Aimee Watts

Aimee Watts races both historic and modern cars in the UK and is particularly known for competing in the Porsche Sprint Challenge UK.

She first raced a Citroen C1 in the UK, in the 2021 Silverlake C1 Challenge. This was a fairly late start compared to many; she was 27. She won her first race at the end of 2021 at Brands Hatch, which is her home track. This was the three-hour finale for the C1 Challenge and she shared the car with her father, former BTCC racer Patrick Watts, and Orlando Lindsay. She triumphed despite carrying a leg injury.

After a positive first full season she planned to race a classic Mini in 2022, having tried out the car in 2021. However, she chose a Mazda MX5 instead. She did three rounds of the BRSCC MX5 championship at Snetterton. This led to a season in the Club class of the Clapham North MOT Mazda MX5 Supercup in 2023. She was sixth, with four class podium finishes at Cadwell, Donington and Silverstone. The best of these was a second place at Silverstone.

She also raced a classic Mini with the HRDC, winning a class championship with her father in the Jack Sears Trophy for historic saloons.

Both the 2023 Mini and also another one owned by Alex Brundle made appearances in 2024, but her main focus was the Mazda Supercup, where she was second in the Club class. She scored six class wins over the season and was frequently up with the Pro class drivers.

In 2025, her career in single-make motorsport took another step forward as she put together a deal to race in the Porsche Sprint Challenge, with the Clean Racing team. As a warm-up, she won one round of the MSVR Miata Trophy at Silverstone in the Mazda. Her Porsche season started badly with a DNF at Donington and two subsequent non-starts, but she ran better for the rest of the season, beginning with her first Am class podium, a third at Brands Hatch. She was sixth in the Am standings at the end of the year.

At the MRL Silverstone meeting in October, she shared an MGB with her father for the Generations Trophy. They were second, having led for quite a lot of the race.

Following on from her 2025 success, she moved up to the RS Clubsport Am class of the Porsche Sprint Challenge. In the first race at Donington, she was third, ninth overall. She continues to combine racing the Porsche and competing in historics.

(Image copyright Porsche Motorsport)

Courtney Prince

Courtney Prince is an Australian driver who races sportscars and single-seaters.

She was one of her country’s youngest-ever single-seater drivers when she entered a few rounds of the Australian Formula Ford championship in 2016, aged 14. Her car was a Mygale SJ011 run by the Sonic Motor Racing team. That year, she picked up her first top tens, a pair of tenth places at Winton. This followed several years of karting.

Between then and 2019, she competed extensively in the national, Victoria and New South Wales championships, with a best finish of eighth overall in the 2019 Australian series. She was a regular upper-midfield finisher with a best race finish of second, achieved at Phillip Island in 2017, in the Australian championship. In 2018, she scored some further podiums in the New South Wales and South Australian Formula Ford series, driving for the same Sonic team. In her last season of Formula Ford, she came close again, finishing fourth twice on the way to Australian championship eighth.

In 2020 she started racing Porsches, scoring three third places at Sandown in the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge. These were her only appearances of the year. Another part-season followed in 2021, where she continued to be supported by the Sonic team who she had been with from the beginning. She was third again in the first race of the year at Phillip Island.

She continued to be competitive and was fourth in the 2022 championship, picking up another third at Phillip Island and another three third places at Sydney Motorsports Park.

In 2021 and 2022, she also competed in Aussie Racing Cars, driving a motorbike-engined Mustang. She did a part-season the first time, before a longer programme in 2022. By the end of her time in the series, she was a top-ten regular and had a best finish of fifth at Winton, which she earned twice.

It was time to move up to the Carrera Cup in 2023. This proved harder and she was 17th overall, managing a couple of top tens. The best of these was an eighth place at Adelaide, in her last race of the year.

She did better in the Bathurst 6 Hours, finishing third in her class with Karlie Buccini and Ellexandra Best. Their car was a BMW. Racing against Karlie Buccini this time, she drove a BMW in the Aussie Production Cars rounds at The Bend. She got her first APC points in the bag with two seventh places, an eighth and a twelfth.

The Buccini team got back together for the 2024 Bathurst 6 Hours, with Sue Palermo replacing Ellexandra Best. They won their class in a BMW and were tenth overall.

The rest of 2024 was divided between Aussie Racing Cars and Production Cars with Team Buccini, scoring top tens in both. She was a class winner in the APC. In November, she joined up with Michael Kokkinos in his Audi R8 for an enduro at Phillip Island. She set a lap record in her first race in the car, and the pair won one race.

Another Buccini entry for the 2025 Bathurst 6 Hours led to a class win, with Karlie Buccini and Tabitha Ambrose. Their car was a BMW 340i and they were 31st overall. Driving a Ginetta with Valentino Astuti, Courtney also did a couple of rounds of the Australian GT4 championship. At the end of the year, she tested a V8 Supercar with the Eggleston Motorsport team, in their Holden Commodore. The aim of this was a possible Super2 programme for 2026.

(Image copyright Courtney Prince)

Karen Gaillard

Karen Gaillard is a Swiss driver who races sportscars internationally, having begun in touring cars.

2019 was her first season in cars. Her first steps up from karting were to enter the Cupra Young Driver Challenge in her home country, finishing third. Not long after, she made her TCR debut at the Nurburgring with Topcar Sport. Unfortunately, she spun on the first lap and picked up two penalties. She did better in the second race, finishing ninth. Her car was a Cupra TCR.

