Diana Poon

 

The 1976 Macau Grand Prix

Diana Poon is a Hong Kong driver who was the first woman to race a single-seater and the Macau Grand Prix.

She entered several of the big Formula Pacific races held in southeast Asia in the 1970s. 

In 1976, she became the first female driver to race in the Macau Guia, in a single-seater. She was also part of the only couple to race against each other there, with her husband, Albert Poon. They always raced together, or to be more accurate, against one another.

Her car was a Formula 3-spec machine, almost certainly a Brabham BT40 with a 1600cc Hart engine, formerly raced by her husband and Australian Kevin Bartlett. Her finishing position is unclear. 

Later, in 1979, she drove the Brabham with some small successes. She was apparently based in Malaysia that year. Her best finish was fifth in the Penang Grand Prix, and she was also ninth in the Malaysian Grand Prix, held at Batu Tiga. She did not finish the Selangor Grand Prix. 

After that, she seems to vanish from the starting lists. The Poons separated at some point and this may be the reason. A future owner of the Brabham found that it had been badly damaged at some point, which could be another explanation.

Very little information about Diana is easily obtainable. It is unclear what her background was, whether she remarried or whether she is still alive. 

(Image copyright Motor Sport Magazine)

Anne Wong

Anne Wong is a Singaporean driver best known as the winner of the 1970 Macau Grand Prix race, in a Mini.

Born in 1949, she was quite well-travelled as a teenager, moving between Singapore and Malaysia. Both her father and uncle were involved in the local motorsport scene and Anne picked up an enthusiasm for cars. She had learned to drive at the age of twelve and passed her test at sixteen.

In the late 1960s she was living in the UK and attending college. She enrolled in the Motor Racing Stables driving school at Brands Hatch, but did not finish the course. It was only when she returned to Singapore and watched a friend racing a car that her father had prepared that she made her real start in motorsport. The car was a Hillman Imp; she planned to try racing it herself but did not make any starts in it.

Her first big race was in 1970, although she may have taken part in some club rallies or autotests earlier. She entered the Singapore Grand Prix, then held on a 4.8km street circuit. Her car was a Mini Cooper, which unfortunately did not last the distance.

A few weeks later, she raced in Malaysia for the first time. She took the Mini to the Batu Tiga track at Shah Alam and finished third in a race there. In April, she won the under-1000cc class at the Selangor Grand Prix.

At the end of the year, she entered the same car into the Macau Grand Prix, in the touring car race. She started from last on the 30-car grid, having only just qualified. There was an additional worry about an attack of german measles that almost kept her from the track.

Anne steadily progressed up the grid and took the lead after Johnny Leffler’s Ford Escort suffered a broken differential and Dieter Quester’s works BMW lost its gears.

Her Macau win led to offers of drives all over the Asia-Pacific region. In June 1971, she raced at Wanneroo Park in Australia, sharing a Mini with Australian driver Ric Lisle in a six-hour enduro. They were leading their class when a piston cracked after an hour and a half.

Shortly after that, she was set to travel to Manila for the Philippines Grand Prix. She did not make the start for reasons unknown, but she did predict that the race would be won by a Mini Cooper S in the Straits Times newspaper. She had already declined an entry in the BP Rally in order to concentrate on the Philippines race.

The invitation to race in Australia came while she was driving in another rally, the Rothmans event, in Hong Kong. For a change, she was driving a Simca 1200 offered by National Motors of Hong Kong. She did not finish after an off into some water.

Her second attempt at the Singapore Grand Prix was more fruitful. She was seventh overall in the Mini from 26 starters, and her top ten was in spite a lengthy pitstop to deal with a loose exhaust.

She tried again in at Macau too, and was seventh, in the Mini. This was one of her first events with her new sponsorship from Malaysia Singapore Airlines (MSA). By now, she was a popular media figure; this was helped by her sideline as a motoring journalist for the Straits Times and other papers.

Announcements at the start of 1972 proclaimed that Anne would be taking part in fifteen events, including some of the saloon rounds of the Tasman Series in Australia. Her first event was the Manila Grand Prix. She was billed as racing against 173 men, but the results are proving hard to find. She may also have taken part in another Singapore Grand Prix.

In April, she did her first race in Indonesia, when she entered the Penang Grand Prix. Later in the year, she won the saloon race at the Indonesian Grand Prix, held at Antjol. She started from third and defeated eleven other drivers.

Her third Macau Grand Prix ended in disaster. She had qualified fifth on the grid but had to retire on the first lap due to a fire in her Mini. It turned out to be an electrical short-circuit.

By this time, she was having trouble with sponsorship. MSA had become Singapore International Airways and they dragged their feet providing the funding for the Macau race. In early 1973, she pulled out of the Singapore Grand Prix, having sold her Mini. She said in the Straits Times that it was “not economical for a private entry to try and compete against factory teams.”

She did race at the Malaysian Grand Prix in a V8 Ford Fairmont, but she found it too wide for the narrow circuit. Her own write-up of the event suggested that she had won, but in fact she had been black-flagged. She later apologised in print.

In May, she was entered in to the Penang Grand Prix in an Alfa Romeo Berlina, but it is not clear whether she actually started the race.

She retired from the circuits in 1974 and continued to work as a journalist, as well as an advertising executive. In June, she made her debut as a jockey, winning a pro-am ladies’ race at Bukit Timah.

In 1979 she was the official starter for the Malaysian Grand Prix. She was not quite able to get her need for speed out of her system and reappeared in the Singapore press in 1984, this time racing powerboats. Six years later, in 1990, she entered the Rally of Singapore for the first time in almost twenty years.

She continued to work in advertising. Later, she married.

