Francesca Pardini
This post profiles female drivers in national-level sportscar racing, from club level to domestic GT championships. It includes Caterham racing. Belgian sportscar drivers are likely to be found in the Belcar post. Due to the high number of female drivers in French domestic series, they have their own post, here. British drivers in this category can now be found here, and drivers from the Nordic countries, here. Sybil Lupp, and other contemporary New Zealand drivers, can be found here. Renee Gracie now has her own post, as do Angelique Detavernier, Ivana Giustri Laura Kraihamer, Luisa Rezzonico, Lisa Caceres and Chantal Kroll.
Solenn Amrouche - races a Vortex sports prototype in Europe. Her first full season in sportscars was in 2023, and she was a class runner-up in the Spanish GT Endurance championship. She shared the car with her father, Lionel Amrouche, and won one race outright. They were fourth in the championship, having never finished lower than fourth. As well as the Ultimate Cup, Solenn shared the Vortex with Lorina Padovani for the Ultimate Cup, finishing as class runner-up twice. She also took part in the Barcelona 24 Hours with three male team-mates, finishing sixth in class. She began her career in the Mitjet series and also raced a Porsche with her father. She continues to compete for the Vortex team in 2024.
Antonella Bassani - former karter who won her first senior race in 2023. She joined the Porsche Sprint Challenge Brasil and won her first race at Goiania, following a pole position and second place at Velo Citta earlier in the season. At the end of the year, she had won her class and finished third overall in the championship. Aged 17, this was her first full season, although she did some races in the Brazilian Turismo championship in 2022, driving a Chevrolet run by Abreu Motors. She won her class twice. She also tried an Audi RS3 in a guest appearance in the 2022 TCR South America championship. Before switching to cars, she raced karts internationally and was a finalist in the FIA Girls on Track competition.
Piera Bertoletti – raced a series of Alfa Romeos in
Europe, between 1957 and 1961. Her first major competition car seems to have
been a Giulietta, a version of which she used in the 1957 Targa Florio. She
finished the event in 117th place. She normally used Giulietta
models, including a Sprint Zagato, but occasionall raced a Zagato-bodied Abarth
500. In this car, she was fifth in the GT500 Coppa Sant Ambroeus in 1959. She
was particularly recognised for her efforts in airport-based races at Innsbruck
and Klagenfurt. At Innsbruck, she qualified on pole for the 1960 Preis von
Tirol, but did not finish.
Eileen Bildman - races a Ferrari in the US Ferrari Challenge. She first competed in the series in 2018, when she was thirteenth in the 458 Challenge, picking up three top-ten finishes at the end of the season. She moved up to the Coppa Shell in 2019 and was fourteenth. Her best finishes were two seventh places at Indianapolis and Mugello, as well as a ninth spot at Mugello. She returned to the Coppa Shell for the 2020 season, supported by Ferrari of Long Island as before. The partnership continued in 2020 and Eileen was 18th in the championship, having missed three of the later races. Her best finish was an eighth place at Indianapolis, which was also one of her best circuits in 2021; she was seventh there, and at Watkins Glen. She was 18th in the championship. She was seventh in the Coppa Shell in 2022, with a best finish of sixth at Daytona.
Eileen Bildman - races a Ferrari in the US Ferrari Challenge. She first competed in the series in 2018, when she was thirteenth in the 458 Challenge, picking up three top-ten finishes at the end of the season. She moved up to the Coppa Shell in 2019 and was fourteenth. Her best finishes were two seventh places at Indianapolis and Mugello, as well as a ninth spot at Mugello. She returned to the Coppa Shell for the 2020 season, supported by Ferrari of Long Island as before. The partnership continued in 2020 and Eileen was 18th in the championship, having missed three of the later races. Her best finish was an eighth place at Indianapolis, which was also one of her best circuits in 2021; she was seventh there, and at Watkins Glen. She was 18th in the championship. She was seventh in the Coppa Shell in 2022, with a best finish of sixth at Daytona.
Nadeene Brengle – raced Alfa Romeos in SCCA
competitions in the 1960s. She was given a car, a Giulia, by Alfa Romeo USA to
race in 1964. To start with, she took part in Ladies’ races in Florida in a
Cooper, in 1961, before moving on to a Fiat-Abarth Zagato , then the first of a
series of Alfas in 1963. In 1967, she made history by becoming the first female
driver to start from pole in an SCCA National Runoff. She fought her way back
from last after a first lap incident with another car, and finished second.
