Women drivers in the 2012 Dakar

Isabelle Patissier at the start in Argentina.

The 2012 Dakar was not a vintage year for female participants. Isabelle Patissier was this year's leading female driver. She was 29th overall in the Dessoude Oryx Buggy, co-driven by Thierry Delli Zotti, just over 21 hours behind the winning MINI of Stephane Peterhansel.

Susan Jones was set to enter the Dakar in a Desert Warrior, but did not make the start.

No female drivers entered the Truck class this year. The only other woman finisher was motorcyclist Eulalia (Laia) Sanz Pla-Giribert, who was 39th on a GAS.

(Picture from www.automobilsport.com)

Female Rally Drivers after 1950: the Americas

Nadia and Florencia Cutro, in 2011

Rallying is popular in South and Central America. Recently, female drivers have started to enter the major events.
Below are profiles of some recent rally drivers from the South and Central Americas. Drivers from the USA can now be found here. Nadia Cutro can be found here.

Karina Dobal - winner of the 2016 Argentine Federal Rally Class 4 Championship. This was the first time a woman had won a national rally championship in Argentina. Her car was a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII. She scored three class wins, in the Sulpacha, Chivilcoy and Gualeguay Rallies, and had a best overall finish of second, in the Rally de Leandro N. Alem. In 2015, she rallied a Chevrolet Agile, in the Junior class, and managed class wins at Lavalle and Ciudad de Azul. She also achieved five top-ten finishes. This was only her second season of serious competition, having begun with the Agile in 2014. In 2017, she rallied the Lancer. She was second in the Rally de Lincoln and eighth in the Rally Balcarce. She returned to competition in 2022, in a Chevrolet Agile, which was replaced by another Lancer. In 2024, she travelled to San Marino for the Rallylegend rally show, driving a Group B Lancer Evo IX.

Yazmin Dyer - Peruvian driver who competed in her home championship in 2010, using a Peugeot 206. She won her national Super 1600 championship after three S1600 class wins. Two of these coincided with top ten finishes: ninth places in the Rally de Arequipa and Rally Claro Huánuco. After 2010, she stepped down to “Nacional” events, taking in the Caminos del Inca event, a long-standing Peruvian rally. In 2011, she drove a SEAT Leon, which she also seems to have driven in that year’s Huánuco Rally and Rally Los Òrganos.

Victoria Emma - Argentine driver who normally rallies a Ford Fiesta. Her best result in this car has been a 30th place overall in the 2018 Rally Arrecifes. She continued with the Fiesta in 2019 but switched from the Argentine Federal rally championship to the Mar y Sierras series. Both of these championships run on her favoured surface of gravel. In 2021 she competed quite extensively in Argentina and her best finish was 29th in the Rally de Arrecifes, from 64 finishers. This improved to fourteenth in the 2023 Rally Ciudad de Rauch. The Fiesta was exchanged for a VW Gol in 2024. She first appears on the entry lists in 2017 and her first car seems to have been a Volkswagen Gol, in common with many Argentine drivers.

Marina Goicoechea - active in Argentine rallies since at least 2014, almost exclusively in the Mar y Sierras series. In 2018 and 2019, she was a semi-regular top-ten finisher in a Volkswagen Gol. For a long time, her best result was sixth in the 2019 Rally de Ranchos, followed by an eighth place in the Rally de Las Heras. Her best 2018 result was seventh in the Rally de Ayacucho, with a class win. In 2021, she entered seven events but only finished one, the Rally de Lavalle, in 23rd place. She returned to the top ten in 2022 with a seventh place in the Rally de Dolores. In 2023, she scored her first podium finish, a third place in the Ciudad de Rauch rally. This was one of three top-tens that year. In 2024, she scored podiums in the Ayucacho and Pagos del Tuyu rallies. Before she got the Gol, her first car was a Ford Ka which she used for two seasons.

Claudia Gonano – Argentine driver who was somewhat of a media sensation in 2003, when she was the only woman competing in the Argentine national championship, at only 19 years old. She took part in the Fiat Palio Cup, and was fourth in class in her first rally, the Mina Clavero Rally. That year, she was 19^th in the Rally de Plaza Huincul, and 25^th in the Rally Provincia de la Pampa. Her career in rallying was very short; after this, her name disappears from the entry lists.

