Louise Lamberjack

 

Louise with Marguerite Mareuse during the 1933 Monte

Louise Lamberjack was a French rally driver active in the 1930s. She competed as both driver and navigator. 

Motorsport was something she had grown up with, as the daughter of motorcyclist and racing driver Dominique Lamberjack and the niece of Jean-Emile Lamberjack, another racer who sold cars. Some sources claim that she was Jean-Emile’s daughter. However, she did not begin her own competition career until she was around 30.

Father and daughter competed at the same time, with Dominique opting for an unusual rally car; a Saurer coach.

Like many French women drivers of the time, Louise began by competing in women-only events, sometimes organised by the Automobile Club Feminin. Her choice of cars was more standard and probably more sensible, beginning with a Fiat. She first appears on an entry list for the 1931 Paris-St. Raphael Rally, winning the class for cars over 17hp and finishing 20th overall. She was one of 23 drivers who finished without penalty. Sadly, her second attempt at the event in 1932 ended in mechanical failure.

Over the course of the decade, she would enter six more editions of the Paris-St. Raphael, driving a number of cars. Her best results were two fourth places, in 1936 and 1937, driving a Hotchkiss and a Delahaye respectively.

Her first major win was the Coupe des Dames in Monte Carlo in 1933, navigating for Marguerite Mareuse. She first drove herself in that event in 1935, and was second in the Ladies' standings in 1936, driving a Hotchkiss which she occasionally used on the circuits. 

She was 18th on the 1939 Monte, driving a Matford. On paper, the mighty V8 Ford-engined Mathis was her most successful car, as she recorded a second place in the 1939 International Rally of La Baule. However, only the sections between drivers’ start points and La Baule itself were counted, as the Second World War was beginning and the rally proper never took place. Louise shared second spot with eight other drivers.

Her best year was probably 1936, when she drove the Hotchkiss in both rallies and races. As well as her Paris-St. Raphael fourth, she was third in the Paris-Nice International Criterium de Tourisme, considerably ahead of her father in his coach. In May, she was eighth in the Lyon Rally, leading Claire Descollas in a Lancia and Germaine Rouault in a Delahaye who were ninth and tenth.

The Paris-Nice was one of her best events: she was sixth in 1937 in the Hotchkiss. This year, the rally included a regularity test, a street race in Monaco and the La Turbie hillclimb.

Unlike some of her contemporaries, she did not return to competition after the war.

She died in 1989, aged 90.

The Coupe des Dames in the Monte Carlo Rally: Part I

Mildred Bruce with her AC, 1927

The Coupe des Dames was awarded to the best female finisher in the Monte Carlo Rally. The award was first made in 1927, to Mildred Mary Bruce, although she was not the first female driver to contest the event. A Madame Mertens came second in 1925, driving a Lancia Lambda, but no special trophy for female drivers existed as yet.

Below are the winners of the Coupe des Dames prior to 1950. Where possible, full names have been given. The early days of the rally saw considerable success for women drivers, with women in the top ten for several years, in the 1920s and 1930s. For some editions, separate “Coupes” were given for different classes, and these have been included. This is the first part of a series of posts about the Monte Carlo Rally. Part 2 Part 3

1927

Mildred (Mrs Victor) Bruce (AC) – 6^th

1928

Charlotte Versigny (Talbot) – 3^rd

1929

Lucy O’Reilly Schell (Talbot) – 8^th

1930

Madame M. Doré (Chenard & Walcker) – 9^th

1931

Madame D. Jeanne (Rosengart) – 3^rd (Light Car)

Lady Eda Jardine (Lancia Lambda) – 14^th

1932

Alexandra Lindh (Hudson) – 8^th

Morna Vaughan (Triumph) – 6^th (Light Car)

1933

Marguerite Mareuse/Louise Lamberjack (Peugeot) – 13^th

1934

Simone des Forest/Fernande Hustinx (Peugeot 301) – 17^th

Madame Marinovitch and Louise Lamberjack, 1935

1935

Marie-Jeanne Marinovitch/Louise Lamberjack (Ford) – 19^th

1936

Marie-Jeanne Marinovitch/Hellé Nice (Matford) – 18^th

1937

Greta Molander (Plymouth) – 34^th

1938

Germaine Rouault/Madame J D’Herlique (Matford) – 7^th

1939

Yvonne Simon/Suzanne Largeot (Hotchkiss) – 8^th

1949

Countess van Limburg Stirum/Countess van Vredenburgh (Ford V8) – 12^th

(Images from http://www.acownersclub.co.uk/ and http://www.forum-auto.com/)

Odette Siko

France's Odette Siko was a true pioneer of women's motor racing, and was the first lady ever to drive at Le Mans, in 1930. Not only was she the first woman to race at the fabled Sarthe circuit, she was also the most successful female entrant so far.