She returned to the circuits in 2020 for the Monza 12 Hour race, again driving for the Topcar team as part of her Cupra prize. She and her two team-mates were thirteenth in the first section of the race and twelfth in the second. The team was then third in class, fifth overall in the 16 Hours of Hockenheim. This was the year of the pandemic, so her season was curtailed

Her first taste of prototype power also came in 2020. She took part in the first round of the Spanish Endurance Championship, driving a Vortex V8 in the GT class for Lionel Amrouche's team. Her two races were at Navarra and she was seventh and fourteenth in her class.

She continued to race in the 2021 24H series, but was now driving the Vortex in the GTX class. Paired with Lionel Amrouche himself, she was second in class at Dubai and third in both Mugello races. She was fifth in her class championship.

The MitJet Trophy in France was her next destination. This is a silhouette formula, combining aspects of prototypes and touring cars. Karen's best finish was sixth in an away round at Catalunya and she was eighteenth overall. She also did some rounds of the Benelux MitJet Trophy.

2023 was better and she was second in the Endurance Prototype section of the Ultimate Cup in Europe, driving a Nova Proto with Gregory de Sybourg. They were seventh in the overall championship, with a best finsh of fourth at Estoril. A bad finish at Estoril dropped them down slightly.

For 2024, she was signed by the Iron Dames team for the Le Mans Cup, alongside Celia Martin. Driving a Lamborghini Huracan, they were sixth in the GT3 class, with one podium finish at Paul Ricard. They were seventh and 16th at the Le Mans rounds themselves.

With a different team, but the same car, she also tackled the Ultimate Cup again, this time with Iko Segret and Marc Faggionato. Again, Paul Ricard was her best circuit and she was fifth there. She and her two team-mates were eleventh in their class and 16th in the overall Prototype championship, not helped by a non-finish at Magny-Cours.

Her time as an Iron Dame continued in 2025, as a member of their IMSA squad and driving solo in the Carrera Cup France. The latter came after winning a young driver shootout. The IMSA season was cut short to a single run in the Daytona 24 Hours, where she and her team-mates were eighth in the GTD class and 33rd overall. The French Carrera Cup was a challenge and her best result by far was a seventh place at Valencia. She also did some rounds in the Swiss Porsche Cup and the Porsche Sprint Challenge Southern Europe.

(Image copyright Charly Lopez/DPPI)

Gabi Husar

 

Gabi Husar is a rally-winning driver and co-driver from Austria. In the 1980s, she was one of the leading drivers in Austrian national rallies. She was known for her brave and uncompromising driving style and skill at attracting sponsors.

Her first major rally appears to have been in the co-driver's seat, in Georg Fischer's BMW 2002 for the 1974 Barum Rally in the then-Czechoslovakia. She switched seats for 1975, entering the OASC International Rally in a little Fiat 850. With Inge Mayer as co-driver, she was 47th after a ten-minute penalty. Throughout her career, she preferred female co-drivers, the longest-standing of these being Elisabeth "Sissi" Fekonja. Others, including Silvia Dolezal, could not handle her very physical driving or her style of organisation and didn't stay long.

Early in her career, she was very ambitious and entered rallies across central Europe. In 1976, she drove the 850 in the Janner Rallye and a more powerful Fiat 128 in the Taurus Rally in Hungary. She did not finish either event. The 128 had been given to her by her mother and she wrote it off.

She then spent some time co-driving in international rallies with other Austrian drivers, including Rudi Stohl and Franz Wittmann. Wittmann and Gabi had met whilst skiing, before she switched from winter sport to motorsport, as she didn't enjoy the training involved in being a top-line skier.

In 1979 she returned to the driving seat, in a Lada 1300 this time. She was still focused on the European championship at this time and entered the Costa Smeralda, ARBO, Hessen, Colline Romagna and Barum rallies. Sadly, she only finished the Costa Smeralda event, in 26th place. A shorter season in the Lada in 1980 started to give her results, the best of these being an eleventh place in the Lavanntaler Mitternachts Rallye. This brief campaign was down to her taking time out of competition to have a daughter, Irene.

She started 1981 in a Talbot Sunbeam TI for the Janner Rallye, but then switched to a Porsche 911, which became her car of choice for the next five seasons. In it, she scored her first top-ten finish, a ninth place in the 1981 300 Minuten Rallye. Her first top-ten was followed by her first podium in 1982, a third place in the International Admonter Rallye. She followed this up later in the year with fifth in the 300 Minuten event. She was tenth in that year's Austrian championship.

Third became second in 1983, in the Badener Fruhlingsfahrt. This was one of six top-ten finishes she scored that year, including fifth place in the International Semperit Rally. She moved up one position in the Austrian championship to ninth. Her big breakthrough came in 1984, however, when she won her first rally outright. She won the Bruckneudorf Rallysprint by 27 seconds from Ernst Harrach. By now, she was also a regular top-five finisher in Austrian championship rallies, and was seventh overall at the end of the year.

There were no more wins in 1985, but she came close, and was third in the Austrian championship. She finished on the podium three times, with a best finish of second in the International Steiermark Rallye. Earlier in the year, she had also come sixth in an ERC event, the Janner Rallye. 