Isaura Huallpartupa - Peruvian driver who has been active since 2024. Her car is a Suzuki Celerio. In 2024, her best event was the Rally Valle Sagrado, in which she was 15th on one day and fourteenth on another. She won the promotional class both times. In 2025, she won the Promotional class in the Rally Hanss Gamero and the Rally 4 Lagunas, finishing fourteenth and 15th overall. Her usual co-driver in Bernardino Huallpartupa.

Fernanda Israel - Chilean driver who rallied a Peugeot 208 in her domestic championship in 2019. Her best result was a 19th place in the Gran Premio de Curico. She also finished 21st in the Gran Premio de Los Angeles. Both of these were gravel events. Her co-driver, Marta Anglada, is Spanish. Previously, Fernanda co-drove for Benjamin Israel in 2014.

Michelle Laframboise – Canadian driver who has been active in both the Canadian and US rally championships, always driving a Mitsubishi Lancer. She began in the Canadian series in 2010. By 2011, she was earning her first top-ten finish, a eighth place in the Tall Pines Rally. The following year, she was ninth in the Tall Pines event, which was her only finish of the year in Canada. She travelled across the border for some rounds of Rally America, and managed one finish: eighth overall, and third in the Open class, in the Sherwood Forest Rally. In 2013, she won the Open class in two American rallies: Sherwood Forest and Finger Lakes. She was second overall at Finger Lakes, and would have won outright but for a penalty. In 2014, she concentrated on Canada again, but only finished once, in the Tall Pines Rally. 

Ruth Gutierrez Ore - rallies a Toyota in Peru. She has been active since at least 2019 and her first car was a Corolla. She returned to competition in 2022, first with a Tercel then with another Corolla. This year, she scored her career best finish of 16th in the Rally de los Valientes Chincheros. In 2023, she acquired another Corolla, an E100 sedan probably imported from the USA. Her best 2023 result was a 23rd place in the Premio Presidente de la Republica.

Laura Pautasso - rallies a Ford Ka in Argentina, normally in the Cordoba championship. She first appears on the entry lists in 2018 and her first top-20 finish was that year’s Rally del Sudeste, in which she was 20th. Her best overall finish was a thirteenth place in the 2019 Rally de Cruz del Eje. She has done one round of the main Argentine championship, the 2018 Jorge Recalde Tribute Rally, but she did not finish. 2021 brought two further entries for her, but no finishes.

Patricia Pita - Uruguayan driver who rallies in Argentina and her home country. She has been active since at least 2012, when she tackled the Rally del Atlantico in a Renault Clio. For the next season she drove the Clio in Uruguay, but rarely finished an event. The Chevrolet Clio she used in 2014 was more reliable. This year’s best result was 19th, achieved twice in the Treinta y Tres and Paysandu rallies. In 2015, she started to compete in Argentina in a Ford Ka and improved this best finish to 15th, in the Ciudad de Villa Dolores Rally. In 2016, she switched between the two small cars, achieving similar results in each. She was fifth in class in the Argentine championship. She continued to use both cars in 2017, as well as a Volkswagen Gol in which she won her class in the San Juan Rally. In 2017, she was Uruguay’s most successful rally driver. In 2018, she rallied a Ford Fiesta and earned her first top-ten finish, a tenth place in the Punta del Este Rally. After not rallying in 2019, she did two events in 2020, driving a Chevrolet Corsa, although she did not finish either. She finished one rally in 2021, the Minas event, in 19th place. Her 2022 programme only included one stage rally, the Piriapolis event, which she did not finish, but she entered her first Dakar at the end of the year. This followed some baja events in Spain and Peru. She was 117th overall, driving for the Proracing Competicion Rally Servicios team. She returned to the stages in 2023, driving a Ka. In 2024, she entered the Dakar in an Astara buggy, but did not finish.

