Robyn Kruger (Stiel)

 

Robyn Kruger (now known as Robyn Kriel) is a South African driver who usually races a Volkswagen Polo, often in one-make series.

She began karting at five, and moved into circuit racing at fifteen in the Super Hatch series, driving a Ford Fiesta. She won her class championship in the category in 2006 and 2007. 

The following year, she moved into the Engen Volkswagen Cup, a South African one-make championship. In her first year she was fifteenth overall. 

In 2009, driving a Polo, she improved her finishing position to tenth, then ninth in 2011. 

She achieved her first VW Cup podium position in 2012, at Zwartkops. Her final championship position was eleventh. 

In 2013, her career went international. She travelled to Buddh in India for a guest appearance in the VW Polo R Cup, in which she was second, behind her brother Jeffrey Kruger. She was also selected for the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission’s VW Scirocco-R Shootout, and got to the final stage, finishing fourth overall. This made up for crashing out of the first SA VW Cup round earlier in the year.

She raced less than previously in 2014, taking part in club Superhatch racing in the Polo. She scored at least one second place at Kyalami. As well as the Polo, she used a Ford Ka in Superhatch races in 2016.

Apart from occasionally racing a Lotus 7 in historic events, she only took part in the bigger 2018 endurance races in the Polo, which continued in 2019. She and Stiaan won their class in the Phakisa 200 in 2018. Robyn and Stiaan, who later married, raced together for the first time in 2017. They used his VW Polo for endurance races, starting with the Phakisa 200. It was about six months before the team raced again.

In 2020, Robyn raced in the VW Challenge again, finishing seventh in the final standings. This was combined with endurance racing, including a fourteenth place in the Phakisa 200 with Robbie Da Silva.

She switched to sportscars in 2021, racing a Lexus-engined Backdraft Cobra Roadster with Stiaan and Kosie Weyers.

Away from the track, Robyn works as a teacher.

(Image from motorsport.co.za)

Sneha Sharma

 

Sneha Sharma is a single-seater racer from India.

She has done most of her racing in Formula 4 in India, as part of the JK Tyres Racing Championship. This is not the same as FIA F4 and race results are therefore harder to find. 

She began her single-seater career in 2013, after several years of karting, which gave her several notable wins. She also did a part-season in the 2010 Volkswagen Polo one-make cup. Her early attempts to get a foothold in the Indian motorsport scene were manufacturer-sponsored one-make series where she tried to win sponsored drives. She tried to get onto the Toyota Etios programme and did at least an exhibition race in the car in 2012. At around the same time, she got into the final five of a Mercedes young driver programme, setting a speed record. 

In 2016, she continued in the JK Tyres series, and was tenth in the championship. It was based around the Kari circuit at Coimbatore and she had one of her more successful years, picking up fifth and sixth places. 

Sneha has also raced in the VW Polo Cup and the Toyota Etios one-make championship, and got into the final twelve of a Mercedes driver development challenge in India. 

In 2019, she attempted to qualify for the women-only W Series, but did not get past the first round. She intended to spend the season moving between the Formula RGB India championship and Southeast Asian Formula 4, although she does not appear to have entered the Indian series. She was tenth in the F4 series for Meritus GP, with a best finish of fifth at Sepang. Of the four female drivers entered that year, she was the best by quite a long way.

Her F4 top ten was not her only race in Malaysia; she entered the first rounds of the Proton Saga Cup for DV Motorsports. 

Her activities in 2020 were limited by the worldwide coronavirus crisis, although she did keep her hand in with some karting.

She has worked as an airline pilot since 2012, when she was 22. Her training was undertaken in Malaysia and the USA. She started at age 17 and took a break from karting to do so.  

(Image from Makers India)

Mira Erda

Mira Erda is an Indian racer who is the youngest Indian woman to race cars. She was only fourteen years old when she made her debut in LGB Formula 4 in 2014. 

She continued to race in LGB F4  (not the same thing as FIA F4) in 2015, as part of India’s JK Tyre Racing Championship. Previously, she was active in karting all over Asia from 2010, when she was nine. She won her first kart race in 2012. Her family owns a kart track.

