Alisha Palmowski

Alisha Palmowski began her racing career in Ginetta Juniors in 2022, aged 15. She was the winner of the Ginetta Junior Scholarship and her prize was a full season’s racing in the championship. She describes this win as a turning point in her career; without it, she might never have switched to cars from karts.

Her scholarship followed six years of karting, during which she finished strongly in two junior categories. Although she quickly became competitive, she had no great interest in doing sports as a child, and only watched motorsport on TV.

Her best results were two eighth places at Knockhill in July and the challenging Brands Hatch GP circuit, in October. This was one of six top-ten finishes she earned that year and she was thirteenth in the championship. A run in the Ginetta Winter Series followed; the four-round series was held at Brands Hatch and she picked up one second and one third place.

In 2023, she was fifth in the championship, with ten podiums from 24 races. She was third in her second race of the season at Oulton Park, then second twice at Silverstone, setting herself up for a strong run in her final year as a junior racer.

Switching to single-seaters, she entered the GB4 championship in 2024 and was immediately on the pace again, winning the first round at Oulton Park, one of her best circuits. This was one of three wins that year, which gave her second in the championship, with eight additional podium finishes.

Impressing many onlookers by getting to grips with GB4 so quickly, she was selected as a wildcard entry for the Bahrain F1 Academy round and finished fifth in the one race which took place. This led to a full-time Academy seat in 2025, driving for the Campos team as Red Bull's supported driver. She has spoken openly about being quite star-struck in the F1 paddock, but it did not affect her performance.

At the end of 2024, she took part in the Formula E Women's Test at Jarama, driving for the Envision team with Alice Powell.

To prepare for her upcoming season, she entered the Formula Winter Series at the start of 2025, alongside her Campos team-mates, Chloe Chambers and Rafaela Ferreira. All three did two rounds each, with Alisha taking the first two at Algarve and Ricardo Tormo. She was the highest-placed of the three, coming in 23rd in the championship. Algarve was her best circuit; she was thirteenth twice and twelfth once.

She could not have hoped for a better start to her 2025 F1 Academy season. An incident-strewn first race at Shanghai meant that a calm and determined Alisha was able to take her first win. She followed it with a sixth place, and was then third and fourth at Jeddah, and second at Miami.

(Image copyright Red Bull)

Jeanette Lindstrom

 

Jeanette Lindstrom was one of America’s first female racing drivers. She was also the first woman in Chicago to earn her driving license, aged only thirteen.

In September 1900, she took part in the International Automobile Meeting in Chicago, held at the Washington Park speedway. She raced a Lindstrom electric car against Miss MA Ryan over two miles, winning by half a mile. Her time was 5:56s.

Miss Ryan challenged her to a rematch the day afterwards, which was thrown open to any other women drivers in electric cars, but it is unclear whether this happened. Some reports suggest that Miss Ryan won. 

According to some newspaper reports, Jeanette learned to drive when she was eleven. At the end of October 1900, she was certified by the city electrician to drive in public, having passed an exam on the workings of an electric car. There was no practical test. Other sources claim she had only been driving for a few months prior to this.

Jeanette’s motoring fortunes were linked to those of her father, Charles, who was an inventor and engineer who founded the Hewitt-Lindstrom electric car company with John Hewitt. Only one model of car was ever produced and this “high-geared runabout” was the car raced by Jeanette. Production ceased in 1901 and the company folded in 1902.

Jeanette disappeared from public life after this. 

(Image from The Western News)

Juju Noda

 

Juju Noda is a Japanese single-seater driver who earned huge media attention as the youngest person to drive a Formula 3 car, aged 11, in 2017. 

The daughter of former Formula 1, Indycar and Super GT racer, Hideki Noda, Juju was introduced to motorsport at a very early age and was karting at three, winning her first race at four. She first tested a full-size car in 2015, driving a Formula 4 which she then drove in public the following year, still aged only nine. Two years later, she was doing speed trials and track days at the Okiyama circuit in an F3 car.

By the time of her F3 test, she had already beaten a lap record for Formula 4 Okiyama in 2016, although it did not stand as it was set during an unofficial track appearance at a Super GT meeting. 

Due to her age, she was unable to compete in her home country, which requires racing drivers to be at least 16, although she raced a little in the USA at the tender age of 13. She took part in the Lucas Oil Winter Race Series meeting at Laguna Seca in early 2019, in a Ray single-seater. Her best result was a fourth place, alongside two eighth places. 

