Gloria Castresana Waid

Gloria Castresana Waid is a Spanish driver who was active in the 1960s, in both rallying and circuit racing.

She began competing after her marriage to Jim Waid, in 1963. She had only had her own car for three years, but had been interested in motoring for a while. Her first car was a Simca Sport.

The couple had met in the Canary Islands in 1961, where both were working for an oil company. Gloria was not a Canary Islander; she had come from Vitoria to work. Jim was American.

Gloria’s early competitive outings were in the Canaries. The islands hosted a lot of local motorsport due to favourable tax rules.

By 1965, she was taking part in major rallies. That year, she won her class in the first running of the La Palma Rally. She was also seventh overall in the Rallye Isla de Tenerife, co-driven by José Lopez Moreno. Her car was a Mini Cooper S.

Later, in 1967, she acted as a navigator to “Miss Spain”, Paquita Torres, in the Rallye Femenino San Isidro. She helped her driver to a win in the Slalom section. The same year, the Jarama circuit in mainland Spain opened. Gloria was a regular there from the beginning, having participated in the racing festival held to inaugurate the track.

In 1968, she raced in the 3 Hours of Jarama, a European Touring Car race. Her car was a Fraser Hillman Imp usually raced by her husband, and its halfshaft broke. She normally drove her Mini on the circuits.

Race results for Gloria are hard to find. Records of Spanish motorsport before about 1969 are very sketchy.

Her career finished in 1970, when she moved to the United States. Initially, she worked for a Porsche-Audi dealership in New York. She later continued her education in languages, earning a PhD. Now, she is still a respected scholar in the field of Basque Studies.

In the past two or three years, she has returned to Spain to live and published a book about her life.

(Image from http://www.imps4ever.info)

The Spanish Women's Rally Championship

"Marisol", a competitor in the 1971 Costa del Sol Rally, driving a Fiat 124

In the early 1970s, the famous Paris-St.Raphaël women’s rally, in France, was in decline. Over the border in Spain, it was a very different story. The Spanish rally scene of the time had not just one women-only event, but a whole series of them, and a championship was awarded every year, from 1971 to 1975.

Women-only rallies had an even longer history in Spain: the Rallye Femenino San Isidro, later known as the SIASA Rally, began in 1967, and the Rallye Femina, based around Barcelona, ran from at least 1962.

The first ladies’ championship appears to have been held in 1969, but it only covered Catalonia. Nuria Viñas was the winner.

A full programme of five “rallyes femeninos” ran in 1970, but these were stand-alone events, with no championship awarded.

Winners

1971 Milagros Ortega/Yolanda Maruri (Renault R8 TS)

1972 Nuria Viñas/Maria Angeles Pujol (BMW 2002 Ti)

1973 Nuria Viñas/Ana Maria Garreta (BMW 2002 Ti)

1974 “Yolanda” (Simonetta Garih)/M. Robledo (Mini Cooper)

1975 Marisol Rodriguez Mesa/Maria Teresa Rodriguez Mesa (SEAT 124)

Numbers of entries for each rally varied, with 40 drivers finishing the 1971 Rallye Femenino Saibil, but between twelve and twenty was a more usual figure. The championship itself had 49 entrants in 1972, and entries remained quite high until 1975.

The rallies themselves varied somewhat in format, but were generally shorter than the mixed rallies of the time; normally less than 200km. Most included a regularity section, a slalom and one or more special stages.

A women’s championship continued to be awarded in Spain until 1978, but after 1975, the women-only events were discontinued. The trophy was awarded to the highest-placed female driver in the main Spanish championship. Regional womens’ championships continued to exist until 1980, but were much smaller than before.

Winners

1976 Maria José Ruedas/Ana Fuster (Opel Kadett)

1977 Nuria Llopis/Marta Llopis (Simca Rallye II)

1978 Paloma Landete/? (Chrysler Avenger)

The championship has been revived in recent years, and is now awarded to the highest-performing female driver in the Spanish championship.

For profiles of some of the drivers involved, please click here. 

(Image taken from http://www.forocoches.com)