Tasmin Pepper

 Tasmin Pepper is a well-travelled driver from South Africa who has experienced success in both single-seaters and saloons, including race wins in both. 

She began racing in the 2006 South African Formula Ford Championship, aged sixteen. For her first couple of  seasons she combined karting with Formula Ford. Despite this, she was fourth in 2007 and claimed her first podium finishes. Tannith Gardiner stood in for her at Zwartkops.

Moving up the single-seater ladder in 2008, she entered the South African Formula Volkswagen series, a new championship launched that year using Reynard chassis previously raced in Germany. As well as this she raced in Formula BMW Pacific, racing all over Asia as well as her homeland, including three support slots for Formula 1 races. Her best finishes in both championships were fourth places. She was seventh in Formula Volkswagen and thirteenth in Formula BMW. 

A season spent closer to home was rewarded with her first win, at Kyalami, driving a Formula Volkswagen in the South African championship. Another three podiums at Kyalami and Killarney confirmed her fourth place.

In 2010, she continued where she left off, finishing second in the championship with another win at East London and ten podium places. When she finished, she was never out of the top ten, and almost always in the top five. 

She challenged again in the 2011 Formula VW series. Sadly, she did not win this time, although she was rarely out of the top five. She was fourth overall. 

After 2012, she switched from the declining Formula VW to saloon car racing in the Wesbank Super Series, driving a VW Golf. She also returned to karting, including some visits to Europe for the X30 series after winning the South African edition in 2011. Her win was repeated in 2012. 

Volkswagens were to be her favoured car for six seasons and in 2013, she added more wins to her tally: a round of the Polo Cup at Phakisa. Later that year, she was selected for the FIA VW Scirocco R-Cup ladies' evaluation tests, but did not win the following Shootout in Europe. 

She returned home to the Polo Cup in 2014, ending the season fourth overall. This was one of her best final finishing positions, although she bettered it in 2016 and 2018 with second places and outright race wins.

In 2019, she qualified for the all-female W Series, despite being out of single-seater racing for some time. She was a solid midfield but not spectacular finisher, racing in Europe. Her best finish was sixth at Zolder, which she repeated in the non-championship race at Assen. W Series did not run in 2020 due to the global coronavirus crisis, but she was set to compete again in 2021. Sadly, coronavirus seriously curtailed travel to and from South Africa and she was unable to race at all.

She is from a motorsport family; her brother Jordan races and her father Iain used to. She has been involved in one form of racing or another since she was four.

(Image copyright Reynard Gelderblom/Wheels24)

Naomi Schiff

Naomi with the KTM X-Bow in 2015

Naomi Schiff is a Belgium-based South African driver. She is one of the most cosmopolitan speedqueens on this site, with a Belgian father and a Rwandan mother. She spent much of her childhood in South Africa, where she began racing. Currently, she competes under the South African flag, although she has previously raced on a Belgian license.

Naomi’s father raced himself when he was younger, but he did not push her into motorsport. She caught the racing bug at a karting birthday party held by a friend. By the age of twelve, she was racing her own kart.

Following a successful kart career in South Africa, she moved up to Formula Volkswagen in 2010, still only aged 16. She did six races, with a best finish of sixth, and was 17th overall.

Her Formula Volkswagen season was accompanied by some more karting, and she continued to race karts, with some success, in 2011. At this time, she was studying for exams, and also modelling, in addition to her racing activities.

After that, she moved to Belgium, and raced a Norma M20 in four rounds of the Belgian Special Open Trophy, managing a second in her first race, with no testing beforehand. She was also fifth and sixth at Spa. Unfortunately, the owner of the team for which she was driving vanished, and took all of her sponsor money with him. This was the end of her season.

A period on the sidelines followed, and she used this as an opportunity to finish her education. She decided afterwards to decamp from South Africa to Belgium full-time, and to pursue motor racing as a career. This was the end of her modelling days, and she was now on the lookout for sponsorship and racing opportunities.

