Gillian Fortescue-Thomas (Goldsmith)

Gillian Fortescue-Thomas (Goldsmith) was active in sports and touring car races in the UK and Europe between 1970 and 1975, then later in historic motorsport.

She rose to prominence in 1971, when she drove in the Ford Escort Mexico series, almost winning a race from Jody Scheckter. This was her second year as a racing driver. In 1970, she had campaigned a Formula 1200 Rejo and won one race at Lydden Hill, despite losing second gear. This car proved too expensive for her to run, as did the TVR Griffith that preceded it.

Ford were using female racing drivers to promote their cars at the time. Their competitions manager, Stuart Turner, had previously capitalised on Pat Moss’s success at BMC as a marketing tool, and was now doing the same at Ford. Gillian entered a driver search for women, organised by Ford. Rallycross featured heavily. She emerged as one of the victors, and earned a drive in the Ford Escort Mexico Challenge.

Through the Mexico series, she became involved with the Shellsport team, which usually used Mexicos. This was run out of Brands Hatch by John and Angela Webb, two more proponents of the publicity value of female racers. Her first major Shellsport event was a “Fast Girls Consul Challenge” at Brands Hatch in 1972. This race supported the Formula 5000 meeting and was highly publicised. Seventeen women took part in Ford Consul GTs. Gillian, as the winner from Jenny Birrell and Micki Vandervell, received a mink coat, presented by Graham Hill.

Gillian also travelled to Spa in 1972, to drive in the 24-Hour race in an Escort. This was one of her semi-works drives that she had won in 1971. Her team-mate was Yvette Fontaine, and they had to retire after a head gasket blew. They had qualified in eleventh spot. The pair had raced against each other in the Consuls, with Yvette finishing fourth.

In 1973, Gillian continued to appear at Shellsport events, including a “Relay Triathlon” at Brands. The traditional swimming leg was replaced by a four-lap race around the track. She was not part of the winning team, although she was one of the leading drivers. At the time, she was a popular figure in British motorsport and appeared in the likes of the Daily Express, jumping over her cars on a horse. She was usually described as a “farmer’s wife”.

At Llandow, she took part in another Ladies’ race, run by the British Women Racing Drivers’ Club. It was a handicap race, and she won in her Mexico.

As a Ford driver, she started the BSCC in an Escort. The engine failed at Brands Hatch. She did most of the rest of the season, although it is unclear whether she was driving for Ford, or her own team. The car was very unreliable, although she did manage a seventh place in the Silverstone GP support race. This was definitely a works entry.

Ford also provided a Mexico for her in the Avon Tour of Britain, as part of a works team that included Roger Clark and Prince Michael of Kent. Her co-driver was Carolyn Faulder.  

Later, in 1975, Gillian drove a Triumph Dolomite in BTCC races in the UK. Her car was run by Shellsport again, and she was sixth at Brands in her first appearance. She was then ninth in the very competitive Thruxton race. Her best finish was fourth at Silverstone, just behind her Shellsport team-mate, John Hine.

1975 was her last season for quite a while. She drifted back to her early love, horses, and became a successful amateur jockey, initially in point to point racing. In 1976, she was the first female National Hunt champion jockey.

After one retirement and a marriage, she started competing again as Gillian Goldsmith in the early 1980s. One of her first cars was an HWM-Jaguar.

She returned to the circuits in 1989 in an Aston Martin DB4. Since then, she has appeared at many major historic meetings, including the Goodwood Revival and the Le Mans Classic. She normally drives an Aston Martin, most frequently the DB4.

She still works as an ARDS instructor and races occasionally, as well as supporting her daughter, Samantha, in her own equestrian and motorsport career.

She is still fondly remembered from her BSCC days, when Gerry Marshall nicknamed her “Gillian All-Askew Thomas”.

(Image copyright Ronald Speijer)

"Valli" (Valerie Stack)

Valli's helmet, and portraits of her

“Valli” was the nom de course of Valerie Stack, a 1970s saloon racer, and Biba model, who managed to claim some good race finishes and a string of lap records too. She raced between 1975 and 1977, driving an MG Midget, Lotus Europa and Triumph TR7 with Biba sponsorship.

Her name first became known in motorsport circles in 1975, for reasons not related to her on-track performance. She was photographed sunbathing topless at Mallory Park, and the pictures were published in the British motoring press. Valli was already working as a model, and at that time, was in a relationship with racer and track owner, Chris Meek.  He encouraged her to drive one of his racing cars, and her first track appearance was more of a modelling assignment than a race, just doing some demonstration laps in an MG Midget. Meek saw that she took to the car quite well, and offered her some actual racing, in the Midget. Despite having few ambitions in that direction, she decided to give it a go, and entered the BRSCC Production Sports Car Championship. Her early races were hard work, and some ended in spins, but she was soon picking up class awards, including two at Croft. Biba, the fashion label for which she had modelled, was the main sponsor of her MG Midget, which carried a striking black and gold livery.