It has proved almost impossible to find out when Odette's first taste of motorsport occurred, but it is likely to have been during the late 1920s. Her first forays into serious competition appear to have been in 1930, when she took part in her first Le Mans with Marguerite Mareuse. Their car was Marguerite's own Bugatti T40, a 1500cc model. That year's race was a difficult one, with a high rate of attrition, but the Siko/Mareuse partnership proved to be a good one, and they finished seventh, not a bad first attempt at all.

The same car was used by Odette and Marguerite in the 1931 running of the 24 Hours. This time, they were not so fortunate. Despite reaching the end of the race in a healthy ninth place, they were disqualified for refuelling too early at the beginning. Odette herself had misunderstood a pit signal and brought the car in before the allotted time.

Both women came back to Le Mans in 1932, but with different cars and co-drivers. Odette teamed up with "Jean Sabipa", also known as Louis Charaval, in an Alfa Romeo 6C 1750. The car belonged to Odette, and she would use it in various events for the next few seasons.

The Siko/Sabipa partnership was another excellent one. In another race of heavy attrition, they managed to battle to the end and finish fourth overall, winning the two-litre class and keeping pace with the three-litre cars in front. This was the best-ever finish for a woman driver at Le Mans, a second first for Odette, and one which has not yet been beaten, over seventy years later.

Teaming up with Sabipa again the following year was not so fruitful. Although the Alfa was on the pace and running well in fifth, disaster struck on the 120th lap when Odette skidded off the circuit. Her car hit a tree, hard, and caught fire. Miraculously, she was unhurt, despite being thrown out of the car at high speed. Unbelievably, she tried to put the fire out with the aim of continuing the race.

During the period above, Odette also took part in events across France and, I believe, in the North African sportscar races which took place every year. In 1931, she won the sportscar class of the Picardie Grand Prix, and was fourth in the overall standings. She was driving a different Bugatti this time, a T43, and it may have been in this car that she won the 2000cc class of the Circuit d'Aisne in 1932. For that year's Circuit de Torvilliers, she used her Alfa, and was second in the class for sportscars up to 3000cc.

After the 1933 season, she appears to have concentrated on rallying, as a driver and also as a navigator. In 1934 she shared her Alfa with the infamous Hellé Nice for the Paris-St Raphaël ladies' rally. I have been unable to track down their finishing position. It may have been here that the pair struck up a friendship, for according to Hellé Nice's biographer, Miranda Seymour, Odette was one of Hellé's few female friends in the world of motorsport.

Odette sat beside another skilled French driver, the young Simone des Forest, in 1935. They did at least the Monte Carlo Rally together. The following year, she took the driving seat herself in the Critérium Paris-Nice, a high-speed rally popular with sportscar racers of the time. She was 86th in a Bugatti.

Her most noteworthy activity in 1937 was her participation in the Yacco Oil speed trials at Montlhéry. She was chosen as the captain of a team of four female drivers who were set to spend ten days breaking a series of speed records. The other drivers in the group, all French, were Hellé Nice, Simone des Forest and Claire Descollas. Both Claire and Simone made little effort to hide their dislike of Hellé, and Odette's captain's role was sometimes one as peacemaker as well as leader on the track.

Their car was a huge Ford-engined Mathis "Matford", with a 3600cc V8 engine. It was nicknamed "Claire" by the team, perhaps after Claire Descollas. After an abortive first attempt, during which Descollas dropped out, the crew eventually managed to set 25 records between them, driving at high speed around the Montlhéry banking in shifts for ten whole days. Ten of these records were world records for automotive endurance and fifteen were international Group C records. Some still stand today.

This was not Odette's last involvement with Matford cars; in 1939 she partnered Louise Lamberjack on the Monte Carlo Rally in a different vehicle. They were 18th, having started from Tallinn and battled their way through black ice and extremes of temperature.

Like so many of her European contemporaries, male and female, Odette's racing career appears to have been ended by the advent of the Second World War. I have found no record of her resuming it after 1945.

She is still remembered today as the highest-finishing female entrant at Le Mans and as the holder of her Yacco speed records.

(Image source unknown)

"Madame Hellé Nice"

Hellé Nice with the Alfa Romeo 8C

One of motorsport's brightest characters is now once more in the public eye, thanks to a recent biography by Miranda Seymour. Mariette Hélène Delangle, as she was christened, never did anything by halves, and was racy in every sense of the word. After escaping her dull, provincial home village she earned a living as an exotic dancer and occasional nude pin-up in 1920s Paris. When dwindling audiences put an end to that, she re-trained as a circus acrobat, as this required less rhythm, and wowed the crowds by performing the splits on a high wire. She only took up motor racing full time when a skiing accident put paid to her performing career.

However, her motorsport activities began before that. While still dancing, she started entering celebrity races, which were popular in France at that time. The "Championnat des Artistes", held every year at Parc des Princes, was the biggest of these, and attracted stars of stage, radio and screen in wheeled contest.

Her first experience in more mainstream motorsport was in 1928, when she entered the Journée Féminine de l'Automobile at Montlhéry, driving a Citroen, which she also entered into the Concours d'Elegance. She is said to have been inspired to take up motor racing by watching Charlotte Versigny's performances in races and rallies, in a Talbot.

