuit of the Americas.

Molly Elliott - raced single-seaters and sportscars in the US in the 1980s. Having raced single-seaters since 1983, she is believed to be the first woman to start a Formula Ford race from pole, at Charlotte in 1986. Her final position in the race was second. She also raced in Formula 2000, finishing tenth in the Canadian championship in 1986. She was named as part of an all-female team for the 1987 SCCA Escort Endurance Championship, driving a Saleen Mustang, but it is not clear whether she actually got to race.

Claudia Fuentes – Chilean driver most famous for her exploits in Formula 3. Her first race was in 2005, when she was 17, making her the Chilean championship’s youngest ever driver. She had a second season in Chilean F3 in 2006, and is described as being quite successful, despite actual results proving hard to find. She may also have raced touring cars, although again, details are sketchy. She began a rally career in 2012, driving a Honda. 

Amber Furst - most famous for attempting to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in 1983. She had applied to take her rookie test, but was turned down due to her lack of experience on ovals. Her ex-Rolla Vollstedt car was meant to be driven by Bill Henderson in qualifying instead, with Amber as team manager, but this did not happen either. Amber was 33 at the time, and said in interviews she had been racing for five years, usually at Portland International Raceway. In 1982, she was racing Formula Fords, having started in that class. In 1981, she was third in the Oregon championship and seventh in the Northwestern. Further details of her career are proving hard to find. 

Juliana Gonzalez - Colombian-born driver living in Mexico. She started racing very young, at fifteen, in Mexico, winning one race in Formula Renault and scoring four further podiums. She then moved to the USA, contesting the 2006 and 2007 Formula Ford 2000 championship. She was tenth overall in 2006. Her best 2007 finish was second, at Road Atlanta, and she was usually in the top ten after her first few races. She did not compete for the whole 2007 season, but also took part in some Panam Formula Renault races. In 2008, she moved up to the Star Mazda series, but only managed to start one race, at Sebring. Her final position was fifteenth. She does not appear to have raced since then.

Hannah Greenemeier - began her car racing career in US F4 at the start of 2023. She was one of the winners of the Parella Motorsports diversity scholarship and was signed by Kiwi Motorsport for the F4 championship. Her first races were at NOLA and she was 12th, 11th and 16th in the three rounds. In 2024, she switched to sportscars, racing an Aston Marttin in the Pirelli GT4 America championship. She and her team-mate Hannah Grisham were tenth in the Silver class, after finishing on the podium once, in second place at Barber. Previously, she was a successful senior-level karter, winning the 2021 US ProTour title. 

Jenna Grillo - raced in SCCA Formula Atlantic in 2017. She was thirteenth in the championship with one third place at Virginia as her best result. She won her class and it was only her first race weekend in the car. Just before then, she was second in the SCCA Spring Sprints at the same circuit. Alongside her single-seater racing, she also drove a Ginetta sportscar in some FARA endurance events. 2016 was her first racing season in cars, and she took part in some rounds of the F2000 series. She was eleventh in the championship. Jenna suffers with fibromyalgia.

Ava Hanssen - began racing single-seaters as a senior aged 14, in 2023. Her first race was in a historic Formula Ford and she won at the Circuit of the Americas SVRA race. She continued in Formula Ford in 2024, competing with Formula Race Promotions F1600 series. She was eleventh in her first race at Road Atlanta and improved through the year, earning her best finish of fourth in the final round at Summit Point. Her car was a 2012 Mygale. In 2025, she moved up to the Ligier Junior Formula series, an F4 championship. Her best result has been fifth at Road Atlanta. Prior to her debut in cars, she raced karts from the age of four.

Nancy James - veteran club and national racer, active since 1973. Her first car was a Lotus 67 Formula Ford. In the 1990s, she and her husband built their own single-seater cars, in which Nancy set several speed records at different tracks. In 2007, she was still competing in Formula Ford, and in 2001, she raced a Radical at Spa.

Shantal Kazazian – winner of the Chilean Formula 4 championship in 1991. This was a dominant performance, and she claimed her title two races before the end of the season. She was only 18 years old. In 1992, she moved into Formula 3, and became the first female points scorer in Chilean F3, with a fifth place in the first round. She was racing for a team sponsored by Hellmann’s Mayonnaise, along with her brother, Shahan. She did not continue in single-seaters after 1992, although she did participate in some ladies-only races in Argentina, later in the 1990s. After her motorsport career ended, she was a successful jetski racer, before working as an artist.

Kristy Kester - American driver last seen competing in Formula Star Mazda. She began her career in SCCA single-seater events in 2007, and was fourth in a divisional championship. With her own team, she moved up to Star Mazda in 2008. Her best finish was fourth, at Portland, and she visited the top ten on three more occasions, giving her ninth overall. In 2009, she did not fare as well, despite scoring some official support from 3G. Her best finish was only tenth, at Iowa, and she only took part in seven rounds, finishing 22nd. Since then, she has not been able to compete due to lack of sponsorship. She is now a medical student and MMA fighter.