(Image copyright Straits Times)

Female Drivers at the Macau Grand Prix

Tatiana Calderon in 2014

The Macau Grand Prix is the longest-standing motorsport event in Asia. It started life as a motorised treasure hunt, then became a sportscar race, before evolving into a single-seater event. It ran under Formula Libre rules from 1961 to 1973, then becoming part of the Formula Pacific championship in 1974. Since 1983, it has been a Formula 3 race, and has been contested by Formula One hopefuls from around the world, including Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher.

The race is held on the Guia street circuit in Macau, a Chinese special territory. Speeds reached at Macau are can be extremely high due to the circuit’s long straights. As well as the single-seater race, the event hosts a major touring car race (previously the finale of the WTCC), a motorcycle Grand Prix and a number of support races for saloons, sportscars and local single-seater formulae.

Women drivers have been a distinct rarity throughout the history of the Grand Prix. More have contested the Guia touring car race, or the other support races, and there have even been pro-am women’s races on the bill in the past. Anne Wong won the touring car race in 1970, in a Mini. However, only a handful of female drivers have contested the blue-riband Grand Prix. 

Below is a list. It may be added to in future, as the results for the earlier runnings of the race are not easy to find.

1976

Diana Poon  (Brabham BT40) DNF?

1980

Desiré Wilson (Ralt RT1) – 6^th

1983

Cathy Muller (Ralt RT3) – 12^th

2014

Tatiana Calderon (Dallara-Mercedes) – 13<sup>th

2018
Sophia Floersch (Dallara-Mercedes) - DNF (accident)

2019
Sophia Floersch (Dallara-Mecachrome) - DNF</sup>

²⁰²³

^{Sophia Floersch (Dallara F3 2019) - 11th}

(Image from www.tatianacalderon.com)

Female Single-Seater Drivers Around the World: Southeast Asia

Alexandra Asmasoebrata

Most of the entries in this post have been split off from Circuit Racers in Southeast Asia. Diana Poon, Juju Noda, Michele Bumgarner, Miki Koyama, Ai Miura, Bianca Bustamante, Gaby dela Merced and Natasha Seatter now have their own posts.

Alexandra Asmasoebrata (Allida Alexandra) - Indonesian driver who has competed up to international Formula Renault level. After several years of karting, she first drove in the Asian Formula Renault Challenge in 2006, aged eighteen. She was 24th overall after participating in seven races. In 2008, she reappeared in AFR, after a year spent karting. She was twelfth this time, with a best finish of fifth, at Zhuhai. A shorter season in 2009 meant that eighth was her best finish, also at Zhuhai, a feat she repeated in 2010. In 2011, she drove in both the Asian Formula Renault Challenge and Formula Pilota in China. She was third in Formula Renault. Unfortunately, she only entered four races in 2012: three rounds of Asian Formula Renault. Her finishes were two sevenths, and two DNFs. In 2013, she took part in Asian Formula Renault, entering six races and earning two thirds and four fourths. She was fourth overall. In 2014, she was set to race in Asia Formula Renault again, but does not appear to have competed. 

Kotoka Goibuchi - raced in Japanese Formula 4 in 2017. She did most of the season with CSI - Reon Kids Racing and had a best finish of fourteenth, at Sugo. This was her third season of F3, following two shorter part-seasons in 2015 and 2016. In 2016, she raced for the Silver Star team and scored a surprise podium at Motegi, finishing third. She does not appear to have raced in 2018.

Grace Gui (Gui Meng) - Chinese racer who was second in the “B” class of the Asian Formula Renault championship in 2017. Her car was an older-spec Formula Renault 2.0. She scored her best outright finish at Sepang in Malaysia, a tenth place with a class win. She does not appear to have raced in 2018 but was involved with the all-female W Series in 2019. She made it through two rounds of selections but was let go. According to some, this was due to crashing a car during testing.

Ayaka Imahashi – races for the miNami aoYama Project team in Japanese Formula 4. She was born in 1995. In 2015, she did two rounds of the series, driving for the same team, and managed 25^th and 28^th at Fuji. She sometimes competed alongside Miki Koyama. In 2016, she did another part-season in Japanese F4, but only finished one of her races. This was at Okayama, where she was 22nd. She also tried rallying in a Toyota GT86, entering the Montre in Tsumagoi Rally. In 2021, she raced in the Japanese Inter Proto one-make series, winning at least one race. 

Akiko Kobayashi - raced in Asian Formula BMW in 2003. She was not one of the front-runners, but finished most rounds, and managed to score a few top-ten positions. Her best finish seems to have been eighth, at Goldenport.

Selina Li - Chinese driver who raced in the Formula Renault Super Challenge in 2022. She did a part-season with the FRD Racing team and was thirteenth in the championship, scoring a sixth and fifth at Zhouzhou. The season was disrupted by China’s Covid measures and she missed out on another couple of rounds. Little other information is available about her, other than that she may have been active in karting before tackling Formula Renault.

Diana Rosario - racer from Macau who has competed sporadically in Asian Formula Renault since 2008, with a best finish of ninth in 2010. Away from Formula Renault, Diana raced in Ford Formula Campus, and she won the Chinese Formula Campus championship in 2009. She has been driving since at least 2002, when she did some Asian Formula 2000 races, and she had several successful years of karting before that. During 2011, she drove in Asian Formula Renault, and was fifth overall. She had a quieter year in 2012, racing a Ferrari F430 in the City of Dreams Macau GT Cup. In 2013, she was linked with a drive in the Asian Le Mans series, but does not appear to have competed. Later, in 2018, she made a comeback in the Asian Blancpain GT Series, driving a Mercedes GT4 for Craft Bamboo Racing. Her best finish was fourth at Ningbo.

Cherie Schloemer – ex-pat racer in Southeast Asia in the late 1970s. She and her husband, Del, both raced a Chevron B20 during the 1977 and 1978 seasons, in their adopted home country of Thailand and Malaysia. In 1979, Cherie, driving solo, entered the biggest race of her career, the Selangor Grand Prix in Malaysia. Her car was a Chevron B34, but the engine blew and she did not finish. She does not appear to have raced after that.