This led to a drive in the 2020 Danish F4 championship, one of the few series to allow drivers of Juju's age (14 at the time) to compete. She won her first race at Jyllandsringen and earned three more podiums, two thirds and a second, on her way to sixth in the championship.

In 2020, she also took part in assessments held by the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission in order to find a junior driver for the Ferrari Academy. Juju was not among the finalists.

Her 2021 season was meant to be spent in the US F4 championship, driving for Jay Howard Driver Development. She practiced for the first round at Road Atlanta and ran fastest, but she did not qualify and withdrew from the championship due to “various recent issues”. Her team did not specify what these issues were, only that they were not related to racism and were “external”.

She returned to the Danish championship just in time for the start of the season. Her Noda Racing-run car was the first F4 car over the line at Padborg, the first of two wins from pole position. She did not finish the third race and was then disqualified from the front of the fourth for causing a collision. Her season did not quite hit the heights again, although she did score six more podium finishes on the way to seventh in the championship. 

At the beginning of 2022 she made a surprise switch to the all-female W Series, taking one of its Academy team spots alongside Bianca Bustamante. The W F3 Regional-based car did not suit Juju and she only got into the top ten once with a ninth place at the Hungaroring.

She also did some races in the Drexler Formula 3 Cup in Europe, competing at Monza, the Red Bull Ring and Brno. Driving a Tatuus T-318 similar to those used in W Series, she earned three fifths and three seventh places in the Open class.

All-female racing was completely left behind in 2023, but controversy was not. She signed up for the Euroformula Open series with her own team and became increasingly quick, winning a race at Paul Ricard and scoring two further podiums. However, after a rule change that allowed female drivers to run a lighter car than their male counterparts, Noda Racing abruptly left the championship. They jumped ship to the Italian F2000 Trophy, with Juju driving a Dallara 320 similar to the EF Open car. She won five races outright on her way to the championship. Later in the season, she entered the BOSS GP series, driving a World Series by Nissan car at Monza. She finished second and third.

She signed for the 2024 BOSS championship, but did not race, in favour of a seat in Japan's Super Formula, the highest level of single-seater racing in Japan. Juju drove for the TGM Grand Prix team, the first Japanese woman to do so and the youngest driver in the championship's history. However, it was a tough season for her. She was near the back for the entire season, with a best finish of twelfth at Suzuka, during the final meeting of the series. She was 21st in the championship.

(Image copyright The Drive)

Emily Linscott

 

Emily Linscott is an ambitious single-seater racer from the UK who began her career very young.

She first raced a car in 2017 when she competed in the last three rounds of the Ginetta Junior championship. This was only her second season in motorsport full stop, having taken up karting in 2016, aged 13. She also had a shaky start in cars; only the second time she drove on a circuit, she was taken off at Snetterton by an F3 car. The Ginetta was written off and she had to have a spare car brought from the factory.

Her best Ginetta Junior overall finishes were a pair of twelfth places at Brands Hatch and Silverstone, although she scored far better in the rookie rankings. 

Richardson Racing saw her potential and she was signed by the team for the 2018 Ginetta Junior season, earning a best finish of ninth and 16th in the championship. This was in spite of a crash in practice at Knockhill which left her with heavy bruising. The car’s brakes failed going into the hairpin and Emily narrowly avoided going into the barrier head-on. After seeking clearance from the track medics, she was back on the circuit for qualifying and her two races.

At the end of the season she travelled to Malaysia for a guest appearance in the Southeast Asia Formula 4 championship, finishing seventh twice at Sepang even though her car had gearbox and electrical problems. She did not finish the third race of the meeting, having collided with another driver while running in second place. 

In 2019, she travelled to the USA at weekends for the Lucas Oil Formula Car race series, where she was being mentored by Pippa Mann. She was eighth in the championship, with two second places at NCM Motorsports Park. At the end of the year, she was third in the series' Scholarship shootout. She also took part in a couple of rounds of the Dunlop Endurance Championship with Peter Bassill, driving his Ginetta G55 at Oulton Park. They won their class in both of their races. 

Her focus switched again to single-seaters for 2020 and she stayed in America for the Lucas Oils Formula Car Championship, supported by Indycar driver Pippa Mann. She was seventh in the championship, with one podium finish at New Jersey. 

She is racing in US F4 in 2021, driving for Teena Larsen’s Kiwi Motorsport. Once again, she is being supported by Pippa Mann and her Shift Up Now initiative. Part of Emily’s season is being financed through crowdfunding and the rest by a scholarship from PMH Powering Diversity.