Away from motorsport, Valli’s professional life took a different direction in 1976. She moved away from modelling and into music production, working alongside her future husband, Emile Ford, and producing one of his albums. Her relationship with Chris Meek must have been over by then, but he continued to support her in her racing activities. She was active in Production Sports Cars again in 1976, and was one of the leading drivers in her class. She set lap records for production sports cars worth £2000 and under at Brands Hatch, Aintree, Castle Combe, Rufforth and Ingliston.

The BWRDC gave her their award for the most successful woman driver in 1976, as well as its Best Newcomer title.

In 1977, she raced a Triumph TR7 in Production Sports, also owned by Meek and sponsored by Biba. She came second in at least one race, at her favoured circuit of Croft. At some point, she raced a Lotus Europa, again owned by Meek, part of a two-car team with him, but no results are forthcoming.

That year, her name was linked to a Land Speed Record project, Blue Star, led by Dave Gossling. Valli was said to be considering an attempt on Lee Breedlove’s women’s record, by no less than Motor Sport magazine. Drag racer Tony Densham and Formula One driver, David Purley, were linked to the project too, but it never came to fruition, as Dave Gossling was killed in an accident before the car was even built.

Valli retired from motorsport after 1977, following her marriage to Emile Ford and subsequent pregnancy. She is rather an obscure figure now, although she is remembered fondly by some motor racing fans who saw her in action.

She died in 2018, aged 65.

(Image copyright “Sherbet Hamilton”)

Early Female Racers in New Zealand

Sybil Lupp

There was no major, organised motor racing in New Zealand until after the Second World War. After that, in the late 1940s, road races began to be held, first on public roads, then on purpose-built circuits. Women drivers were involved in these, right from the start. They were also part of the speed eventing scene, which grew up shortly before this.

This post describes some of New Zealand’s female racers in the 1940s and 1950s.

Nola Blackburn – raced a JAP-engined Cooper single-seater in road races in the 1950s. She took part in the New Zealand Championship Road Race in 1952 and 1953, and finished once, in tenth place, at Mairehau, in 1952. The following year, when the race was held at Dunedin, she crashed out. Nola may also have raced a Buick alongside her father, Vic Blackburn, shortly before. The Cooper remained in the family until about 1958, when it was sold.

June Monk – started off racing a Ford 10 special, then acquired a Triumph TR2, painted pink, which she raced in some major events in the mid-1950s. She did not finish the CWF Hamilton Trophy in 1955 or 1956, but was twelfth in the South Island Championship Road Race in 1957. Her position on handicap was fourth. After this, she competed in club events only, in a Jaguar XK140.

(Image from http://www.drivesouth.co.nz/news/4395/had-drive-and-makeup)

Annie Soisbault (de Montaigu)

Annie competing in the Alpine Rally in her TR3

Annie Soisbault competed in rallies and races across Europe, between 1956 and 1969. She had always been interested in sports from an early age, but her first love was tennis: she was one of France’s leading junior players of her time, winning seven titles. She continued to play professionally as a senior, and is meant to have used some of her winnings to buy her first sports car, a Delahaye.

Her first international event was the 1956 Monte Carlo Rally, in a Simca. Her role was as a “second driver”, more or less a back-seat passenger to Germaine Rouault and Louisette Texier. She remained on the back seat from Munich until the Ardeche, where the team struggled with heavy snow. Annie demanded a go at the wheel, and surprised her more experienced team-mates by setting some good times and passing several other drivers. However, her heroics were not enough to save them, and they were still unclassified.

In 1957, she took to the stages in her own Triumph TR3. The biggest rally she entered (and not strictly a rally) was the Tour de France, and she was 21st overall, driving with Michèle Cancre. There were 23 finishers that year. In the same car, she entered the Coupes de Salon at Montlhéry, and was eighth in her race.

In a Panhard Dyna belonging to her co-driver, Monique Bouvier, she also entered the Mille Miglia. They lasted a little over half of the distance, before a problem with a piston put them out.

She became a Triumph works driver in 1958, using a TR3. The story goes that the Triumph motorsport team were considering Annie or Pat Moss for a works drive. Annie told them that she was not interested in working with indecisive people, and they signed her forthwith. It is unclear how much truth is in this story. Annie had a talent for self-promotion; an example of this is her appearance in the promotional Shell film “Coupe des Alpes”, which featured some competition footage and some staged sequences, and was shown on television. She was also regarded by some of her peers as “difficult”.