Vivian Siu - single-seater racer who represents Hong Kong, although she lives and works in the USA. She competed in Formula 4 in 2023, beginning with the first two meetings of the Chinese championship. This was a first for a female driver to begin with, but she also managed to score points at Ningbo, finishing tenth. During the winter season, she entered the first round of the Southeast Asia (SEA) F4 series at Zhuzhou Circuit in China, finishing sixth twice and tenth once for the BlackArts team. She switched to Champ Motorsport for the non-championship Macau support race, finishing 17th and 14th. Away from motorsport, she works in financial services in New York.

Shi Wei - competed in the Shanghai round of F1 Academy in 2025, as a wildcard entry. She crashed out of the first race, then finished fourteenth in the second. She has been racing in F4 since 2023, when she did a part-season in the Chinese F4 series. She raced at Ningbo and Zhuhai, earning a best finish of sixth at Ningbo. This was enough for second in the rookie championship. In 2024, she did another part-season, racing only at Shanghai, and managed another sixth place in the first round. That year, she also raced a Hongqi H5 and a Toyota Supra in the China Endurance Championship. She scored two class wins in the Toyota at Zhuhai and two second places in the Hongqi.

(Image from http://www.talkmen.com/articles/read/378/women-we-love-12-alexandra-asmasoebrata/)

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)

Circuit Racers from Southeast Asia

The countries of Southeast Asia - Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines particularly - have their fair share of female racers on their tracks. Some, such as Keiko Ihara, Tomiko Yoshikawa and Takeda Kanami, have travelled extensively and raced in Europe, making them much more visible, but many more race at home. Leona Chin now has her own post, as do Miki Onaga, Anna Inotsume, Anne Wong, Kumi Sato, Junko Mihara, Siti Shahkirah Shaharul, Kaori Okamoto and Naomi Ran Zhang. Thai saloon racers can be found here and Korean drivers here.

Red Bull's female driver search, based in Malaysia, has added to this tally recently, with its rotating squad of female touring car drivers, some of whom have gone on to further motorsport careers. The 2009 "Red Bull Rookies" are pictured here.

Even more female drivers are active in drifting, which is currently outside the scope of this site.

Single-seater drivers from this region now have their own post.

Below are some short profiles.

Maila Alivia - former off-road competitor who races in the Toyota Vios Cup in the Philippines. 2018 was her debut year on the circuits and she scored several top tens in the Promotional class, although she sacrificed her car to her team-mate in the final round. She has also taken part in endurance races in the Philippines: she and three other Vios Cup drivers won their class in the Petron 8 Hours at Clark International Speedway. They were driving a Cup car. She continued in the Vios in 2019. Although she was one of the fastest Promotional class drivers and set two fastest laps, she was usually just outside the top ten. In 2020, she raced in the Bonifacio Endurance Challenge, driving a Mazda for OTR Racing with Red Diwa. She was a regular podium finisher in the Promotion class in the 2021 Vios Cup and scored at least one third place in the 2022 Cup, racing in the Sporting class. She was second in the Sporting class in 2023. She was fourth in the Super Sporting class of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippine Cup in 2024, with two third places.

Julia de los Angeles - Filipino driver who began her senior career in the 2017 Toyota Vios Cup, aged just 16, having had to wait for two years to receive the appropriate license. She raced for the Parts Pro team in the Promotional class in 2017 and 2018. She scored at least one top-ten finish in 2018, despite not being the best at qualifying in the field. She raced in the Promotional class again and led the championship until the final round. She won at least one race at Clark International Speedway. In 2023, she raced in the championship again, and in 2024, she was runner-up in the Promotional class of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Philippine Cup. She won two of her races.

Phoemela Baranda - raced for Team Philippine Arena in the 2018 Toyota Vios Cup. She races in the Sporting class and had at least one fourth-place finish, despite not having raced for a year. She has been involved with the Vios Cup on and off since 2013, having been a karter and then done her first car race in a 2005 celebrity event. She is an actress and model away from the circuits.

Pia Boren - Filipino driver who is most famous for drifting. She has competed in endurance racing in her home country, including a run in a Ford Focus at the 2007 Petron-SVI 4 Hours event, held at Subic. She was seventh overall, sharing the car with two other drivers. She was fourth in the one-make Ford Lynx Cup in 2003 and fourth in Formula Toyota the following year, alongside more Lynx racing. She now works as a sports journalist and previously wrote for Top Gear Magazine’s Philippines edition.

Hana Burton - Japanese-American driver who has raced in Japan since 2022. She has been a part of the all-female Kyojo Cup since 2023, competing in both a Vita sports prototype and the F4 car used in 2025. She was eleventh in 2023 after scoring a few points, then ninth in 2024, after getting the hang of the circuits. Her Kyojo activities followed a part-season in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Yaris Cup in 2022, and a few years of Time Attack.

Kanthicha Chimsiri - Thai driver who races in the Asia Pacific Ferrari Challenge, using a Ferrari 488. She has completed two seasons in the championship, in 2017 and 2018. In 2018, she was ninth in the Am class, with a best result of sixth, achieved twice at Albert Park and Hampton Downs. She was twelfth in the 2017 series, in what appears to be her first year of competition. In 2018, she may also have raced a Ferrari in the Thai Super Series. She was definitely back in the Asian Ferrari Challenge in 2019, finishing ninth in the cahmpionship and 21st in the World Finals. Away from the track, she competes in beauty pageants.  

