Laia Sanz

 

Laia with Carlos Sainz

Laia Sanz races in Extreme E for Carlos Sainz's team, sharing an electric Odyssey 4x4.

The Spanish racer, whose full name is Eulalia Sanz Pla-Giribert, is better-known as a motorcycle endurance rider who has won 14 ladies' European trials championships and ridden in the Dakar ten times on a motorbike. She has finished every Dakar she has entered, between 2011 and 2020, with a women’s award each time. Her best overall finish has been ninth in 2015.  

She had been competing in trials aged seven, in 1992. Her first win was in 1997 and she won her first women’s title in 1998, still aged only twelve.

Her four-wheel career began at around the same time as her Dakar debut. Interestingly, she did not opt for off-road competition.

She entered a couple of Clio Cup races in Spain in 2011 and won class A2 of the 2011 Barcelona 24 Hours, driving a Renault Clio. She was 18th overall, assisted by Enric and Jordi Codony, Francesc Gutierrez and Santi Navarro. 

In 2014, she did some ice racing in Andorra, in the G Series, and competed directly against Ingrid Rossell in a match race. She also did two rounds of the SEAT Leon Supercopa, in Catalunya, and was 19th and 20th. 

In 2015, she returned to enduros, and was ninth in the Dakar on a KTM. She did do some four-wheeled outings in a SEAT Leon, including two races in the Supercopa and the Catalunya 24 Hours, at Barcelona. She was 16th overall and second in class, as part of a two-driver team. 

At the end of the season, she was signed by the works KTM team, and concentrated on motorcycles for a season. 

She did another car race in 2017, finishing 15th in the TCR 24H race at Catalunya. Her car was a SEAT Leon. 

She entered the same race in 2018, driving a SEAT Cupra for the Monlau team. She and her team-mates won their class. 

Her first start in Extreme E came after a long recovery period for wrist injuries sustained in the 2020 Dakar where she was riding for the works Gas Gas team. Her warm-up was a run in a Can-Am SxS vehicle at the Baja Dubai. She was fourth in the UTV class.

Carlos Sainz himself had requested that she join the Acciona Sainz XE team. Each Extreme E must have a male and a female driver and Laia was the first choice for the Spanish team’s female seat.

The first Extreme E race was held in Saudi Arabia and the second event in Senegal and this was her first time visiting the country, as the Dakar had stopped visiting Dakar itself by the time she made her debut. She and Carlos Sainz were ninth in Senegal, having finished fourth in Saudi.

Despite saying that she would carry on with motorcycles when her seat in Extreme E was announced, she decided to commit to four wheels during 2021, including her first run in the Dakar in a car for 2022.

Her first E-Prix in Saudi was a relative success and she and Carlos qualified second, although they were dropped to fourth in the final by mechanical problems. The pair tended to qualify well but come up against issues in finals and their best finish was third in Greenland. They were fifth in the championship.

The second season of Extreme E featured an unchanged Acciona Sainz driver pairing. They were third overall, with two second places in the Saudi desert round and the Chile race. Both drivers usually qualified well, but did quite not have the pace for the final.

Her Dakar adventure ended in a solid 23rd place in the Car class, driving a Mini All4 with Maurizio Gerini. The car was run by the X-Raid team.

Laia's third season in Extreme E featured a new team-mate in Mattias Ekstrom. The pair won two races in Saudi and Sardinia from pole, on their way to second in the championship. They were also second four times. They were also the fastest qualifiers for the second Chile race, but were beaten by the Veloce team, who won the championship.

She entered the Dakar again in 2024, driving an Astara T1.2 prototype. Her co-driver was the Italian Maurizio Gerini. They were 15th in the Car class.

Back in Extreme E, Laia partnered Jamaican driver Fraser McConnell. They won the second Desert E-Prix and were second in both Hydro races, finishing second overall in the final Extreme E championship.

The same pairing as 2024 entered the 2025 Dakar, driving for the Century Racing Factory Team, but they had to retire on the second stage.

Mid-season, she rejoined the Sainz Extreme E team for the Final Lap, the championship's last event before becoming Extreme H. Laia and Fraser McConnell were fourth and eighth in their two races.

(Image from enduro21.com)

Monique Delannoy

 

Monique Delannoy became the first female driver to compete on the Dakar in the Car class, in 1980. She drove a Peugeot 504 with Catherine Bonnier, but they did not finish. 

Prominent among the car’s sponsors was the famous Moulin Rouge of Paris. 

This was the first of five runs in the desert classic. In 1981, she used a Mercedes 240 jeep and was 25th, with Bernadette Sacy. The following year, she drove a Volkswagen Iltis with Alain Bodard, but again did not finish. 

Another run in an Iltis in 1983, this time as a navigator to her husband, Jean, gave her a 38th place. Co-driving again, she assisted Nicole Maitrot, a former motorcycle competitor, to 16th place in the 1984 Dakar in a Mitsubishi Pajero run by two Ligier F1 team personnel. The two women formed the lightest team on the entry list at 90kg between them. They won the Ladies’ Cup and the diesel class. 

Jean Delannoy also competed that year in a separate Pajero.

The Delannoys may well have met through motorsport. They raced together in the first season of the Coupe de l’Avenir for Simca-derived small sportscars in 1976 and had been involved in sportscar racing since at least 1973.

Monique later raced in the Leyland Trophy in France, with Bernadette Sacy. This was a one-make series for British Leyland cars, in 1978.  

Monique made a brief return to the circuits in 1984, racing a Crossle in a non-championship French Formula Ford race. She was 19th in one race at Ledenon. 

(Image copyright motor-lifestyle.com)

Martine Renier

Martine Renier is a rather enigmatic driver who competed in both circuit racing and rallying in and around France in the 1970s.

She was probably a more prolific rally driver, but she showed considerable skill on the track and was trusted in major endurance races.

She entered Le Mans twice, in 1974 and 1976, driving a Porsche both times. She was thirteenth in 1974, driving with Anny-Charlotte Verney and Pierre Mauroy. Her second attempt gave her an 18th place, fourth in class, with Thierry Perrier and Guy de Saint-Pierre. 

In 1973, 1974 and 1975, she piloted an Alfa Romeo on the Tour de France. Her car in 1973 was a 2000 GTV. Despite it being a rather underpowered Group 1 model, she was 32nd overall and second in the Ladies’ standings. Earlier in her career, she had won the Coupe des Dames on the Tour, driving an Alpine in 1971. 

Her association with the Alfa marque was quite a long one and encompassed circuit racing as well as rallying. In 1974, she drove in two separate 2000 GTVs in the Spa 24 Hours, finishing fourteenth with Eric Mandron and Edgar Gillessen, and seventh with Guy Deschamps and Jeannot Sauvage. Both cars were run by Promoteam. She raced the same car in a round of the 1974 French touring car series at La Chatre, finishing fourth in Group 2.

Her rallying career is harder to follow, mainly because she did not often enter under her own name. Throughout her career, she used the nickname “Tintin”, a moniker she still uses when posting online about her experiences. Her regular co-driver Marie-Dominique Cousin went by “Marie Do”. “Tintin” also appeared on the circuits and it is under that name that her 1974 Spa achievements are recorded.

Alfa Romeo features in her rallying history but her first car seems to have been a Renault 8 Gordini, which she used in 1970. She and Joelle Godart were 16th in that year’s Chauny National rally.

In 1974, “Tintin” and “Marie Do” finished the Criterium International Saint-Amand-les-Eaux in a familiar Alfa. They were 35th overall.  This was far from their only rally together.