Gabi's first win in a full stage rally was in 1986. She won the Kaertner Varta Rallye by almost one and a half minutes from Toyota driver Alois Pfeifer, with Ernst Harrach third. Sadly, the rest of her season, although ambitious, was plagued with problems. She entered the Porsche into two more WRC rounds, the Acropolis and Portugal rallies, but did not finish either, although her Acropolis exit was not helped by spectators refusing to assist her when her car broke down. Her only ERC finish was the Janner Rallye, where she was eleventh.

Group B was cancelled after the 1986 season so her favoured Porsche became ineligible for many competitions. Her career more or less finishes here, apart from one guest appearance in 1998. Gabi came out of retirement to compete in the OMV Rallye, driving a Volkswagen Golf with Petra Prokop. She retired fairly late on after an accident.

She is from a rallying family: her family owned a garage, and both her father Sigmund and brother Jonny competed in Austrian rallies. 

(Image from motorline.cc)

Rita Rampinelli

Rita Rampinelli was a Swiss driver active in the 1950s. 

She mostly competed in hillclimbs across Europe, first in a Cisitalia D46, and later, a Porsche 550 Spyder. 

The Cisitalia was a Formula 2-spec car. She drove it extensively in hillclimbs, although she does not seem to have raced it on track. Between 1951 and 1955, she was a regular top-three finisher in the class for racing cars up to 1100cc, including a second place in the 1953 Ollon-Villars climb, which was faster than the time set by bigger cars. She repeated this at the 1953 Mitholz-Kandersteg event. This hillclimb was one of her favourites; she scored another class third in it in 1955. 

She is sometimes described as the first Swiss woman to buy a Porsche, although this might mean a racing Porsche, as glider pilot Jolanda Tschudi owned one of the first ever production Porsches, as a road car. 

Before the cessation of circuit racing in Switzerland, she came fourth in the Swiss national championship twice, although details of which race series this referred to, are hard to pinpoint. It is likely that hillclimbs played at least some part.

In 1953, she drove in a sportscar race supporting the Swiss Grand Prix, at Bremgarten, and was sixth, in a Porsche 356. Driving a 1500cc Porsche, she crashed out of the Preis von Bremgarten later in the year.

She appears in the start list for a similar event in 1954, but the result is not forthcoming. 

For the summer of 1956, she bought the 550 Spyder, first racing it in the Saint Ursanne-Rangiers hillclimb in June.

As well as circuit racing and hillclimbs, she also participated in rallies, including the Monte Carlo Rally in 1954, alongside Max Brunner, a hot-air balloonist. Her car was an Opel Olympia and she just made it to the finish in 215th place, having started at Munich. Early in the rally, she was penalised for damaging the car's wing in collision with a lorry. This was probably not the first time she had entered. 

Rita was quite self-motivated in her racing career, although she was from a family with motorsport heritage. Her father, a car dealer, had competed in the 1930s. She herself was involved in the motor trade, giving her profession as "garagiste" in an interview during the 1953 Monte. 

Rita died in 2011, at the age of 88. She outlived her partner, opera singer Hansy von Krauss, by three years.

(Image copyright Berner Zeitung)

Cecilia Rabelo

Cecilia Rabelo is a Brazilian driver who began her senior career in 2022.

She was 15 years old when she took part in two rounds of the Paulista Formula Delta championship, finishing ninth and eighth.

Her first full season was meant to be spent competing in the Brazilian F4 championship in 2023, driving for the Cavaleiro Sport team. After two tenths and an eleventh in the first meeting at Interlagos, she missed a couple of meetings due to an injury she sustained in a crash at Interlagos. She returned for the fourth round at Goiania, improving over the weekend with a twelfth, eleventh and then seventh place. The series moved back to Interlagos and Cecilia surprised onlookers with two pole positions, although she could not convert these to podium finishes: she was seventh and 13th in the two races she finished. Her season finished with a disqualification, a tenth and an eleventh place. She was 15th overall.

Her second F4 season started with a move to the Bassani Racing team. The year began well with a sixth and fourth place at Mogi Guacu, as well as a ninth, although her early improvements were overshadowed by her female rival Rafaela Ferreira finishing on the podium. The fourth place remains her best finish of the year, although she did manage to out-perform Rafaela Ferreira in the next round at Interlagos. A series of DNFs later on did not help her. At present, she is thirteenth in the championship.

At the end of the 2024 season, Cecilia joined up with Porsche racewinner Antonella Bassani and former skateboarder Leticia Bufoni to enter the Interlagos 500km. Their car was a Porsche 991 and they were 30th overall, seventh in class. They had been running slightly higher, but a slow pitstop lost them a place. This was Cecilia's second Porsche Cup race, having entered the round at Buenos Aires earlier in the season.

Sportscars then became her focus for 2025. She entered both the Carrera Cup and the Porsche Sprint Challenge in Brazil, finishing both of her Carrera Cup races at Estoril and Portimao, albeit near the back. She did better in the Sprint Challenge, quickly becoming a reliable class finisher and top-ten overall achiever. In the first overseas race at Portimao, she picked up her first class win, despite the heat outside and in the car being difficult to handle. She was seventh in the championship.

(Image from blogdomadeira.com.br)

Vicki Smith

Vicki Smith raced sportscars up to international level in the early 1980s. 