Jacquelin Ch’ng – Malaysian-born driver who raced in the Chinese Clio Cup in 2014. She performed quite well in the B class with some runner-up spots, but she was not able to challenge effectively for overall honours. Before the Clio Cup, her first motorsport experience was a ride in a celebrity race for charity, organised by the One Foundation. She was second in the Ladies’ category. She is better-known as an actress in the Hong Kong film industry.

Cherry Cheung - Hong Kong driver who made her major-race debut in Malaysian TCR in 2019. She drove a Volkswagen Golf and picked up two ninth places. 2019 is only her second year of racing, having began in the Chinese Racing Cup in 2018. She won her class in the 2018 888km of Shanghai, driving a Toyota GT86 as part of a four-driver team. In 2023, she was a leading driver in the Geely Super Cup. Her Teamwork team has some plans to compete in the UK.

Emily Chow - races a Proton Saga in Malaysia. She took part in the 2019 Saga Cup one-make series, driving for the Millennium Motorsports team. She first raced in the Cup in 2018, after more than ten years of driving a Lotus Elise in hillclimbs, track days and autocross. She races in the Casual category of the Saga Cup, although she is not one of the championship’s front-runners.

Evelyn Coseteng - races a Toyota Vios in a one-make series in the Philippines. Her first season of competition was 2016, in the Toyota Vios Cup. She raced in the Promotional class for new drivers and was third and second from her first two starts. In 2017, she contested the Promotional class again. Evelyn did not start racing until she was over 50.

Gabie Desales - races in the Flatout Racing Series in the Philippines. She did her first season of circuit racing in 2018 and came away with a ladies’ title, driving a Honda Civic. In December, she was part of a four-woman team for the Petron 8 Hour race at Clark International Speedway. Her team-mates were Kathy Villar, Dimple Napat and Aira Medrano. This was her second major endurance race after a run in a 12-hour event in the summer. Prior to circuit racing, she won several titles in slaloms and was a seven-time ladies’ champion.

Menchie Francisco – Filipina driver who was part of the first all-female team to compete at Subic Raceway. She and Michelle Pritchard raced a Nissan Sentra in the four-hour race at the 2000 Philippine Motorsports Festival. In 2001, she raced a Honda Civic in the SVI Challenge Cup, and was one of the leading drivers in the Rookie class. She carried on racing for the next ten years or so, finishing fourth in the Philippine Touring Car Championship in 2005, making another appearance in the Subic enduro in 2007, and winning Class C of the Super Saloon championship in 2008. In 2010, she was one of the drivers invited to take part in a one-make race for Chevrolet Cruzes, the final race ever to be held at Subic. Menchie got into motorsport through her husband, Kookie Ramirez, and first competed in club races in 1999.

Alinka Hardianti – Indonesian driver who races a Toyota. She usually competes in slalom and drifting, but has done some circuit racing. In 2013, she took part in the Indonesian Super Touring championship and won two of her three races, finishing second in another. In 2016, she returned to the circuits, in Japan this time, and raced at the Fuji track, in the Gazoo Racing Netz (Yaris) Cup. She was 24^th in her race, from 36^th on the grid. She was the first non-Japanese female driver to race in the series. She is supported by Toyota Team Indonesia. In 2017 and 2018, she entered the event again. She now competes in drifting.

Gretchen Ho - races a Toyota Vios in one-make series in the Philippines. She is better known as a TV presenter and she initially began racing in celebrity events. She is a regular in the Celebrity class of the Vios Cup, having first competed in it in 2017. She was the championship’s best female driver in her first year and by 2019, was posting top-three finishes. She has hinted that 2019 was her last season.

Yuqi Hu - Chinese driver who races GTs. She competed in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia in 2023, driving a Mercedes-AMG GT3, partnering class champion Bian Ye for part of the season. They first raced together at Chang in Thailand. Her best overall results were 16th places, earned at Fuji and Suzuka. She is also mentioned in conjunction with a Sprint Challenge associated with the series, in which she fared better with at least one podium. 2023 appears to have been her first season. In 2024, she paired Bihang Zhou for four rounds of the GT World Challenge Asia, driving a Mercedes GT3 car. They won the Am class three times and were seventh in the championship.

Marie Iwaoka - Japanese driver who races sports and GT cars in Southeast Asia. She got into motorsport through a women’s initiative run by Mazda Japan in 2015. Since then, she has continued to race in Japan’s Super Taikyu series in a Mazda Roadster as part of an all-female “Love Drive” team. In 2018, she joined another all-female team for the Asian Le Mans Series, driving a Ligier LMP3 for R24 Racing. She achieved three seventh places at Shanghai, Buriram and Fuji, with team-mates including Anna Inotsume, Stephane Kox, Sarah Bovy and Sayaka Kato. She also did some rounds of the Super Taikyu championship in a Mazda Roadster. She raced a Toyota GT86 in the BRZ championship in 2020 and 2021. In 2022, she took part in the Kyojo Cup, finishing 17th overall. In 2023, she was seventh. She was twelfth in the 2024 Kyojo Cup, as well as racing her Vita car in the FCR Vita one-make series. Back in a Mazda Roadster, she did five rounds of the Super Taikyu championship, in the ST-5 class. She and her team-mates had a best result of eighth in the Fuji 24 Hours.

Azrina Jane (Abdullah) - Malaysian driver who competed in drifting and autocross for several years before switching to circuit racing. She took part in the Advanced class of the Proton Saga Cup in 2019, driving for Millennium Motorsports Asia. This ran as part of the Malaysian Speed Festival, where she was a regular face in the drift and Solo sections. This was at least her second season in the Proton, although results are proving hard to find. Azrina is also the president of the Malaysian women’s car club and gives precision driving instruction to its female members, as well as being a race steward.