The following year, Martine made a rare foray outside France for the Morocco Rally, driving an equally unfamiliar car: an Opel Ascona. She and co-driver G Nault did not finish.

Unusually for a French female driver of the time, she never seems to have driven for Team Aseptogyl, although Marie-Dominique Cousin certainly did later.

Although quite a prolific driver, a lot of Martine’s rally experience came from the navigation side. She finished the 1973 Monte Carlo Rally with Jean-Claude Lagniez, driving another Alfa GTV, having already sat alongside him in an Alpine-Renault for French rallies. Her first experience of the Ascona came as a co-driver to Bernard Vautrin on the 1973 Le Touquet Rally. In 1976, she was hired by Ford France to sit alongside Anny-Charlotte Verney in an Escort, and they did the 1000 Lakes Rally together. Her last major stage event seems to have been the 1976 Bandama Rally, which she failed to finish in a Toyota Trueno with Alain Cerf driving.

Towards the end of her international career, she entered the 1974 Paris-St. Raphael women’s rally, finishing ninth in an Alfa 2000 GTV with Marie-Madeleine Fouquet, driving as herself for a change. 

Her last attempt at a big international race was Le Mans in 1978. She attempted to qualify in a Lola T296/7 with Pascale Guerie and Anna Cambiaghi. This would have been her first race in a prototype, but they were only on the reserve list and did not actually race. Only Anna Cambiaghi drove the car.

She also competed in early runnings of the Paris-Dakar rally, as a motorcyclist and driver. Her experience in Morocco and the Ivory Coast would have helped her, although her first attempt in 1979, riding for the Moto Guzzi team, ended in a crash.

She co-drove for Catherine Dufresne the following year in a Range Rover, again not finishing. Back in the driving seat, she piloted a VW-engined Sunhill buggy in 1983, navigated by Babette Schily. Neither of the two Sunhill buggies finished that year. 

(Image from motor.rocabal.com)

Cross-Country Rallying

Syndiely Wade

Specialist drivers who have competed in rally raids across the globe. Those who are better-known as stage rally drivers or circuit racers are listed in their respective sections. The best-known female rally-raid exponents, Jutta Kleinschmidt, Isabelle Patissier, Martyna Wojciechowska, Monique Delannoy, Estelle Hallyday, Sara Price and Andrea Mayer, have their own profiles.

Dania Akeel - winner of the T3 championship in the 2021 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas. Her car was a Mamba SSV. She competed in her first Dakar in 2022, driving a Can-Am Maverick SSV and finishing eighth in the Light Prototype class. Her second Dakar, at the beginning of 2023, ended with 93rd place, driving another Can-Am. She was invited to enter the Dakar by the Saudi Ministry of Sport, which is keen to use female drivers to promote the country. After problems early on, she was 28th in the 2023 Dakar. In 2024, she joined the Extreme E grid, driving for JBXE with Andreas Bakkerud. She did the first two races in Saudi, finishing seventh and eighth, but was then replaced by Amanda Sorensen. At the end of the year, she entered the Dakar and was one of the leading drivers in the Challenger class, driving a Taurus. She won a stage, but late hold-ups dropped her to 27th. Rally raids continued to be her focus for the rest of the year, and she ended up third in the FIA Cross Country Challenger class. She was the outright winner of the Baja Middle East, won her class in the UAE Desert Challenge and was second in the Saudi championship. For most of the year she drove for Taurus, although her car for the Saudi series was a Toyota Landcruiser. Previously, she raced motorcycles on circuits, until she had an accident in Bahrain and had to stop.

Mashael Alobaidan - Saudi driver who entered her first Dakar in 2022, driving a Can-Am Maverick in the Light Prototype class. She was 17th in class. Along with Dania Akeel, she is supported by the Saudi Ministry of Sport in order to promote the country via female drivers. Although she had been involved in other sports, including diving, and also driven recreationally in the sand dunes, she only started rallying in 2021, entering Baja events in Sharqiyah, Aragon and H’all. She did the Dakar again in 2023, finishing 83rd in a Can-Am light prototype. She was due to enter again in 2024, but pulled out for unexplained reasons. That year, she began racing electric powerboats in the E1 Series, partnering Saud Ahmed in the Aoki Racing team. She remained with the team for 2025 and won the first round, with new team-mate Dani Clos.

Madalena Antas (Cupertino de Miranda)  – competed in rally raids, often for the Nissan Dessoude team. She drove a Pathfinder pick-up for the team in the 2007 Dakar, the last to be held in Africa, but did not finish. This was her third attempt at the Dakar for Nissan. In 2005, she was 17^th in the Baja Espana Aragon, driving a Toyota Landcruiser. Early in her career, she also won the Portuguese off-road championships. Madalena is following in the footsteps of her mother, Teresa, another Dakar competitor.

Victoria Carrasco - Chilean driver. She has competed in off-road rallies in South America from 2004, using a Kia Sorrento. She was eleventh in the 2006 Por las Pampas Rally, her only Cross-Country World Cup outing. Now, she is more commonly seen as a navigator to Juan Francisco Carrasco, in rally raids and stage rallies.

Hend Chaouch - one of Tunisia’s foremost drivers. She has driven in the Rally Tunisia fourteen times, as driver and navigator. Her first time in the driving seat was 2001, when she finished the Tunisian, Moroccan, Dubai and Paris-Dakar raids. Her best finish was 17th with a class win in Dubai. These have been her best results, although she has won several honours for being the first Tunisian, African or female finisher. She has taken part in the Dakar twice. As well as the Cross-Country World Cup, she has competed in women-only rallies, and was third in the 1994 Rallye des Gazelles. She has also organised rallies in Tunisia and worked in assistance teams. Her cars have been a Toyota Landcruiser, Mitsubishi Evolution and Nissan Patrol. She was banned from competition for 2010, after an incident on the 2009 Tunisia Rally. In 2011, she returned to the Rally Tunisia in a Toyota. After this, she does not appear to have competed, and her website has been taken down. In 2013, she spoke out publicly in support of Saudi women being permitted to drive, alongside Ari Vatanen. In 2014, she returned to desert rally raids, and won the Ladies' award on the Rallye du Maroc. Her car was a Toyota HDJ80. She planned to enter the Rally of Tunisia again in 2015, but did not make the start. In 2017, she was second in the Rallye El Chott, driving a Toyota, an event she won in 2018.

Martine de Cortanze - Frenchwoman who raced both cars and bikes in long-distance events. She entered the first Dakar in 1979 on a motorcycle, and entered every race until 1983. She also had a considerable career in stage rallying, winning ladies’ awards in the Monte Carlo and Corsica rallies, among others. She also took part in the Paris-St. Raphaël Rally at least once, in the 1970s.

Sylviane Goutaland – French veteran of many Paris-Dakar rallies, beginning in 1980, when she entered in a Lada Niva, up to 2007. Her vehicles have included a Toyota Landcruiser and a Nissan Patrol. She has usually finished, but not been among the top drivers. As well as the Dakar, she competed in other raid-type events around the world, but not always successfully or happily. She has kept a low media profile since 1994, when she was involved in a fatal accident in Australia.

Pascale Geurie - one of the first women to enter the Paris-Dakar rally, in 1979. She was contesting the motorcycle class. She also drove a Range Rover in the 1982 event, but did not finish. On the track, she attempted to qualify for Le Mans as well, driving a Lola with Martine Renier and Anna Cambiaghi in 1978. Prior to this, she had raced on the French circuits, in touring cars.

