Lia Block

Lia Block is an American rally and off-road driver who has also spent time racing single-seaters. 

She began her career very early, entering her first rally not long after her 15th birthday. This wasn't event her motorsport debut: she had already tried out drag racing aged fourteen and was one of the youngest drivers ever to be granted an NHRA license. The rally was the Oregon Trail; which she managed most of the first leg before her "Hoonigan" Ford Fiesta R2 succumbed to engine problems. Still with co-driver James Matthew and a different Fiesta, she fared better in her first full season in 2022. By June, she was into the top ten, securing ninth place in the Southern Ohio Forest Rally. This was one of two top-tens that year, the second being another ninth in the Susquehannock Trail Rally. She was twelfth in the ARA championship and fifth in the 2WD class.

Top-ten finishes became the norm for her in the 2023 ARA series. She was driving a Subaru BRZ which seemed to suit her. Her best finish was fourth in the Oregon Trail Rally and she won the 2WD class in all but one of the rallies she finished, leading her to the ARA Open 2WD championship. At 16, she was the youngest champion in ARA history. She was fourth in the main championship. The only real disappointment that year was a non-finish in the Lake Superior Performance Memorial Rally, where she was trying out a Ford Escort Cosworth. 

Her ARA performances had begun to draw attention and 2023 was a busy year for her. In July, she was signed by Carl Cox Motorsport to replace Christine GZ in their Extreme E team. She joined Timo Scheider for the Sardinia and Chile races, earning a best finish of fifth in Sardinia. She was fourteenth in the championship.

She had already been running a dual campaign in the Nitrocross rallycross series in the States, driving for the Swedish OMSE team in the NEXT class. After a part-season, she was fifth in the NEXT championship, not helped by two disqualifications at MidAmerica and Utah, for rejoining the main circuit unsafely. She had won the Utah race. Her best recorded finishes of the year were two second places at Wild Horse Motorsports Park and Glen Helen. At the end of her 2023-2024 season, she was offered Travis Pastrana's car for the Group E races at Glen Helen. This is the highest level of Nitrocross. She was eighth in her race.

After this year, her career began to take multiple directions at the same time. She drove for the Dreyer & Reinbold team in the shortened 2024-2025 Nitrocross season, again in Group E. She was eighth this time after four rounds, with Utah being her best circuit. She was fifth.

Rallying had been put to one side for the moment. She only did one ARA event in 2024, the Lake Superior Performance Rally. She and navigator Keaton Williams had been running in third place and had won their last completed stage when they crashed out in their Subaru. 

Late in 2023, she had made the surprise announcement that she would be moving into single-seater racing, despite having little circuit experience. She was signed up for the 2024 F1 Academy season, driving for ART Grand Prix as the Williams supported entry. As prep, she did the Spanish-based Formula Winter Series with GRS. This was very much a learning experience and her highest finish was a 25th place at Ricardo Tormo.

Her first F1 Academy year was also a tough one, with several races affected by mishaps and unavoidable contact with other drivers. Her home races in Miami were a case in point and she could only manage 15th and tenth. Her best finishes were two fourth places in Singapore, and she was eighth overall.

Her second F1 Academy season had more high points. She won her first race at Singapore mid-season after keeping her lead in the reverse grid race, having started from pole. This came off the back of her first podium at Zandvoort. She had overtaken Tina Hausmann for second place, behind Nina Gademan. Both times, the second race was nowhere near as good for her, and she received a penalty at Zandvoort for starting from the wrong grid position after Chloe Chambers pulled out. She was ninth in the championship after a very up and down season.

Another big moment for her in 2025 was when she was asked to drive an ex-Keke Rosberg 1982 Williams Formula One car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Her two-year term in F1 Academy came to an end then and she decided to leave single-seaters and return to rallying. She had done one event in 2025, the Boone Forest Rally in a Ford Fiesta, finishing third overall and winning her class. It was time to get back out.