She reappeared in 2013, racing in different machinery in different parts of the world. She was back in a Radical for two rounds of the Dutch Supercar Challenge, giving her another two sixth places, after making a guest appearance at the Motorland meeting of the Formula Renault Eurocup. She was less successful there, with one 34th place. A chance meeting then led to a new career direction; she was due to test a Lamborghini Gallardo for the Reiter Engineering team, but when she arrived, a customer had already claimed the car. Later that day, she met the driver, a Chinese racer and team owner. When Naomi explained that the drive she was testing for had been taken, the team owner offered her his own race seat, in the Clio Cup in China. So it was off to Southeast Asia, which was a good move. She won her second Chinese Clio Cup race, after coming second in her first, against experienced local drivers, at Chengdu. At Guangdong, she picked up another win, but did not finish her other race. In between, she did two Asian Formula Renault races, and was sixth and seventh at Zhuhai. Whilst in China, she guested in some rounds of the Scirocco-R Cup there, with at least one second place. Late in the northern hemisphere season, she was one of the twelve entrants in the VW Scirocco-R Shootout for female drivers, held in Germany. Lucile Cypriano was the eventual winner.

She intended to compete in the North Europe Formula Renault series in 2014, but this fell through. She returned to the Chinese Clio Cup, invited back by her 2014 team, and won it convincingly, with four victories. In Europe, she competed in the Zolder 24 Hours, in a Wolf GB08 sportscar, and was seventh overall, with Jonathan Pizzuti, Kurt Thiers and Guglielmo Belotti.  

In 2015, she worked with Reiter Engineering again, driving a KTM X-Bow in the Nova GT4 Euro Series. She entered the championship for the Slovakiaring round, with Reinhard Kofler, and was rewarded with a third place and a win. She has also achieved two fourth places at the Red Bull Ring. As well as the GT4 Series, Naomi also drove a Lamborghini Gallardo for the Reiter team at last, in the GT Sports Club series for “gentlemen” drivers.

She competed in the GT4 series in again in 2016, in a Reiter-prepared KTM X-Bow. She only did a part-series, with her best finish being a seventh place, at Pau.

In 2017, she began the year with a run in the Dubai 24 Hours, in the X-Bow. She was part of an all-female team with Marylin Nierderhauser, Anna Rathe and Caitlin Wood. They ran as high as fourth in their class, but a collision with another car put them out of the running. They just made it to the end, in 72nd place.

Most of her season was spent in a slightly different all-female team, but with the same car. She raced in the GT4 European Series, usually with Marylin Niederhauser and once with Caitlin Wood, for RYS Team WP. The season was not a huge success and the team did not do the whole calendar. Being disqualified from the opening round at Misano did not help. Naomi did not receive a radio message from the team informing her of a drive-through penalty due to a too-early driver change.

Her best result was a sixth place at the Slovakiaring. Naomi was 28th in the championship individually, with two points fewer than Marylin.

She did not do as much racing in 2018 as in previous years. In May, she drove the X-Bow in the Nurburgring 24 Hours with Laura Kraihamer, Lena Strycek and Rahel Frey. They were second in class and 39th overall. Later in the year, she teamed up with Laura and the True Racing regulars for the Catalunya round of the 24H Series. They were second in class again and ninth overall.

Naomi was signed with the Reiter team, who run the Lamborghini and KTM works sportscar teams, as a junior driver. This araangement appears to have come to an end in 2019. 

At the start of 2019 she was accepted as one of the 20 W Series drivers and raced around Europe in a regional F3 during the summer. Her time out of a single-seater was somewhat evident and she was not one of the quicker drivers in the series, earning a best finish of tenth on-track and 16th in the championship, missing the cut for automatic entry in the 2020 W Series. 

Since then, she has acted as W Series' Diversity and Inclusion officer, and was named as a reserve driver in 2021. She did not race.