Elisabete Jacinto - began her career as an international motocross rider, before moving up to rally raids and the Dakar, She was the highest-placed female motorcyclist in 2000. In 2003, she got her licence to drive trucks and began entering rally raids in this class. She did her first four-wheeled Dakar that year. Since then, she has won the Truck class of the 2006 Shamrock Rally and the 2007 Morocco Rally. On the 2007 Dakar, she was 21st overall and sixth in the Truck class, her best finish. Since then, she has really upper her game to become one of the leading drivers in the Truck class. In 2010, she won the Tunisian and Moroccan rallies. Returning to those events in 2011 gave her another win, and a third place, as well as a second overall in the Rally Africa Eco Race. 2012 was not quite as fruitful, with a fourth overall (second truck) in the Rally Africa Eco Race, and a third in the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles, in a VW Amarok. Late in the season, she was third in the truck class of the Rally Morocco. Driving a MAN truck in 2013, she won the truck class of the Rally of Morocco and came second in the Baja Aragon and Africa Eco Race. In the MANTGS, she was seventh overall in the 2014 Africa Eco Race, and third in the Truck class. Later, she was tenth overall in the Rally of Morocco, and fourth truck. In between, she drove the Amarok again in the Rallye des Gazelles, and was second. In 2015, she drove a MAN truck for the Oleoban team. She was fourth in the Africa Eco Race, and took part in the Morocco Rally. For Volkswagen, she was sixth in the Rallye des Gazelles. She entered the Africa Eco Race again in 2016, and was fourteenth overall, and third in class, in the MAN. Driving a VW Amarok, she was fifth in the Gazelles event. She also participated in the Libya Rally, but did not finish. In 2017, she was back in the MAN truck, run by the Bio-Ritmo team. She was third in the Truck class of the Morocco Desert Challenge, but did not finish the Rallye du Maroc. The truck got stuck in a sand dune and it took 14 hours to get it out. Bio-Ritmo concentrated on alternative-fuel events in 2018; Elisabete did not finish the Africa Eco Race and was seventh in class in the Morocco Desert Challenge. She was second in the 2019 Africa Eco Race, driving a MAN truck.

Véronique Jacquot (Muringer) – took part in rally raids in a truck in the mid-2000s. She was 29^th in the 2004 Dakar, as part of an all-female team in a MAN truck. Her team-mates were Geraldine Brucy and Uta Baier. She first entered the Dakar in 2003. In 2004, she also became the first driver to enter the Rallye des Gazelles in an HGV, a Mercedes Unimog. She first competed in the Rallye des Gazelles in 2002.

Camelia Liparoti - Italian off-road rally driver who has competed on two and four wheels. She won her first event on a motorcycle in 2007, winning the all-female Trophee Roses de Sables. She went on to win the women’s world off-road title six times between 2009 and 2014. She has entered the Dakar every year since 2009; nine times on a quad and three times in an SSV. She was fifth in the SSV class in 2017 and has won stages in the class. Since 2016, she has raced extensively in Middle Eastern rally raids. Her best year was 2017, when she scored third places in the Quad class in Dubai, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. In 2022, she entered the Dakar again in the Light Prototype category, finishing sixth in a Yamaha X-Raid. In a similar vehicle, she entered the 2023 Dakar, but problems dropped her to 11th place. The following year, she drove an experimental Avid UTV in the Dakar Future Mission 1000 which ran alongside part of the 2024 Dakar. In 2025, she competed in a SxS vehicle for Yamaha, mainly in the Middle East.She did not start racing until she was in her thirties.

Merce Marti - record-breaking pilot who entered her first Dakar in 2022. She drove a Can-Am Maverick in the Light Prototype class as part of an all-female team, with co-driver Margot Llobera and women mechanics and engineers. Her car suffered problems and she was only 33rd overall. She tried again in 2023 but did not finish. Her previous motorsport experience was in historics, racing a Porsche and a Ferrari. Her first off-road event was the 1995 Paris-St Raphael Off Road Rally in a Jeep Cherokee, an all-female rally.

Christine Martin – French driver who drove in rally raids in the early 1980s. She raced motorcycles in rally raids for much longer, and was one of the first women to finish the Dakar on a motorcycle. In 1984, she entered the four-wheeled Dakar, and drove a Lada Niva. She did not finish. Unfortunately, the following year, she scored another DNF in the Dakar, this time driving a Peugeot 504 Dangel. She does not appear to have rallied again after this.

Guo Meiling – Chinese driver who entered the Dakar in 2016, driving a Mini. Unfortunately, she was injured in a crash during the prologue, when her car left the road and hit spectators. Previously, she had driven the car in rally raids in China, finishing 22^nd in the 2015 Taklimakan Rally, and 21^st in the 2014 Grand China Rally. Her start in rallying came through competing on a quad in Chinese raids.

Carole Montillet (Carles) – former Olympic skiing champion who turned to motorsport after her retirement. Initially, she concentrated on rally raids, and won the Quad class of the Rally Aïcha des Gazelles in 2004 and 2005. Her partner was Mélanie Suchet. In 2006 and 2007, she was second in the Car class. She then moved into mixed competition, in the French Tout-Terrain championship, and the Transafrican Rally. She was sixth in the Transafrican event in 2006. In 2007, she took part in her first Dakar Rally, driving a Nissan, but could not finish, due to problems with the car’s electronics. Later, in 2011, she returned to the Rallye des Gazelles, in a Springbok prototype with Syndiely Wade, and won the event outright, a feat she repeated in 2012, navigated by Julie Verdaguer in a Jugand Buggy. In between, she tried circuit racing, in the form of the Racecar stock car championship in France, in 2010. She did four races, and was 24^th overall. In 2015, she won the expert category of the Rally Aïcha des Gazelles, driving a Toyota. 

(Maria) Céu Pires de Lima – Portuguese driver who competes in rally raids in Europe and further afield. She drove a Toyota with Pedro Silva Nunes in the 2006 Dakar, and finished in 66^th place. At the time, she was 58 years old. This was her second attempt at the Dakar, having entered, but not finished, in 1997. In her home country, she has won multiple Ladies’ titles in off-road rallying, as well as class wins, in the 1990s and 2000s. She has occasionally been co-driven by Teresa Cupertino de Miranda, her cousin and the mother of Madalena Antas. The two rallied together in the 2011 Baja Portugal. She has often driven Toyotas, but also used a Nissan Navarra for the 2004 Baja Portugal.

Yara Shalaby – Egyptian driver who competes in cross-country rallies. She has raced both cars and motorcycles, but now concentrates on four wheels. In 2014, she entered the Pharaons Rally, in a Toyota Landcruiser. In 2015, she drove in a series of local raid events, including the El- Remal Desert Challenge and the El-Gouna Rally (on a motorcycle), where she had an accident and injured herself. She is not from a motorsport background, and initially struggled to prepare her car to the correct scrutineering standards, and to find a reliable navigator who would not get the team lost.  At the end of 2015, she vied for a funded place in the 2016 Sealine Desert Rally Challenge, through the FIA’s Women In Motorsport event in Qatar. She was not one of the winners. In 2016, she competed in the Al-Remal Challenge, as well as setting a record for kayaking, and founding the Gazelle Rally Team, and all-female, all-Egyptian rally raid team. She drove in the 2018 Fujairah Rally in the UAE but did not finish in her Nissan Pathfinder. In 2019, she entered the Sharjah Rally in the same vehicle, but again did not finish.