Meliza Prevedello – rallies in her native Argentina. She prefers big, powerful cars, and drove a Subaru Impreza in 2014. Her best finish was second, in the Rally de Londres. She was also seventh in the Rally de Aimogasta y La Costa Riojana. Her car for 2015 was a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, which she campaigned in the Argentine championship. She was fourth in the RC2N/JR section of the Rally Argentina, which was her best result of the year. She scored another top ten in the Los Glaciares Rally, and was a regular presence in the top fifteen of Argentine rallies. 2016 was a strong year for her, driving the Lancer. She earned a sixth place in the Rally Uniendo Valles de Cordoba, and won her class. Earlier in the season, she was eleventh in the Rally of Cordoba, and was second in class. Her media profile received a big rise due to her Cordoba heroics. In 2017, she got back into the top ten, finishing tenth in the Tafi de Valle Rally. She was also fourteenth in the Rally San Juan and fifteenth in the Catamarca Rally. She started rallying in the Impreza in 2013, and she is nicknamed “Princess” by the Argentine motoring media.

Alicia Reina - has been rallying in her native Argentina since 2008. Her first car was a Fiat 147, which was then replaced by a Fiat Palio. She won her class in the 2008 Salta Rally, one of the first events she entered. She has continued to drive in Argentine rallies through 2009 and 2010, still in the Palio, and is usually in the top three of the 2WD class. Her first IRC outing, the 2010 Rally Argentina, resulted in a 27th place overall, third in group N2 and second in the 2WD class. In 2011, she entered several Argentine rallies in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. Her best finish was ninth overall, in the Rally del Surubi-Goya. She rallied the same car, in Argentina, in 2012. Sadly, she did not finish any of her five events, although one was cancelled due to bad weather. She did one rally with the Lancer in 2013, before switching to a Fiat Palio, running in the Junior class. She was 15th overall in the Rally des Misiones, and third junior driver in the Rally Centenario Villa Carlos Paz, 17th overall. She was a rival to Nadia Cutro. In 2014, she entered the Dakar Rally in a Toyota pickup. She finished the rally in 60th place. In 2015, she contested the Dakar again. Stage rallying had not been forgotten in the interim, and she competed in the Vuelta de la Manzana Rally in Argentina, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer to 19th overall. In 2016, she rallied a Toyota SRV in the Dakar once more, but went out on the fourth stage. 

Juliana Rodifer - competes in the Entre Rios rally championship in Argentina. She began in 2019, driving a Vokswagen Gol. Since 2020, she has been rallying a Ford Fiesta. The Fiesta has been the more successful car for her; she achieved her best finish in it in 2020. This was 15th in the Gran Premio Ciudad Libertador San Martin, with a class third. She followed this up with two more top-twenty finishes in 2021, including fourteenth place in the Rally Ciudad de Santa Elena. In 2022, she rallied both a Ford Fiesta and a VW Gol, with another fourteenth place in the Santa Elena event her best finish. She used the Fiesta full-time in 2023 for a full season, picking up her first top ten: sixth in the Rally de Concepcion del Uruguay. A shorter programme in 2024 yielded one top-twenty: thirteenth in the Rally de Diamante. Sofia Giebert has been her co-driver since 2020.

Vanina Schaffer - rallied a Fiat 147 in Argentina, after spending some time as a navigator. She scored some class wins in Argentine rallies in 2009, which appears to be her first season as a driver. In 2010, she does not seem to have entered many major rallies, but may have competed in gliding competitions. One exception was the Rally of Cordoba, where she was the second-fastest female driver. She returned to the stages for 2011, with an appearance in the Zavalla Rally. She did not finish. Since then, she has returned to the navigator's seat for Carlos Maggi. 

Leonela Solorzano - Ecuadorean driver who rallies a Kia Picanto in the Ecuador championship. 2019 appears to be her first season of major rallies, and her best early result was a 33rd place in the Rally Catamayo, a gravel event. She did three rallies in the Picanto in 2022, with a 38th place in the Rally Provincia de Loja her highlight of the year. Using the same car, her finishes improved during a longer 2023 season. Her career took another step forward in 2024 with her first top tens, a seventh in the Rally Paltas and eighth in the Rally Macara. Leonela is from Quito and comes from a rallying family. Her first experiences seem to have been co-driving her father’s rally car. When not competing, she studies civil engineering.