Her time training in the US seems to have paid off; her third race at Road Atlanta gave her a debut top-ten when she finished eighth. She also impressed by moving strongly up the field after qualifying problems.

She did complete 14 of the 17 rounds of the championship, but as she was gathering sponsorship on a race-by-race basis, there was no budget for testing. As a British citizen, she was also unable to undertake paid work in the US. She was 23rd in the championship and later admitted that her time in the States had taken its toll on her mental health. She is currently taking a break from competition.

(Image copyright Emily Linscott)

Charlotte Birch

 

Charlotte Birch is a British sportscar racer who is most associated with Ginettas.

Her career started early. She began racing cars at fourteen. Unusually, she stepped straight into junior motorsport without having done any karting beforehand. 

Her first destination in cars was the Junior Saloon Car Championship in the UK in 2017. In her first year she had a best finish of tenth, at Rockingham, Knockhill, Croft and Brands Hatch. She was fourteenth in the championship.

This improved to second in 2018, at Anglesey, plus a third place at Rockingham. The Anglesey podium came after a tenth-place grid start. She continued to improve in spite of quite a nasty accident at Silverstone at the start of the season. A couple of missed races and some indifferent finishes meant that she was thirteenth overall, a final leaderboard position that did not quite demonstrate her ability.

Her aim is to race in the BTCC or endurance racing and she took her first step towards this by competing in the senior Ginetta G40 championship in 2019. She was seventh in the championship after contesting all of the rounds apart from the Zandvoort away weekend and had a best finish of seventh, which she earned three times, at Oulton Park and Brands Hatch. 

In 2020, she raced a Vinna Sport Ginetta in the Britcar Trophy with Adriano Medeiros. Charlotte led the championship mid-season but dropped scores meant that she was fourth in the end, third in class. Charlotte was often the fastest driver in her class and ran as well as the highly-experienced Adriano Medeiros. 

She raced the Vinna Ginetta again in 2021, attempting to continue her form as a solo driver in Britcar. It turned out to be a very shortened season, but she did return to the Endurance class in a Ligier prototype at the end of the season. She and Jamie Vinall-Meyer won their class at Donington in October.

Vinna and Charlotte also founded a prize for the best female driver in the JSCC. Charlotte also appeared on BBC's Top Gear in a group of current and recent JSCC drivers for a racing segment.

She moved away from the Vinna operation as a driver in 2022, joining up with Topcats Racing for the GT Cup. The car was a Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo which she shared with team owner Charlotte Gilbert. Charlotte was 14th as an individual driver in the Sprint Challenge and seventh in the Sporting Challenge with her team-mate.

There was not much racing for Charlotte in 2023; she worked as a team manager for Vinna and did some rounds of the Honda Civic Cup towards the end of the year. She also tried out for the Rafa Racing Porsche scholarship in the USA, but was not selected.

In 2024, she also competed quite irregularly, racing a Honda Civic in two rounds of the Milltek Civic Cup in the UK. She also reunited with a Ginetta G55 for a round of the British Endurance Championship.

(Image copyright Charlotte Birch)

Lydia Walmsley

 

Lydia Walmsley is one of Britain’s leading female Mini racers.

She has been racing a BMW Mini since 2018 and has recorded wins in the UK Mini Challenge.

After a successful stint as a junior karter, she started her career in cars in 2016, driving a Citroen Saxo in the Junior Saloon Car Championship. She was fourteen when she entered the championship and combined her part-season with karting. Her best result was a sixth place, at Knockhill. After four races, she was 26th in the championship. 

She returned to the JSCC in 2017 and proved a competent driver. Her best finishes were two fourths at Silverstone and Rockingham at the start of the year. A roll into the tyre wall and subsequent non-start at Knockhill interrupted her momentum somewhat, but she was still seventh overall.  

In 2018, she graduated to the Mini Challenge, competing in the Cooper Pro class. At sixteen, she was the youngest driver on the grid. She was ninth overall. 

This improved to third in 2019 and included her debut win at Snetterton, in the last race of the season. Her win followed four other podiums. She was second at Donington and Croft and third at Oulton Park and Brands Hatch. Her qualifying pace was often good and she started near the front of the grid.

Although she did not win again in 2020, she was third in the final standings, despite missing one race at Thruxton. Her best finishes were two second places at Oulton and Snetterton. Seven of her eight race finishes were top-tens, with five of these being top-fives. She was the leading female driver in the championship. This year, the Mini Challenge ran alongside British Touring Cars and Lydia’s races were shown live on television.