She credited her interest in motorsport to her stepfather's Porsche, which she described herself as "crazy about" as a child. Her parents refused to support her racing endeavours until she had finished her education, probably hoping that she would forget about the whole thing. After dropping out of a journalism degree, she got herself a racing license in 1979 and set about finding a car. During her short career, she did not own any of the cars she raced in major events, depending on team owners to offer her drives. Fortunately, she was a Florida native and the Daytona and Sebring circuits were within easy reach.

Her first big race was the 1980 Sebring 12 Hours. She shared a Porsche 911 with car owner Klaus Bitterauf and James Moxley, and they finished 24th, seventh in the GTU class.

In a completely different car, an all-American AMC AMX, she tried the Sebring classic again in 1981. Again, she was sharing the car with its owner, Bob Lee, plus Tom Alan Marx. They just about got to the finish in 42nd place. This was the second time she had competed alongside Lee, having shared a Ford Maverick with him at the Daytona 6 Hours the previous year.

Her partnership with Bitterauf and his "Klaus Haus" team continued, on and off. In 1982, she was 25th at Daytona, driving a Porsche 911 and 22nd at Sebring. The Klaus Haus team, consisting of Vicki, Bitterauf and Scott Flanders, contested four more IMSA events that year, with a best finish of 17th, at Charlotte.

Driving an Audi 80 for a different team in the Mosport 6 Hours, Vicki was 16th with Edgar Doren and Peter Aschenbrenner. 

During the 1983 season, she switched between the Klaus Haus Porsche and a Pontiac Firebird. Her best finish was another 16th, at Miami, in the Firebird. This was a solo drive. With the Klaus Haus team, she competed at the big Daytona and Sebring races, plus the 500km of Road Atlanta. She did not finish at Daytona or Sebring, but was just about classified at Road Atlanta, in 35th place.

She continued in 1984, driving different cars. One of these drives was her first-ever outing in a Group C prototype. She drove an Aston Martin-engined Nimrod NRA/C2 at the Daytona 24 Hours, sharing with Jack Miller (the team owner) and Carlos Ramirez. They were classified 49th, although they did not finish. The Nimrod project was not hugely successful and the NRA/C2 had a poor finishing record. Vicki never drove it again, although she did join Bitterauf in his 911 once more for that year's Sebring 12 Hours. They did not finish.

This was Vicki's last major race appearance. She was linked to a Lola T616 drive in the 1987 Sebring 12 Hours, but did not compete. From 1985, she was a member of the PPG Pace Car team which followed Champ Car.

One rather alarming footnote in her career was a short relationship with driver and later, convicted serial killer, Christopher Wilder. After he was shot by police in 1984, she claimed that she "never had a clue"about his proclivities.

She became more and more interested in motorcycles after 1985, working as a racetrack photographer and becoming a respected expert on Ducati machines.

Elyane Imbert

Elyane, left, in 1953

 Elyane Imbert was a French driver who raced sportscars in the mid-1950s. 

A rather elusive figure, she first appears on the circuit entry lists in 1952, racing a Porsche in the Coupe d’Automne, held at Montlhery. The same year, she drove a Simca Sport in the Rallye Maroc.

In 1953, she and Simone des Forest drove a Porsche 356 Super 1500 together, starting with the Monte Carlo Rally. Elyane drove with Simone as navigator and they were 281st overall, from 346 crews that finished. This was Simone’s last major rally.

On the circuits, they competed in two World Sportscar Championship races: the Spa 24 Hours and Nürburgring 1000km. They were disqualified both times, once for receiving assistance. Driving solo, Elyane was fourth in the Rouen GP. The car appears to have been the same one each time and it belonged to Elyane. The pair were photographed together at both the Nürburgring and Monte Carlo.

In 1954, she returned to Morocco and was third in the Marrakesh Grand Prix. She was then third in the Circuit de Bressuire race for cars of more than 1100cc. 

She did not enter any more World Championship races. The retirement of her usual co-driver Simone may have been a factor. She did, however, do some more rallies in France that year, including the Rallye Sable Solesmes, driving for a team called “Ecurie des ecureuils”, or “Team Squirrel”. She had joined the team in February, alongside Gilberte Thirion. After 1954, she disappears completely from the entry lists.

(Image copyright Mike Copperthite)

Madeline Stewart

 

Madeline Stewart races sportscars and saloons in Australia.

She is a former junior and senior karter from New Zealand who began racing in the Super3 Series in Australia in 2019. This championship is the official third-level series for V8 Supercars and she went straight into it from karting.

The then 19-year-old drove a Holden Commodore for Brad Jones Racing and picked up three top-ten finishes. The best of these was an eighth place at Winton. She was fourteenth in the championship. 

As well as saloons, she also raced single-seaters in the bike-engined Formula 1000 series. She was sixth in her state championship, driving a Stohr F1000. She was racing against her sister Ashleigh in a Radical. 

Her 2020 Super3 season was limited to two races due to the international coronavirus crisis, but she showed promise with a pair of fourth places at Sydney Motorsports Park. The team entered her for the Townsville Tin Tops meeting the following month, using the same car. After one second and two third places, Madeline was declared the winner. 

Later, she joined the McElrea team for Super Tin Tops at The Bend, this time racing a Porsche 991 in the Super Cup class. She was fifth, finishing fifth or fourth in all three races. This in turn led to a guest spot in the Australian Super GT championship at Queensland, where she was sixth in the first race and fourth in the other two.