Amanda Sorensen - competed in drifting for several seasons before being signed up for the Extreme E championship in 2023. She joined the GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi team alongside RJ Anderson, another American driver. They scored third places in Scotland and Sardinia during their first season, qualifying on pole in Scotland. She was recalled to the JBXE team for the Scottish rounds, after the departure of Dania Akeel. She returned to Extreme E in 2025 for its Final Lap, joining the STARD team with Patrick O'Donovan. They were eighth overall. In drifting, Amanda drove a BMW M3 E46 and got as far as the Drift2 class in Formula Drift. She also did some off-roading as a teenager, plus karting and figure skating.

Tatiana Sycheva - Russian driver who entered her first Dakar in 2022. She drove a Can-Am Maverick in the Light Prototype class and finished 30th in the category after a slow couple of final stages. She is the first Russian woman to tackle the event in a car. Previously, she did rally raids in Russia and its surrounding countries, finishing eighth in the 2020 Baja Russia. She has also done the Silk Way Rally at least four times, in 2019 and 2021, in the same car, and in 2023 and 2025. As well as rally raids, she also competes in stage rallies in a Volkswagen Polo. Her best results in 2025 was a 29th place in the Rally Belye Nochi.

Makiko Tomokawa – competed in rally raids in the 1990s and early 2000s, usually in a Mitsubishi. Frustratingly little information about her career is readily available, but she appears to have driven in the Dakar from at least 1995, using a Mitsubishi T1 that year, and other Mitsubishi models in subsequent additions. In 2000, she is described as a “veteran”, alongside her regular co-driver, Akemi Asada.

Luisa Trucco - competes in the Truck class of international rally raids, using an Iveco racetruck. She entered her first Dakar in 2005, and has competed in every edition since then. In 2010, she seems to have branched out and entered more rounds of the Cross-Country World Cup, still in the Iveco. Her best result has been a win in the Truck class of the 2010 Pharaons Rally, and  a third in class in the Tunisian Rally. She also competes in motorcycle enduros in her homeland of Italy. It is unclear whether she raced after this.

Syndiely Wade - Senegalese rally raid specialist who has participated in four editions of the Dakar. Her first entry, in 2003, resulted in the 58th spot. She drove a Nissan Terrano in the event in 2004, but could not finish this time. Another Nissan vehicle gave her a 52nd place in 2005, as well as a finish in the all-female Rally Aicha des Gazelles, with Valerie Dot navigating. After a break from competition in 2006, she tried the Dakar again in 2007, but did not finish. She and Valerie competed in the 2008 Rally des Gazelles, although the Dakar was cancelled. In 2010, she entered the Rallye des Gazelles again, alongside Carole Montillet Carles. Their vehicle was a Nissan Springbok. They repeated their win in 2011, and Syndiely triumphed again in 2013, this time with Florence Pham. They were driving an Isuzu D-Max. Her profile has been lower since her father was deposed as the President of Senegal, although she competed in the 2022 Dakar as part of an Iveco truck crew. She returned as a truck crew member in 2024 and co-drove for Camelia Liparoti and others in 2025.

Holly Wicklow - British off-road driver who started in hill rallies in the UK in 2024. Her vehicle was a Can-Am Maverick SSV and her best finish in her first year was a twelfth place in the Scottish Borders Hill Rally. In 2025, she entered her first desert rally raid, the Morocco Desert Challenge. She kept the same vehicle and the same co-driver, Danielle Scarr. They were 36th in their class. 

(Image copyright www.motorsport.com)

Team Aseptogyl

The original team: (l-r) Dominique Guichard, Anne-Marie Desvignes, Francoise Conconi, Annick Girard, Marie-Odile Desvignes, Claudine Trautmann.

The distinctive red and pink livery of the rally cars of Team Aseptogyl is familiar to anyone acquainted with the European rally scene in the 1970s. Almost certainly unique, the team employed female drivers exclusively, and launched the careers of several international rallyists.

The team was the brainchild of Bob Neyret, a French dentist and former rally competitor. Its first season of operation was 1971, and the cars were Alpine-Renault A110s, sponsored by Aseptogyl, a brand of toothpaste created by Neyret’s company. The Alpine factory supported the idea of an all-female team, and sold three Group 4-spec Alpine-Renault A110s to Neyret, plus a further car for himself. The engineering and preparation side of the team was handled by Autogyl, another of Neyret’s businesses. As well as the Aseptogyl branding, the team secured sponsorship from Esso.

Bob Neyret had been scouting around for potential drivers for a year. The first team consisted of Claudine Trautmann, a multiple French champion, twins Marie-Odile and Anne-Marie Desvignes, Annick Girard and Marie-Dominique Guichard. They were quickly joined by Françoise Conconi and “Biche” (Michele Petit), who made up the numbers as co-drivers, and Marie-Pierre Palayer. Some of the recruits, like Claudine Trautmann, Marie-Pierre Palayer and Biche, were very experienced rally drivers and co-drivers. Others, like Marie-Odile Desvignes, were novices who liked driving fast, and had decent car handling skills. Neyret always had an eye on the promotional value of his team, and he made little secret of favouring pretty drivers. There was some doubt as to whether all of his Aseptogyl girls were really chosen for their driving talent, but many of them were very accomplished. Accompanying the driving squad was Christine “Kiki” Caron, a former swimming champion who acted as a figurehead for the team. She co-drove occasionally.

The earliest outings for the team were the early-season Alpine events in France, including the Neige et Glace rally. These rallies gave the team some challenging competition, as well as promotional opportunities, posing in matching outfits in the snow. Claudine Trautmann was the stand-out driver that year; she and Marie-Odile Desvignes won their class in the Lyon-Charbonnières-Stuttgart-Solitude rally, closely followed by Marie-Pierre Palayer and Biche. Although the Alpines were the team’s preferred car, Neyret had also acquired a Renault 16 for the rougher North African rallies. Claudine and Marie-Odile were third in the Bandama Rally, which was won by Neyret himself. Marie-Pierre Palayer was another of the team’s strongest drivers, and was fifth in the Geneva Rally, with Christine Rouff.

1972 saw more drivers joining the Aseptogyl roster, including Pat Moss-Carlsson, who was tenth in the Monte Carlo Rally in an Aseptogyl Alpine. Christine Dacremont, the French ladies’ champion was another new recruit, who drove in the Tour de France for the team, among other events, alongside another experienced driver, Marianne Hoepfner. Anny-Charlotte Verney also joined, and Marie-Odile Desvignes did some driving duties, as well as navigation. Marianne Hoepfner impressed in the Spanish RACE Rally, finishing seventh.

Pat Moss-Carlsson made some more appearances in 1973, although she did not finish the Monte or the RAC Rally. Marianne Hoepfner was one the star drivers this season, leading a large Aseptogyl contingent in the Paris-St. Raphaël, in first place. Marie-Pierre Palayer was third. Anny-Charlotte Verney and Christine Beckers were among the other entries for the team. Their distinctive pink, red and white Alpines were a common sight on the European stages. In addition to the stable of rally cars, the team also ran a pink-and-red Alpine single-seater, which was used by Marianne Hoepfner for hillclimbs.

The team diversified somewhat further in 1974, despite the limits imposed on motorsport by that year’s fuel crisis. The A110 Alpines were still in evidence, and one was driven by Christine Dacremont in the Tour de France, but some new Alpine-Renault A310s were in use in the same event. Marianne Hoepfner and Marie Laurent were thirteenth in theirs. For the longer, tougher rallies, the Peugeot 504 was the car of choice. None of the three-car team entered for the Bandama Rally made the finish, but Christine Dacremont was second in the World Cup Rally, which ran from London, across sub-Saharan Africa, through to southern Europe and then to Munich. Claudine Trautmann was fourth, and Bob Neyret himself, third. Away from rallying, Aseptogyl sponsored Marie Laurent’s Chrysler Hemicuda for French hillclimbs.