She was awarded the British Women Racing Drivers’ Club’s Goodwin Trophy for 2020 as the club’s highest-performing eligible member. Not long after, she was named as one of Motorsport UK’s “Academy Class of 2021-2022”, having been chosen as a particularly promising young driver worthy of further support.

She stepped up to the JCW class for 2021, the fastest class in the championship. It was a hard learning year, but Lydia pronounced herself satisfied with it, having completed a full season of racing and testing. She was fourth in the rookie class and 22nd overall.

A second attempt at the JCW championship led to a 19th in the final leaderboard. She came close to the top ten at Knockhill and Brands Hatch, picking up an eleventh place. She was tenth in the same series in 2023, with three fifth places towards the end of the season at Silverstone and Brands Hatch.

In 2024, she picked up her first JCW podium, finishing third at Snetterton. She was ninth in the championship.

(Image copyright minichallenge.co.uk)

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)

Irina Sidorkova

Irina Sidorkova is a title-winning junior touring car driver from Russia who has recently moved into single-seater competition.

She first raced at a Moscow rally show in 2015, when she was just eleven. This was the beginning of her involvement with the Volkswagen Academy which supported the saloon part of her career. Prior to this, she raced karts in Russia, Estonia and Finland. She won a championship in Estonia in 2012.

Her early interest seemed to be in rallying; she was a junior in the Rally section of the VW Academy and drove a Polo in a Finnish rally, where she was 22nd overall. This was before she even hit her teens.

She then gravitated towards the circuits and raced a Volkswagen Polo in the Russian national junior touring car championship. In 2017, she won two of her eight races, at Fort Grozny and Nizhny Novgorod. She also scored two second places at Smolensk. This took her to second place in the National Junior class of the Russian Circuit Racing series. On ice, she won in St Petersburg, taking home the Ice Circuit Racing Cup.

In 2018, she updated her second place to a championship with three wins in the early part of the season, at Fort Grozny and Smolensk. Three further podium positions kept her ahead of her Polo team-mate, Pavel Kuzminov.

Late in the season, she was entered into the Assen rounds of the SMP Formula 4 championship. This was her first experience of single-seaters and she finished all three races in thirteenth place.

At the beginning of 2019, she was announced as one of SMP’s drivers in the Spanish Formula 4 championship, in a car run by the DriveX team. She was still not yet sixteen. Her first meeting with the series at Navarra resulted in her first top ten, an eighth place. She later finished sixth at Motorland in Spain. Overall, it was a tough learning year and she waas 19th overall. She did slightly better in the SMP F4 series, finishing sixth.

Her management expressed hopes that she will represent Russia in the W Series in 2020, a wish that was granted during the second round of driver selections. The 2020 W Series was cancelled due to coronavirus but Irina took her place in 2021. As preparation, she entered the F3 Asian Championship, driving a Formula Regional car for the first time. She was not among the front-runners and had a best finish of twelfth at Yas Marina.

Her W Series season was very inconsistent and she had to miss three races due to issues with her visa. She impressed many with a second place in the second round at the Red Bull Ring, but could not build up any momentum. She did manage a fourth at the Hungaroring, but was then thirteenth at Zandvoort and was unable to travel for the US rounds. She was ninth in the championship. As a "W Series Academy" team driver, her place in the series is protected. Alongside Nerea Marti, she also undertook an FIA F3 test at the end of the season, but no times were published.

Russian drivers were barred from participation in most major motorsport championships in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. Irina was quietly dropped by W Series, although she is still listed as one of their drivers. She announced that she was taking up body-building, but did return to the Russian Circuit Racing Series. She drove a Subaru BRZ in the Super Production class and was sixth in the championship, with two wins.

She raced a BR03 in the Russian national endurance series in 2023, after making her sportscar debut at the end of 2022 in an Audi RS3 TCR. A deal to run a Ferrari 458 fell through. She did not do a full season but she was fourth in the season-ending Sochi 6 Hours, sharing with Kirill Ladygin.

Driving a Mercedes AMG GT4 solo, she was fourth in the GT4 section of the Russian Circuit Racing Championship. Her best finishes were four third places.

(Image copyright SMP Racing)

Hailie Deegan

Hailie Deegan is the first female driver to win a race in the K&N Pro Series.

Hailie, born in 2001, only began racing seriously in 2017. She finished two CARS Super Late Model Tour events and was unspectacular, if reliable. Her career only really got started in 2018, when she signed up for a full season in the K&N Pro Series West, driving Bill McAnally’s Toyota. She was still only 16. In her early teens, she had been a successful off-road racer with junior titles to her name.