Karen Sullca - began rallying in 2018 in Peru. Her car is a Honda Integra. She was the first female finisher in the 2018 Rally Hanss Gamero, beating the more experienced Yinelsy Gamero. In the Circuito Mario Mercado Vaca Guzman, she drove in the Super Turismo class, and was 16th overall. She rallied a Changan Eado in 2019, finishing a strong fifth in the Rally San Pedro. After a couple of years' break, she came back with the Eado in 2022, finishing fourteenth in the Rally Abraham Ortega.

Jamie Thomas - rallied a Subaru in the USA and her homeland of Canada. Has scored many class wins in "Burnsie", her Impreza WRX Estate, since 2003. In 2004, she was third in the USA ProRally championship, and won her regional title. She has been a class winner in SCCA, NASA and Rally-America competition. In 2008, she was fourth in the National PGT standings and tenth overall in the National rally championship. She came out of retirement for the 2011 Oregon Trail Rally. 

Taissa Wlodkovski - Brazilian driver who rallied in her home country between 2003 and 2007. She started in a Volkswagen Gol, then entered the Peugeot 206 Cup, and used the 206 for the next three seasons. During this time, her best result was a thirteenth place in the Rally de Ouro Branco. In 2007, she switched to a Fiat Palio, with which she scored two top-twenty finishes, both sixteenth places. The best was probably the Rally de Estação, where she was fifth in class as well. She was sixth in Class N2 in that year’s championship.

(image from http://www.corrientesonline.com/)

Female Rally Winners

Ewy and Anita Rosqvist, at the 1960 Midnight Sun Rally

A number of the drivers featured in the Speedqueens profiles have scored outright wins in international and national rallies. Michele Mouton, Pat Moss, Gilberte Thirion and Rosemary Smith all found success on the world stage, while Louise Aitken-Walker, Paola de Martini, Anne Hall and Christine Beckers, among others, have been victorious in national-level competition. Sara Williams now has her own profile, as do Ramona Karlsson, Ewy Rosqvist, Romana Zrnec, Ann Taieth, Cristina Gutierrez Herrero, Carole Vergnaud, Nadia Cutro and Eija Jurvanen. Susan Muwonge can be found here.

Below are short profiles of a few lesser-known female drivers who have won rallies. Due to space constraints and often, a lack of information, the many winners of the women-only Paris-St. Raphaël event are not included.

Jo Cadman - winner of the 1997 Corolla Cup Rally in the Australian Championship. She won state and national class championships in the 1990s, sometimes driving a Mitsubishi Galant. Her only WRC outing was the 1999 Rally of New Zealand, in which she was 32nd in a Lancer Evo 3. More recently, she has been acting as co-driver to her partner, John Mitchell.

Brianne Corn – winner of three US rallies in 2011: the Roxton Rallye de Paris, Roxton Rumbles and Nocona Rally Stomp 2. She scored three additional Open Light class wins, and was the Rally America Open Light Central Division champion. Her car was a Subaru Impreza. She began rallying in 2006, after a couple of years in autocross and Solo competition. As well as rallying, she has competed at Pike’s Peak on several occasions, in different classes, winning the Time Attack class in 2011. Since 2012, she has concentrated mainly on running her own rallycross track in her home state of Texas, along with her brother.

Danielle Furzeland – rallies a Subarua Impreza WRC car in the UK, one of a handful of women to having driven a WRC in anger. She began rallying in 2013, and her first car was a Ford Escort MkI, which was quickly swapped for an Impreza. In her first year, she scored three top-ten finishes, the best of these being a seventh place in the Subaru WRC Spares TSH Stages. 2014 was quite similar, with four top tens and another seventh, in the Smeathorpe Stages. In 2015, she started driving the WRC Impreza, a 2000 model. She was second overall twice, in the Three Counties Stages and the Smeathorpe Stages. She also won her class in the Three Counties event. In 2016, she scored her first outright win: the Prima Motorsport Smeatharpe Stages. She was driving the Impreza. Her best finish in the car in 2017 was third, on the Three Counties Stages Rally. She finished in the top ten of all four events she entered. In 2022 and 2023, she continued to be a top-ten finisher in single-venue rallies. Danielle is from the Furzeland rallying family, and is the daughter of rally crew, Steve and Yvonne Furzeland.