(Image copyright KTM)

Female Single-Seater Drivers Around the World: Africa

Tasmin Pepper

The African continent has produced a few female drivers, the most famous being Desiré Wilson. Brittany Vorster now has her own profile. This page will hopefully expand in future. Drivers in other types of racing in Africa can be found here. 

Hannah Lee Daniel - South African driver from a Durban motorsport family. She started karting in 2022 and combined senior karting with a debut season in the MSA4 championship in 2025. Her final championship position was 16th, having not quite managed a top-eight position needed for points. She does not appear to have re-entered the series in 2026.

Tannith Gardner - races karts and cars in South Africa. In 2007, she substituted for Tasmin Pepper in the SA Formula Ford championship at Zwartkops, when Tasmin was on international karting duty. Her final championship position that year was thirteenth. In 2011, she raced in the SA Production Car championship, driving a Subaru WRX STi. She scored at least two eighth places that year at Port Elizabeth, before contact with another driver sent her car rolling off the track. She was unhurt. Early in her career, she won a gearbox karting title outright.

Anastasia Gerasis - races in the MSA4 F4 series in South Africa. Her first season was 2025, when she was 16. She was fourtheenth in the championship, scoring three eighth places. A second season in MSA4 followed in 2026. Before that, she had been active in karting for a couple of years.

Vicki Kemp - raced in South African Supercars in 2010, aged 18, with a view to moving into NASCAR. She was selected for 2010 NASCAR Driver Talent Search and Shootout, but did not get through. Her finishing record in Supercars was not good, but she did manage eighth and ninth places. After that, she switched to single-seaters, and competed in Formula VW in 2011. Her car was more reliable, and she  had a best finish of sixth, at Killarney. She was tenth in the championship. During her second Formula VW season, her performances were similar, and she was eleventh overall. After that, she does not seem to have raced. As a junior, she was the first girl to win a South African karting championship in 2007.

Donny (Donacius) Lamola - raced single-seaters in South Africa, beginning in 2013 with a Formula Ford drive at Zwartkops, assisted by Ian Schofield. The next year, she ws 14th in the South African Formula Ford championship. She competed in both Zetec and Kent-engined Formula Fords, on the circuits and in hillclimbs. A stroke limited her participation, but she continued to attend races. She died in 2020.

Glenda Mann - raced single-seaters in South Africa in the 1980s. She competed in the South African Formula Ford championship between 1983 and 1985. Among the cars she raced was a Donelly FF1600 and a Formula Vee car which she used in 1983. Her results are proving hard to find, but she won several races outright. She often competed alongside her brother, Basil Mann, who was a successful driver in both South Africa and Europe.

Simphiwe Mohlahlo - races in MSA4 and Formula Libre in South Africa. She began her career in 2023, racing karts and testing a Formula Ford. After some time spent in Formula Ford 1600 and Libre, she first entered the F4-based MSA4 championship in 2025, the first year it ran. She was not among the frontrunners, and returned in 2026, hoping to make an impression. At the same time, she competed in the Gauteng regional Formula Libre championship, finishing fifth overall. Before concentrating on motorsport, she was a makeup artist.

Jennifer Murray - South African driver who was part of their A1 GP team, driving in one test session in 2006. She was taken on following her performances in Formula Ford, in South Africa and at the 2004 Formula Ford Festival in the UK. In 2006, she was a consistent top-ten performer in the South African series, and was fourth overall. Between 2007 and 2009, she mostly competed in the Shelby Can-Am sportscar series in South Africa, in a 3300cc Dodge. Her best season was 2008, during which she won two races, visited the podium ten times and was the overall runner-up. She has also competed in Formula Volkswagen, and in the all-female Formula Woman Nations Cup. 

Gianna Pascoal - South African driver who began racing cars in 2026, when she was fifteen. She entered the F4-based MSA4 championship and finished twelfth overall, with a best finish of sixth at Killarney, her local circuit. From the age of eleven, she competed in karts with some success, in South Africa and abroad. This was in parallel with a competitive diving career. She is part of the More Than Equal driver development programme.