1975 continued in a similar vein. The A310s were still in service, with a two-car team contesting the Tour de France. Marianne Hoepfner and Christine Dacremont were still the team’s strongest drivers, although new recruits joined all the time. The Peugeots were once again in action for the tougher events, and Marianne Hoepfner and Claudine Trautmann were seventh and eighth in the Morocco Rally. Their team-mates, Christine Dacremont and Yveline Vanoni, did not finish. This was Claudine’s last rally for the team, and she retired to manage the Autogyl side of things at the end of the season.

The team in 1976: (l-r) Christine Dacremont, Corinne Tarnaud, Jacqueline Perrin, "Biche", Delphine Denard, Marie-Odile Desvignes, Marianne Hoepfner, Marie-Dominique Cousin, Antoinette Straumann?, Joelle Chardin.

1976 was a year with some new innovations. The team’s rally car of choice became the little Autobianchi A112 Abarth. These new Aseptogyl cars were launched at that year’s Monte. Christine Dacremont and new girl, Delphine Denard, were the best finishers, in 23^rd. Marie-Odile Desvignes, driving with Jacqueline Perrin, and new driver, Corinne Tarnaud, did not finish. Slightly later in the season, the team took delivery of a Lancia Stratos, which was used by Christine Dacremont for European rallies. Her best overall finish was third in the Criterium Alpin, but she won the Rallye de la Chataigne on scratch, in an A310.

The team’s most exciting venture that year was its Le Mans entry. Another Stratos was prepared for endurance racing, and Christine Dacremont was chosen to partner the great Lella Lombardi for the race itself. They were 20^th overall, and second in class, from 41^st on the grid.

The Aseptogyl Stratos made another appearance in the 1977 Le Mans race, driven by Christine Dacremont again, with Marianne Hoepfner. They did not finish after the engine blew on the 37^th lap.

In rallying, Christine used the Stratos to good effect, finishing sixth on the Monte. The A310 was still in use, and Finnish Aseptogyl girl, Marketta Oksala, finished in 17^th place, with Yvonne Mehta. In November, a pair of Aseptogyl Toyota Celicas tackled the Tour de France, but neither Marianne Hoepfner nor Christine Beckers finished.

The other big event of the year was the World Cup Rally, from London to Sydney. Christine Dacremont drove a diesel Fiat 131 Abarth, but did not finish. Bob Neyret, with Marianne Hoepfner as co-driver, was fifteenth. Unusually, an all-male crew joined them; Giancarlo Baghetti was 23^rd.

After the London-Sydney experiment with diesel, and the good performances of diesel Citroens in that event, Bob Neyret acquired three Citroen 2500 CX diesels, for Marianne Hoepfner/Marie-Madeleine Fouquet, Christine Dacremont/”Ganaëlle” and Marketta Oksala/Pirjo Pinnä. Two of the three finished, but none was particularly competitive. The CXs were quietly retired, only reappearing for the Tour de France.

Later in the season, the team launched a new car, at the Tour de Corse. Six pink Aseptogyl Fiat 127s made the start, driven by Christine Dacremont/Isabelle Perrier, Marianne Hoepfner/ Marie-Madeleine Fouquet, Joëlle Chardin/Antoinette Straumann and three Italian crews: Antonella Mandelli/Cristina Bertone, Anna Cambiaghi/Enrica Marenghi and Maurizia Baresi/Iva Boggio. Unfortunately, all six retired, four with electrical problems. Aseptogyl were keen to showcase Italian drivers this season, alongside their Italian cars, and Maurizia Baresi and Anna Cambiaghi did several regional events in France and Italy. Drivers Caterina Baldoni, an ex-model, and Margherita Corio increased the size of the Italian contingent. A French squad was still present and included Bernadette Sacy.

The Aseptogyl Italian drivers in 1978: (l-r) Cristina Bertone, Caterina Baldoni, Iva Boggio, Maurizia Baresi, Anna Gatti, Margherita Corio.

Team Aseptogyl disappeared as a regular entity at the end of the 1970s, although Bob Neyret continued to enter a series of lady drivers into major rallies into the early 1980s. One of the higher-profile Aseptogyl outings was the 1979 Nice-Abidjan Rally, the fore-runner of the Dakar. A three-truck team of six drivers competed in an Iveco HGV. The following year, Anna Cambiaghi and Oda Dencker-Andersen won the Truck class of the Trans-Africa Rally, finishing 30^th overall.  The same year, Marianne Hoepfner was second overall in the Himalayan Rally, driving a Toyota Corolla with Oda Dencker-Andersen.

The last hurrah for Team Aspetogyl came in 1983, when an eight-strong squad of Alfa Romeo Alfasuds were entered into the Monte Carlo Rally. They were nominally competing as national teams, from the UK (Louise Aitken-Walker and Ruth Hillier), Germany (Margot Henn and Waltraud Wünsch), Italy (Maurizia Baresi and Isabella Bignardi) and Belgium (Marie-Francoise Placq and Nicole Sol). The enterprise was not a great success, with only four of the cars actually making the start. Louise Aitken-Walker was the best of them, finishing 49^th.

Several members of Team Aseptogyl are still active in motorsport in one way or another, and Marie-Odile Desvignes is still driving an Aseptogyl-liveried Alpine-Renault in historic rallies.

Below are short profiles of some of the other drivers who rallied for Aseptogyl over the years.

Joelle Chardin - a member of Team Aseptogyl during its Fiat-powered period in the late 1970s. She took part in national and international rallies around France, including the 1978 Tour de Corse and the Lorraine Rallye in 1979. Details of her other outings have proved hard to track down.

Margherita Corio – Italian driver who rallied for Team Aseptogyl in the mid-to-late 1970s. She and Cristina Bertone entered the Rallye du Var in 1975, driving a Fiat-Abarth 124. Pictures show Margherita with an Aspetogyl Fiat 128 in 1978, but actual results are proving elusive. She definitely participated in the Ronde Cevenole, but was driving a Lancia. In 1976 and 1977, she did the same event in a Fiat 124. She may have also rallied a Lancia Stratos in 1979, and this ran without Aspetogyl livery. Margherita was married to another rally driver, Angelo, and they often competed together, with Margherita as co-driver, between 1967 and 1978.

Francoise Demarteau - part of the Belgian branch of the later Team Aseptogyl. Her car was a Fiat 127 and she rallied in the Belgian championship for the team in 1979 and 1980. Her best result was an 18th place in the 1979 24 Hours de Lessines, a midfield finish. She was often the quickest of the Aseptogyl entries. Her biggest rally was the 1979 Ypres 24 Hours, although she did not finish.

Margot Henn - German driver who rallied an Alfa Romeo Alfasud TI on the 1983 Monte Carlo event, driving for the ladies' Alfa Romeo team. She did not finish and did not compete in any further major rallies.

Ruth Hillier - British driver who was 62nd in the 1983 Monte Carlo Rally, her first attempt, driving an Alfa Romeo Alfasud TI. Her navigator that year was Mary Fullerton. She was part of Bob Neyret’s ladies’ team entry that year.

Dominique Perrier - entered the 1983 Monte Carlo rally as part of the Alfa Romeo women's team, driving an Alfasud TI. She had been competing around France since at least 1980, when she entered the Mont Blanc Rallye. Afterwards, she entered various European events in a Citroen Visa and Talbot Samba, including the RAC and Catalunya Rallies, sometimes named as "Grandvuinet-Perrier", although she normally appeared in French events. She was capable of top-ten finishes. She was part of the Team Aseptogyl “proper” at some point.