In one of her first races in cars, the season-opener at Coimbatore, she was fifth overall. 

She won one Rookie class LGB F4 race in 2016, at Greater Noida, following three rookie podiums at Coimbatore. This made her the series’ female champion. 

In 2017, she was in the media again as the first Indian woman to race in the Euro JK single-seater series, a step higher than her previous experience. Her results were steady rather than spectacular; she was a consistent presence in the lower part of the top ten and was tenth in the championship.

She was the leading woman driver in the JK Racing India Series in 2018, driving its standard 1200cc bike-engined Formula BMW car. Her final championship position was tenth. Coimbatore was once again her best circuit, giving her a fifth place.

She attempted to qualify for the all-female W Series at the start of 2019, but did not make the first cut. She spent much of the rest of the year in the Southeast Asia Formula 4 championship with Meritus GP. Her best circuit was her home Madras track, where she earned her best finish of sixth. 

Domestically, she returned to LGB F4 and was ninth in the championship. Yet again, Coimbatore was her best circuit and she scored points in all of her races during round three. She was the championship’s leading female driver, ahead of the less experienced all-female Ahura team, which fielded seven cars.

At the end of the year, she was drafted in to the AD Racing Delhi team for the X1 Racing League, a new Indian championship with city-based teams. She was brought in to replace Christina Nielsen. The team's car was not competitive and failed to finish the first round’s two races, leading to the departure of Nielsen and Mathias Lauda. Mira does not seem to have taken part in either of the two races of the second meeting.

She helps to train other female drivers in India and is involved in the Red Bull Catch-Up series of events for female amateurs.

Her racing in 2020 was limited to karting. In 2021 she also competed in esports. She returned to the tracks in 2022, going back to the JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Series, which uses the LGB F4 car.

Another break followed, but she entered the first five rounds of the 2024 F4 Indian championship, an FIA-spec Formula 4 series. She was driving for the Chennai Turbo Riders and scored one point for a tenth place at Madras.

(Image copyright styleandrace.com)

Circuit Racers from India

L-R: Mira Erda, Sneha Sharma, Neha Dabas, Ria Dabas

The Indian motorsport scene is growing rapidly. In the past two or three years, female drivers have been part of this, in both single-seaters and saloon racing.

Alisha Abdullah – best known for racing motorcycles (she is one of India’s only professional bike racers), but started on four wheels, and still competes in cars occasionally. Between 2010 and 2012, she raced in the Indian Volkswagen Polo Cup, with a best overall finish of eighth, in 2011 and 2012. In 2011, she scored her first podium. After a few years of racing bikes almost exclusively, she travelled to Thailand for a women’s race, part of the 2014 Toyota Vios Cup. She won the race outright. In 2016, she planned a return to four-wheeled competition, but this did not seem to happen. She spent a lot of time running and promoting her women's riding academy. She raced a Honda Civic in a national championship in late 2020 and scored one third place.

Neha Dabas – the elder of the Dabas racing sisters. In 2015, she competed in the Volkswagen Vento Cup in India. This was her first season of racing. Her best overall result was eighth, in the second round at Coimbatore. In 2016, she was selected again by Volkswagen India as one of its twenty drivers for the Vento Cup, but she did not make the final grid. She was previously, as a teenager, a national-level basketball player for India.

Ria Dabas – the younger of the Dabas racing sisters. Her first season of racing was in 2015, when she was chosen as one of the drivers for the Volkswagen Vento Cup in India. Previously, she raced motorcycles, and was India’s youngest female superbike racer. Despite her track experience, she was not quite as fast as her sister, and had a best finish of thirteenth, at Buddh.

Megaa Ganga (KS) - raced in India as part of the all-female Team Ahura in 2018. Her first race was at Kari Motor Speedway. She was one of six women drivers chosen to represent the team in the JK Tyres LGB Formula 4 championship. Megaa was the fourth fastest of the six and was the leading Ahura driver in the first race. She was 19th overall in the championship, the second of the Ahura drivers. Her best finish was twelfth at the BIC circuit in Greater Nolda.