Her season began with a promising seventh place at Bakersfield, then it wasn’t long before the “firsts” began to stack up. She earned her first top-five finish two months later, coming in fourth at Orange Show and then fifth at Colorado. Her first pole position was at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Dirt Track; she finished second. However, her next race, at Meridian, yielded her first win, from fourth on the grid. Before the end of the season, she had racked up another pole at Bakersfield and two top-ten finishes.

As well as the Western Pro Series, she did some rounds of the Eastern championship. This was far less successful, beginning with a non-finish at Smyrna due to electrical problems and ending with crashes at Iowa and Gateway. In between, she managed a best finish of thirteenth at Memphis.

Away from championship races, she won a heat of the 2018 Star Nursery series at Las Vegas. A second attempt at the Star Nursery in February 2019 led to a fourth place, from pole.

2019 started with the first race of the Pro Series East championship, at New Smyrna. Again, Hailie had to retire her Toyota with electrical problems. Back in the West series at her favoured Vegas track, she earned another win after a last-lap dash to the front. She had started from eighth on the grid. She won again at Colorado, from fourth, and was second at Roseville from pole. In all, she scored six podiums during the season and was third in the championship.

Her part-season in the Pro Series West was not as stellar, often due to non-finishes. She started with a pole at Smyrna, but could only finish 16th after electrical problems. She was ninth at Bristol and Gateway, her best Western results of the year.

In 2020 she concentrated on the ARCA Menards Series, running in David Gilliland's Ford for the full season. It was a strong season with two second places at Daytona and Springfield, plus two further top-five finishes. The only time she was out of the top ten was when she did not finish, which was a fairly uncommon occurrence. She was third in the championship.

She also did her first race in the NASCAR Truck series in 2020. It was a single-race deal for the Kansas event and she was 16th overall, having started in 34th place.

The Truck series was her main on-track home in 2021 and she did all 22 rounds. Mostly, she ran in the mid-field and managed to stay out of trouble, although she did show some flashes of speed, especially in qualifying. The Gateway oval was her best circuit and she was a season's-best seventh there.

Another full season in Craftsman Trucks beckoned in 2022, with David Gilliland's team. It was another mid-ranking season, but she managed a career-best sixth at the Talladega Superspeedway. This was her second top-ten of the year after a tenth place at Mid-Ohio.

She also made her debut in the Xfinity Series at Las Vegas, in Bobby Dotter's car. She was thirteenth, from 35 finishers.

A full-time move back to Trucks followed. The 2023 season started badly with crashes at Daytona and Las Vegas, but she was twelfth at Atlanta from 32nd on the grid. Her first top ten was two races later, at Fort Worth, followed by thirteenth at Bristol from sixth on the grid. She had a mid-season slump, although she remained a consistant finisher, but did get back on the pace at Talladega, finsihing eighth. She was 19th in the championship.

Her season in 2024 comprised just over half of the Xfinity Series. It started badly with a crash at Daytona and she was not really on the pace all year, although she did manage a best finish of twelfth at Talladega. This was one of four top-twenty finishes that year, from thirteen races.

Late in 2024, she announced that she would be moving into single-seaters in 2025, racing in the Indy NXT championship for the HMD team.

Hallie’s on-track nickname is “Dirt Princess”. She returned to her dirt-track roots in 2021, racing a SxS vehicle in both the Nitro Rallycross and Camping World SRX Series. She was fourth and fifth in the two finals at the rallycross event, held at The Firm in North Carolina.

Her father is motocross racer Brian Deegan.

(Image from https://hometracks.nascar.com)

Junior Rallying

Alice Paterson and Amy McCubbin

Junior rallying for 14-17 year olds is a relatively recent innovation, mainly found in the UK and Scandinavia. Girls are often involved. Below are profiles of some of the youngest rally drivers in Europe.

Lina Björklund - currently competes in the Junior class of Swedish rallying. She started her rally career in 2013, in a Volvo 940, and was 53rd in her first event, the LRD-Ruschen. This was enough to attract the attention of Ramona Karlsson, who named her as one of her “Young Female Drivers”, who are being mentored by Ramona. In 2014, she undertook a wide programme of Swedish rallies, and enjoyed a best finish of eleventh, in the Föneruschen event. She also scored three Youth class wins, quite early in the season, and was a strong contender for the championship. She also managed another, separate class win in the Kullingstrofén, and was 75th overall. In 2017, she did not manage many rallies, but was twelfth in the Jamtrallyt, in the Volvo. Prior to taking up rallying, Lina competed on the circuits for three years, in the Renault Junior Cup. In 2012, she was second in the championship, with three wins.