Yinelsy Gamero - rallies a Volkswagen Beetle, mainly in her home country of Peru. In 2018, she seems to have picked up her stage rallying career again, entering asphalt rallies in Peru. She was 15th in the Rally Premio Ciudad de Mollendo and 16th in the Rally Hanss Gamero. This continued through 2019, using a Citroen DS3. Her best finish was twelfth in the Ciudad de Arequipa Rally. Earlier, she competed in Bolivia, coming 38th in the Circuito Mario Mercado Vaca Guzman. In between, she drove the Beetle in the 2016 Inca Trail rally raid, but did not finish. In 2022, she rallied a Mazda3 in Peru and was second in the Rally Pequena Roma de America. In 2023, she won her first rally, the Rally Hanss Gamero. This is an asphalt event. She was third in the 2024 event, one of five top-ten finishes that year. Yinelsy is a former model and beauty queen.

Gabi Husar - driver and co-driver from Austria. She was active from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s. As a driver, she used a Porsche 911. Her best results were a fourth place in the 1984 Semperit Rally, a fifth in the 1983 Semperit Rally and a sixth in the Janner-Rallye in 1985. In She also won the 1984 Bruckneudorf Rallysprint event outright. Earlier, in the 1970s, she drove a Fiat in European rallies, with less success. As a navigator, she occasionally sat beside Rudi Stohl in a Lada, in WRC events.

Magdalena Misiarz – rallies a Honda Civic in Eastern Europe. She began in 2014, in the Czech Republic, after several years of navigating for other drivers. Her best result was 40^th, in the Železné Hori rally, from 80 drivers. In 2015, she drove in many more rallies, in the Czech Republic and Poland itself. She was particularly strong in the SKJS Rally Masters events; her two finishes were a fifth and a ninth place. In the Czech rallies she entered, she did less well, with a 27^th place in the Železné Hori rally her best finish.  In 2016, she was twelfth in the same rally, driving the Civic, but her best finish was sixth, in the first round of the Polish Tarmac Masters. She was third in class in the Polish Rally Masters championship in 2017, winning her class in the SKARS Tarmac Masters and finishing third overall. In 2018, she was fourth in the Rally Masters championship, with two fifth places in the Ireco and M3Racing rallies. The Rally Masters series was her most effective hunting ground in 2019 also; she won the Mecinka Rally Masters event and was third in the Sobotka Rally Masters. 

Maria de Graca Moura Relvas - the first Portuguese female driver to win a rally outright. She came first in the 1965 Grande Rali do Benfica, driving a Mini Cooper S. The same year, she competed on Madeira. The Mini was built in 1963 and she used it during the 1964 and 1965 seasons. Other details of her career are proving elusive, but it looks as if she was already in her 40s when she started rallying the Mini.

Kirsty Nelson - has been rallying in New Zealand since 2006. That year, she won her first rally, the Clubmans Rally of Rotorua, and entered her first WRC event, the Rally of New Zealand. She was 16. In 2007, she continued to rally in New Zealand in a Subaru Impreza, with a best finish of ninth. She moved up to the full championship in 2008 and also started competing internationally, in Malaysia. This continued in 2009. She tried to win funded WRC drives in 2009 as part of the FIA’s Pirelli Star Driver competition, but could not win the final round in Malaysia. She does not appear to have competed since then.

Tiina Tikkinen - winner of the 1994 Naista SM-Kesoil Rally in Finland, driving a Ford Escort RS 2000. In the late 1980s, she rallied a Lancia Delta Integrale in Finland, entering the 1988 and 1989 1000 Lakes Rallies. Like many Finnish drivers of the time, she occasionally competed in the Soviet Union, entering the 1989 Old Toomas Rally in Estonia. Before acquiring the Lancia, she used another Ford Escort in Finnish events in 1987.