In 2021, she continued racing a Porsche, entering both the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge and part of the Australian Carrera Cup, for Earl Bamber's team. The hookup with Bamber was meant to begin with a run in the 2020 Asian Carrera Cup, but this was cancelled.

The Sprint Cup brought more success, with Madeline narrowly missing out on a top ten at Sydney Motorsports Park. This eleventh place was her best finish in the car; her guest appearance at Mount Panorama for the December Australian Carrera Cup meeting had a best result of 18th. It was a short season, finishing in May.

Her best race of the year was the Bathurst 6 Hours, in which she drove an HSV VXR Turbo with Chris Holdt and David Ling. They were fifth in class. 

Another Bathurst 6 Hours in a Holden Astra in 2022 followed, as well as an extensive sportscar programme. She was tenth in the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge, driving for the Bamber team again, with a best finish of third at The Bend. 

Before beginning the Sprint Challenge, she also made a guest appearance in a Ginetta G55 for the Fanatec GT World Challenge races at Phillip Island, finishing third twice for Griffith Corp.

For the first time, she raced outside Oceania in 2023, entering the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America. She was competing in the 992 Pro-Am class and finished third, with four third places at Sebring, Barber and Mid-Ohio. She combined this with karting in Australia.

Her American adventures continued in 2024, when she moved up to the Carrera Cup, still with JDX Racing. In a large field, she was 15th overall, finishing in the top ten twice. The best of these was a seventh place at Road America.

She competed exclusively in the States in 2025, now in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America but with the same team. She finished in the top ten twice in her first year in the series, coming tenth at Indianapolis and Circuit of the Americas. 

(Image from madelinestewart.nz)

Janine Shoffner (Hill)

Janine Hill, now known as Janine Shoffner, is a British-born American driver racing mostly in Europe. She won the FIA Am GT3 class of the 2021 VLN championship, driving a Mercedes.

She first got into motorsport quite late in life, in her 40s, although adventure sports had always been part of her life. In 2000, she was a professional skydiving photographer who completed several jumps a day. She also rode motorbikes on the road and still rides horses.

After gaining her racing license in 2011, she competed in club races. She formed Team J-2 with her partner John in 2012, initially racing a Porsche and a Ford GT. A trip to the Nurburgring in 2013 led to Janine meeting the late Sabine Schmitz, who gave her some tuition in a road car around the legendary track. This in turn brought Janine and John into Sabine’s Frikadelli racing team.

In 2014, Janine was part of Frikadelli Racing’s second team in a Porsche Cayman, with Antony Ashley. They raced in the VLN, and put in some good performances, although a crash in round 12, when Ashley was driving, was a low point. 

Janine and Antony also raced a BMW E46 in the Zolder 24 Hours for Team J2, with John Shoffner and Domenico Solombrino. They did not finish. 

In 2015, Janine raced a Mazda Miata in the USA, as well as one of the satellite Frikadelli cars in the VLN. She drove a Renault Clio in the Nürburgring 24 Hours and was 93rd overall, as part of a four-driver team. She also drove the Frikadelli Porsche Cayman. 

In 2016, she continued as a Frikadelli driver, sharing a Porsche 997 in the Cup 2 class with John. The highlight of their season was probably a class second in the Nürburgring 24 Hours.

She raced in the 24 Hours with Shoffner again in 2017, along with Arno Klaasen and Duncan Huisman. They were 32nd overall in a Porsche 991. In the VLN, she earned seven podium finishes in the same car. 

The team reconvened in 2018, although their season in the Porsche was disrupted by an accident involving John. As a consolation they were fourth in their class at the Nürburgring 24 Hours.

She raced in both the VLN and most of the International GT Open championship in 2019, for GetSpeed Performance. Her car was a Mercedes AMG GT3. She and her team-mates won their class in one VLN race and finished the 24 Hours. In GT Open, she and John were fifth in the GTAM class with two second and two third places.  

The GetSpeed Mercedes was highly successful in its class in 2020; Janine and her team-mates won their class in one VLN race and were third in another, as well as earning a class third in the Nürburgring 24 Hours. 

The GetSpeed team, featuring Janine, won the Am FIA GT3 class of the 2021 NLS, driving the Mercedes to six wins from seven races. A fourth place in class for the 24 Hour race was also impressive, as the SP9 Pro-Am category was popular that year.

The GetSpeed Mercedes was in action in the 2022 GT Open, with Janine and Moritz Kranz sharing driving duties. The team was sixth in the Pro-Am class, with one second place at the Red Bull Ring.

(Image copyright Mercedes-Benz Group Media)

Nadege Ferrier (Washer)

 

Nadege (left) with Gilberte Thirion and the Renault Dauphine

Nadege Ferrier, also known as Nadege Washer, was a Swiss driver who competed extensively in sportscar events in Europe in the 1950s. 

She began competing in hillclimbs, something she would return to throughout her career.

From 1954, she often partnered Gilberte Thirion in races and rallies, co-driving her to victory in the 1956 Tour de Corse. She had been an effective co-driver to Gilberte since 1954, when she helped pilot her Gmund Porsche 356 to sixth overall in the Randonnee des Routes Blanches in Belgium and fourth in the Soleil-Cannes Rally. The two women probably met via family connections; Nadege’s first husband Jacques Washer was a sometime rally driver and a cousin to Olivier Gendebien, Le Mans winner, team-mate and boyfriend of Gilberte for some time.