Jenna McCann – Irish driver who came to prominence competing in the Junior championship in Ireland. In 2017, she won the Irish Junior Tarmac Championship. She started her 2015 campaign in a Peugeot 106, which gave her a best finish of sixth in the Cavan Stages Junior Rally, but became increasingly reliable. A Ford Fiesta R2 proved more reliable, and gave her two fifth places, in the Clare and Wexford Junior rallies. She was seventh in the championship overall, and the only female driver. A move into the Irish National Championship in 2016 led to a win her class in the Cavan Stages, finishing 47th overall. She finished all ten of her events. She won her first rally in 2017: the Cork 20 International Junior Rally. In 2018, she mostly took part in senior events in her Fiesta, in both Eire and Northern Ireland. Despite this, she went back to Junior competition for the early part of 2019, earning two more top-tens in Irish events driving the Fiesta. Later, she sampled the power of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX on the Cork Forest Rally, but did not finish. Although opportunities for competition were limited in 2020, she entered two more senior rallies in the Lancer, finishing the Carrick on Suir Rally in 21st place from 48 finishers. After a year's break, she returned in 2022 with a Ford Fiesta, in which she had a best finish of ninth in the Laois Rallysprint. A few more rallies in the Fiesta in 2023 led to an eleventh place in the Tipperary Sean Conlon Memorial Forest Rally. Her first experiences with rallying came from navigating for her father, James McCann, in 2013.

Letisha Conn - rallies in Scotland and Northern Ireland in junior events. She began in 2019, aged fourteen. Her car for the Northern Ireland Rallysport championship was a Citroen C1, and she managed a win at Aghadowey as well as a third at Nutts Corner. In Scotland, she normally drove a Peugeot 107, in which she was not quite as competitive, picking up two fourth places in the Condor and Crail Stages. She rallied in Irish gravel events in 2020, although her first outing, the Limerick Forest Rally, was stopped due to snow. She did not finish the Carrick on Suir Rally. Her last season as a junior gave her a first win, the 2021 Annabelle Tennant Miltown Junior Stages Rally. She was also second in the Albar Kames Trophy Junior event, driving a Skoda Citigo. Back in the C1, she tackled her first senior rally, the Boggeragh Rallysprint. 2022 was a mix of UK junior rallies and senior events and she used the Citroen, Skoda, C1, a Peugeot 106 and a Ford Fiesta. She brought the Fiesta out again for three more senior events in 2023, recording a best finish of 50th in the Modern Tyres Ulster Rally. She continued to compete in 2024, driving a BMW E87, in the UK and Ireland, although she had a lot of bad luck with reliability.

Amy McCubbin - active in junior rallies in the UK since 2016, when she was fourteen years old. In her first season, she was eleventh in the 1000 Junior Ecosse championship, driving a Nissan Micra. Her best finish was ninth in the ABR Travel Services Junior Rally. In 2017, she improved dramatically, and became a regular top ten finisher, despite swapping her Micra for a Skoda Citigo. Her best finish has been fifth, in the Granite Junior Stages, driving the Citigo. She was seventh in the 2017 Junior 1000 Ecosse Challenge. In 2018, she continued for another season as a junior, in the Citigo.

Kasia Nicklin - one of the youngest-ever rally drivers in the UK. She began rallying in 2010 in Junior F1000, aged fourteen. Her car was a Nissan Micra, and her best result was fourth in the Junior class, in the Hall Trophy Stages. In 2011, she continued in the same series and the same car, and was a more consistent top-ten contender, with multiple fourth places. In 2012, she continued in the Junior class, and achieved second places in the Honington and Woodbridge Stages. She was seventh in the junior class. She did three major rallies in 2013, in the Micra. Her best finish was 20th on the Woodbridge Stages, where she won her class. She does not appear to have competed in 2014, but she managed to get out again in the Micra in 2015. Her best result was 24th, second in class, in the Flying Fortress Stages. In 2021 she returned to action in the Micra, entering the Snetterton Stages. The car was replaced by a Ford Fiesta R2 for three more rallies in 2022, and three more in 2023, including a 17th place in the Lookout Stages Rally.

