Female Rally Drivers Around The World: Bulgaria

Diana Stoyanova in 2015

Women have been part of the rally scene in Bulgaria since the days of Communism and are still a strong presence now. The best-known Bulgarian female rally driver is multiple European ladies’ champion, Ekaterina Stratieva, who has her own post.

Elena Apostolova - Bulgaria’s leading female driver in the 1980s and early 1990s. As she was active during the Communist era, her cars were always VAZ Ladas. Her career began in 1972, driving a Trabant with her husband Stoyan. She competed in Bulgaria itself, including the Albena Rally which was a round of the ERC, and sometimes in Yugoslavia. Her best finish was probably a 25th place in the 1985 Rally Vida, also an ERC counter. Both of her daughters, Pavlina and Gergana, are involved in rallying. After her retirement, Elena began organising a women-only rally in Bulgaria. In recent years, she has returned to co-driving for Stoyan.

Gergana Apostolova - rallied in Europe in the 1990s. She is from a notable Bulgarian rally family and began her career as navigator to her father, Stoyan. This was a job she alternated with her sister, Pavlina. In 1996, she began driving herself, and competed in Germany. She was 59th in the ADAC 3-Städte Rally, driving a Suzuki Swift. In 1997, she drove a Ford Ka in the Monte Carlo Rally’s Prince Albert Challenge. Unusually, her navigator was her mother Elena, an experienced driver herself. They did not finish. “Geri’s” best overall result was 29th in the 1997 Rally Albena. Her car was a Nissan Sunny and Elena was co-driving once more. 

Victoria Garkova - Bulgarian driver who started competing around Eastern Europe in 2017. Her car is a Hyundai r20 Coupe and she contested the Hyundai Trophy, as well as the Romanian junior championship and a Turkish rally. In terms of major events, her best result has been a 27th place in the Rally of Bulgaria, assisted by Velislava Pavlova. Her best outright finish was 15th in the Tvardica-Elena Rally. She was fourth in the Hyundai Trophy standings.

Tsvetomira Georgieva - rallied a Renault Clio, mainly in her home country of Bulgaria. She began competing in major rallies in 2009, and posted top-twenty finishes from the beginning, with a fifteenth place in the Rally Trayanovi Vrata. She also finished her first rally abroad, the Prime Yalta Rally in Ukraine. In 2010, she was ninth in the Hebros Rally, and finished the Vida Rally in fourteenth. Her other events, including the Serbia Rally, ended in DNFs. In 2011, she only managed two major rallies, including the IRC-counting Prime Yalta Rally, which she did not finish due to mechanical problems. She was also twelfth in the Rally Stari Stolici. She did not compete after that, and died in early 2015, aged 33.

Maria Gocheva - rallied a Lada VAZ 2105 in Bulgarian rallies in the 1990s. She was most active in 1997, when she entered several rounds of the Bulgarian championship. Her best finish that year was eighteenth in the Rally Stari Stolici. Her programme included two European championship rounds: the Albena and Hebros rallies. She was beaten to the ladies’ award in the Albena event by her chief rival, Gergana Apostolova. 

Diana Stoyanova - Bulgarian driver who usually uses a Citroen Saxo VTS. Her first rally seems to have been a women-only event in 2007. She has been competing in national and international rallies in Bulgaria since 2010, including the Rally of Bulgaria itself in 2012, although she did not finish. The Hebros Rally has given her her best results so far: eleventh in 2010 and twelfth in 2011. In 2012, she did not finish any major events, although she entered at least three. In 2013, she was thirteenth in a Rallysprint event in Greece, driving the Citroen. In addition to rallying, Diana also competes in hillclimbs in the Citroen, and has concentrated on this in recent years. A return to the stages in 2016 gave her the Bulgarian ladies' title, driving a Saxo. She won her class on the Serbia Rally, and was fifteenth overall. In 2017, she only ran a limited programme in the Saxo, and did not retain her title. 2018 was a much better year; she was fourth in Rally Bulgaria and ninth in the Serbia Rally. Her car was a Honda Civic. Using the same car, she won her class in the 2019 Balkan Rally Trophy, picking up two top-ten finishes: eighth in the Serbia Rally and tenth in the Rally Sliven in Bulgaria.

(Image from www.dro4cars.com)

Female Rally Drivers After 1950: Russia

Anastasia Mironova, second left, collects awards from the Karelia State Championship with her team-mates.

Russia has produced quite a lot of female rally drivers, and there are several active at the moment, in Russia and internationally. Language barriers make it difficult to research all of their careers.

