Suzie Brailsford

 

Suzie Brailsford competed in rallycross in the UK in the early 1990s.

Her career began in the summer of 1989, driving a Mini in the Minicross class. She was in her mid-20s and working as cabin crew for British Airways, which she used as a promotional talking point.

She raced a Vauxhall Nova in a one-make championship class of the British championship in 1990 and 1991. The 1990 edition was the first one-make series in British rallycross, apart from Minicross. 

The Nova and Suzie proved capable of good laps. At Lydden in July, she won a heat and was the fourth fastest in the championship, but she could not keep up the momentum through the other heats, with rain not helping matters. Among her rivals was boxer Barry McGuigan. By December, she had improved and was into the second day of heats at Brands Hatch, despite some rain, but contact with another driver put her out of the final. In between, she finished fifth at Cadwell.

In 1991, she won a race at Lydden Hill, but was later disqualified. She was announced as a driver for the 1992 series and did at least some of the races, including one at Lydden in April.

From the beginning, she was sponsored by Texaco. In 1992, she was part of a public competition organised by the company. The winner, Joyce Robertson, won herself a Renault Clio by guessing how far Suzi could drive the car on 7.5l of Texaco fuel.

She also raced a Nissan Sunny at some point, possibly a little later. In 1998, she made a comeback and competed in autocross in Suffolk, driving a Mini which she shared with Tim Compson, another former minicross competitor. 

(Image copyright Farnborough News)

Micki Vandervell (Chittenden)

 

Micki Vandervell, also known as Micki Chittenden, raced at national level in the UK in the 1970s. 

She was a member of the Vandervell racing family, the niece of legendary car designer Tony Vandervell and the cousin of racer Colin Vandervell. “Micki” was short for Michaela.

Her earliest adventures in motorsport were in autocross, driving a Mini in 1967. She gained some attention early on, not due to her family connections, but to finishing third in one of her first races in 1968 with a wrist in plaster. The event was at Sherwood Farm in Drayton and she won the ladies’ trophy.

By 1969, she was racing a Mini on track as well as on the dirt circuits of autocross, mainly in the south of England. At the end of the year, she took the Mini to Lydden Hill for the Grandstand Trophy, which was broadcast on BBC television. 

She continued to race the Mini in 1970, including at least one run in the Triplex Saloon Championship at Silverstone and an appearance at Brands Hatch. According to newspaper reports, she combined her racing with a job as a lab technician.

In 1971, she was part of "The Carmen Curls", an all-female racing team who competed in Formula F100. She raced a Royale sportscar alongside Gabriel Konig. The team was sponsored by Carmen hair products (“The House of Carmen”), and managed by Tina Lanfranchi. Among the four team officials was Roz Hanby, who later found fame as the face of British Airways. Neither of the team’s drivers completed the whole 20-round season and Micki was not as quick as Gabriel. She was thirteenth in the championship, which folded at the end of 1971.

She was an enthusiastic early member of the BWRDC, and competed in their women-only events. Her best result in one of these was a third place in the “Fast Girls Consul Challenge”, held at Brands Hatch in 1972 as a support to the Rothmans Formula 5000 championship. Gillian Fortescue-Thomas was the winner, ahead of Jenny Birrell and Micki, who finished ahead of her Carmen Curls team-mate Gabriel Konig. 

Much later, she took part in the Brands Hatch rounds of the 1976 Shellsport Ladies’ Escort series, scoring two seventh and one eleventh place.

For at least part of 1973, she raced an MG Midget in the STP Production Sports Car Championship.

She raced less often after her marriage to Mike Chittenden. Tiffany Chittenden and karter Tamsin Germain are her daughters.

(Image copyright Reading Evening Post)