Puteri Ayu Jasmin - Malaysian driver with the Red Bull Rookies team. She joined the team in 2007 and raced at the 2008 Merdeka Millennium races and the Sepang 1000km. She was retained as a “senior rookie” in 2009. In 2008, she was sixth in class B at the MME event, with Leona Chin, Norlina Johor and Norbaizura Ruslan. In 2009, she ran in the same events, and was 21st overall, fourteenth in class at the Sepang 1000km. She stayed on as a Senior Rookie in 2010, acting as a driver mentor as well as a team member for the Sepang 1000km. Her car was a Honda Integra DC2. She returned as a senior Rookie in 2011 for the Sepang race.

Claire Jedrek – British-born Singaporean driver. She began racing in the 2014 Malaysian Super Series, and was eighth overall at the end of the season. The same year, she took part in the support race for the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.  Her car was a Honda. She continued to race in the Super Series, now the Championship Series, in 2015, including the Grand Prix support race. This year, she was second, her first podium finish. Away from racing, she works as a live MC and TV presenter for motorsports and fitness in Asia. She sat out 2017 due to pregnancy.

Mika Kagoshima – Japanese driver who has raced on and off since 2008. That year, she took part in Formula Challenge in her home country, and had a best finish of 16^th, achieved at Motegi and Suzuka. In 2013, she partnered Rally Marina Sa for the Sepang rounds of the Lamborghini Trofeo Asia, driving a Gallardo. They were fourteenth and thirteenth. Mika is better known as a media personality in Japan, who has been a model, actress and pop singer.

Sayaka Kato - Japanese driver who competed in a round of the 2019 Asian Le Mans Series as part of Keiko Ihara’s all-female R24 team. She drove a Ligier JS P3 with Sarah Bovy and finished seventh at Fuji. She also races a Mazda Roadster in the Super Taikyu series for Love Drive Racing. She entered two races with the team in 2018, helping them to a class fifth in the championship. In 2019, she raced with them full-time. She was part of another all-female Love Drive team in 2020, driving a Roadster in the Fuji 24 Hours and finishing eighth in class. Her association with Mazda began in 2017 when she took part in a women’s driver training program. She won the “Ladies No 1 Race” from Anna Inotsume, driving a Roadster. In 2024, she drove a BMW M2 in the Japanese BMW&Mini Racing championship, finishing twelfth after a part-season.

“Kiki” (Nurul Alis Aidil Akhbar) – Malaysian TV personality who has raced in several editions of the Merdeka Millennium Endurance race (now known as the Sepang 12 Hours), often as part of Red Bull-sponsored female teams. She first raced for the Red Bull X-1R team in 2006, replacing Deanna Yusoff, although she had previously done some racing for a Lotus team. She raced a Proton Satria alongside Hiroki Nakamura and Kazumi Mikami. They did not finish. She stayed with the team for 2007, when she was also part of the mentoring team for the “Red Bull Rookies” female driver search. In 2008, she entered the Merdeka Millennium event again, in a Suzuki Swift, with Hiroko Nakamura. In 2009, she raced in the Sepang 1000km for the Televas team, driving a Honda Integra DC2. At other times, she has competed in the Proton 300km Endurance race, a celebrity Grand Prix support race, and grass-track autocross.

Hiroko Komatsu - races in the Super Taikyu series in her native Japan, driving a Mazda Roadster for the all-female Love Drive team. She has been active in Super Taikyu since 2015, when she was selected for a women’s motorsport initiative run by Mazda. She has taken part in several events for them, as well as a run in at least one round of the 2016 Inter Proto one-make championship. She drove a Mazda Roadster for Love Drive Racing in 2019 and 2020, racing in Super Taikyu for them and the Nihon Automotive College team. In 2022, she raced in the Kyojo Cup.

Kiki Kung – races a Caterham in Taiwan, after competing in karts since 2013. She ran well in both the Chinese and Taiwanese championships. In the Asian motorsport world, she is more known as a broadcaster, both in front of and behind the camera. In 2016, she also tested a Formula Renault, as well as racing a Caterham in at least one round of the Taiwan championship. She is from a motorsport family; her father raced, and now runs his own team.

Angeline Lee - crossed over to circuit racing in April 2019 after having made her name as a sim racer. She entered the Malaysia Championship Series after winning a sim-racing shootout at the end of 2018. Her car is a Ford Fiesta, shared with German racer Sophia Menzenbach. The pair was 24th in both of their races at Sepang. Angeline has previously raced karts and also worked as a race organiser in Malaysia.

Joan Lee - Malaysian driver who races a Toyota and a Proton. She took part in the Sepang 1000km race in 2018, sharing a Toyota Vios with Stephen Wan and Goh Eng Peng. They were 18th overall. In 2019, she competed in the MSF Super Turismo series in a Proton Saga, racing the Saga Cup class. She is part of the Seng Motorsports team. Previously, she worked as a promotional model in the motorsport industry.

Adele Lew - Malaysian driver who began racing in 2022, in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Vios one-make series. She was competing against her father, Eddy. Her results were steady rather than spectacular, although she was relatively close to the other rookie drivers. In December, she took part in the Sepang 1000km, sharing another Vios with Leona Chin. They were 44th overall. In 2024, she did at least some rounds of the Malaysian Speed Festival series, in a Vios. Adele also competes in esports.

Carmen Lim - Singaporean driver selected for the Red Bull Rookies team in Malaysia, in 2010. She took part in the Sepang 1000km and Merdeka Millennium Endurance race for the team, in a Honda DC2. They were 28th at Sepang. This was her second attempt at the 1000km event; in 2009, she drove a Proton Satria with Akina Teo and Amir. They did not finish. That year, she also competed in a rally at Sepang, in a modified CLK. She was second in the ladies’ class. She also appears to have done some drifting, and possibly rallycross, in 2009, as well as karting. She does not appear to have competed since 2010. 