Uma Hataria - raced in India between 1986 and 1987, when she competed in stock cars. She is said to have won a championship in 1987, although details are scarce of her career. She now directs a racing team and is the inspiration behind her son Sarosh’s founding of the all-female Ahura Racing. In 2019, Uma tested an LGB Formula 4 car with the latest crop of Ahura drivers.

Shriya Lohia - races single-seaters in India. Her first year in cars was 2023, when she was 16. She entered the third round of the F4 India championship at Madras International Speedway, finishing tenth in her first two races. In 2024, she competed in the series full-time, driving for the Hyderabad Blackbirds team. She was 22nd overall, with a best finish of eighth in the first round at Madras. Too many non-finishes dropped her down the order. Prior to 2023, she raced karts from the age of nine.

Mrinalini Singh - raced in India’s RGB Formula 4 championship as part of the all-female Team Ahura. She earned her place in the team through a talent search in 2018 and did the whole Formula 4 season in 2019. Her best result seems to have been a fourteenth place at Kari. She was banned from the sport in July 2020, having tested positive for a banned substance.

(Image copyright M. Periasamy)

Female Rally Drivers after 1950: India

Ashika Menezes, second right, at an autocross meeting

The Indian subcontinent has its own national rally championship, which has attracted several female drivers in recent years. This is in no way an exhaustive list of them, and it will be updated in future, although good information about Indian rallies is quite hard to find.

Rayna Aranha – did two seasons of rallying in India, in 2005 and 2006. Her usual navigator was Radikha Chaliha. Her first event was the Hyderabad Rally in December 2005, in which she was seventh, and first lady. She contested the Rally Star Cup in 2006. The model of car she used is unclear, although it may have been a Maruti. She also participated in autocross, with some success in the womens’ classes, and, in 2005, drag racing. One of the reasons she took on the challenge of rallying was that she wanted to overcome her tendency towards motion sickness. Previously, she was a model, and she now works in IT.

Garima Avtar - rallied in India during the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Her 2014 car was a Volkswagen Polo, in which she scored two 19th places in the Colmbatore and Maharashtra rallies. She drove a Maruti Esteem in 2015 and had a best finish of 22nd overall in the K1000 Rally. As well as stage rallies, she has competed in rally raids, including the Raid de Himalaya. She began her motorsport career in 2011 and was supported by Mahindra in 2013, running in rally raids.   

Nawaz Bhathena (Sandhu) - Indian driver from a family of rallyists. She has competed on the circuits and the special stages, but is mostly a rally driver. She was most active in the Indian rally championship between 1997 and 2001, driving a Maruti (Suzuki) Esteem. She was ninth in the championship in 1998, having scored two fifth places in the Castrol Deccan and Popular rallies. In 2013, she was selected to take part in a Toyoto Etios one-make racing series, alongside her brother. As of 2018, she is India’s representative on the FIA’s Women in Motorsport commission.

Anushriya Gulati - began rallying in 2022 after attempting to start a circuit racing career in Europe. Her first Indian rally was the Rally of Nagaland in January 2022. She drove a Volkswagen Polo but did not finish. Her only finish in her first season was a 26th place in the Rally of Coimbatore. In 2023, she carried on rallying a Polo and earned two ladies’ awards, plus a debut top twenty in the Coimbatore Rally. She was 16th overall and won her class. In 2024, she rallied two different cars in two different countires: the Polo in India, and a Suzuki Swift in Thailand. She had her best result in the RTRC Chachoengsao Rally in Thailand, finishing ninth. Previously, she was active in motorcycling in India.