Helene Visser - raced single-seaters in South Africa in the 1980s. She did at least one season in Formula Ford in 1984, driving a Hawke DL19. During her career, she won at least one race outright, possibly in 1984 at Killarney International Raceway. That year, she entered the “Mini Monaco” event held around a golf course in Cape Town. Her husband Chris Visser also raced at the time.

Sofia Zanfari - Moroccan driver who competes in Europe. She started racing cars in 2025, aged 18, and signed up for the French F4 Championship. Her best finishes have been two 18th places, at Spa, although she is often on the podium for the Women's award, contested by six drivers in 2025. Her final championship position was 29th. Before F4, she competed in karting around Europe and also in the USA, including a run in the FIA World Championships in 2023.

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

Stephanie (Steffi) Halm

Steffi with her race truck

After six years of karting in her native Germany, Stephanie Halm took her first steps in full-sized motorsport in 2001. She had won two regional championships in her final two years of karting. Her chosen path was single-seaters, and she joined the popular Formula König. After a hesitant start at Oschersleben, where she was thirteenth, she had a very competent debut season. In Round Two at Lausitz she was sixth, at Salzburg she was eighth, and was ninth at the Nürburgring. Her second visit to the Lausitzring gave her another eighth, and she was seventh at Hockenheim. In the penultimate round at the Nürburgring she was seventh, and at the final race at Oschersleben she scored her best result: fourth. This consistent performance was good enough for seventh in the championship.

After this strong start, she switched to the more powerful and competitive Formula Renault 2.0 in 2002. Driving for the Auto Hackel team, she was not as comfortable with the car as she had been the previous year. She was 19th and fourteenth in her first two races at Oschersleben, 20th in both races at Hockenheim, 18th and 16th at Lausitz, 21st and thirteenth at the Nürburgring, 16th at Salzburg, 20th and 17th at the second Nürburgring meeting, and 15th and seventh at Oschersleben, saving her best result for last once more. She was 19th in the drivers’ standings, and did not return to the formula the following year.

Formula Volkswagen was her choice of competition in 2003. In her first two races at Oschersleben, she was out of the top ten, partly due to missing qualifying in order to sit an exam at school. She broke into the top ten with a ninth spot in the fourth race at Hockenheim. She scored an eighth place at the Nürburgring and was tenth and eighth at Salzburg. Showing more consistency, she was seventh and eighth at the Lausitzring, and seventh and tenth at Oschersleben. She was eighth overall.

She then changed to tin-tops, recording the first female win in the Alfa Romeo 147 Cup in 2004. Her victory at Oschersleben, the second round of the championship, was also the first win by a female driver in a diesel-powered car. She did not do quite as well for the rest of the season, but was still good enough for sixth overall, and second in the junior driver standings.

She repeated this feat in the Mini Challenge in 2005. Driving for the ROMA Wiesmann team, she won one of the races, and finished the year in sixth.

She was retained by the team for the 2006 season, and did not disappoint. She won one race, and finished in the top three on four more occasions. In the end-of-season final, she was fifth. Overall, she was fourth, comfortably ahead of Johannes Stuck.

In 2007, she did some races in the Porsche Carrera Cup, as part of the Tolimit Inventure team, with Hannes Plesse. She was supported by Eve Scheer, a Porsche Cup regular. Sadly, the Porsche did not suit Stephanie at all, and she was off the pace all season. She had a best finish of eleventh at Zandvoort, and did not finish four of her races. She was 23rd overall.

Going back to what she knew, Stephanie returned to the Mini Challenge in 2008. She won twice during the season, at Hockenheim and Oschersleben. Her other results were a sixth at Hockenheim, a rare DNF and related 21st at Oschersleben, eighth at the Nürburgring, fifth and sixth at Oschersleben, fourth and second at Hockenheim, a pair of twelfths at the Nürburgring, fifth at Oschersleben, and tenth and sixth at Salzburg. She was fourth again, driving for the GIGAMOT team.