She and Gilberte shared cars, including the Tour de Corse Renault Dauphine and the Porsche 356 she drove on the 1960 Nürburgring 1000km. Their first major race together was the 1955 Mille Miglia, driving a Gordini T15S. Gilberte owned the car jointly with Annie Bousquet, who was down as the car’s entrant and had shared it since 1954, but had largely distanced herself from Gilberte by now. 

They travelled extensively together, taking the Dauphine to Sebring for the 1957 12 Hour race and finishing 35th, second in class. They were supported by the Renault factory.

She sometimes raced with other drivers, like when she and esteemed journalist Bernard Cahier contested the 1956 Mille Miglia in a Dauphine. She had intended to compete with Gilberte, but her usual team-mate decided quite late on to tackle the Italian classic by herself. Nadege knew that Cahier, another recipient of a works Dauphine, was looking for a co-driver and the pair joined forces.

The Tour de France Auto was one of her favourite events and she entered at least five times, between 1958 and 1962. Her best finish was sixth in 1961, assisted by Ginette Derolland. She excelled in long-distance multi-stage road races and was fourth in the 1959 Mille Miglia. Her car, a Porsche 356, was the first non-Ferrari home.

The 356 remained her favoured personal car for the rest of her career, at least when she was driving herself.

After Gilberte retired, Nadege continued to compete. She and Paul Frere raced a 356 in the 1959 Nürburgring 1000km, coming in 21st. The same year, she partnered the flamboyant French driver, Annie Soisbault, for the Monte Carlo Rally. Annie was part of the Triumph team that year.

The following year, she partnered Heinz Schiller, driving for Ecurie Leman. They were 16th in the 1960 Nurburgring 1000km and fifth in the 2000cc GT class. Unfortunately, the pair parted ways after the Trophee d’Auvergne at Clermont-Ferrand. Nadege had a big crash in the team’s 356B and it was severely damaged.

Back in her own Porsche, she did another Tour de France with Annie Spiers and then went on to the best result of her career: second in the Coupes du Salon at Montlhery. 

Later in her career, she also returned to hillclimbing, and was seventh in the 1961 Col de la Faucille event.

Jacqueline Evans de Lopez

 

Jacqueline Evans de Lopez was a British-born Mexican driver who competed in five runnings of the Carrera Panamericana between 1950 and 1954. 

She is most famous for her drives in a Porsche 356 in 1953 and 1954, although she was disqualified for going over time limits on both attempts. In 1953 she was excluded for the offence at Oaxaca, despite appealing the decision with the race directors. The Porsche was her own car and was painted with a tribute portrait of Argentine first lady Eva Peron, who had died in 1952.

Her best result was 37th in 1952, driving a Chrysler Saratoga. 

She used Chrysler models, a Saratoga and a Windsor, for her other two entries, finishing once in 1950, in 45th place. The car was a 1947 model and she started from 17th place to reported huge cheers. Her time was just under 36 hours and she drove the whole distance solo.

She crashed out the following year and retired due to injury, albeit not serious. Her car hit a rock close to Tehuantepec. According to contemporary press reports, her co-driver Sergio Diaz was seriously injured.

Details of other races she may have entered are sketchy. A report in the Manchester Evening News on the 17th of February 1954 describes briefly an accident where her car, a Jaguar, hit a railing in Mexico City.

At one point she claimed to be Mexico’s champion woman driver and that a cup had been named after her, although this has proved hard to verify.

She was born Grace Alice Evans Antrobus in 1915. She may have started acting while she was still in the UK and is sometimes described as having won a singing contest, or having entertained troops during the war. In 1946, she emigrated to the USA and quickly discovered Mexico on a holiday the year after. She often joked that she went for a vacation and stayed 40 years. Newspaper reports, however, suggest that she did return to live in London in the late 1950s, studying method acting at the Stanislavsky Studio in Chelsea in 1960. In 1958, she was reported to be staying in Chelsea with another Mexican actress, who had to rescue her when she was overcome by a gas leak.

Her name was often given as Evans on cast lists, although she included her married name, Lopez, on her early race entries. Her husband Fernando is normally described as being a Mexican bullfighter. They divorced some time in 1951 and some reports suggest she remarried, only to be widowed in 1956.

Away from the tracks, she was an actress in Spanish-language TV and films from 1947. This may have been her link to Eva Peron, who was also a radio and TV actress before her marriage to Juan Peron. She later played Eva Peron’s mother in a 1981 TV film starring Faye Dunaway.

She continued to act until 1986, when she made a rare appearance in a British film, Murder in Three Acts, which was set in Mexico. 

Among her other achievements were reportedly publishing her own newspaper in 1951, which is sometimes described as being a “golf magazine”. She spoke in interviews of writing songs and a play.

She died in Mexico in 1989, aged 74.

Caty Caly

 

Caty Caly (sometimes Cathy Caly) is the winner of five French Ladies’ Rallycross titles. 

Her first car was a Simca Rallye 2 which she started racing as a teenager in 1983, having been a fan of rallycross for some time. 