Her first rally of 2026 was in the Fiesta, in Rally3 spec. She and new co-driver Alessandro Gelsomino were excluded from the Snodrift Rally's Powerstage for receiving outside assistance, having led at the time. Lia decided to switch to a more powerful Rally2 car, a Hyundai i20, and was immediately fourth in the 100 Acre Wood Rally. This improved to third in the Olympus Rally and a close second in the Southern Ohio Forest Rally. She is also returning to rallycross in 2026.

She is the daughter of the late Ken Block, of Gymkhana fame. Her mother Lucy, sister Kira and brother Mika also compete in rallying.

(Image from rallyx.se)

Yolanda Surer

Yolanda Surer (now Egger, previously Tavoli; given name also spelled Jolanda) is a Swiss driver who competed in Europe for almost 20 years, between 1987 and 2004. She was married to Swiss Formula One driver Marc Surer, from 1986 to 1993. At the time, she was a model and actress and it was through him that she got involved in motorsport. Initially not taken seriously, she quickly proved that she was capable of competing against some extremely talented opposition.

She was eleventh in the Swiss Formula Ford championship in 1989. The races were held in neighbouring countries. The following year, she moved up to Formula 3-level competition, beginning with the LISTA Formula 3 Trophy, a nominally-Swiss championship. Jo Zeller was that year's winner and Yolanda was eighth. She also made some appearances in the B class of German Formula 3, as part of Jacques Isler's team. She scored one point from two races, earning a tenth spot in her first race at Zolder. She was competing against eventual winner Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen and Ellen Lohr, among others.

Part-seasons in both the German and Swiss F3 championships took up 1991. She was thirteenth in the Swiss series. In Germany, she drove for Opel Team Schuebler for the first and third rounds, before rejoining the Isler team for three further rounds later in the season. Her best finish was with Isler, coming in 15th at the Norisring. 

She moved to touring cars later, racing in German and Italian championships. Her first forays into tin-top competition were in the 1992 Nurburgring 24 Hours, where she shared a BMW 325i with Anette Meeuvissen and Gaby Sonnauer. They were 29th overall and second in class.

Her first full series in was the Group N-based German Touring Car Trophy in 1993, driving a BMW M3 for the Menton Automobilcenter team. She was on the pace straight away, winning her class in the first race at AVUS. The rest of the season gave her three seconds and three thirds, enough for seventh in the championship.

It was now time for her to move up the touring car ladder. This meant the 1994 German Touring Car Cup, which ran to Super Touring regulations. Her car was a BMW 318i prepared by BMW Team Isert. The first race, at AVUS, ended in a tenth place, racing against the likes of Audi drivers Frank Biela and Emmanuele Pirro and former Formula 1 driver, Thierry Boutsen. The BMW could not match the pace of the dominant Audis at the start of the season. Although Yolanda maintained a good finishing record, she was not able to catch up when some of the other BMW drivers began winning. Tenth remained her best finish and she was 22nd overall.

It was down to Italy for the 1995 Italian Super Touring Championship. She had been signed by BMW Italia and had Emmanuele Naspetti and Gianni Morbidelli as team-mates. After a bumpy start to the season with a non-finish and subsequent non-start, she got into her groove and became a top-ten regular. Her highest finish was fourth, which she achieved at Misano. This was one of two top-five finishes, along with her fifth place at Varano. Both times, she was the highest-placed BMW Italy driver. She was ninth in the championship.

Her second Italian season was not a full one; she left the championship after the Imola round in July. Her car was an BMW 320i this time, still run by BMW Italia. After a disastrous first round at Mugello, where she failed to finish Race 1 then didn't start Race 2, she picked up her pace again and had a best finish of seventh, at both Monza and Misano. She was twelfth in the championship.

She was also fourth in the 1996 Spa 24 Hours, in a Bastos Fina BMW, for a womens' team. Her co-drivers were Kate Rafanelli and Florence Duez.