Sabrina Kuronuma - competes in single-seaters and endurance events. She did some races in the Gaúcho Formula 1.6 championship in 2011 and 2012. She was set to move to the USA to drive in the Indycar feeder series, and had a team and finances in place, but health problems meant that this was not possible. In 2011, she was part of an all-female team that raced in the Tarumã 12-Hour event, with Isadora Diehl and Patricia de Souza. They were eleventh overall, in a Volkswagen Golf. She attempted to get to America to race in Formula Atlantic, in 2014, but does not seem to have made it.

Julia Landauer – raced single-seaters in the States, before switching to Late Model stock cars in 2009. She came through the Skip Barber system at a young age, finishing sixth in the Southern Regional Series at sixteen years old, in 2007. She won her first Skip Barber championship two years earlier. After a short part-season in the Skip Barber National Series, she graduated to Formula BMW in 2009. Despite three non-finishes in the first three races of the season, she improved, and by the end, at Mosport, she achieved her best finish of fifth, one of three top tens in the second half of the season. She was sixteenth overall. After a break, during which she attended university, she started racing Late Models at her local circuit, Motor Mile in Virginia. In 2015, she was one of the leading drivers in her region, with four wins. This led to a ride in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, driving a Toyota. She was fourth in the championship, with a second and third place at the end of the season. In 2017, she made a couple of K&B Series East appearances, driving for Troy Cline's team, but most of her year was spent in its West counterpart, with Bob Bruncati Racing. She was seventh in the championship, with a best finish of fifth at Douglas County Speedway. She did a couple more races in 2018, earning a twelfth place at Loudon in the NASCAR Pinty's Series. She did six more Pinty's Series races in 2019, earning one top-ten finish at Bowmanville and leading a lap at Hamilton. In 2020, she travelled to Europe for the NASCAR Whelen EuroSeries. She was seventh in the shortened four-round championship, finishing fifth at Zolder. It was back to the States for 2022, when she entered two NASCAR Xfinity races. She finished one at Homestead, in 28th place.

Kim Madrid - races a historic Formula Ford in the USA. She has won races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2022 and 2023, driving a 1978 Crossle. In 2018, she won the Crossflow Cup for historic Formula Fords. She has been racing on-track since 2004 and previously campaigned a Formula Vee, winning the FV1 championship four years in a row, from 2007 to 2010. As well as racing her pink Crossle, she also helps to run championships.

Maria Jose Perez de Arce - Chilean driver who began racing single-seaters in 2019, when she was only fifteen. She raced in Formula Codasur, finishing sixth in the championship for the PDA Comp team. In 2022, she entered the FIA Motorsport Games in the F4 category, representing Chile. She was 21st in the qualifying race and 22nd in the final. In between, she has been active in karting.

Kelsey Pinkowski - races F4 in both America and Japan. After some testing in 2024, she signed for the Ligier JS F4 series for 2025, driving for the Crosslink Motorsports team. At the time of writing, her best result has been an eighth place at Road America, one of three top-ten finishes. In Japan, she is part of the kids.com Team KCMG squad, racing against other women in a KCMG F4 car.

Samira Rached – Mexican driver who competes in Formula 1800 and the Super Copa Telcel. She began racing in Formula Vee in 2012, and moved into Formula 1800 in 2014. That year, she was eleventh in the championship, with two top-ten finishes, an eighth place at Puebla and a tenth at Pachuca. At the time of writing, she has managed three top tens in the 2015 series. In 2014 and 2015, she has also been part of the Super Copa Telcel, organised by a TV channel, and was one of its leading drivers in 2015. Another season in the Formula V series was not as successful; in 2016, she did five races, with a best finish of ninth, at Zacatecas. 2017 was a struggle for opportunities, but she managed two races in Formula 1800. She was sixth at Guadalajara and eleventh at Mexico City. 2018 was a similar story: she did two F1800 races, with a best finish of ninth at Mexico City. 2019 seems to have been spent mostly in speed events, although she did start one race at Queretaro. She races for a family team, run by her father, Raul.  

Kay Rathmann - raced in Formula Vee in the late 1960s. In 1969, she was part of the ladies’ contingent in a big Daytona race for Formula Vee, alongside Jenny Nadin and Hannelore Werner. She was classified 33rd, the first of the female drivers, despite not being as experienced as the other two. She seems to have been part of Volkswagen’s “Coupe de Charme” for women drivers in Formula Vee. Also in 1969, she drove in another Formula Vee race, at Daytona, alongside several Mercury and Apollo astronauts, including Gordon Cooper and Pete Conrad. She had done some Formula Vee racing with Conrad at the same track in 1968. By 1972, she was still competing, and entered another  big Formula Vee event at Daytona, the Brundage Trophy. She did not finish. Kay was married to Jim Rathmann, who sometimes entered her in his cars.