Alice Paterson - started rallying at the age of fourteen in 2016. She contested the 1000 Junior Ecosse Challenge and was twelfth overall, driving a Peugeot 107. Her best rally result was thirteenth, which she achieved on five out of her six rallies. She stuck with the same car for 2017 and earned some better finishes; four out of her five rallies have ended in top tens. The best of these was a fifth place in the 5 Star Junior Stages. Both Alice and Amy McCubbin spoke out in the Scottish papers against David Coulthard when he cast doubts on women’s ability to race cars. Her 2018 season was quite similar, although she did suffer a couple of retirements.

Erica Winning - took part in junior rallies in the UK in 2018, driving a Nissan Micra. She mostly competed in Scotland, in the Junior 1000 Ecosse Challenge. From seven events, all of which she finished, she managed four top-tens, the best of these being two ninth places in the Condor Memorial Gardens and 5 Star Junior Stages. 2018 was her first season as a rally driver. Her second gave her five top-ten finishes in junior events in 2019. After a break, she returned to competition in 2021, finishing fifth in the Mach 1 Junior Stages. She has since switched to co-driving.

(Image from http://www.soscc.co.uk)

Rallycross in Scandinavia

Magda Andersson

The Scandinavian nations produce many rallycross drivers and women get in on the action too, especially in the national championships. Camilla Antonsen and Susann Bergvall now have their own profile.

My Adolfsson - rallycross driver from Sweden. She raced in the Swedish junior championship in 2014, in a Vauxhall Corsa. Her first race came when she was still only 16. Due to car problems, she did not complete all the rounds. She was fifteenth overall in the NGK Masters, after finishing second in one of her qualifying races, then suffering more car trouble. Previously, she competed in Folkrace, from the age of fourteen, and she still races on occasion, in the Women’s class. Her 2015 season in the Swedish rallycross championship was badly affected by a leg injury to My, who sat out part of the year following surgery. At the end of the year, she returned for the season finale, driving her Corsa. She is or was part of Ramona Karlsson’s Young Female Drivers mentoring project. In 2017, she took part in Folkrace events and continued in the discipline.

Klara Andersson - winner of the Swedish 2150 class rallycross championship in 2021, driving a 1-series BMW. Later in the year, she entered the RX2e class of the FIA Rallycross championship, finishing fourth at Spa in her debut event. This followed a second place in the 2020 Swedish Junior Rallycross championship. 2020 was her third season in rallycross after several years of karting. She is a member of the Swedish Junior team and her sister, Magda Andersson, also competes in rallycross in Europe. In addition to rallycross, she tested an Extreme E car in Sardinia in October 2021. This led to an Extreme E seat with the Abt Cupra team in Chile and Uruguay, subbing for Jutta Kleinschmidt. She won her first X Prix in Uruguay. She was seventh in the 2022 World Rallycross RX1e championship, driving a PWR car. Her best finish was third in Portugal. She was called up for a full-time Extreme E drive for Cupra in 2023, sharing with Nasser al-Attiyah and Sebastien Loeb. She was sixth in the championship, with a best finish of third in Sardinia. In rallycross, she was seventh again in RX1e, finsihing fourth in Norway. It was a strong RX1 rallycross season for her in 2024, with a second place in Sweden and a third in Hungary, leading to sixth in the championship. The final Extreme E season wasn't quite as successful. She drove for the SUN Minimeal team with Timo Scheider and had a best finish of sixth in Scotland.

Magda Andersson – Swedish rallycross driver who competes in the European championships. She began her rallycross career in 2012, at the age of fourteen, when she was second in the JRX (Junior Rallycross) Cup. After a couple of seasons in JRX and in the Swedish championship, she started racing in the Touring Car class of the ERC in 2015. Her car was a Ford Fiesta. She made her first final in the second round of the championship, at Lydden Hill, finishing fifth. She was then second at Estering in Germany, and third in her home race of Höljesbanan, which gave her fourth in the championship. She returned to the Touring Car championship for 2016 and won the first round. She was second in the category overall. In 2017, she changed car and team, to a Marklund Motorsport-run VW Polo. She entered the Supercar class for the first time, but found it hard going. Her best result was a sixth place in France and she was 16th in the championship. She maintained her 16th place in 2018, although she was deducted some points for a technical infringement on her Peugeot 208 by her team, Dubourg Auto. Following sponsorship issues, she decided to take a year out in 2019. She has since stepped back from competition to support her sister, Klara.

Pernille Brinkmann Larsen - competed in Danish rallycross in a Group N Citroen Saxo in 2018. This appears to have been her first season in the category, although it looks as if she did some folkerace events prior to her rallycross debut. She was eleventh in Group N in her first season, although she did not appear at all of the rounds. Later, she raced a Peugeot 309. She now appears to be involved in the administration of the Danish rallycross championship.