Aira (Alexandra) Medrano - Filipino driver who races touring cars in Southeast Asia. She was a karter in her childhood, but took a break from motorsport before enrolling in the Toyota Vios Cup in 2016, aged 19. She won the Promotional class at least once in her first season and finished the season in second place. She moved up to the Sporting class in 2017, against more experienced drivers, and was a frequent podium finisher, as well as helping the Toyota Alabang team to win trophies. In 2018, she moved up another class to the Super Sporting category. Switching to sportscars, she competed in the GITI-Formula V1 Series in 2021.

Elysse Menorca - Filipino racer who became the first woman accepted into the Nissan GT Academy in 2016. Like the other Academy finalists, she started as a sim racer but crossed over into real-life motorsport, starting with Time Attack and drift-style events in a Toyota Corolla. In 2018, she took part in the Toyota Vios Cup. She contested the Promotional class and was a regular top-five finisher. She continued to race in the Promotional class in 2019 and was third overall. In 2022, she competed in the Sporting class.

Kazumi Mikami – Japanese driver active around Southeast Asia, often as part of all-female teams, including the early incarnations of the Red Bull Rookies in Malaysia. In 2002, she was racing sportscars in Japan, and entered the Suzuka 1000km in an Oscar SK5.2. She and her team-mates were unclassified. She also travelled to Australia for the Targa Tasmania historic rally, in which she drove a Toyota Sprinter. In 2005, she raced in Formula Toyota in Japan, and joined the Red Bull Rookies for the first time. She drove a Proton Satria in the Merdeka Millennium race at Sepang, with Philippa Yoong and Deanna Yusoff. They were sixth in class B. The three were set to team up again for the Sepang event in 2006, but Philippa Yoong was replaced by Hiroko Nakamura, due to pregnancy.  

Michie Mimoto - Japanese driver who has competed in her homeland and Thailand. She is mainly known for her performances in drifting but has been taking part in circuit racing in Thailand since 2016. Her Thai exploits have mainly been in the Toyota Vios Lady Cup, where she is a racewinner, although she has added Toyota Hilux Pickup racing to her schedule since 2018, which runs on the same bill. She was fourth in one of her first pickup races at the Chiang circuit in 2018, and has scored several top-ten finishes since then, in 2018 and 2019. She also competed in the Lady Cup that ran alongside the Thailand Super Turbo series, winning one race. Her car was her Vios.

Amirah Mokhtar - Singaporean driver who got into motorsport through the Red Bull Rookies talent search. She was one of the 2011 Rookies, alongside Siti Shahkirah. She was part of a team for the Merdeka Millennium endurance race that year and drove for the RB21 team in the 2011 Sepang 1000km. Her team-mates were Siti Shahkirah and Mark Darwin and their car was a Proton Satria. They did not finish the Sepang race. Amirah does not seem to have raced since then.

Hinako Muramatsu - winner of the 2019 Kyojo Cup. She narrowly defeated Miki Onaga, winning the final race of the year. This was her first season in the all-female sportscar championship; previously, she raced single-seaters in the Super FJ series from 2017, racing at Okoyama and Suzuka. Her best result has been third at Okayama in 2019. Before that, she was involved in karting for several years.

Hiroko Nakamura – Japanese driver who raced in the Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race and Sepang 1000km on at least five occasions, initially as part of what would become the Red Bull Rookies team. She and Philippa Yoong raced a Honda X1-R together in 2005 and 2007, then in a Proton Satria sponsored by Alex Yoong, Philippa’s brother, in 2010. In between, she teamed up with “Kiki”, another Red Bull Rookies graduate, in a Suzuki Swift, in 2008. Hiroko raced another Satria in 2011, as part of the Thunder Asia Racing Team, with Melvin Choo and Eric Yeo. Earlier, she raced in the Toyota Vitz championship in Japan, and worked at racetracks as a promotional model.

Dimple Napat - races in the Toyota Vios Trophy in the Philippines. She has been active in the series since 2015, when she entered the Promotional class at the age of 22. By the end of the 2018 Vios season, she was one of its leading drivers, winning twice at Clark International Speedway in the Promotional class. At the end of 2018, she was also part of an all-female team for the 8 Hours of the Philippines race, driving a Honda Civic with Kathy Villar, Gabie Desales and Aira Medrano. They did not finish. In 2019, she competed in Sodi World Series karting.

Nurul Husna Nasharuddin - Malaysian driver who normally races at Sepang, often alongside her father Nasharuddin Aziz. She has been racing since at least 2012, when she began her career in historics, driving a Honda Civic. She remained in the Asia Classic Car Challenge and continued to make guest appearances until recently. In 2019, she raced a Proton Saga in a one-make cup. Throughout her career, she has often raced Proton cars, including another Saga in 2018 which she shared with her father for the MSF Turismo championship. She has competed in the Sepang 1000km several times, and finished ninth in the 2014 edition, sharing a Proton Satria with Foo Yung Cheh and Yee Kok Jun. In 2021, she joined Natasha Seatter in a Honda City, finishing 29th. The two drivers planned to race together in 2022, but this did not come off. She raced with her sister Nurul Aun in the MSF Standard Production championship, finishing 18th in a Toyota Vios. They contested the Vios Sprint Challegne in 2023.

Risa Ogushi - Japanese driver who raced in two rounds of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia in 2023. She drove a Mercedes-AMG GT4 at Okayama and finished sixth and seventh in class, with Kazuki Oki as her team-mate. This appears to have been her first appearance in a major race series. Further information about Risa is proving very hard to find.