Her first women’s title came at the wheel of a Volkswagen Golf in 1985. 

After her first success in rallycross, she tried her hand at stage rallying in 1986, driving a Citroen Visa Mille Pistes. These Group B cars were popular in French rallying at the time and there were several female exponents of the brands after the 1984 Citroen Visa Total Trophy. 

It proved a short diversion. Caty had an accident on the Mille Pistes Rally itself and injured her neck after just a few events, bringing an end to her rally career. Her best finish had been a 28th place in the Terre de Charente Rally. This had followed another scare at the beginning of the year, when Caty attempted her first Paris-Dakar. She was driving a six-wheel-drive Mercedes 190GE with Christian de Leotard when they crashed on a night section in Niger midway through the rally. Caty was rescued by French pop singer and Dakar enthusiast Daniel Balavoine in his own aircraft and taken to hospital. Two days later, he crashed the aeroplane and died.

Later, she drove for Audi, after their redundant Group B rally cars were put into rallycross service in 1987. Her trademark on-track was a bright pink colour scheme, with black trim, carried through into her racewear. She raced an A2 in Division 2 of the French championship, earning a best result of third at Pau.

This was her last full season in the Audi for a few years. She still raced it in French rallycross occasionally, as well as a Peugeot 205 T16 and another Citroen Visa. Towards the end of the 1980s she combined part-time competition and work, developing business interests in automotive paintwork and an agency supplying promotional staff.

She won another Ladies’ championship in an Audi Quattro in 1993, following her return to regular competition. With the same car, she retained her title in 1994 and finished 15th in the overall championship.  

In 1995 and 1996 she racked up her final two ladies’ championships in a Citroen ZX. She was driving for the Dupuis team, which was supported by Citroen itself. She was ninth in the 1995 championship and fourth in Division 1, with two outright podium positions, a second and a third.

Her second Coupe des Dames as an official Citroen driver included four third places from seven rounds.

She was fourth in the Tourism class, as the ZX had been reclassified during the 1995-96 off-season.

At this time, the ladies’ championship was relatively competitive. Carolyn Boniface was Caty’s principal rival. 

Citroen ended its rallycross programme in 1997. Rather than trying to compete with the factory rallycross teams, she moved into sportscar racing. She started with the Ferrari 355 Challenge in 1997 and raced in this one-make series across Europe in 1998. Having got to grips with the car, she was second at Oschersleben and third at Spa. She raced the 355 in the Magny-Cours round of the 1999 French GT championship, sharing the car with Florence Duez. They were 31st in both races, seventh in GT4.

Driving solo, Caty also raced in the Porsche Supercup and picked up a couple of podiums, including a second place at the Hungaroring. The car suited her and a 996 became her preferred car for French GTs. She used two different models in 2000, one her own and one run by Perspective Racing. 

She continued to race a Porsche in French GTs in 2001, but as part of Team Kalliste. She normally partnered Jean-Claude Andruet, although her best result was at Pau, where Franck Legorce deputised. They were ninth overall. She planned one more race with Kalliste in 2002, sharing the 996 with Philippe Brocard, but did not actually start.

Her final French GT season was in 2003, back in a Ferrari. She drove a 360 Modena for the Auto Palace team, sharing with Steeve Hiesse. They were normally midfield finishers, although they were fairly strong in the GT class and earned two podium places. One of these was a class second that came along with a ninth place overall.

Throughout her career, Caty was a regular in ice races, like many rallycross drivers. She competed in the Andros Trophy every year between 1992 and 1999, in several different cars, including a Mini, Citroen, Lancia and Mercedes. She also raced on the ice at Chamonix at least once. 

Her last full season of competition was in 2004, when she raced in the French Supertouring Championship in an Opel Astra. She was 18th in the final standings. After that, she made occasional appearances for the next two years alongside TV work for the championship.

She made a comeback in 2013, driving in two rounds of the Euro NASCAR stock car championship in France. Her car was a Chevrolet Camaro and her best finish was tenth at Nogaro.

A recent article in La Nouvelle Republic described her as a “former racing driver”.

(Image copyright Sun Star)

Esmee Hawkey

 

Esmée Hawkey is a versatile British driver who has had her best results in the Porsche Carrera Cup.

Her motorsport career started early. After several seasons of karting she raced in Ginetta Juniors in 2014, after becoming a finalist in the Ginetta Junior Scholarship at the end of 2013. This led to a development deal with AmDTuning. As well as karting, she raced in the last three Ginetta Junior rounds of 2014, at Rockingham, Silverstone and Brands Hatch. Her best results were two 15th places, at Rockingham and Brands Hatch. She was 22nd overall. 

She also tested an AmDTuning BTCC car, driving the team’s Honda Civic during a tyre test at Snetterton.

In 2015, she drove for JHR Developments in Ginetta Juniors. Her best overall finishes were two fourteenth places, at Oulton Park, but she did well among the Rookie drivers. She was 25th in the championship. 

2016 was the year she graduated to senior competition in the form of the GT Cup, racing a Porsche Cayman for the GT Marques team.  She was runner-up in the GTA class and had a best overall finish of eighth at Donington. 

In 2017, she was nominated for the Carrera Cup GB Junior Scholarship and continued to race in the GT Cup.

She did her first full season of the Carrera Cup in 2018, still  with GT Marques, earning two podium finishes in the Pro-Am class at Monza and Brands Hatch. 