Olga Carless – raced an Alfa Romeo Giulietta in the
1958 Venezuela Grand Prix. She was 29th overall, third in class. Her
entry was noted as “Señora
Olga”. That year, Olga also competed in a race at Maracay el Limon, in
Venezuela, and was fourth, out of seven drivers. She was married to another racer, Giorgio
Carless, and may well have entered other races.
Stephanie Cemo - raced in the 2019 UA Lamborghini Super Trofeo. She competed in the LB Cup and has a best finish of second at Watkins Glen, sharing the car with Ashton Harrison. She has been active in motorsport for approximately ten years, although she got her license longer ago than that and has worked as an instructor. Her usual cars have been Chevrolet Corvettes, mainly used with considerable success in Time Attack events, although she has also competed in SCCA and NASA championships, winning several races.
Lisa Clark - American driver who has competed in the US Ferrari Challenge since 2017. She won her first race in 2019, coming home first in the Am class of the North American Challenge at Sebring. This was one of five podiums that season, on her way to sixth place. She also raced in Europe, entering the Le Mans round of the European Ferrari Challenge, although she did not finish. The World Final at Mugello gave her a tenth place. Her two previous campaigns have been part-seasons, as was her 2020 campaign. She did just over half of the season and her best race was at Laguna Seca, where she was sixth. In 2021, she scored her first podium, a third at Homestead-Miami. After a stronger season, she was sixth in the championship. 2022 was her best season yet, with three podium finishes in the Am class on her way to a class third overall. She also raced in Europe at Portimao and Paul Ricard. In 2023, she was 15th in the championship and eleventh in the World Final. Her car is run by Ferrari of Beverly Hills.
Bobbie Ann Cooper - racer and racing instructor in the mid-1970s. In 1976, she took part in a Toyota Celebrity Match Race supporting the US Grand Prix West and finished second, behind journalist Don Sherman and ahead of Janet Guthrie. Reports at the time stated that she held a G Production lap record at Riverside and that she had had to take a year out of racing in 1975 due to lacking her own car and crew. Later that year, she took part in a Celebrity Race for Charity, driving a Toyota Celica with streamers on its aerial to mark her out as one of three female drivers.
LaVone Daily - Kansas resident who raced sportscars in the 1960s. Her usual car was a Triumph TR3. In 1964, she seems to have had her best finish: fourth in an SCCA National race at Lake Garnett. In 1965, she qualified for the SCCA Road Racing Championship in the TR3, but the results are not forthcoming. Away from the track, she worked as a lawyer and served as a judge. She died in 2017.
Jocelyne Gaborit - raced in the inaugural season of the Coupe de l’Avenir in France in 1976. This was a budget series for sportscars based on the Simca 1300. Jocelyne raced alongside her husband, Yves. Both were involved in the creation of the series and its management. Jocelyne only appears to have competed in the first season, although she stayed involved in an organisational capacity.
Elisa Giordan - Italian driver who has competed in Italy and Spain. She drove in the Italian Prototype Cup at some point, before coming ninth in the 2004 Italian Superstars touring car series. The following year, she won the Italian Mazda RX-8 Cup. She moved to Spain in 2007 and drove a Ferrari F430 GT2 car in the Spanish GT championship. Driving with Lorenzo Bontempelli and Giorgio Mondini, she was fifth, after two wins at Jerez and Albacete. After that, she does seem to have raced in Italy, although details of her activities are not forthcoming. They may have involved hillclimbing: she competed in climbs in an Osella in 2002 and 2003.
Marybeth Harrison - Canadian who raced sportscars and saloons from the 1990s onwards. She is most famous for her runs in the Trans Am championship in 2000, driving a Chevrolet Camaro. Her best finish from four races was thirteenth at Laguna Seca. She made a few more appearances in 2002 and 2003. Prior to this, she competed in Formula 1600 in Canada and won some trophies, as well as trying Formula 2000. In common with many female racers of the 1990s, she was a member of the PPG CART Pace Car team.
Anneliese Hartenau – Chilean-born driver who was the winner
of the first Sport Limited Speed race in Buenos Aires in 1960, driving a
Porsche-engined Gordini. The series was for older Grand Prix cars. She had
begun racing another Porsche not long before, in 1959, in her adopted homeland
of Argentina. Later, she raced an NSU Prinz in Argentina, with some success. Her
motorsport activities included the marathon rallies held in the Andes. As well
as driving herself, she worked as a race mechanic, and was part of Juan Manuel
Fangio’s crew for quite some time.