Elena Baikova - Russian driver active since at least 2010. She rallies a Subara Impreza almost exclusively, and competes in Russia mainly, with a few excursions to Belarus. 2012 seems to have been her best season: she achieved two top ten positions. The first was an eighth place in the Rally Zolotye Kupola, and the second was a ninth in the Rally Rostov Velikiy. That year, she was ranked 73rd in the Russian championship. In subsequent years, she has come up against reliability problems, and has been less consistent. Her best result in 2014 was 20th, in the Rally Peno. She drove in six rounds of the Russia Cup, finishing three of them. Her cars were an Impreza, Citroen Saxo and Volkswagen Polo. In 2015, she rallied a Subaru Impreza, but did not finish the Pushkinskye Gory Rally. She tried again with the car in the 2016 Rallye Belye Nochi, but retired after an off-road excursion. In 2017, she got the hang of the Impreza and was sixth in the Mini Rally Petrovskaya Versta. This was one of three finishes in the car. She only did one major event in 2018, the Rally 900 Ozer, and was 25th in the Impreza. After a break, she drove the course car for the 2021 Rally Pskov. She returned to competition in the Impreza in 2023, entering the Rally Petrovskaya Versta October, then did four rallies in 2024. The best of these was the Rally Petrovskaya Versta July, in which she was fourth. 

Ludmila Belolipskaya - Russian driver who rallied Ladas for around ten years, between 1986 and 1995. She started competing in the Soviet era and initially kept to Russian rallies, but by 1988, she appeared on entry lists in other Eastern Bloc countries, starting with that year’s International Rally Vida in Bulgaria. She also entered Estonia’s Old Toomas Rally at least four times between 1988 and 1991. Towards the end of her career, her results improved and she was a career-best tenth in the 1994 Rally Zolotye Voroda. She was also fourteenth in the 1995 St Petersburg Rally.

Elena Golubkina – took part in stage rallies in Russia in the 2000s, starting in 2005. Her first car was a Citroen Saxo, and she remained loyal to the Citroen marque for several seasons. During her first year, her best result was an eighth place, in the Rally Ermak. She was also tenth in the Rally Vyatka, and later in the season, driving a C2, won her class in the Novorossiysk Rally. In 2006 and 2007, she mostly drove a C2, and although she did not reach the heights of the top ten, she was 30^th in the 2007 Rally Russia, an IRC round. After a shorter season in 2008, she seems to have switched to cross-country rallying, in Russia and Asia. She was 25^th in the 2010 Silk Way Rally, driving a Mitsubishi, and was 50^th in the 2011 event, in the same vehicle. 

Galina Grokhovskaya - campaigned a Lada in Finland and (presumably) the Soviet Union, between 1989 and 1994. Her best result in Finland was 40th, in 1994, despite her car being slow. Unlike some former Soviet drivers, she appeared to be a self-funded privateer. Occasionally she co-drove for other drivers, including Vladimir Turov in Finland in 1992.

Anastasia Mironova - a regular in Russian rallies since 2012. Her car has, so far, always been a Ford Fiesta. In 2012, her best result was 17th, in the St. Petersburg Rally. The following year, she improved this to a 15th place, on the same rally. She scored two top-twenty finishes in 2014, thirteenths at Vyborg and Yakkima. Her favoured surface appears to be gravel, but she has run well in snow rallies, too. Her co-driver is usually Alexey Krylov. She also competed in some rounds of the Russian ice-racing championship in 2013. Driving a VAZ 211200, she scored a tenth and an eleventh place in the SZZ Cup, in the St. Petersburg rounds. She was also 20th overall in the Russian 1600 Cup, but her race results are not forthcoming. Between 2010 and 2013, she participated in several karting championships, at home and in Russia. In 2015, she rallied a Ford Fiesta in Russia and Belarus, finishing in the top ten twice, in the Vyborg and St Petersburg Rallies. She was fourteenth in the 2016 Russian championship, in the Fiesta. Normally, she was in the top twenty finishers, and her best overall position was a tenth place in the Rally Ekover. In 2017, she did fewer rallies than previously. She drove the Fiesta and had a best finish of 23rd in the Karelia Rally. For 2018, she switched to driving a Lada Kalina for most of the season, but got her best result from one of her occasional starts in the Fiesta: ninth in the Rally Gukovo.  She only did one major rally in 2019. After starting the Rally Belye Nochi in the Kalina, its driveshaft gave way on Stage 9. 

Elena Sarieva – has made occasional starts in Russian rallies since 2006, although often as a course car, rather than a competitor. She drove a Mitsubishi Lancer in the Gukovo Rally in 2006, but did not finish, due to problems with the car’s cooling system. In 2012, she drove in the Rally of Latvia, in another Mitsubishi Lancer. She does not appear to have finished. Her most recent appearance was in 2013, when she drove a Subaru Impreza as the course car in the Rally Masters Show, in Russia.