After taking time out of her career to have children (she became pregnant while racing in the Renault Spider Cup in 1997), she returned in 2004, as Yolanda Tavoli. She drove a Honda S2000 for an all-female team in the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Her co-drivers were Gaby Roosen, Anja Wassertheurer and Friederike Moritz. They retired after 30 laps.

Not long after that, she retired from racing. She now owns and edits a German-language magazine.

(Image source possibly Marc Surer's Facebook)

Emma Felbermayr

Emma Felbermayr is an Austrian single-seater driver who rose to prominence competing in the all-female F1 Academy.

Her senior racing career only began in 2025, when she was announced as an F1 Academy driver for Rodin. Previously, she had done karting in Europe. The team entered her into the Spanish-based Eurocup 4 Winter series, which was her first-ever time in a single-seater. During the first round at Jerez she improved her finishes from 28th, through 20th to a best of thirteenth. In the next round at Portimao, she was 20th, 21st and 31st. As she missed the last round, this left her 27th in the championship, second of Rodin's three drivers, ahead of Kyuho Lee who did a full season.

She also drove in the main Spanish F4 championship, racking up almost a full season as part of the same team. It was rather an inconsistent year ending in 29th overall, with her best finish being another thirteenth at Catalunya. In contrast to her Jerez result, which was aided by a string of crashes and some judicial penalties, this one was more on her own efforts.

Her debut season in F1 Academy was a very mixed bag of results. Driving a Rodin-run car with the backing of the Sauber F1 team, she was dropped to eleventh in the first race at Shanghai after contact with Tina Hausmann's car on the last lap. She was fifth in Race 2. There was more contact and disappointing results at Jeddah and Miami, then she made a breakthrough at Montreal. On the track, she was third in Race 1, but was later disqualified due to her car being underweight. She made it up in Race 2 with her first win. 

For the rest of the season, there were no more podium finishes, although she came close in Singapore with fourth. She was tenth overall.

Her 2026 season began with a run in the UAE F4 championship, driving for PHM Motorsport this time. Her best finish was a twelfth place in the third round at Yas Marina and she was 26th overall. 

Sauber became Audi for at the beginning of 2026 and Emma was retained as their F1 Academy driver Rodin also kept her on in F1 Academy, although she continued to race for PHM elsewhere. Her programme included selected rounds of the Italian F4 championship. In May, she also joined the British F4 championship with Virtuosi Racing. She picked up one top-twenty finish at Silverstone and did slightly better in the Italian series, coming in 15th once at Misano and fourteenth at Monza.

The F1 Academy season began well at Shanghai. Emma was third in Race 1, in spite of contact from Alba Larsen. She then won the second race after a mistake by Larsen, who was leading, dropped her to the back. Alba Larsen remained somewhat of an albatross for Emma; she spun during the reverse grid race at Montreal after a small collision with her car.  She had stalled on the grid during Race 1, but earned a second place in Race 3.

She is the daughter of sportscar racer Horst Felbermayr Jr. He has expressed a desire to race at Le Mans with his daughter and son in the future. Emma has said she would like to compete at Le Mans some day. 

Her career has been aided by Allan McNish, who now runs the Audi academy.

(Image copyright Jun Da Tan)

The Macau Ladies' Races

The Macau Grand Prix and Macau Guia races are still an important part of the international motorsport calendar, although perhaps not as much as in previous years. 

In the 1950s, the early days of the Macau race circuit, the Guia meeting also hosted a ladies' race, usually for saloon cars. The first event was in 1955 and was set to be contested by three women. One dropped out. Jean Lam was leading when her rival's car broke down, giving her the win by default.

The most famous winner of the event was Maria Fernanda de Menezes Ribeiro (pictured), popularly known as "Speedy Ribeiro". She had been born in Macau itself in 1924 and was the daughter of a diplomat. Her Fiat 1100, which took her to one win and one second place, was her daily driver. She had actually taken part in the 1954 version of the Macau Grand Prix, which was then run as a regularity trial. Her car was a Vauxhall Velox belonging to her father and she was second overall. 