Alexandra Irmgartz - has been racing a Porsche in Germany since 2010. She won the Junior title in her first year in the Special Touring Car Trophy (STT), and defended it in 2011, as well as finishing fourth overall in the series. Again, she defended her Junior title, and her fourth place, in 2012. In 2013, she only had a part-season in the STT, although she still managed to win the Junior class again. She was now racing her 964 in the Porsche Club Historic Challenge, and was on the pace very quickly. She scored two podiums in her first season. In 2014, she won the championship outright, finishing on the podium in eleven out of the fifteen races. A part-season in the PCHC in 2015 brought more success in the 964, with seven wins and one second place, from nine races. Her PCHC was not quite as stellar in 2016, but she still managed one win, at Hockenheim, and eight further podium finishes.
Nina Jerančič – Slovenian driver
who had a long and successful time in karting, before going to Italy to start
her senior racing career, after a spell in Austria in 1993, in Formula Ford,
when she was 16. She began in Formula Campus, as well as other junior
single-seater formulae, and also did some guest appearances in one-make cups,
as well as one round of the Porsche Supercup, at Zeltweg, in 1999. After more
years in karting, she started racing Ferraris in 2004, in the Shell Cup. She
started off quite cautiously, but by 2007, was good enough to finish second in
the championship, in an F430. She returned to the championship in 2008, and was
seventh overall. She does not appear to have competed since then.
Shirley van Kleeck - raced an Austin Healey Sprite in SCCA H-Production events in the 1960s. She raced alongside Arlene Lanzieri, who later found fame as Arlene Hiss, before Arlene moved away to marry. They had a pair of Sprites which they raced as “The Female Racing Team”. The team was active throughout 1966 and Shirley was competitive in her regional class, despite rolling her car at Lime Rock. It was her first season in racing.
Jeff (Lois) Koehne - raced in SCCA events in the US in the 1950s and early 1960s. She drove a number of cars over the years, including an Allard, Jaguar, Siata and a Chevrolet Corvette. She won her first race in the Jaguar in 1955, a ladies’ race at Walterboro. Later in the 1960s, she occasionally raced an Alfa Romeo Giulietta and even tried out a Formula Vee single-seater in 1963, at the Jim Bowie Sportscar Races in Louisiana. Jeff’s name was actually Lois; it is unclear where her nickname came from. She was from Texas and married to George, another racer.
Christina Lam - races a BMW E46 M3 in NASA and SCCA Majors events in the USA. She has been active in circuit racing since 2016 and this is her second BMW. In 2019, she secured podium finishes in at least three SCCA Majors races, at Pittsburgh and Mid-Ohio. She recorded more top tens in the SCCA National Runoffs and on the Hoosier Tour in 2020 and 2021. She was inspired to start competing by a visit to the Nurburgring in 2012, and started gaining experience of the circuits through autocross, track days and the NASA Time Trial series.
Shirley van Kleeck - raced an Austin Healey Sprite in SCCA H-Production events in the 1960s. She raced alongside Arlene Lanzieri, who later found fame as Arlene Hiss, before Arlene moved away to marry. They had a pair of Sprites which they raced as “The Female Racing Team”. The team was active throughout 1966 and Shirley was competitive in her regional class, despite rolling her car at Lime Rock. It was her first season in racing.
Jeff (Lois) Koehne - raced in SCCA events in the US in the 1950s and early 1960s. She drove a number of cars over the years, including an Allard, Jaguar, Siata and a Chevrolet Corvette. She won her first race in the Jaguar in 1955, a ladies’ race at Walterboro. Later in the 1960s, she occasionally raced an Alfa Romeo Giulietta and even tried out a Formula Vee single-seater in 1963, at the Jim Bowie Sportscar Races in Louisiana. Jeff’s name was actually Lois; it is unclear where her nickname came from. She was from Texas and married to George, another racer.
Christina Lam - races a BMW E46 M3 in NASA and SCCA Majors events in the USA. She has been active in circuit racing since 2016 and this is her second BMW. In 2019, she secured podium finishes in at least three SCCA Majors races, at Pittsburgh and Mid-Ohio. She recorded more top tens in the SCCA National Runoffs and on the Hoosier Tour in 2020 and 2021. She was inspired to start competing by a visit to the Nurburgring in 2012, and started gaining experience of the circuits through autocross, track days and the NASA Time Trial series.