As well as one-make series, Stephanie has tackled some longer races. In 2005 and 2006, she was part of an all-female endurance team consisting of her, Nicole Luttecke, Kati Droste and Catharina Felser, driving a Mazda RX-8. They raced in the Nürburgring and Dubai 24 Hour events, coming fourth in class at the Nürburgring. They were not classified in Dubai. She also joined the Daikin team for the 2006 Zolder 24 Hour race. Her car was a BMW 120d, and her team-mates were Alexandra van de Velde, Gaby Uljee and Caroline Grifnée. They did not finish. After a short hiatus from endurance events, Stephanie returned to the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 2008. She was driving a Mini Cooper run by the Schirra team, aided by Harold Proczyk and Heide von Bohlen und Hallbach Friedrich. They were 94th, and twelfth in class.

Schirra Motoring continued to work with Stephanie in 2009, entering her into another Mini Challenge. Her season did not go as well as previously, with her best finish being second at Silverstone. She incurred three retirements that year, which was unusual, and may explain her lack of usual pace.

In 2010, she drove in the Porsche Super Sports Cup in Germany, and this particular Porsche, a 997, suited her well. She was third overall. Driving a similar car in 2011, she was fourth in the Barcelona 24 Hours for Besaplast Racing. She and her team-mates, Roland and Sebastian Asch, Franjo Kovac and Martin Tschornia won their class.

The rest of 2011 was spent in the Mini Challenge, and in the European Truck Racing Championship, driving a Mercedes truck. In the Mini, Stephanie was ninth, competing against some of her Barcelona team-mates. However, she did not have the pace of her early seasons, with another best finish of second at Salzburg. In trucks, she was less competitive, with a best finish of twelfth in the final race, at Le Mans. She did not compete in all forty races of the season.

Stephanie maintained her ties with Besaplast in 2012, and the same team that competed in the Barcelona 24 Hours, drove in the Dubai equivalent. They were 28th, second in class. She also made a successful return to the revamped MINI Trophy, winning the second race at Oschersleben, after coming third in the first. She scored five more podium positions, and was third overall in the championship. She also drove the Besaplast Mini in the Nürburgring 24 Hours, but did not finish. Assisted by Jurgen Schmarl, Franjo Kovac and Fredrik Lestrup, she completed 154 laps.

Truck racing had not been forgotten; driving a MAN, Stephanie guested at the Nürburgring round. Her best finish of her four races was eighth.

In 2013, she completed six rounds of the European Truck Racing Championship, in a yellow MAN truck. She was fifteenth overall, after a more consistent run of points finishes. Her best finishes were a series of eighth places, achieved at Navarra and Most.

Stephanie drove in the European Truck Championship in 2014, and was more competitive. She did the whole season in a MAN, for Lion Truck Racing. Her best round was at Navarra, in Spain, where she achieved three sixth places. She also came sixth in one of her Nürburgring races. Her normal position was somewhere in the top ten, and she was joint tenth overall at the end of the season.

Her fifth season in the Truck championship showed more improvement. Still driving for the Lion Truck team, she was eighth in the championship, despite not running a full season. Her best circuit was undoubtedly the Hungaroring, where she scored her first win, and another podium, a third.

As well as trucks, Steffi returned to cars in 2015. She drove a BMW Alpina G6 GT3 in the DMV-GTC (German GT Championship), with Hermann Wager. They were 16th overall, after a part-season, and Steffi's best finishes were three class podiums.

In 2016, she was a real contender in the ETRC. She won four races, at the Nürburgring, the Hungaroring and Le Mans. This left her fourth in the championship, not far behind third-place man, Rene Reinert.