Anitha Kholay – driver from Bangalore, active in Indian motorsport since 1995. She started rallying as a co-driver, navigating for her husband, Rupesh, before taking the wheel herself in 2003, in three rounds of the Indian Rally Championship.  She was fourth in the Rally Star class of the Bangalore Rally. After that, she has competed, on and off, in rallying, with a break in 2006 for motherhood, as well as motorcycle enduros and autocross, in a Maruti. In 2010, she was second in a special VW Polo ladies’ race at Chennai. In 2016, she entered the Rally of Malaysia in a Proton Satria. She was eighteenth overall and won her class. Anitha is probably better known as a model and fashion stylist.

Ashika Menezes – rallied a Maruti Esteem in the Indian championship in 2013, with a best finish of fourteenth, in the Coffee Day Rally. In 2014, she co-drove for her erstwhile navigator, Lokesh Gowda. She has been active in motorsport since at least 2012, usually in autocross, where she often wins the Ladies’ class. Her first season in rallying was 2013. In only her second-ever rally, the Coffee Day Rally, she became the first Indian female driver to score a podium finish in twenty years, after her third place in the Junior category, out of fourteen drivers. She was fourteenth overall. In 2014, she also did some circuit racing, in the one-make Toyota Etios Cup. The results are not forthcoming. In 2015, she co-drove for Lokesh Gowda again. In 2016, she continued as a co-driver, in stage rallies as well as off-road events.

Khyati Mody - rally-raid driver from India who has recently moved into stage rallying. She competed in Indian rallies in 2020 in a Honda City, with a best finish of  22nd in the Rally of Arunachal I. She is perhaps most famous for her performances in the Desert Storm raid in Rajasthan; she was the first woman to finish the event in 2016 and the only woman to finish the 2019 edition. Other rallies she has completed include the Raid de Himalaya, Maruti Women’s Rally and Royal Rajasthan Rally. She also did some circuit racing in 2009 and competes in autocross.

Shivani Parmar - has rallied in India since 2021. Her first car was a Honda City, which she used in national events. Her best finish in it was a 24th place in the 2021 K1000 Rally, in which she also won her class. In 2022, the City was exchanged for a Volkswagen Polo and Shivani scored her first top twenty finish, a 14th place in the South India Rally, a gravel event. She continued to use a Polo, although a different model, in 2023. Her usual co-driver is her mother Vani. They got into rallying through an all-female talent search held by the Indian championship organisers.

Sarika Sehrawat – takes part in both stage and cross-country rallies in India. She began in earnest in 2003, winning the ladies’ class in the Himalaya Desert Rally, driving a Suzuki Maruti. Between then and 2011, she was a regular presence in the Suzuki Desert Rally and the Himlalaya Raid rally, in her Maruti. Usually, she won the ladies’ prize, and she was also a multiple ladies’ autocross champion. In 2012, she added the Mughal Rally and the Summer Sprint Rally to her Coupe des Dames tally. As well as rallying, she took part in the VW Polo Ladies’ circuit racing Cup in 2010 and 2011, finishing second both times. Her last competitive outing seems to have been a women-only rally in Guragon, in 2013. She now works as a TV motorsport commentator.

Nikeetaa Takkale - rallies a Volkswagen Polo in India. She began competing seriously in 2022, entering a couple of rounds of the Indian championship. She was 20th in the Nagaland Rally and 24th in the Prasaditya K1000 Rally. In 2023, she stuck with the same car but did more events, including her first Asia Pacific Rally Championship round, the South India Rally. She was 37th. This expanded to her first overseas rally in 2024, the Rally of Asahan in Malaysia, driving a Proton Satria. She was tenth. In India, she continued to rally the Polo. In 2022, she represented India in the FIA Rally Star Asian final, driving a cross-car buggy. She was not among the winners.

Farah Vakil – veteran Indian driver who is most famous for her win in the Himalayan Rally in 1990, driving a Maruti Gypsy. This was not her first rally win: she was the first female driver to win India’s Rally d’Endurance in 1989, in another Maruti. Her first rally car, which she put together with her father in 1988, was a Maruti, which she used in the Goodyear Women’s Car Rally, encouraged by her enthusiast father. She was fourth overall. After being India’s leading female driver between 1988 and 1995, she retired for a long time, before making a small comeback in 2015. She drove a Volkswagen Polo in the Rally of Coimbatore, navigated by Ashika Menezes, and was 23^rd overall.