Monserrat de la Rosa – Mexican driver who races in the Telcel Super Copa in her home country. She started racing single-seaters in 2011, in the Mexican Formula Vee championship. After doing some touring car racing in her national championship in 2012, she took part in Formula V-1800 in 2013. For some of the season, she tested a FF2000 car in the USA, with the hope of a race seat in 2014, but this did not transpire. She did compete in the smaller “Pony” class of the Super Copa, but not in the main draw. She was seventh at Tangamanga. In 2015, she returned to V-1800, for at least one race. She also took part in a celebrity race at San Luis, which she won. At the same meeting, she was fifteenth in a V-1800 race. Early in the season, she was linked with a drive in a GT3 car, but this only seems to have been some testing. Throughout her career, she has struggled for sponsorship, and has only raced a few times each season. In 2016, she switched to dirt track racing ("Car Cross"), and was third in her novice class. She launched her own dirt track team in 2017 and won some races in 2018. 

Glenna Sacks - raced in Formula Vee in America in the 1970s. Her career began in 1972, and she initially raced a Datsun that used to belong to her husband. The next year, she moved into single-seaters, mostly Formula Vee. She was doing well in SCCA events until a serious accident wrote off her car and left her with shoulder and neck injuries. She bounced back, without the wrecked Vee, and later raced a Formula Ford and an Austin-Healey Sprite.

Sara Sanchez - former karter who has raced single-seaters in Uruguay. She appears to have competed in a junior series called Super Formula 2000 in 2008, which may have been a Formula Renault series, although details are sketchy. Her best finish was fourth. In 2009, she entered Formula Chevrolet in Brazil, but only drove in one race, at El Pinar. She was seventh. The championship was cancelled shortly after, due to lack of entries. The same happened in 2010, leaving Sara with one unclassified finish to her name. Sara is Brazilian.

Kerstin Smutny - mostly races open-wheel cars in the USA. She began her senior career at 16, in 2006, in the Formula TR Pro Series for Formula Renault cars. She was eighth in her first season and seventh in her second, in 2007. In 2008, she dropped back down to racing Midget cars, and was fourth in the Washington state championship. A detour into saloons then followed; she drove in the VW Jetta TDI Cup, and was 21st overall. After that, she took a break from motorsport, partly enforced by a lack of sponsorship, and returned in 2012, back in single-seaters. She entered some rounds of the Formula Car Challenge Championship, in a FormulaSPEED Mazda. She was third and second at Infineon Raceway, and was third in the championship. She did not race in 2013 or 2014, but was active in karting in 2015. Her racing plans were put on hold during 2016, due to pregnancy. 

Nicole Solano – Costa Rican driver who raced in Formula Renault (Formula 2000) in the Americas in 2010. She was third in one race at La Guácima, in Costa Rica, and seventh in three others, but the rest of her results, and her championship position, are not forthcoming. She was only fifteen years old in 2010. Her brother, André Solano, also raced in the championship, and was the eventual winner. Nicole does not appear to have raced since then.

Ginni Swanton – raced in Star Formula Mazda between 1995 and 2004. For quite a lot of this, she was part of the Pro section. In the National-level competition, her best season was 2003, when she was 19^th overall. Her best race finish was fourteenth, at Nazareth. In 2004, she did eight races with Bucknum Racing, and was 29^th. Previously, in 2000, she raced in the Formula Mazda Western Division. In 2001, she raced in both series, and ran quite well in the Western Division, with at least two top-ten finishes, at Phoenix. As well as dedicated Star Mazda races, Ginni also competed in SCCA races, in her Star Mazda car.

Payton Westcott - began her senior career in 2025, racing F4 in Europe at the age of 15. Her first championship was the 2025 Formula Winter Series, based in Spain. She drove for the Van Amersfoort team and was 27th in the championship. Her best result was a thirteenth place at Aragon Motorland. For the main 2025 season, she signed for the Italian F4 series with the same team. In the first round at Misano, she was 20th and 26th, not finishing the other race on the timetable.

Mianna Wick - most famous for her historic racing in a 1996 Lola Indycar, which she first drove in 2015, after testing a later Indycar a year earlier. Her Indycar activities have mainly been shows, although she also appears to have done some hillclimbs. She started racing cars in 2013, after several years of karting, including Superkarts. Her first car was a Formula Ford 1600, in which she won a Flying Miata Time Trial in 2013. She acquired a Formula Mazda for the 2014 season, and won two races at the SCCA Labor Daze meeting. In 2015, she was first and second in the Formula Mazda at the SCCA Freedom Sprint. 2016 was mostly spent concentrating on raising sponsorship for running the Indycar, as well as some driving in the car.

(Image from http://www2.uol.com.br/suzane/pilotos/suzane.shtml)