Donatella Tominz - winner of the Yu Rally in 1973, driving a Fiat 124 SS. The same year, she was tenth in the Rally San Martino di Castrozza. In 1972, she had been ninth in the same event, and sixth in the Elba Rally, driving the same car. She was Italian and European Ladies’ Champion in 1973. This was at least her third European ladies’ title. She had been rallying since the beginning of the 1970s and her first major international rally seems to have been the 1970 Rally Costa del Sol, in which she was eighth in a Porsche 911. She also entered the 1971 Sanremo-Sestriere event, which she retired from whilst driving the Porsche. Her regular co-driver was Gabriella Mamolo, also known as “Squaw”. They finished in the top ten of several of some of the later runnings of the Paris-St. Raphaël women’s rally.

Angela Vilariño – versatile Spanish driver of Basque origin. She began her motorsport career in hillclimbs, in 2003, when she was 18. Between then and 2007, she competed up to European level, and had some excellent finishes. After a break, when she became a mother, she returned to hillclimbs, and also did some circuit racing in the VdeV Endurance Championship, driving a Norma. She had another year in the championship in 2009, and did her first rallies in 2010, as well as more hillclimbs. Her first rally cars were a Suzuki Swift and a Subaru Impreza, and in her third-ever rally, the San Sebastian Rally, she was fourth overall. In 2011, she concentrated on rallysprints in the Basque country, and won four of them, in the Impreza. She won the championship, but only after an appeal against being excluded from the final round. For the next couple of seasons, she went back to hillclimbs. In 2014, she became the first female driver to win the Spanish championship. In 2015, she returned to rallying, contesting the Spanish Tarmac championship in an Opel Adam, for the works Opel team. Her best result was 16th, in the Comunidad de Madrid Rally, and she had three more top twenty finishes. She was 24th in the championship, and won the Ladies' trophy. She won the Coupe des Dames in the 2016 European Hillclimb Championship.

Stephanie Zorn - long-term presence in German rallying, usually in rallysprints. She did her first major rallies in 1998, in a Seat Cupra, although she did not finish either of them. Her first Rally Deutschland came in 1999, and she was 32nd, tenth in class, in the Cupra. A break from rallying then followed, but she was back in 2007, this time in a Renault Clio. After that, she concentrated almost exclusively on rallysprints until 2013, and was fifth in the 2008 Heidelbergring Rallysprint. She is a regular top-ten finisher, and was ninth in the Rosenhof event in 2011 and 2012, and seventh in the Fontane Rallye in 2012. In 2013, she entered more stage rallies again, and her best result was seventh, in the Rallye Stade. She secured five more top-twenty finishes. In 2014, she repeated her fifth place in the Heidelbergring event, still in a Clio. Later in the season, she bettered it, with a fourth place in the Holsten Rally. This was one of seven top-ten finishes she had that year. In 2015, she won her first event outright: the Holsten Rally, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6. She was also second in the Rallye Atlantis, in the Clio, and third in the Heidelberg Rallyesprint. She just missed out on another win in 2016, finishing second in the Rally Sonderjylland in Denmark, driving a Clio. She also scored five class wins, all in the Clio. The Clio was her favoured car again in 2017. Her best finish was fourth, in the Aller-Weser Rally. This was one of six top-ten finishes that year. Another busy year in 2018 included another win in the Heidelberg Rallysprint, plus three third places and a multitude of class wins. There were no more wins in 2019, but Stephanie continued to be highly competitive, especially in sprint rallies. She scored two fifth places in the Heidelberg and Fischereihafen Rallysprints and was ninth in the Stormau asphalt rally. The Heidelberg event was her best again in 2020; she was third in a new Citroen DS3 R3T. This was one of five top-ten finishes. She continued to rally the DS3 in 2021 and this year, did better in full stage rallies. Without an entry into the Heidelberg Rallysprint, her best event was the Buten und Binnen Rally, in which she was fourteenth. In 2022, she was back to winning, taking the Heidelberg Rallysprint again. She was also second in the Stuvenborner and Hanseaten Rallysprints, and third in the Fischereihafen Sprint and Stormarn Rallye. Most of 2023 was spent in a Renault Clio RS, with a best finish of ninth in the Rosenhof Rallye. She was back on the podium in 2024, finishing second in the Heidbergring Rallysprint. Away from rallying, she competes in equestrian sport.

(Image from http://www.classicmotor.se/)