After her final injury in 1929 she was lent a Bugatti T35, and won every race she entered in the Championnat des Artistes. This was followed by a run in an Omega Six in the Journée Féminine de l'Automobile. She entered both the Grand Prix and Championnat races, winning the Grand Prix after finishing last in the Championnat. After this race Hellé Nice decided that she would compete on the major race circuit, and began a regime of physical training in order to strengthen herself for the rigours of high-speed competition, long before this was common practice.

Back in the Bugatti T35, she began her professional career with a speed record attempt at Montlhéry, where she set a new Ladies' Record before crashing. Her exploits were now big news, and she embarked on a tour of the USA, sponsored by the Williams Morris Agency. Driving a Ford V8, and other borrowed cars, she entered invitational races, and attempted speed records on dirt and board ovals across the country. A big accident eventually sent her back to France, and she would later describe her American experiences as some of the most frightening of her life.

Back home in 1931, she returned to her faithful Bugatti and entered some French Grands Prix. She was seventh at Dieppe, ninth at Comminges and seventh in the Circuit du Dauphine in a Bugatti T37 voiturette. In 1932, she competed around Europe in the T35. She was eighth in the GP d'Oranie in Italy and was the fastest lady at the Mount Ventoux hillclimb. Germany's Klausen hillclimb only gave her the "Second Lady" prize behind Emma Munz. Hellé Nice, who was fiercely competitive, was not happy with this, and caused quite an unpleasant scene.

Back to the track in 1933, Hellé was ninth in the Marseilles GP, her last race with the T35. Later in the year she acquired an Alfa Romeo Monza, which she had painted in French racing blue. With her new car she drove in the Pescara 24 Hour road race and was ninth in the Italian GP. This was another in a long series of lucky escapes for Hellé, as many drivers crashed and two were killed. She also did some rallying in a Bugatti. With a Mr Bonnet as her navigator, she tackled the Coupe Internationale des Alpes, although they missed out on an award.

1934 was one of her busiest years. She was due to compete in the Casablanca GP but withdrew after the death of Bruni d'Harcourt, a racing friend and rival. In the Alfa Monza she was seventh in the Picardie GP, eighth in the Comminges event and seventh at Alger. She was seventh in a heat of the Vichy GP and failed to reach the final, but drove better at Dieppe, coming fifth in her heat and seventh in the final. The Eifelrennen at the Nürburgring was her only major non-finish of the year. In hillclimbing, she was second in class at Mont Ventoux.

The following year was also a good one. Hellé was very famous by this time, and a number of her odd habits were commented on. She wore driving overalls with decorative bows, and apparently always drove with her mouth open, to the amusement of some. Nevertheless, she was improving as a driver. In the Alfa she was eighth at Pau, an excellent fourth at Picardie, sixth in a heat of the Biella GP and seventh at Comminges. She failed to finish at Penya Rhin. She continued to be a capable hillclimb driver, and was second in the 3000cc class at Latourne.

1936 also began well. Renewing her acquaintance with Ford power, Hellé won the Coupe des Dames in the Monte Carlo Rally, navigating for Marie-Jeanne Marinovitch, in a Matford. A disappointing crash in the Pau GP put her out for a while, but towards the end of the year she decamped to South America to sample the Grand Prix scene there. She was eighth in the Rio GP, a street race, against experienced rivals.

During the following year's São Paulo GP, tragedy struck. On a tricky section of the course, Hellé swerved to avoid a marshal and went straight into the path of a straw bale, thrown by a member of the crowd for reasons best known to themselves. The Alfa crashed heavily and threw its driver out of the car. She fell onto a male spectator who was killed, along with two others. Hellé Nice was seriously injured and in a coma for a while. This was the end of her Grand Prix career.

However, it was not the end of her motorsport career. Hellé did not give up easily, and was attempting speed records again by the end of 1937, as part of the Yacco Oil all-female team with Claire Descollas, Simone des Forest and Odette Siko. The following year she took to rallying again, in a DKW owned by Huschke von Hanstein.

Later, in 1939, she entered a ladies’ one-make championship for 750cc Renault Juvaquatres, and achieved some good results, including at least one win. However, these results have proved hard to find.

After the end of the Second World War, Hellé was ready to race again. Unfortunately, tragedy of a different kind struck. In 1949 she was accused of having been a Gestapo agent by Louis Chiron, a respected French driver. The claim was never substantiated and she eventually cleared her name in court, but mud sticks, and she was ostracised by the motorsport community, no longer a big media draw.

She did attempt to carry on racing for a while; she navigated for her former rival Anne-Cécile Rose-Itier in the 1950 Monte Carlo Rally, but they crashed their Renault 4CV early on.

Her last race was in 1951, when she failed to finish the Nice GP in another 4CV. After that she became rather reclusive, and lived in obscurity with the aid of a charity for retired actors. Sadly and unfittingly she died in poverty in 1984, largely forgotten in Europe but not in South America, where "Hellenice" or "Elenice" was a popular girls' name for many years.

(Image source unknown)