Bani Yadav - competes in rallies and rally raids in India, as well as autocross and other disciplines. She started her career quite late, when she was over 40, in 2013. She has used a number of cars in stage rallies. Her best result in a major event is probably her fourth place in the 2015 Coffee Day Rally, driving a Mitsubishi Cedia. In 2016, she entered some of the Indian championship. She was eleventh in the Rally de North, driving a Volkswagen Polo. In rally raids, her usual vehicle is a Maruti Gypsy 4x4. She has won several ladies’ awards in Indian raids since 2014, including the Raid de Himalaya in 2014 and the 2015 Suzuki Desert Storm Rally.  

(Image from http://www.thehindu.com/sport/motorsport/team-r3a-continues-to-dominate/article3643158.ece)

Thanks to Ashika Menezes for her input into this post.

Women in One-Make Series: outside Europe

Robyn Kruger with her VW Scirocco

Female drivers are now found in one-make series for any number of different cars, around the world. South America has quite a large number, and one-make series in Asia and India are on the increase, so this post will expand in future. Drivers from outside Europe are also moving over to compete there. Reema Juffali now has her own profile.

Andrea Bate - has raced a VW in South Africa since 2009. She competed locally in the Western Cape GTi Challenge, and was fifth overall, driving a VW Golf. In 2010 and 2011, she raced the car in the Goldwagen Challenge, picking up several class wins. She also had her debut in the South African Production Car series, and was second in class. This led to her being invited to the Scirocco-R Women In Motorsport shootout in Germany, and the FIA’s Young Driver Excellence Academy. She earned a spot in the Academy for 2012. In 2013, she started racing in the VW Engen Cup in South Africa, driving a Polo this time. Her results are proving hard to find, and she may have only done a part-season. She raced in the Engen Cup again in 2014, and was seventh overall. She also made a guest appearance in the Shelby CanAm series, driving in the African 3 Hour. She and her team-mates were fifth overall. In 2015, she did some club-level racing in the Midas Sport Clubmans Championship. Her 2016 season was a write-off, after she was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident at the end of 2015. After that, she decided to retire. 

Theresa Condict - SCCA racer who began her career in autocross, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer. She won a national championship in 2008, having already won various Ladies’ titles. In 2009, she was part of the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Championship, having been selected from a large pool of aspiring drivers. She was 22nd in the championship, with a best finish of 15th, in New Jersey. After that, she returned to SCCA competition in a Honda, which she prepares herself, with her father.

Elna Croeser – normally races a VW Golf or Polo in South Africa. She has been involved in one-make series for Volkswagens for at least five years. She won her class in the Goldwagen Challenge in 2008, and has challenged for race wins in the Golf since, on many occasions. Previously, she raced single-seaters in Formula GTi. She took part in the African 6 Hours in 2014, not in a VW for once. Her car was a Shelby Can-Am, and she and her two team-mates were fourth. For the rest of the year, she raced a Polo in the Comsol VW Challenge. She continued to race the Polo in 2015. At the end of the year, she took part in the African 9 Hour endurance race. She returned to the series in 2019 and scored some class podiums. In 2020, she was 19th in the VW Challenge and seventh in class. She was 20th in 2021, after a part-season. She continued to race in Class B in 2022. Her car changed to a three-cylinder Class C model for 2023. 

Charisse van der Merwe - races a Volkswagen Polo in South Africa. She competes in a one-make series for that car, the Motormart VW Challenge. 2019 appears to be her first season in the championship and possibly her first year of racing. She was 16th overall and sixth in Class B. The B class is strongly contested and she is referred to as one of its leading entrants. Her best result looks to have been a tenth place at Red Star Raceway. She did another season in the VW Challenge in 2020, finishing 21st in the championship. In 2021, she was third in her class and fourteenth overall. She appears to have done the whole season in the Polo in 2022 and continued to compete in 2023.