The Ladies' Race was never particularly over-subscribed and reports describe the action one year as "a procession". It was discontinued after the 1959 edition, which was won by Carol Ungricht. Carol was an American driver based in Okinawa, Japan. She also entered the Formula Libre race in 1958.

All-female races were later held at Macau, but they were celebrity events contested by actresses and TV personalities. Jackie Chan promoted one for several seasons.

For a list of female drivers who have attempted the Macau Grand Prix, click here. For a profile of Anne Wong, the only woman to win a race on the Guia circuit, click here.

1955

1. Jean Lam (Jaguar XK120)

2. Wen Lenard (Austin Healey)

1956

Maria Fernanda de Menezes Ribeiro (Fiat 1100)

1957

1. Narcee Matchett (Triumph TR3)

2. Maria Fernanda de Menezes Ribeiro (Fiat 1100)

1958

1. Carol Ungricht (MGA)

2. Narcee Matchett (Triumph TR3)

3. Miss S Anderson (Jaguar XK140)

1959

1. Carol Ungricht (MGA)

Maria Fernanda de Menezes Ribeiro (Fiat 1100)

(Image from macaubusiness.com)

Alexandra Asmasoebrata (Allida Alexandra)

Alexandra Asmasoebrata, also known as Allida Alexandra or Andra, is an Indonesian driver who competed up to international Formula Renault level. 

After four or so years of karting, she first stepped up to single-seater racing aged 16, taking part in the 2004 Formula BMW Scholarship shooutout in Spain. She was not among the winners and did not make her competitive debut until the following year. Her first races were in 2005, when she did some rounds of the China Formula Campus series, winning her class.

She first drove in the Asian Formula Renault Challenge in 2006, aged eighteen. She was 24th overall after participating in seven races. The best of these was her last one at Shanghai, where she was ninth overall. The following year, she did six races, starting at Zhuhai, Sepang and Beijing. Her best finish was a fourteenth place at Beijing.

In 2008, she reappeared in AFR. She was twelfth this time, with a best finish of fifth at Zhuhai, in her first race of the season. This was one of four top-ten finishes she had that year, the others being an eighth and two ninths at Shanghai and Sepang.

For most of her career, she combined Formula Renault and karting. The following year, she was third in the 

A shorter season in 2009 meant that eighth was her best finish, also at Zhuhai, a feat she bettered in 2010 with a fourth place at Zhuhai. She was eighth in the championship. By then, the series was being held entirely in China. 

In 2011, she drove in both the Asian Formula Renault Challenge and Formula Pilota in China. It was her best season yet; she was third in Formula Renault with five podium finishes, four thirds and one second, at her favoured Zhuhai. 

Unfortunately, she only entered four races in 2012: three rounds of Asian Formula Renault. Her finishes were two sevenths, and two DNFs. 

She bounced back in 2013, taking part in six Asian Formula Renault races and earning two thirds and four fourths. She was fourth overall. 

In 2014, she was set to race in Asia Formula Renault again, but does not appear to have competed. A long lay-off followed, where she had three children among other things. She returned to the tracks in 2026, racing in the Mandalika Kartini race, a women's championship held at the Mandalika circuit in Indonesia. There were seven other entrants in Krida Agyas. Alexandra was third.

Alexandra is the daughter of former Indonesian racing driver and politician, Alex Asmasoebrata. It was him who first took her karting and she is open about how this helped her during her own career.

(Image copyright Alexandra Asmasoebrata)

Diana Rosario

Diana Rosario is a racer from Macau who is best-known for her efforts in single-seaters, and later, sportscars.

As there is only one circuit in her home country, which is a street circuit and therefore not usually in use, she had to cross the border to race, in China and further afield in Asia. 