(Image from https://vk.com/wall-70377477?offset=80)

Wendy Markey (Amey)

Wendy with the Mazda RX-3

Wendy was a British woman who raced in national saloon championships in the 1970s. She took part in some international touring car races too, and drove in works teams for Mazda and Lada.

Her background was completely unrelated to motorsport; she trained as a dancer, and performed in musical theatre and comedy, appearing on The Benny Hill Show, among other things. It was only after her marriage, to racing driver and BMW team manager, John Markey, that she became acquainted with the world of motorsport.

Her first race came in 1972, and was apparently the result of a bet. Whether she won the bet, is unclear. Using a borrowed Honda N600, she drove in the Production Saloon championship at Oulton Park.

The following year, she attacked the Production Saloon (Group 1) championship again, in a BMW 2002 Ti this time, supported by the UK BMW works team. As well as circuit racing, the team ran her in the Avon Tour of Britain, partnered by Jenny Dell. She was 19^th overall and beat Rosemary Smith to the Ladies’ award, as well as finishing above Graham Hill in his Datsun Bluebird.

A change to the rules brought Wendy into the British Touring Car Championship, then known as the British Saloon Car Championship, in 1974. The BSCC was now running to Group 1 specification. Wendy had secured another factory-supported drive, this time for Mazda. Her car was a Savanna RX3. She completed most of the season, which included too many non-finishes for her to make an impression on the final leaderboard. Her best finish was seventh, at Mallory Park. Female drivers were less unusual then in the BSCC than they are now, but Wendy attracted a lot of attention due to her team’s main sponsor: Penthouse magazine.

As well as the BSCC, she competed internationally, in some rounds of the European Touring Car Championship. She shared the RX-3 with Australian Brian Muir for the Silverstone TT race, but they did not finish, due to an oil leak in the gearbox. She also made one appearance in a Ladies’ Shellsport Escort race, driving a Ford Escort Mexico. She was seventh.

She drove a Mazda RX-3 for both 1975 British Group 1 Championships, sponsored by Britax and Radio One. She performed well in both, and was third in her class in the Britax series, and fourth in class in the Radio One series. Classes for Group 1 racing were based on the retail price of the car.

There was more women-only action in 1975, too. Wendy took part in the Shellsport Escort Series, now a four-round championship run in association with the British Women Racing Drivers’ Club. She won the last round, at Mallory Park, and was third overall. This was not her only womens’ event; she was invited to drive in the Ladies’ Race supporting the Monaco Grand Prix, but crashed out.

She stayed with Group 1 in 1976, although she changed her car from a Mazda to a Lada 1200, supported by the Lada factory. Her programme included a second Tour of Britain, in which she won another Ladies’ award. As well as the Lada, she was scheduled to race a Mazda in the Silverstone 6 Hours, with Georgie Shaw, but this did not happen.

Her third season in the Shellsport Escort series gave her a best finish of third, at Snetterton, and she was enough for sixth in the championship.

In 1977, it was back to Mazda power, still in the RX-3. One of her team-mates was her husband, John, who drove a sister car, an RX-5. Sponsored by Smith Kendon Travel Sweets, a slightly less controversial company, she competed in several rounds of the European Touring Car Championship, with Tom Hunt as her co-driver. They were disqualified from their first race, at Salzburg, for receiving a push start, but got to the finish of the Brno round in 19^th place. They were 35^th, from 38 finishers, at the Nürburgring, but did not finish at Silverstone. A planned entry into the Brands Hatch 6 Hours did not transpire.

Wendy’s chosen car for 1978 was a Mini 1275 GT. Sharing it with John Markey and Alan Shaw, she managed to finish the Diner’s Club Trophy at Silverstone. For most of the season, she raced in the Special Saloon championship in the UK, with her husband and second team-mate. Unfortunately, she had quite a bad accident at Mallory Park, on a wet track, and broke an ankle. The Mini was a write-off, and this was the end of her motorsport activities for some time. Divorce also intervened some time afterwards.

In 1988, now Wendy Amey, she returned to the circuits in a Chevron B8, usually racing in the HSCC2-Litre Championship, and Super Sports. This lasted for two seasons, before she hung up her helmet for good to concentrate on family and business concerns.

More recently, Wendy was involved in the classic motorcycling scene, as the business and life partner of former world champion, Phil Read.

She died in February 2021, aged 70.

(Image from http://www.markeymotorsport.co.uk/)