She kept up her form in 2017, keeping her fourth place in the championship. She won at the Red Bull Ring, Slovakiaring and Le Mans, and earned second places at the two other Slovakiaraing races.

Steffi was sixth in the 2018 European Truck championship, two points behind fifth-placed Norbert Kiss. She won two races outright, at the Nürburgring and Zolder. Her wins were supported by a long string of podium positions.

She continued to be a leading driver in the European Truck championship in 2019, finishing fourth overall. Although she did not record another win, she was very consistent and earned herself and Schwabentruck Racing eleven podium positions, five seconds and six thirds.

The shortened 2020 season was not one of her best. Driving an Iveco truck for her own team, she scored a series of fifth places at Most and the Hungaroring. This was enough for fifth in the championship.

2021 continued to be disrupted, but the ETRC season ran for most of the year. Stephanie grabbed her first podium at the Hungaroring, coming second in the fourth race of the weekend. Over the season, she earned three more second places at Zolder and Jarama, finishing sixth in the championship.

A full season went ahead in 2022 and Stephanie was a consistent top-ten finisher, usually much higher than that. Her best finishes were a string of third places at the Nürburgring, the Hungaroring, Zolder and Jarama. Her 2023 season was spent with the Schwabentruck team again and she was sixth overall. A win eluded her, but she scored podium finishes at Poznan, Most, Le Mans and Jarama. Three of these were second places.

She was back on the top step of the podium in 2024, winning in Race 2 of the Nurburgring and in the last round at Jarama. After averaging one podium finish at each race meeting on top of her wins, she was fifth in the European championship.

2025 gave her a third in the European championship. Although she was very consistent this year, she did not win another race, staying behind her team-mate, multiple champion Jochen Hahn. 

(Image from http://www.steffi-halm.de/)

Gina Maria Adenauer

Gina is originally a single-seater racer from Germany. Her debut in senior motorsport came in Formula König in 2001, when she was 16. She scored her best finish of fourth at Lausitz, but did not reach the top ten in any of the other races. She was fifteenth overall.

She returned to Formula König in 2002, but did not fare much better, coming 19th at the end of the season. As a consolation, she was that year’s Ladies’ Champion.

The following year, she moved up to Formula Volkswagen in Germany. Her best finishes were two ninth places at Salzburg, and a ninth and tenth at the Lausitzring. Once again, these were her only top tens. She was twelfth overall.

Her next challenge was the German Formula Three Championship, driving for the Seyffarth team. She joined part-way through the season, at the Lausitz round. Lausitz had been something of a lucky circuit for her previously, but she only managed 16th. Her best finish was eleventh, achieved three times, at two more of the Lausitz races and at the Sachsenring. She managed to finish all of her races, but did not feature in the final points standings. As well as the German F3 series, Gina also entered the Austrian Formula 3 Cup. She was third overall, after two seconds at Lausitz and two thirds at the Nürburgring. This also gave her fourth place in the overall Austrian Racing Championship.

After the action of 2004, 2005 was a very quiet year for Gina. Her motorsport activities were restricted to one guest spot in the Toyota Yaris Cup. This gave her 31st overall.

In 2006, she rejoined the Seyffarth team for two Formula 3 Euroseries races. Driving in the Trophy class, she was first and third at the Norisring. Both times, she was 16th in the main standings. Her performances gave her a fifth place in the final Trophy leaderboard. She also raced in the SEAT Leon Supercopa, making a guest appearance at the Nürburgring for Konrad Motorsport. She was twelfth.

Driving again for Seyffarth, she did not finish the 2007 Dubai 24 Hour race in their Porsche GT3 997, despite qualifying sixth. Her co-drivers were Jan Seyffarth, Hannes Plesse, Christian Hohenadel and Philipp Wlazik.

Later in 2007, Gina took part in some endurance karting events and was fifth in the Leipzig 24 Hours. Since then, she does not appear to have competed and her website has been taken down.

(Image source unknown)