Marie-Francoise Placq - Belgian driver, entered the 1983 Monte Carlo Rally as part of the Alfa Romeo ladies' team. She had previously competed in the 1980 Paris-Dakar Rally as a navigator, to Corinne Koppenhague. Their vehicle was a Jeep Hotchkiss. Between 1979 and 1983, she was very active in the Belgian championship, first in a Fiat 127, then in an MG Metro. In 1980, she scored two class wins in Belgian rallies, in the Fiat.

Betty Tognana - best-known as a co-driver in Europe in the 1970s, but she also drove herself on occasion in 1978 and 1979. Her first car was a little Autobianchi A112 Abarth which she used in a one-make trophy for that car in Italy, recording a best finish of fifteenth in the Rally 4 Regioni. She was part of Team Aseptogyl in 1979, driving a Fiat 127 in some Italian rallies. Her best finish by far in this car was a 25th place in the Valle d’Aosta Rally. As a co-driver, she won the Citta di Sassari Rally in 1985 with Giovanni del Zoppo. She was still competing in 2018.

Yveline Vanoni – best known as a co-driver, who regularly sat alongside Marianne Hoepfner early in her career, and then Christine Dacremont. She was one of the second wave of Team Aseptogyl drivers, and drove herself in French rallies as part of Aseptogyl squads. Her international experience as a driver was quite limited; as an Aseptogyl driver, she entered the 1975 Morocco Rally in a Peugeot 504, but did not finish. She may also have driven in the Paris-St. Raphaël Rally. After 1975, she seems to take a break from rallying, but she reappeared in 1979 as one of the six-woman Aseptogyl team who tackled the Nice-Abidjan-Nice Rally, driving an Iveco HGV.

(Images from Aseptogyl promotional material, taken from www.forum-auto.com)

Jutta Kleinschmidt

Jutta as a VW driver

Jutta is one of a select group of speedqueens who have gone all the way to the top. She is a recognised star in the field of cross-country rallying, one of the best-known drivers in her discipline. This is mainly down to her win in the world-famous Paris-Dakar rally in January 2001. Partnered by Andreas Schulz, in her works Mitsubishi Pajero, she fought off competition from the likes of Jean-Louis Schlesser and Carlos Sousa. 2001 has been Jutta's finest year to date; she scrapped with Schlesser for the FIA cross-country rally title all season, and came out with two wins and four seconds. Her other win came in the Italian Baja event, giving her back-to-back victories. She was second in the Morocco, Portugal, Master Rally and Por Las Pampas races.

She came into motorsport through engineering. Known as the "flying physicist" in her German homeland, she was a research engineer for BMW for several years. She became interested in rally raids through coverage of the Dakar on television. In 1985 she followed the event on her own BMW motorcycle, and by 1987 she was competing for real. To begin with she financed herself, but later she was supported by BMW, and then KTM. The Ladies' Trophy for bikes was hers on the Dakar, Pharaohs and Dubai rallies many times, between 1987 and 1996. She also circuit-raced bikes with some success, including an excellent win in the Clermont-Ferrand 24 Hour race.

Her introduction to cars came on the track, in the form of the Veedol Trophy. This is an endurance series contested on the old Nordschleife of the Nürburgring. Jutta first raced there in 1991. The following year she took part in her first rally raid, as co-driver to Jean-Louis Schlesser. In 1994 she began driving one of Schlesser's buggies herself, and was rewarded with second place in the two-wheel-drive category of the Cross-Country Cup. This arrangement continued until 1997, with increasingly good results, culminating in a stage win on the Dakar, a win in the two-wheel-drive class and a win in the prototype class in the FIA series. It is perhaps ironic that Schlesser, a former boyfriend of Jutta's, who was so instrumental in her early career, became one of her biggest rivals.

1998 began with some ice-racing in the Andros Trophy, which Jutta enjoyed immensely. That year she also became a works Mitsubishi driver and hooked up with Andreas Schulz. That season was mainly a learning one, in preparation for the next. 1999 opened brightly for the German pair, when Jutta became the first woman to lead the Dakar. She held that lead for three days but ended up third, the first podium finish for a female driver.

In 2000 she went one better and came second, in the Pajero again. Her career was really taking off and she finished the season first T2 and second overall in the Cross-Country Cup.

After her triumphant 2001 season, things started to go awry. 2002 began promisingly, although she was unable to catch team-mate Hiroshi Masuoka for a second Dakar win. She had caught up many minutes in her favoured desert terrain. However, in the middle of the season, Mitsubishi dispensed with the services of its German star and she decamped to Volkswagen, new to the rally raid scene. She was signed to develop the Touareg off-roader, with the aim of winning the Dakar in 2005.

Teaming up with Michèle Mouton's former co-driver Fabrizia Pons, Jutta again fought bravely in the Sahara to finish eighth in the 2003 Dakar. The Touareg was still under development and was lacking in pace. It was good enough for seventh place on the Italian Baja, though, and third on the non-championship Baja Deutschland. Jutta's development skills were also put to good use on the VW Polo Super 1600 rally car, which she drove as course car on the Rally Deutschland.

Staying with VW and Fabrizia Pons, she completed another Dakar in 2004, but finished just out of the top ten. A flooded engine sustained in rainy Morocco lost her many hours and could have lost her her late stage win. She ran the rest of the rally under appeal after being accused of illegally changing the Touareg's engine block. After a long discussion, she was allowed to remain in the standings, in 21st place.

Elsewhere, Jutta ran well. Although she was only thirteenth in the UAE Desert Challenge, she was fourth in the Morocco Rally and equalled her previous Volkswagen best in the Rallye d'Orient, coming third.

After the controversy of 2004, the 2005 Dakar ran much more smoothly for Jutta and Fabrizia. Again, they battled hard on the desert stages and finished third. That year, the Touareg was much more competitive and Jutta was in a position to challenge for wins again. She was fourth in Tunisia, third on the Morocco and Por Las Pampas events and second on the Baja Portalegre in Portugal.

The 2006 Dakar was her last race for Volkswagen. It was a disappointing one, as the Touareg could not make it to the finish. The official line was that the German star's contract was now over, and she had decided to move on, in search of more wins. Much later, Jutta admitted that she had had a serious disagreement with VW's sporting director, Kris Nissen, who was later arrested for sexual assault.

Mid-season, she announced that she was joining the now-dominant X-Raid BMW team. Her first event for them was originally to be the 2007 Dakar, after she decided that she didn't have enough testing under her belt to be competitive in the Pharaohs Rally, in October. However, a decision to enter the UAE Desert Challenge late in the season gave her a sixth place. Her new navigator was Tina Thörner, an old friend, as Fabrizia Pons had first decided to retire, then changed her mind and joined Ari Vatanen instead.

Jutta and Tina were 15th on their first Dakar in the BMW X3, after struggling with technical problems. Shortly afterwards, Jutta’s one-year contract with X-Raid expired, and she chose not to renew it. This meant that she did not compete for the rest of the season. She then announced that she was not going to enter the Dakar in 2008 either, due to a lack of a suitable car. This pre-empted the event’s cancellation.

In 2008, she pursued some different projects, including stunt driving work and helicopter piloting for a film in Tunisia. She also had a small acting cameo. In May, she returned to her native Germany again for the Nürburgring 24 Hours. She drove a BMW 330d with Thomas Haider, Rainer Kutsch and Marc Hiltscher. They were 60th overall, and winners of class S2. The previous year, the team had finished 153rd.