Malin Gjerstad - began her career in Norwegian autocross in 2009, winning three of her events, plus the Ladies’ and Junior title. Driving a SAAB 900, she continued in 2010, venturing over the border into Sweden for their junior rallycross championship, in which she was fifteenth overall. She also continued with autocross, alongside her father Morten. After sitting out most of 2011 due to pregnancy, she returned in 2012, driving an Opel Corsa. Her one points finish in the Norwegian Class 1 championship was a fourth place, at Gardermoen Motorpark. She was twelfth in the 2013 championship, with one third place. She was driving the Corsa. She drove the same car in the 2014 Norwegian championship.

Ada Marie Hvaal - Norwegian driver who competes in both rallycross and stage rallying. She began in rallycross in 2012, when she was 14, finishing second in the JRX European Rallycross Series. Her car was a Citroen DS3. By the time she was 16, she was racing in the Norwegian WRX rounds in a Renault Clio, before moving up to the Super 1600 class in 2014 in a Peugeot 207. She has also competed in the Nordic series in a VW Beetle and a Citroen C2 in the European Rallycross Championship. On the rallying side, she began entering Norwegian rallies in a Ford Fiesta in 2018. Her best result has been 39th in the 2019 Rally Hadeland, driving a Renault Twingo.  She continued to rally the Twingo in 2020, with a best finish of 40th in the Sigdalsrally.

Mathilde Lindrup - Danish driver who races a Honda Civic in her home country. She won the Danish Group N rallycross championship in 2018, with two final wins at Lovel and Ornedalen in the early part of the season. She was fifth in the same class in 2017. Mathilde began racing at fourteen in Folkrace events, using a Peugeot 306. She won the Danish championship for under-16s in 2016. She is from a rallycross family and competes alongside her brother Frederik. In 2020 she moved to Switzerland to work as an au pair and was signed for a karting team there.

Majbritt Linnemann - Danish rallycross driver who drives a Peugeot 208 or 106 in the Danish Super 1600 championship. She was third in the category in 2018, with a best finish of second at Korskro. During the year, the 106 had to be almost completely rebuilt after an accident, but she was able to resume racing. In 2019, it was back out and she was fourth in the Super 1600 class. She started in this car in 2017 with a part-season in the same class, although she raced a 206 for a couple of years previously. After the shortened 2020 season, she was third in S1600, and then second in 2022. She moved up to S2000 in 2023, driving a Peugeot. Majbritt is from a motorsport family and often competes against her brother Ulrik.

Lise Marie Sandmo - Norwegian driver who won the Norwegian Junior rallycross title in 2012, driving a Honda Civic, at the age of 18. She was the first female driver to do so. She was also fourth in the senior Northern European Zone 1600 rallycross championship, with a best finish of fifth. Her driving career began in 2010, in rallycross, and she was second in her first race. In 2011, she was fifth in the junior series, as well as competing in autocross at Junior level. 2013 saw her win a second Norwegian junior championship, as will as finishing seventh in the Northern Europe Super 1600 championship. Her car was the Civic. In 2014, she entered two rounds of the European Rallycross Championship, driving a VW Polo in the Super 1600 class. She scored one point. She drove the Polo in some rounds of the European S1600 championship again in 2015, but her season was marred by a pitlane accident involving her father. She did at least some NEZ championship races in 2016, but the results are proving elusive. In 2020, she completely dominated the Danish Super 1600 Rallycross championship, still driving a VW Polo.

Fanny Thrygg - Swedish driver who has been driving in rallycross across Europe since at least 2005. 2005 was her first season in the European Championship, and she was 33rd in Division 2, driving a Peugeot 306. She was 32nd the following year, after finishing ninth in France. She did not do as well in 2007 and was only 35th. A string of final finishes pushed her up to 19th in 2008, still in the ageing 306. She was thirteenth in 2009, after three points finishes. As well as the European championship, Fanny also races in Sweden and makes appearances in other European events, although she does not seem to have competed since 2009.

Camilla Traerup - rallycross driver from Denmark. She has been active in the Danish championship since at least 2011 and has been racing for longer, having started in folkerace events in an Opel Astra in 2007. For most of her rallycross career, she has driven a Group N Honda Civic, in which she was second in class in 2017. Her car in 2018 was a Mitsubishi Colt.

(Image copyright Magda Andersson)