Donna Sue Landon - raced in the SCCA Escort Endurance Championship in 1986 and 1987. Her first car was a Honda CRX, which she shared as part of a mixed team, enjoying some Class B success. In 1987, she was one of an all-female roster driving a Saleen Mustang, with Lisa Caceres and Desire Wilson. Donna Sue subbed for Desire in some of the lower-profile events. Earlier in her career, she raced in the Showroom Stock category from at least 1983, in cars including the Honda CRX.
Carina Lima - raced in the Portuguese GT championship in 2012. Her car was a Ferrari F430, run by Oasis Motosport, and she competed in the GT Cup class. Out of her six races, her best result came at Jarama, the last round, where she was eighth. With her team-mate, Luis Reis, she was thirteenth in the championship, and third in the GT Cup class. Although she intended to return to the series in 2013, she does not seem to have raced again. In 2014, she raced in the Lamborghini Trofeo, finishing tenth in the Amateur class. She entered the Trofeo again in 2015, and won the Gallardo Am class three times, at Monza and Paul Ricard. She and Andrea Palma won their class outright. She raced a Lamborghini Huracan in the Italian GT Championship in 2016, with Andrea Palma. Her best finish was ninth, at Mugello.
Carmen Lista – raced in IMSA in the 1980s, after
competing in the late 1970s in US sportscar events. She always drove Chevrolet
cars, and her first big races were at Daytona, in 1976. She drove a Corvette in
the Daytona 250 Miles, and was 39th, with “Bean”. The following
year, in the same race, she was 62nd, driving solo. A final
appearance in the 250 Mile race in 1978 led to a 19th place, again
as a single driver, in Debra Tribiano’s Corvette. In 1983, she reappears in the
entry lists, driving a Camaro in IMSA races. She was 47th in that
year’s Sebring 12 Hours, with Bobby Diehl, David Marks and Roy Newsome, with
Diehl’s team.
Rhea Loucas - Cypriot driver who races sportscars, mainly in Europe. She did some rounds of the GT Cup in the UK in 2022, driving a Porsche Cayman for the Valluga team with Charlie Hollings. She has also competed in the 24H Series, winning her class in the 2023 Dubai 24H for Dragon Racing/ROFGO. Her car this time was a Mercedes-AMG GT4. In 2022, she drove the Porsche in the Hockenheim 12H. Away from the track, she is an entrepreneur in the video game industry.
Joke Maasland - Dutch driver who raced in Europe from the age of eighteen. She raced a Ferrari 250 Monza at Zandvoort in 1954, finishing one International Sportscar heat second in class before crashing out of the second. She was competing alongside her brother Hans. Earlier, she had raced a BMW 328 Cotura with her father. She also used this car in rallies and shared it with Carel Godin de Beaufort on the 1952 Fakkel Rally which ran between Eindhoven and Bayeux.
Vittoria Maffi – raced in Italy in the late 1950s and early 1960s. She is most associated with Alfa Romeo, having competed in the 1959 Coppa Ambroeus in an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce. She was ninth in the race. The following year, she shared a Fiat 500 with Alma Cacciandra, and was 31st in the Coppa Ascari. She had owned the Alfa since 1956, so may have done some earlier races, possibly in the women-only circuit that existed in Italy at the time.
Vittoria Maffi – raced in Italy in the late 1950s and early 1960s. She is most associated with Alfa Romeo, having competed in the 1959 Coppa Ambroeus in an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce. She was ninth in the race. The following year, she shared a Fiat 500 with Alma Cacciandra, and was 31st in the Coppa Ascari. She had owned the Alfa since 1956, so may have done some earlier races, possibly in the women-only circuit that existed in Italy at the time.
Tania
Mann –
Australian driver who races in the UK. She began competing in 2011, in the
Lotus Cup, after doing track days in her own Porsche. 2012 was her first full
season, and she drove in the Porsche Carrera Cup. Her best overall finish was
twelfth, at Donington, but she was one of the leaders of the Pro-Am class, and
was second, with four wins. After a year spent putting together sponsorship,
she took part in some rounds of the British GT Championship in 2014, in a
Ginetta G55. She was fourth and sixth at Oulton Park and seventh at Rockingham,
partnering Jade Edwards for one race.