Jutta did not enter the South American Dakar in 2009, after failing to agree a deal with a suitable team. She kept a low profile for a while, but now, appears on TV quite regularly, and at awards ceremonies, including one where she was presented with a lifetime achievement award for her motorcycling endeavours.

Motorsport has not been completely forgotten. Jutta raced in the Nürburgring 24 Hours, in 2013 and 2014. In 2013, she drove an Audi TT with Walter Nawotka and Wolfgang Müller, finishing 113th. In 2014, she shared the TT again with Walter Nawotka and Wolfgang Müller, plus Carlos Arimon. They did not finish. Another outing at the 'Ring in 2015 gave her a lap record, and 64th overall. The car was a TT again, and her team-mates were Wolfgang Müller and Sabine Podzus.

Jutta made a return to rally raids in 2016, competing in the Cross-Country Cup in an X-Raid Buggy. Reunited with Tina Thörner, her first event, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge was fraught with difficulty. In a new vehicle, problems with wheels digging into sand, and mechanical gremlins, were an issue. Jutta finished the event in 23rd place. By the time the Qatar Sealine Rally came around, Jutta and her navigator, Philipp Beier, knew the car better. They were fifth overall, and won the 2WD class.

Jutta was elected President of the FIA Cross-Country Commission in 2019, after having served on the Women in Motorsport Commission as a talent scout.

Her competition career had wound down for several years when she was recruited by the Extreme E electric off-road series for male/female driver pairs. Initially, she was brought in as a "championship driver" who would act as a female reserve in emergencies, but she was soon called into action when Cupra driver Claudia Hurtgen was injured in a heavy roll in the first round and had to withdraw. Jutta partnered Mattias Ekstrom for the remainder of the five-round championship and impressed from the beginning, qualifying third in the Ocean X Prix, held in Senegal. Her best finish was second in Sardinia and she was sixth in the championship. 

Cupra retained her for a full season in 2022, alongside 2022 Dakar winner Nasser al-Attiyah. The year did not start well for the veteran pair, with eighth in Saudi and ninth in Sardinia. They were then disqualified from the second Sardinia race after Jutta was found to have not fastened her seatbelt properly after a driver change. They had been second, their best finish of the season. A heavy landing during practice in Chile then meant that she had to sit out the rest of the season.

(Image from www.autobild.de)

Isabelle Patissier

In 2004, Isabelle Patissier of France celebrated her first rally raid win on the Oman Desert Express. She drove a Nissan Pathfinder run by the French Dessoude team on the arduous cross-country race for production vehicles. On her next event, the Rally Optic 2000 in Tunisia, she and Bernard Irissou scored a victory in the production class and came ninth overall. For the rest of the year, Isabelle led class T1 in the World Cross-Country Cup and walked away with the title.

Prior to her switch to motorsport in 2000, Isabelle was twice world champion in rock-climbing, and a multiple French champion. Although she loved cars and driving and had done since passing her driving test, they took a back seat until she had achieved almost all she could in the climbing world.

By 2000, it was time for a change. Isabelle filled the gap left by her mountain training by entering the Star Trophy of France, a racing series. Her first race was a disaster; she managed to spin off on a bend at Spa. Still, she persevered and finished the season with a best finish of second. The following year she continued her track activities, racing in the Star Trophy, plus some karting and Formula Ford too. However, a third place in the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles womens' rally raid event made it clear where her abilities really lay, and although she still raced in the Star Cup on and off, rallying became her main focus.

The start of 2001 was busy. Isabelle entered her first Dakar, as co-driver to Yves Fromont, in a Toyota. They did not finish. In a complete change of scenery, she also raced in the Trophée Andros ice-racing series in the kart-cross class, as one of the first contenders for the Andros “Ice Girls” ladies’ championship. Later in the year she returned to the sand dunes for the Orpi Rally Morocco as a driver, and was rewarded with a twentieth place. Round-the-world yachtsman Steve Ravussin was her navigator.

She took part in her second Dakar in 2002, still using a Toyota Landcruiser with Yves Fromont, as part of an arrive-and-drive package. She did not finish.

2003 saw her build on her rally-raid success. She drove in the Dakar again, finishing mid-field. Later, she revisited the Morocco Rally, coming twelfth this time. Her first start in the Rally Optic 2000 in Tunisia gave her twentieth position. Her car this year was a buggy based on a new Volkswagen Beetle. Isabelle likes to be different, and this attracted her to this unusual but competitive vehicle.

At the beginning of 2004 her talent was recognised, and she earned a regular race seat with Nissan Dessoude, alongside Bernard Irissou, for the Dakar and the Production class of the Cross-Country Cup. Together with their mechanics and crew, they became a very effective team. On the Dakar, they were 23rd, better than Isabelle's previous results. Out of the four FIA Cross Country events they entered, they won class T1 in three of them: Rally Optic 2000 in Tunisia, Rally Orpi Morocco and the Rallye d'Orient in Turkey. Their overall positions were two ninths and a twelfth. In their last event of the season, the UAE Desert Challenge, they were tenth and second T1, which was enough to award the T1 World Champion's title to Isabelle.

In recognition of her excellent results in 2004, Nissan Dessoude allowed Isabelle to move up to a T2 prototype Pathfinder in 2005. Her schedule was shorter than the previous year's and did not include the Dakar Rally this time. In the navigator's seat was Thierry Delli Zotti, previously with Carlos Sousa. Bernard Irissou was now working with Serge Jordan.

Their first raid together was a disappointment; they were running in the top ten of the Optic 2000 Rally when they were struck by two punctures and a series of mechanical problems. It was doubtful whether Isabelle would start the last stage, but she managed, having dropped to 37th.

Later in the year, she tackled the Rally d'Orient and was a much more competitive seventh overall. Her last rally of the season was the Pharaohs in Egypt, in which she was sixth, ending the year on a positive. She had scored FIA points on two of her three outings.

Isabelle's Dessoude contract was not renewed for 2006. For the Dakar, she used a Mitsubishi Pajero, and was 39th. She kept up her partnership with Thierry Delli Zotti, who was now her partner in life as well as in the car. She contested two major raids, coming thirteenth in the Orpi Rally Morocco in the Pajero and seventh in the Optic 2000.

In 2007, Isabelle and Thierry received delivery of another specialist Buggy, designed by Thierry and powered by a V8 Corvette engine. They were 36th in the Dakar in it. They also entered the Orpi Rally Morocco, and were fourth in the two-wheel drive class, twelfth overall.

Political unrest and safety concerns in West Africa put paid to the 2008 Dakar, and threw the rally raid season off-kilter. Isabelle’s plans for her next Dakar were put on hold, and it does not look like she competed much, or at all, during 2008. However, she returned to the Dakar, now staged across Chile and Argentina, in 2009. It was her first competition in South America. She and Thierry, driving their Buggy, were 17th overall, Isabelle’s best result. She also contested the Silk Way Rally, across Russia and Inner Asia, in the autumn, but did not finish.

In 2010, she returned to the Dessoude setup. She first drove the two-wheel-drive T1 Pathfinder in the Dakar, still running in South America. Sadly, she and Thierry retired on the third stage, after multiple problems.

In 2011, she moved teams to the Sadev operation, although she stuck to Nissan power with their Buggy. This proved a smart move, as she scored her best-ever Dakar finish: sixteenth, and third in the two-wheel drive class.

She made another attempt on the South American Dakar in 2012, alongside her now-husband Thierry, and was 29th in a Dessoude-supported Oryx Buggy. The pair also entered the Silk Way Rally in Russia, in a new lightweight, motorcycle-engined buggy based on a Renault Clio. They retired halfway through, after the third stage.