In 2019, the Carrera Cup was combined with a season in the all-female W Series, where she was fifteenth in the championship. She did better in the Carrera Cup, with three wins in the Pro-Am class at Thruxton and Oulton Park and a third on the class leaderboard. 

Her final position in the W Series standings was fifteenth and she was let go by the championship, which was cancelled in 2020 anyway. This proved to be a very minor setback in her career, as she signed with Team Parker Racing for the Carrera Cup and was instantly the Pro-Am class driver to beat. She won the class in her first four races and picked up a further five class victories later in the season. The only time she was off the Pro-Am podium was when she did not finish at Oulton. Her best overall finishes were two third places, at Donington and Brands Hatch. These were her first series podiums.

At the end of the 2019 season she was named as a test driver for the MB Motorsport BTCC team. She had her first test in the Honda Civic at Snetterton in July 2020.

At the beginning of 2021, she was announced as a driver for the Iron Dames team, but she was quickly withdrawn after her manager was found to have made an incorrect declaration regarding her FIA driver categorisation. Fortunately for her, she was quickly snapped up for a DTM race seat, driving a Lamborghini Huracan for T3 Motorsport. It was a difficult learning year, but she did manage an eleventh place at Assen and the Nurburgring, getting her first points on the DTM computer. She was 20th in the championship.

A planned second season in the DTM was limited to the first four races, as the T3 team pulled out of the championship. Her best result was an 18th place at Lausitz.

In 2023, she was announced as a driver in the British GT championship, racing a Ginetta G56 for Toro Verde. She did the first four races with Joe Wheeler, finishing two of them. They were 31st and 30th at Oulton Park.

She sat out 2024 due to pregnancy.

(Image copyright Esmee Hawkey)

Greta Oakes

Greta Oakes was an Danish-born Bahamian driver who raced in her adopted home country and in the USA in the 1950s.

A noted socialite from a wealthy family of Danish extraction who spent a lot of time in London, she married Sydney Oakes, who was instrumental in bringing motorsport to the Bahamas. In marrying Sydney in 1948, she became Lady Oakes of Nassau and became an integral part of the emerging Bahamas motor racing scene.

She entered a number of American sportscar races between 1950 and 1959, including the Sebring 12 Hours in 1955 and 1959. She usually drove with her husband and their car was normally a 3000cc Austin-Healey 100. They did not finish the 1955 race and the Bahamas Motor Club entry was only a reserve in 1959. The pair were listed as drivers in an Alfa Romeo in 1957, but did not take the start.

Greta also competed in the Nassau Speed Weeks, driving solo. She and Sydney were the chief supporters of the event alongside Sherman “Red” Crise, its American creator. It always ran very late in the season during the Bahamas summer, functioning as an end-of-year party for a mix of East Coast sportscar racers and increasingly, international stars such as Stirling Moss and Phil Hill.

She only started racing at the advent of Speed Week in 1954. Her chief sporting interest before that had been horses. In 1954, she was fourth in the Production race, driving an Austin Healey 100M. Driving the same car, she was tenth in a 402m speed trial held as part of Speed Week. 

The following year, she used the Austin-Healey for the Locals race, unsuccessfully. A Miami Herald article claimed that she called the car “The Great Dane III”.

After that, she entered the 1956 Ladies’ and Local Residents’ races, in a Porsche 356. She took part in both heats for both events but does not seem to have made the final. Her best finish was fourth in a Locals heat. This was the first time that a Ladies’ race had been held in the Bahamas and the field was quite impressive, with Denise McCluggage, Evelyn Mull, Suzy Dietrich and Marion Lowe all making the trip from the States. 

Greta missed the 1957 event but came back in 1958. This year, she drove a motorcycle-engined Berkeley SE328 in the Ladies’ race and in a Berkeley one-make encounter. She was sixth out of eight Berkeleys and seventh in the women’s race, which included four Berkeleys. The best of these was driven by Gladys Cam, who also beat Greta in the one-make event. For the Locals race, she went back to the Healey but did not finish. 

Her preferred mount for the 1959 Ladies’ event was an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider. She was fourth out of six finishers. First and second placed Prudence Baxter and Marion Lowe both used lightweight Lotus Eleven sportscars and Greta got her hands on one for the following year. She was third, behind Smokey Drolet and Heather Bethell. Heather was another Bahamas resident who raced alongside her husband Peter, who in turn had been part of the Bahamas Motor Club team for the 1959 Sebring 12 Hours.

In 1961 she did not race, but she did drive the pace car for the Governor’s Trophy. She was accompanied in her Jaguar XK-E by the Governor himself, Sir Robert Stapledon. The Jaguar was a specially-modified show car with fins, aircraft lights, a TV and a bar for passengers, plus an early radar speed trap detector and a gold-plated tool kit. 

Her racing career ended at the start of the 1960s. The Oakeses divorced suddenly in 1961 and then Sydney was killed in a road traffic accident in 1966. Greta continued to be styled “Lady Oakes” and was a regular fixture on the upper-class US social scene. She also served as an honorary consul to Denmark for the Bahamas and stood for election to the Bahamian legislative assembly in 1963. Among her other exploits was writing and directing a calypso-themed musical in 1961. 

She died in 1977.

(Image copyright Miami Herald)