Loni Unser - races a Mazda Miata (MX-5) in the USA. Her career began in 2017, when she was 19 and a college student. Since 2018, she has raced in the Global MX-5 Cup in the States. In 2019, she had a best finish of seventh in this championship, achieved at Circuit of the Americas and Barber. She is a member of the Sick Sideways team and is sometimes part of their saloon endurance squad for events such as the ChampCar (formerly ChumpCar) enduro. In 2021 she raced as a Mazda scholarship driver in the MX-5 Cup, finishing 16th. Her season was marred by some non-finishes but picked up two top-tens, the best of these being a seventh place at St Petersburg. In 2022, she tackled the 100th running of the Pikes Peak hillclimb. Her 2024 season was spent in the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America, finishing on the podium of the Cayman Pro-Am class six times. She was third in the class championship. She is a fourth-generation member of the famous Unser family, the daughter of Johnny Unser.

(Image from http://blogs.timeslive.co.za/)

Alice Powell

Alice Powell graduated to full-size cars in 2007, at the age of fourteen. This came after a successful karting career, which began when she was six, and she was competing at eight. She won her club’s championship in her first year of competition, then went on to top-ten performances in BRDC Stars of Tomorrow and JICA competition.

Alice was one of the second wave of young drivers to take advantage of the rise in junior full-circuit racing. She contested the Ginetta Juniors Winter Series early on, driving a Ginetta G20, and was joint fifth after three races. Later, she drove in the last few rounds of the main Ginetta Junior championship, and was 16th overall. This was in addition to two karting series.

She returned to Ginetta competition in 2008, for the main season, leaving karts behind. Her best finishes were two seconds, at Knockhill and Silverstone, plus two thirds and a string of top tens: 16 out of her 24 races finished in the top ten. She was ninth in the championship.

In 2009 she switched to single-seaters, beginning in the UK Formula Renault championship. Her team was the experienced Manor Competition. However, Alice had not had the budget for much testing. Despite a slow beginning, she was breaking into the top ten by round five, with a ninth place at Donington. Gradually, her pace increased, although her good straight-line speed did not always turn into good race positions. After a disappointing off at Snetterton from seventh place, she only made slow progress up the leaderboard, with an eleventh at Brands Hatch being her next-best score. She was 18th overall.

In the middle of her Formula Renault programme, she made a guest appearance in the Brands Hatch Formula Palmer Audi round. Her three races gave her a seventh, ninth and eleventh place. 

She moved down to the BARC Formula Renault championship in 2010, a club-level series. Here, she became the first female driver to win a Formula Renault championship, after winning two races, at Silverstone and Thruxton. She also scored five second places, and was never out of the top ten. BARC Formula Renault was interspersed with a part-season in the Ginetta G50 Cup. Her best finish was fifth, at Brands Hatch, with two sevenths at Croft, and eighths at Brands and Rockingham, her other highlights. She was 16th overall.

At the end of the year, she drove in the Formula Renault Winter Series, having secured some funds for testing. Although this went well, Alice did not have the pace to challenge for the top positions. Her results were a seventh, and eighth, a ninth and a tenth, with two DNFs at Pembrey. She was twelfth overall. 

In 2011, she raced in Formula Renault once more, running mainly in the British championship, and entering two North Europe series events. In Britain, she was much stronger than in 2009, finishing seventh in her first race at Brands Hatch. At Donington, she broke into the top five for the first time. Her best finish was fourth, at Snetterton, and she was rarely out of the top ten. The only thing she did not get was podium finishes, and she was ninth overall. In the NEZ championship, she was eighth and tenth in her two races at Oschersleben.

As well as this, she travelled to India for the two-round MRF Formula 1600 championship, supporting the Indian Grand Prix, and was second after two podiums, a second and a third. She also had guest runs in the BARC Production Touring Car Trophy (Class B) and Radical Clubmans Cup, which resulted in a clean sweep of wins. She was driving a Fiat 500 Abarth in the Trophy. A further guest appearance in the Intersteps championship gave her one eighth place at Donington. During this year, she was selected for the BRDC’s Rising Star driver development programme, and won the BWRDC’s Gold Star Elite award.