Mary McGee - most famous as a motorcyclist, this Alaskan driver started off in sportscars before winning titles in road racing and motocross. She raced cars between 1957 and 1964, including a Mercedes 300SL, Chevrolet Corvette, Ferrari 250 and several Porsches. Over the years, she raced a 356, 550 and 718, in which she was very successful in ladies’ races. She won four of these in 1961, in Las Vegas, Tucson and Santa Barbara. Later, she also raced in the open classes of SCCA competition, mainly in California.
Paige Monette (Alexander) - American driver who races sportscars in the USA, in the Trans-Am series. She has been active in club racing since 2004, starting with dirt-track events, and began racing sportscars in 2007, when she contested the GT1 class of the National Championships. Her car was a Chevrolet Corvette, run by her family team. In 2008, she managed her first podium position in this championship, and was ninth overall. In 2010, she moved up to the SCCA Trans-Am series, still driving alongside her brothers, and finished in 30th, after a limited programme. In 2012, she stepped up to the national Trans-Am championship, entering selected races. Paige is notable for being one of the only drivers of Native American origin racing in the States.
Angela M. Negrão da Cunha - Portuguese racer active in GT racing in Portugal and Spain in 2012. She drove a Lotus Evora Cup in four rounds of the Portuguese championship, with Joffrey Didier, with a best finish of ninth, at Braga. Her best result in the Spanish series was also ninth, at Jarama, in the same car, with Didier and Nuno Batista. She does not appear to have competed again after 2012, and it looks to have been her first and only racing season.
Elouise Norris – raced in SCCA events in the 1960s.
Rather unusually, she favoured European cars, and she came on the scene in
1963, driving an Alfa Romeo Giulietta to third place at Midland, with her boss,
Dave Dooley. At 42, she was a rather late starter. In 1964 and 1965, she raced
a Triumph TR3, competing in the American Road Race of Champions twice, with a
best finish of eighth in 1964. In 1966, she used both a Lotus Cortina and a
Datsun 1500, belonging to Dooley. The Cortina was her car for Trans-Am races. During
her six-year career, she took part in the ARRC five times. Her best result was
a second place in 1967, driving a Mini. She was bestowed with many awards by
the SCCA, including the 1968 Oklahoma Driver of the Year. After retiring from
active competition, she served as a steward and SCCA committee member, earning
more accolades for her work. She died in 2012.
Rianna O’Meara-Hunt - races GT cars in New Zealand. She started in the Toyota 86 one-make series in 2022, after a long karting career. She still combines racing cars with karts. It was not a full season in the Toyota, but it was enough for her to progress to the NZ GT championship in 2023, driving a Porsche Cayman GT4. She was also chosen for a race seat in the GT4 America series, as part of the Heart of Racing scholarship that got her into senior motorsport. This will be in an Aston Martin Vantage GT4. In the NZ series, she was fifth and 15th in two rounds at Taupo. She did not finish the third.
Nancy Pierce - raced an Austin-Healey 100 in the United States in the late 1950s. She mainly raced in Florida between 1957 and 1959 and she also travelled to the Bahamas for Nassau Speed Week in 1956, where she was seventh in a Ladies’ heat. Her American racing took in both Ladies’ and mixed events, mostly in the production classes. Her best result was a sixth place at Venice in 1959. According to a Florida newspaper article from 1959, Nancy worked as a commercial artist, set designer and window dresser. She travelled extensively in Europe to paint and acquired one of her Healeys in London. One of these Healeys was a 100-M Le Mans prototype.
Danijela Radulovic - races a KTM X-Bow in Austria and Europe, in the X-Bow Battle series. Her first season was 2012, and she was sixth in the Rookie standings. Her best finishes were a pair of sixth places. She did not run a full season in 2013, and was out of the points table, and the situation was similar in 2014. A good finish in the first Endurance race, with Reini Kofler, gave her a fourteenth place overall. She had entered the Sprint championship in the early part of the season, but scored no points. She appears to have raced an X-Bow in events other than Battle meetings, but details are not forthcoming. In 2015, she moved away from the X-Bow, and seems to have raced a BMW in the DMV BMW Challenge.