Michiko Okuyama - Japanese driver who raced in Japan and Europe, in the 1980s and 1990s. Her earliest big race was the Suzuka 1000km, in 1985, in which she drove a Mazda-engine West 85S. She and her team-mates, Masako Fujikawa and Hideki Ogawa, did not finish. In 1989, she took part in one round of the Japanese touring car championship, at Fuji, and did not finish again, in an Isuzu Gemini. The following year, she did some more rounds of the JTCC, in a Fujitsu-sponsored TOMS Toyota Levin, with different team-mates. They were not often on the pace. Another outing in the Gemini gave another DNF. By 1995, she was racing in Europe, as part of an all-female team, with Kumi Sato and Junko Mihara. They competed in the Spa 24 Hours in 1995, and were 19th overall in a Toyota Corolla. In 1997, she tried GT racing in Japan, the dominant form of Japanese domestic motorsport, but a Renault Spider drive in the Super GT Championship did not materialise.

Michelle Pritchard – British-Filipina racer who competed in the Philippines. Her first race was the four-hour enduro held at the Subic Motorsports Festival in 2000. She shared a Nissan Sentra with Menchie Francisco, and was third. In 2001, she raced in the SVI Challenge Cup, racing against her erstwhile team-mate. She was competitive, and did well in qualifying. Her first motorsport experiences came from dirt track racing, and rallycross. Later, she worked as a motoring journalist in the Philippines. She is probably best known as a violinist with the band Imago.

Sharina Ramlle - races a Proton Saga in her native Malaysia. She competes in the Casual class of the Proton Saga Cup, which is part of the Malaysian Speed Festival bill. As well as this, she sometimes races a Honda Jazz in the Malaysian Super Production championship, alongside her husband. According to Malaysian media, she has been racing since 2011 and is supported by “Pursuit of Dreams”, a driver programme run by MSF and Petronas. Sharina is also one of the members of Malaysia’s first women’s motorsport organisation and has an all-female team to work on her car. Her nickname is “Racing Mama”.  In 2020, she raced in the three-round Malaysian Endurance series, driving a Honda Jazz. She returned to the Jazz in 2022, contesting the MSF Standard Production championship with Aik Sha and finishing fifth overall. In 2023, she raced a Swift in the Malaysian Endurance Series, winning her class at least once.

Geraldine Read – Malaysian driver who races saloons in Southeast Asia. She got her start in motorsport through the Red Bull Rookies driver talent search, in 2014. She was selected for the Red Bull team for that year’s Sepang 1000km, alongside Siti Shahkirah Shaharul and Illy Aquila Fateen Ismail. Their car was a Proton Satria, and they were twelfth overall. Driving for a different team, Geraldine returned to the Sepang 1000km in 2015, in a Suzuki Swift. She did not finish. Since then, her opportunities to race have been limited, due to finances, but she spent the spring of 2016 testing, and competed again later in the year. She raced a Proton for the Dreamchaser team in the Malaysian Championship Series. In 2017, she had a second season in the series. The Dreamchaser squad won the team championship. She did some endurance racing in Malaysia in 2018, but did not compete as often. 2019 was similar, although she did get out in the K Car 24-Hour endurance race at Sepang at the end of the year. 

Maria Fernanda Ribeiro - first female winner of a race on the Macau circuit, in 1956. It was a ladies’ race which she won in a Fiat 1100 from two other women. She had been competing for a couple of years by this time, having finished second in a speed test at the circuit in 1954. Her car was a Vauxhall belonging to her father, and she shared it with her husband. She did another Macau ladies’ race in 1958, finishing second in the Fiat. Her motorsport career ended in 1960 when she moved to Australia.

Rally Marina Sa – Indonesian driver who currently races sports and touring cars. In 2013, she took part in the Sepang rounds of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia, with Mika Kagashima of Japan. They were thirteenth and fourteenth in the two races. In 2014, she raced in the Audi Race Indonesia one-make series, and won at least one race. She was third in the championship. Previously, she competed on and off in single-seaters from the age of fourteen, in 1994, when she won a national championship. In 1996, she won the Asian Formula championship at Gudang Garam. After that, she did quite a lot of drag racing in southeast Asia, as well as working as a TV presenter for MotoGP and NASCAR.

Yumiko Sekizaki - Japanese driver who began racing in 2015 after being selected for a women’s motorsport programme run by Mazda. She was the fastest driver of the final twelve selected. Since then, she has been part of the Love Drive team competing in the Super Taikyu series, driving a Mazda Roadster with other Japanese female racers. She was part of the team for the 2018 Fuji 24 Hours. In 2019, she switched to rallying in a Toyota Vitz and competed in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Rally Challenge. She now runs her own racing team.

Shasha Shafie - Malaysian driver who competes in the Malaysian Championship Series. She normally shares a Suzuki Swift with Shafiq Samsudin. They have been racing together since 2018 and compete in the SP2 class for production cars, where they are midfielders, although they did score some class podiums in 2018. The car was put up for sale after the second round of the 2019 championship due to problems. She raced in the Sporting class of the Toyota Vios Cup in 2022. She raced the Vios again in 2023 and was part of a female team for the Sepang 1000km. As a teenager, Shasha was a karter, but she did not start her senior career until she was in her 30s. In 2024, she rallied a Suzuki Swift, after a couple of events in a Vios. She was fourth and third in two rounds of the Malaysian rallysprint series.

Yuko Suzuki - Japanese driver who competed in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia in 2023, driving a McLaren 720S GT3 and Artura GT4 for CREF Motorsport, partnered by Masataka Inoue. She finished the two rounds at Motegi, finishing 24th and 27th in the 720S. She did better in the Artura, finishing third in class at Okayama. There is some suggestion that she may have raced single-seaters earlier, but this is unconfirmed. She could also have been a pro volleyball player.