In 2012, despite many accolades and considerable media attention, she struggled for sponsorship. At the last minute, she put together a deal for the GP3 international single-seater series. After only two days of testing, it proved a difficult learning curve: her first race ended in a DNF, then she was just out of the top ten at Catalunya and Monte Carlo. The rest of the year was punctuated by DNFs. It picked up slightly at Spa and Monza, where she was twelfth. However, by the end of the season, she had managed her first points finish: eighth at Monza. She was 19th overall.

After that, she went back to India for some rounds of the MRF Formula 2000 series. She scored a second and third at Buddh, and was fifth overall. 

In 2013, she planned to contest the GP3 championship again, although funding was an issue, and she only put together a deal at the last minute. She only actually managed two rounds of GP3, driving for Bamboo Engineering, alongside Carmen Jordá. Her results were two 20th places at Yas Marina.

The rest of the year was spent in Formula Three, mostly in the UK. This was somewhat of a step down for Alice again, but she took the opportunity and it paid off. Driving for Mark Bailey Racing, she was second in the MSV F3 Cup, with five wins, at Brands Hatch, Zolder, Silverstone and Oulton Park. Apart from a pair of DNFs at Snetterton, she was never out of the top five, and usually in the top three. She led the championship for much of the season, but a strong finish from Alex Craven caught her up. The non-finishes allowed this.

As well as the F3 Cup, she took part in three rounds of British Formula Three, winning her class twice.

There was more F3 for Alice in 2014. She made a guest appearance in the Rockingham round of the British championship, and was fifth and third in the two races she finished. At Rockingham, she also posted two class wins in the MSV series, as well as two class seconds, at Snetterton. However, most of her season was spent in Southeast Asia, contesting the Asian Formula Renault championship. This was an excellent season, with five wins, recorded at Zhuhai and Shanghai. Apart from one non-finish and one fifth place, both at Zhuhai, she was never off the podium, and she won the championship from Canadian Maxx Ebenal. 

Before her championship win was confirmed, Alice had some other excitement. Her grandfather attempted to broker a deal with the foundering Caterham Grand Prix team, in which he would effectively pay for a race seat for Alice in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. This would allow the team, then in administration, to complete the season. The deal did not go through, partly due to Alice not having a Superlicence, and no easy way of achieving one, in the short timescale available. 

2015 was a much quieter year. Mid-season, she took part in her first sportscar race, the Silverstone 24 Hours. Her car was a works Aston Martin Vantage GT4, shared with Marek Reihman, Andrew Palmer and Andrew Frankel. They were fourth in Class 3, and fifth overall. During the winter season, she went back to the Middle East for another run in the MRF Formula, racing at the Yas Marina circuit. Her best finish was eighth.

As well as racing, Alice has been a vocal advocate for women in motorsports, and is part of a new initiative begun by Susie Wolff, encouraging greater female participation.

Lack of finances limited her opportunities since the start of 2016.

At the end of 2018, she returned to the driving seat as a guest racer in the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy, which supports Formula E. She won the Pro-Am class and was fifth overall at ad-Diriyah, having showed her skill with some aggressive overtaking.

Her profile rose again mid-2019 when she was announced as one of the 20 drivers chosen for the inaugural W Series. From the start, Alice was one of its most enthusiastic exponents and she proved herself to be one of its quickest drivers, winning the final round at Brands Hatch. Had it not been for a series of car problems, she would probably have won more races.

After the W Series ended, she made a guest appearance for the all-female Heinricher Racing/Meyer Shank IMSA team, deputising for Christina Nielsen at Virginia. The team did not finish due to a crash.

In 2020, Alice planned to rejoin the W Series for its short summer season, although it ended up being cancelled due to coronavirus. She did compete for Team Germany in the Formula E-supporting Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy. Her first races as an official driver gave her two third places at ad-Diriyah. These were her best results of the year and she was fourth in the championship.

Not long after, she was announced as an official test driver for Envision Virgin Racing in Formula E.