Her first time in a single-seater was in 2004, when she was 20. She took part in the Formula Racing Development training school following several successful years of karting in Macau. In order to gain more experience, she worked at kart circuits after school. Her career almost came to a premature end in 2000 when a 16-year-old Diana broke her collarbone during karting practice, but she later credited the experience with helping her mature as a driver.

In the early part of her career, she concentrated on single-seaters, sticking to championships promoted by FRD. She entered the 2005 Formula Campus Challenge in China, driving for the Perfect Beauty team. After eight races, she was unplaced. A few years later, she would return to the Ford-powered series, finishing second in 2009 and winning the title in 2009. Her 2009 victory was by 38 points over her nearest rival, La Wai Lung of Hong Kong.

She competed sporadically in Asian Formula Renault from 2008, with a best finish of fifth overall in 2011. The championship was run in China and her best result came at Zhuhai, where she was fourth.

At the same time, she was developing a parallel career in sportscars. She competed at the prestigious Macau Guia race meeting in 2010 and was 22nd in the Macau GT Cup, driving a Ferrari F360. Presumably in the same car, she took on the Zhuhai rounds of the Asian GT Series, finishing second and third. Her second run in the Macau GT Cup in 2011 gave her an 18th place, competing against Chinese driver Rose Tan Ying. Eduardo Mortara was the winner.

She committed fully to sportscars in 2012. The GT Cup was not her best event and she was 25th in a Ferrari F430, but her two races in the Asian GT Series were enough for eighth in the championship. Further afield, she took the Ferrari to Sepang for a round of the Malaysian Super Series, finishing eleventh in the GT class.

In 2013, she was linked with a drive in the Asian Le Mans series, but does not appear to have competed. 

Later, in 2018, she made a comeback in the Asian Blancpain GT Series, driving a Mercedes GT4 for Craft Bamboo Racing. Her best finish was fourth at Ningbo, alongside team-mate Naomi Ran Zhang. She had shared the car with James Tang earlier in the season.

She has not raced since then.

(Image from "Indigenous Species" by Susana Chan)

Anna van Vredenburch Limburg-Stirum

Anna on the 1950 Monte

Anna von Vredenburch Limburg-Stirum was a Dutch rally driver who competed under her birth name, and as the Countess Limburg-Stirum. She won the Coupe des Dames in the 1949 Monte Carlo Rally and entered the classic alpine event six times.

Born in 1914, she first competed in rallying before and after the Second World War, starting when she was in her twenties. Her first attempt at the Monte Carlo Rally seems to have been in 1937, co-driving a Ford as Miss van Vredenburgh. The Countess Limburg-Stirum was recorded as her navigator and was probably a relative of her future husband. They were fourth in the Coupe des Dames rankings. Two years later, in the last pre-war Monte, she and the Ford were 25th overall, tied with Mrs AC Lace. In between, still in a Ford, Anna had come 85th in the 1938 Monte.

Anna married Frans Willem Van Limburg Stirum in 1946. He also competed in the Monte at least twice, driving Ford cars.

On her return to rallying, she was twelfth in the 1949 Monte, and won the Coupe des Dames, still in a Ford. Her navigator was Miss Van Vredenburch, who may have been her younger sister, Elisabeth. Their start point was Monte Carlo itself.

The Ford was brought out again for the 1950 Monte. The Countess got to the finish in 131st place, assisted by Mrs. Stahl Wytema. In April of that year, she was part of a Dutch four-woman team in a big American-styled Ford Vedette, in the Tulip Rally. One of the other drivers was Miss Vredenburch, possibly Elisabeth, who had been part of the team the year before.

She had one more go at the Monte in 1951 with Mrs Stahl-Wytema, but their Ford didn't make it to the end.

Anna was part of two major Dutch aristocratic families. Research into her personal life is made difficult by the number of "Countess Limburg Stirums" who existed at roughly the same time. They include ladies in waiting to the Dutch queen and cookbook writers. Some of the Limburg Stirum family was related, by marriage, to Audrey Hepburn, through her mother.

She died in 1999.

(Image copyright Alamy)