That year, she seems to have finished the Monte Carlo Rally with Tish Ozanne, albeit unplaced. She also entered the Alpine Rally, but retired due to mechanical problems. The Tour de France was a happier hunting ground. She was fourteenth overall with Michèle Cancre.

In 1959, she continued with the TR3, coming to the UK for the RAC Rally. Co-driven by Val Domleo, she finished, but was unplaced. It had been a similar story on the Monte, although Nadège Ferrier took the co-driver’s seat. Once again, she did not finish the Alpine Rally. Her biggest result was her win on the Paris-St. Raphaël women’s rally, which contributed towards her European Ladies’ Rally Championship title. This award was not without controversy; Annie seems to have exploited a loophole in the rules about the number of female participants in an event for a Coupe des Dames to be awarded, non-starting on some rallies in order to deny Ladies’ points to Pat Moss, her main rival apart from Ewy Rosqvist, who was joint winner. This behaviour did not endear her to other competitors, or to observers. 

In more sportscar-oriented competition, she was thirteenth in the Tour de France, once more with Michèle Cancre as co-driver.

1960 saw her association with Triumph coming to an end. She failed yet again to finish the Alpine Rally, this time with Annie Spiers. Throughout her career, Annie preferred to work with other female drivers. This was true in both rallies and races. This year, she revisited her partnership with Michèle Cancre for the Tour de France, and was 16th. Their car was a Porsche 356B. Earlier in the season, driving solo, Annie had attempted the Coupes de Vitesse at Montlhéry, and was thirteenth in a Triumph. At some point during 1960, she travelled to Brazil for the Rio de Janeiro Grand Prix, and was seventh in a sportscar race, driving a Porsche 1600. This season, she also sampled single-seater racing in a Lola Formula Junior, which she used in some Formula Three races in France.

Increasingly, she favoured sportscar events and road races over stage rallying, and this seems to have been her main focus for most of the 1960s. She took part in the Tour de France on several more occasions, with a best result of sixth in 1963, driving a Jaguar, the same car in which she had failed to finish in 1962. She also scored her best result in the Monte Carlo Rally, fourteenth, in a DKW, with P. Gele, but seemingly as a navigator.

She was fourth in the 3000cc GT class the following year, in a Ferrari 250 GTO. Her overall position was fourteenth, and her co-driver was Nicole Roure. Driving a different Ferrari, an LM run by Ecurie Francorchamps, she was 18th in the Paris 1000km, driving with Guy Ligier. Her main car that year was a Porsche 904. In it, she was thirteenth in the Rheims 1000km, with Claude Dubois, and sixth in the Paris GP at Montlhéry. She is known to have entered the Dakar 6 Hours, but the result has been lost.

The Ecurie Francorchamps Ferrari was her main mount for 1965. In it, she entered the Monza 1000km, Spa 500km and Rheims 12 Hours, but did not finish any of them, due to mechanical failures and one accident, at Rheims. Her only good result came in the Paris GP, where she won the GT class in her own Ferrari GTO. In the same GTO, she also attempted a round of the French national rally championship, but did not finish.

She drove a Porsche 906 in 1966, staying in France this time. She is known to have entered the Coupe de Vitesse and the Coupe du Salon, but the results are not forthcoming. A scheduled appearance in the Paris 1000km did not happen. After this, Annie became very much an occasional racer, and concentrated on her professional role as managing director of an upmarket motor dealership, importing Aston Martin and other marques to France. The business belonged to her husband, the Marquis de Montaigu.

Her last major appearances were at the Mont Ventoux hillclimb. She had been a regular at the big climbs since at least 1960, having crashed her Ferrari GTO there in 1965. In ‘66, she was not among the major finishers, but did become the first female driver to average over 100kph, driving a Porsche 906. In 1967, she won the Ladies’ Cup in the same car. She retired completely from motorsport in 1969.

Annie was a fascinating character, a sporting adventuress more in the style of Hellé Nice and Kay Petre, than her contemporaries. She is famous for her pet cheetah, which she sometimes brought with her to rallies for photo opportunities, and for her reputation as a bonne vivante, who enjoyed the finer things in life. Her furious competitive streak was not enough to land her the overall victories of a Pat Moss or Rosemary Smith, but her media-mindedness ensured that she was noticed everywhere.

She died in September 2012, aged 78.

Thanks to members of the TNF forum for information.

(Photo from http://www.forum-auto.com/sport-auto/histoire-du-sport-auto/sujet343197-2800.htm)