Her second W Series season was a close-run contest with Jamie Chadwick. Alice was the early championship leader, winning two of the first three rounds at the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone. In the end, she scored one more win (at Zandvoort) to Jamie's two, and had to settle for second.

Her testing duties for Envision included a full race simulation at Valencia.

A third W Series season included another win at the Hungaroring, as well as three more podium finishes. She was third in the championship. She continued to test for the Virigin FE team, including driving the first two-seater Formula E car.

W Series folded due to financial difficulties in 2023. Alice did not race that year, although she continued her coaching and management and also worked extensively as a commentator. This continued in 2024, although she did take part in the Formula E Women's Test for Envision.

(Picture by Daniel Kalisz, copyright GP3 Media Service)

Female Single-Seater Drivers Around the World: Spain

Carmen Boix

Carmen Jorda, Marta Garcia, Belen Garcia and Maria de Villota now have their own profiles.
This page will be refilled further when new drivers are found!

Carmen Boix (Gil) - raced in the MRF Formula 2000 Challenge in India in the 2012-2013 season. She was 24th in the championship, with a best finish of tenth. Previously, she was active in karting around Europe. In 2009, she appears to have tested a GP4 car, although she did not race it. In 2011, she was shortlisted for the Marzac Foundation’s Formula BMW sponsorship, but she did not win. At the end of 2011, she also tested a BMW for the Italian Superstars series, but again, did not race. In 2014, she was linked with a drive in a SEAT Leon. It was 2017 when she finally reappeared, driving a Ford Mustang in the Whelen NASCAR Euroseries. She was eleventh overall, with three top ten finishes: sixth at Franciacorta, ninth at Valencia and tenth at Hockenheim. She did another season in Euro NASCAR in 2018, in the Elite 2 class. Tours Speedway was her best circuit, where she earned a ninth and tenth place. She was 16th in the championship. She attempted to qualify for the all-female W Series in 2019, but was unsuccessful in the first selection.

Sara Garcia – raced in single-seaters in Spain and Portugal. She was tenth in the Spanish Master Junior Formula in 2007, driving for Emilio de Villota’s team. The following year, she raced in the Portuguese Formula Renault championship, running as “Formula Junior”, but only did two races, finishing tenth in both. Prior to her single-seater experiences, she was successful in karting championships in her home, the Canary Islands.

Nerea Marti - Spanish driver who graduated from karts to cars at the beginning of 2019. She entered the Spanish Formula 4 championship with the Praga Espana Formula de Campeones team. In her second-ever race at Navarra, she was classified second overall due to ten drivers being penalised for not reacting quickly enough to a red flag. She previously competed for the same team in karting from 2015 to 2018. She raced in the W Series in 2021 after the 2020 season was cancelled due to coronavirus and was named as one of the series' Academy drivers, who are exempt from elimination for a season. She impressed with a third place at the Hungaroring and was a regular top-ten finisher, coming fourth in the championship. She also tested an FIA F3 car. In 2022, she was invited back to race with W Series, joining the Quantfury team. She was seventh in the championship, despite podium finishes in Miami and Paul Ricard. After the collapse of W Series in early 2023, she signed for Campos Racing in the all-female F1 Academy, following some races in the Formula Winter Series. Despite a first-round disqualification, she was fourth in F1A, winning once at Paul Ricard. She combined F1A with a run in the Spanish GT Championship, winning the GT4 class in a BMW Spain-supported M4 shared with Jose Manuel de los Milagros, who had also won a Spanish Endurance title with her in 2022. In 2024, she was fourth in F1 Academy again, with third places at Jeddah and Abu Dhabi. She also had a few guest races in Spanish and NACAM F4. Even though she won a NACAM race, her career began to move again towards sportscars, probably because she would not be allowed another year in F1A. More BMW Spain support helped her to fourth place in the GT4 class of the Supercars Endurance Championship. She also tested an Andretti Formula E car in the series' Women's Test at Estoril.

(Image from http://spanishdrivers.blogspot.co.uk/)