Nanami Tsukamoto - Japanese-Brazilian driver famous in her home country for her pink cars and glamorous image. She competes in both racing and rallying, as well as drifting. In 2018, she travelled to Europe to race in the VLN, driving a Toyota GT86 for Ring Racing and earning a second and fifth in class. She had previously raced a GT86 in a one-make series in Japan between 2013 and 2017, alongside electric car racing in the JEVRA EV Trophy and a 2015 season in the Japanese Carrera Cup, where she was eleventh overall. In 2017, she won two rounds of an Audi A1 one-make series and in 2018 she added to her win tally with three victories in the Z Expert Trophy, driving a Nissan Fairlady. In rallies, she has competed in the 2018 and 2019 Toyota Gazoo Challenge in a GT86. She competed again in the Fairlady in 2020 and also won a team championship for electric karts as part of an all-woman squad.

Kathy Villar - won the GT150 championship of the Philippines Grand Touring championship, driving a Honda Civic. She was also Rookie of the Year. Late in 2018, she was part of an all-female team for the 8 Hours of the Philippines race, alongside Dimple Napat, Aira Medrano and Gabie Desales. They ran as high as third in class in their Honda Civic until it caught fire. Kathy previously competed in Time Attack events.

(Boey) Chai Pao Weei - races in the Proton Saga Cup in Malaysia. Her car is a Proton Iswara. She has been racing Protons in single-make championships since at least 2016. She won a Saga Novice Cup race at the 2017 Malaysian Speed Festival, sharing the car with Choo Yoong Chon. At the end of 2018, she raced a Suzuki Swift in the Sepang 1000km alongside Shasha Shafie and Nurul Husna Nasharuddin. In 2019, she competed in the Saga Cup Casual section of the MSF Super Turismo championship, in the Iswara.

Denise Yeung – Hong Kong driver who raced in the Asian Renault Clio Cup in 2016. This was her sixth year of competition. In 2015, she represented Hong Kong in the China Racing Cup, in a standard Senova D70, and took part in the Macau Grand Prix, finishing fifth. Previously, in 2014 and 2015, she raced in the touring car championships of Hong Kong, Korea, Macau and Taiwan, winning ladies’ awards for all of them. She first raced in the HKTCC in 2012. Her 2015 HKTCC season was a particularly good one, with a win, plus a second and a third. In 2012, she took part in one Asian Touring Car Championship race in a Honda Integra. In 2022, she raced in the Kyojo Cup in Japan.

Rose Tan Ying - Chinese racer who mainly drives a Porsche. She began racing in the Porsche Carrera Cup in China in 2004, and competed on and off in it until 2006. In 2011 and 2012, she contested the whole championship, with a best result of 16th, in 2011. In the Porsche, a 997 GT3, she has also appeared in the Asian GT Championship, winning her class on several occasions, and the Macau GT Cup. Away from the Porsche, she has scored race wins in a Lotus Exige, in the Pan Delta Super Racing Festival, and also drove the Exige in the Lotus Cup. In 2009, she also tried touring car racing in a Citroen, in the Chinese championship, driving for the Dong Feng team. 

Joanna Yoong – British-born Malaysian driver. She was active for three seasons in the 1980s, and was the first female driver to win a race in Malaysia. She won the Harvey Yap School of Driving race, supporting the 1984 Selangor Grand Prix, in a JPS-sponsored BMW. In 1987, she also tried her hand at rallying, in a Daihatsu Charmante. She drove in the Rally of Malaysia, but did not finish, due to engine trouble. Her children are Alex Yoong, former Formula One driver, and Philippa Yoong, Red Bull endurance racer. 

Philippa Yoong - Malaysian driver who competes in endurance races in Asia. She drove a Proton saloon for the X1-R Red Bull Racing team. In 2008, she scored second and eighth places at Sepang, assisted by Leona Chin and Puteri Ayu Jasmin. This was the team and Philippa’s best result. She was one of the professional members of the team, which was made up of a rotating squad of female drivers. She first drove for the team in 2003. In addition to endurance events, she has also taken part in some drifting competitions in Southeast Asia, as well as competitive water-skiing. Her brother is ex-Formula One driver, Alex Yoong. She returned to endurance racing in 2010, at Sepang, and was 15th in the 1000km race. She has been active in motorsport since 2003, when she drove a Proton at the Merdeka race, as part of a different all-female team.

Deanna Yusoff – Malaysian-Swiss driver who was one of the earliest members of the Red Bull X-1R racing team, which became the Red Bull Rookies. She entered her first Merdeka Millennium Endurance race in 2004, driving a Proton with Philippa Yoong and Maznah Zolfikli. They were 38^th overall, and the first all-female team to finish the race. Deanna and Philippa raced in the event again in 2005, with Hiroko Nakamura. In 2006, she was set to join the team again, but work commitments forced her to pull out. The same trio from 2005 were reunited in 2007, with their Proton Satria, and were seventh in class.  As well as the twelve-hour Merdeka Millenium race at Sepang, Deanna did some saloon racing, and karting, in Malaysia. She is better known as an actress.

Melly Zhang - made her circuit debut in the UK in 2023. She took part in the second Donington round of the GT Cup, racing a McLaren Artura for Racelab with professional driver Michael O'Brien. Their best finish was twelfth, achieved in the third race, although they did struggle for pace. Very little other information about Melly seems to exist; she is possibly involved in drifting and may be a visual artist away from the track. In 2024, she started competing under an American license and raced a historidc Merlyn Mk20 Formula Ford in the UK. She entered both the Formula Ford Festival and the Walter Hayes Trophy, although she was disqualified from the latter for causing a collision.

Kristie Zhu - Chinese driver who has been active since at least 2021. She raced a Mercedes-AMG GT4 in the GT Super Sprint Challenge in China that year, finishing at least a couple of races at Shanghai. In 2023, after apparently not competing for a while, she travelled to Germany for the NLS, racing a BMW 125i run by the Giti Tyre team. She and Anning Sun, another Chinese driver, were eighth in class in Round 3. Kristie has not raced since then. 

(Image source unknown)