Ellen Reed – raced sports and GT cars in Australia in
the 1970s. She drove an MG Midget in the Australian Sports Car Championship in
1978, participating in the Calder, Lakeside and Amaroo Park events, and
finishing fifteenth in the championship. Earlier, in 1975, she raced a Triumph
Spitfire in the Production Sportscar championship. She was usually the only woman in the series.
Loretta (“Tetta”) Richert - raced sportscars in the USA in the 1950s and early 1960s, normally in her native Hawaii. She was a regular at Hawaii Speed Week between 1957 and 1959, driving either a Triumph TR2 or a Porsche 550. In 1958, she won four 1600cc class races in the Porsche. The following year, she won a SCCA race for 2000cc cars in the same Porsche. In 1960, she won another race for Modified cars at Kahuku airfield, one of at least two races she did that year at that venue. Previously, as Loretta Turnbull, she raced powerboats and set water speed records. She died in 2000, aged 88.
Alice Ridpath - raced sportscars and saloons in the 1980s. She shared a Saleen Mustang with Lisa Caceres for 1986, racing in the Escort Endurance series. Previously, she raced historics, including an Austin Healey, and worked as a test driver for a Ford Mustang project. She was also one of the PPG Pace Car Team which provided safety car drivers and gave precision driving displays at Indycar events.
Isabell Rustad - Norwegian driver who is one of the front-runners in the Scandinavian Porsche Sprint Challenge. She was fourth and third in her first championship races at Anderstorp in 2022, despite never having driven a GT3 car before. Her best result was a second place at Falkenberg, achieved twice. The same year, she made two guest appearances in the GT4 class at Rudskogen, scoring two class podiums. She was fourth in the 2023 championship, with six podium finishesPreviously, she raced a Peugeot 206 and was active in karting. She is the daughter of Tommy Rustad.
Sharlene Seavey - raced in SCCA events in the 1960s. She drove an Austin-Healey Sprite in 1967. In 1969, she is said to have won four SCCA races out of thirteen that she entered. This was presumably in the Sprite. Sharlene is best known for her membership of the Ring Free Motor Maids team, and practised with them for the 1970 Sebring 12 Hours in a Sebring Sprite. She did not take part in the race itself. Further details about her career are proving very hard to find.
Birgitt Schmack - a graduate of the Ford Fiesta Ladies Cup in 1985. She was not among the front-runners, and was 17th overall. That year, she also took part in the Porsche Club Trophy in Germany, driving a 911. She was second in the Ladies’ standings, winning at least one ladies’ race, or ladies’ class in a race, possibly at Hockenheim. She continued in Porsche club motorsport in 1986, driving in the Porsche 944 Turbo Cup. She was not overly competitive, and finished out of the top twenty.
Agata (Agi) Smolka - Polish driver who races a Ferrari 488 in the Ferrari Challenge Europe. She was fourth in the Coppa Shell amateur class in 2018 with two runner-up spots as her best finishes, plus a pole position at Mugello which led to a fifth place. 2018 was her first season of competition and the 488 is her first racing car. Her second Ferrari Challenge season ended in a second place in the Am class, with three wins and three seconds. She was third Amateur driver at the Coppa Shell finals, held at Mugello.
Priscilla Speelman - winner of the Sport 1 class of the Dutch Supercar Challenge in 2012. She won eight out of her fourteen races and was only out of the top three on three occasions. Her co-driver for the series was John van der Voort. This was her first senior racing season, and previously, she had a long career in karting. This included three seasons in Superkarts, culminating in an International Championship victory in 2011. Her racing programme was smaller in 2013, but she managed two second places in in the PR1 division of Supercar Superlights, driving a Praga R1 prototype, and another win in the SR3 class, in a Radical. She ran five races overall, and made the podium in all of them. In 2014, she joined the Acceleration MW-V6 Pickup Series for its second half. She was quite competitive, with a sixth place at Monza. She was 21st overall. In 2015, she raced in the Supercar Challenge again, in a SEAT Leon run by Ferry Monster Autosport. She had a mixed season in the championship, but her real highlight was a win in the Oschersleben 24 Hours, driving with Ferry and Robin Monster, Pim Kievit and Theunis van der Grifft. She was fifth in the Supersport Division in 2016, driving Jan van der Kooi's Lotus. In 2017, she was eighth in the Supersport Division 1 championship, driving a SEAT Leon run by Ferry Monster's team. She was partnered by Danny Kroes for the two-driver events. She drove a Lotus again in the 2018 Supercar Challenge (Supersport 1). She was seventh, with three second places and one third. In 2020, she did a part season for the Monster team, driving a VW Golf. Her best finish was a fourth at Zandvoort. She was back in the Supercar Challenge in 2022, racing a VW Golf with Jonas de Kimpe. They were fifth overall. In 2023, she contested the Supersport 2 class in the Golf and finished second, winning eight times.