In addition to this, Isabelle also returned to competitive climbing in 2011. She claims that her years of climbing gave her the spatial awareness and understanding of her surroundings that serve her so well in rally raids.

She does not appear to have competed in 2013, but was back on the Dakar entry list for the 2014 event, driving a Buggy. She was 26th overall.

In 2013, she and Thierry set up their own off-road driving school, which offers specialist tuition and women-only training.

She is also a popular motoring journalist in France, equally at home writing about bad-weather driving techniques or the art of driving in high heels.

(Image from www.isabellepatissierpilotage.com)

Ellen Lohr

Ellen as a DTM winner

Born in Germany in 1965, Ellen started early in motorsport, and was karting competitively at the age of thirteen. She was German regional champion in 1983, as a senior, and had World Championship experience, before moving on to Formula Ford in 1984. She remained in the German series until 1987, when she graduated again to Formula Three, having scored at least one win.

It wasn't long before Ellen's talent and experience paid off and in 1989 she was seventh in German F3 as part of a strong field. She branched out into European races the following season and was rewarded with a superb second place in the rain at the blue-riband Monaco race. She was signed by the Marko team for Formula 3000 but only entered one race, for which she failed to qualify. This may have been the impetus behind the change of direction in her sporting career in 1991.

1991 was the year Ellen, then twenty-six, became a full-time professional racer. Having competed occasionally in touring cars since her earliest racing days, she became part of the AMG Mercedes team for the DTM touring car series. Her first season was a learning year, but probably the greatest achievement of her career came in 1992. At that season's first race at the Hockenheim Grand Prix circuit, Ellen won a sprint race, a first for a woman in the DTM. She followed it up with a strong second place at Avus, against established touring car specialists and ex-F1 drivers such as 1982 World Champion Keke Rosberg. She ended the year tenth in the standings.

Sadly, Ellen was unable to follow up her stellar year. She continued to race a Mercedes in the DTM until 1995, with some solid midfield places but no fireworks. In 1995, upon the DTM's cancellation, she moved across to the short-lived ITC world touring car series with Zakspeed Mercedes, but could only muster 17th and 25th in the points in her two seasons there.

Her prior success and links with Mercedes led to a test with the Sauber F1 team being arranged, she revealed in an interview with The Race in 2021. The team's schedule was thrown into confusion by a serious accident in practice for the Monaco Grand Prix, which left their driver Karl Wendlinger seriously injured. The team was unable to rearrange the test and its arrangement with Mercedes concluded at the end of the season.

It was time for another change of direction. Sticking with Mercedes, she entered the European Truck Racing Championships and tried her luck there for a couple of years, before moving back to touring cars in 1999. She broke the habit of a lifetime and switched to a Honda for the German Touring Cup, but it seemed to be the lift her fortunes needed. The following year she changed again for BMW and the results started to appear again. She was fifth in German Super Touring and a regular visitor to the top ten again. There was more of the same in 2001 and she was seventh this time.

Ellen tried something different again in 2002; US-style stock car racing in the V8 Star series, and was twelfth overall. The following year she was part of the Formula One-supporting Porsche Supercup and came eleventh after a couple of good finishes.

Yet another change beckoned in 2004. Switching disciplines completely, Ellen turned her hand to rally raids with a Mitsubishi. After a couple of promising finishes in desert events, she proved her mettle by coming third in the Baja Deutschland, way ahead of her German rival Andrea Mayer, who had been tipped to win. She tackled some more cross-country rallies in 2005 in a Mitsubishi Pajero and went some way to overcoming the disappointment of going out of the Paris-Dakar early on. She took part in World Cup raids in Spain, Portugal and the United Arab Emirates and was second on the Baja Deutschland.

A second Dakar beckoned at the beginning of 2006. Ellen and her navigator Detlef Ruf started well, and by Stage Six had worked their way across the Mauritanian desert into the top thirty. However, disaster struck on Stage Twelve. Another competitor crashed into the duo's buggy, leaving them needing assistance from the service truck. The resulting carnage meant that the stage was declared impassible for trucks and the service vehicle was delayed by six hours, dropping Ellen and Detlef out of the running. The rest of the stage was cancelled.

Despite her early-season disappointment, Ellen was slated to enter the whole Cross-Country World Cup in 2006, driving for Mercedes once again, in their new ML prototype. However, results suggest that she did not drive in any of the major raids that year.

She returned to the Dakar for a third time in 2007, driving a Mercedes with Antonia de Roissard. They did not finish. The pair did not get the chance to try again the following year due to the cancellation of the Dakar. They did enter its impromptu replacement, the Central Europe Rally, but retired on Stage Three. They then turned their full attention to stage rallying for most of the season, driving a Subaru Impreza in six events. Their last German championship outing was the Saarland Rally, which ended with the Impreza upside down in a river. Thankfully, both crew members escaped unscathed. They managed to finish their other rallies.

As well as rallying, Ellen returned to her circuit roots with a one-off outing in the Nürburgring 24 Hours. She drove an Alfa Romeo 147 with Hubert Nacken, Chris Vogler and Martin Richter, but did not finish.

In 2009, the Dakar Rally was moved to South America in a bid to escape the political unrest and safety concerns of Northwest Africa. Ellen drove a FleetBoard Mercedes but yet again, failed to finish.

In 2010, she returned to the track for some sportscar action. She was driving a Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 as a guest driver in the FIA GT3 series and the ADAC GT Masters. The ADAC series gave her a 15th and a DNF at Oschersleben, while the FIA races went much more smoothly: Ellen achieved a fourth and a third at Silverstone.

She also drove in the Dakar, still relocated to South America, in a Mercedes R-Class, this time as a press reporter. After a successful run of reports, she continued this role in 2011 and 2012.

In a surprising move, Ellen came out of her semi-retirement from competitive motorsport for the 2012 season and announced that she would be racing a truck once more, in the FIA European Truck Racing Championship. Her machinery would be by Mercedes, as always. With a best finish of ninth, she was not among the front-runners. She was 21st overall.

Her truck exploits continued in 2013, driving a Freightliner. She was still not quite quick enough to score points, but she managed one eleventh place at Zolder, and a string of twelfths in the later two-thirds of the season. These were mid-field finishes. She was unplaced in the championship.

For Mercedes, she also competed in some off-road events, mostly in Germany, including some rounds of the German Off Road Meisterschaft. She also did some historic racing at the Nürburgring.

In 2014, she drove for MAN in the European Truck Racing Championship. Towards the end of the season, she managed to finish in the points three times. Her best finishes were two eighth places, at Jarama and Le Mans. At Jarama, she also managed a couple of tenths. She was 16th overall in the championship.

She returned to the European Truck Racing Championship in 2015, driving for the Truck Sport Bernau team in a MAN. She was tenth in the championship, with two fifth places as her best finishes, at the Hungaroring.

Her 2016 season in the ETRC was her best yet. She was ninth in the championship, with a new best finish of second, which she achieved in the last race of the season, at Le Mans.

She did not compete in 2017 or for most of 2018, although she revealed plans to enter the Whelen Euro NASCAR series in 2019. Her season was not a huge success and her best finish in the Dexwet DF1 Racing Chevrolet Camry was a fourteenth place in the Elite 1 class, at Franciacorta and Most.

In addition to endurance events and truck racing, she also commentates on motorsport for German television. She now competes for Monaco, her adopted home country. Recently, she has become increasingly outspoken on issues affecting women in motorsport, such as the FIA's Girls On Track karting programme and the 2018 Formula E track test for female drivers hosted by Saudi Arabia.

(Image from www.dtm.com)