Emilee Tominovich - started racing in 2010, at the age of 18. She began in SCCA events, in her own Pontiac Solstice, and recorded her first race wins in 2011. In 2012, she was signed up by the TrueCar team, who were putting together an all-female driver lineup. She raced in the Mazda MX-5 Cup, and was tenth overall in her first season, managing two top-ten positions after finishing last in her first race. In 2013, she returned to the Cup on a part-time basis, with different sponsors. The following year, she moved into the Pirelli World Challenge, in the Touring class, driving a Volkswagen Jetta. She was fourth and sixth at New Jersey, and eighth and fifth at Mid-Ohio. In 2017, she drove a Honda Civic, and was fourth in the championship with one third place, at Mosport. Initially, she only got interested in motorsport because she was injured and unable to play football any more.
Germana Tognella - Italian driver who competes in the Ferrari Challenge in Europe. Her career began in 2021 and her Ferrari 488 Challenge car is her first racing machine. Competing in the Am category of the Coppa Shell, her best finish has been a fifth place in one of her earliest races at Brno, following a sixth at Spielberg. She was previously a competitive sailor.
Jessica Tracy - American driver who races in the American Endurance Racing series. She began her career in club competition in 2015 and then founded a team for the AER with her husband Justin. They ran a number of different cars including a Mazda Miata and a BMW E46 M3. She started driving for the team in 2017 and picked up a class win in her first season. At the end of 2022, she joined the Random Vandals team to race their BMW M2 in the AER and in the US TC series. With co-drivers Alyx Coby and Michael Kanisczak, she won an AER race at Road Atlanta at the start of the season. The TC plans appear to have been shelved.
Veronika Vanyova – Slovakian driver who raced in the
Lotus Ladies’ Cup, in 2013 and 2014. Her first season yielded a sixth place
overall, with a best race finish of fifth, at the Hungaroring. In the shortened
2014 series, she was fifth, with one fourth-place finish at the Red Bull Ring.
In 2015, she raced in mixed competition, taking on the STC Touring Car
series in and around Slovakia, and the RCM Cup, which runs throughout Eastern
Europe. She has scored better results in the STC Cup, with a seventh and eighth
place, at Brno. The situation was similar in 2016; she entered the D4 touring car championship and the Hankook Racer Cup. She struggled in the former, but was a leading driver in the latter, and won a race at the Hungaroring, among many podiums and top-fives. She did a couple more races in 2017, but only managed two 18th places.
Estelle Vermooten – races a Locost in South Africa.
In 2013, she and two team-mates were tenth in the African 6 Hour at Phakisa,
against much larger and more powerful cars. In 2014 and 2015, she has been
racing in the Lotus Challenge in South Africa. In 2015, she got together with
Freak Show Racing again, for the African 6 Hour, still in the Locost. In 2016, she drove the Locost for the TransGlobal team, and raced in the African Endurance Series. Estelle
built the car herself. She raced in the Michelin Cup Challenge in 2017, earning a fifth place in the Ladies' standings. This looks to have been a part-season. In 2018, she dis at least one endurance race in South Africa. She initially competed in gymkhana events.
Margaux Verza - raced in the Alpine Elf Europa Cup in 2022. Driving for the Patrick Roger Autosport team, she was 21st in the championship. She describes 2022 as a learning year for a new car and a new championship and she improved throughout the year, posting her best result of 13th place in the final round at Monza. Her Alpine activities continued in 2023 and she was 20th in the championship, with a best finish of seventh at Dijon. She previously raced a Porsche.
Erin Vogel - races in the Pirelli GT4 SprintX series in the USA. Her car is a McLaren 570S run by Flying Lizard Motorsport, shared with Michael Cooper. In 2020, her best results were a fourth at Virginia and a fifth place at Road America. In 2021, she became the first woman to win a round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge, driving a Mercedes AMG GT3. Her win came at Virginia in the Pro-Am class and she was also second at Sebring and Watkins Glen. She and Michael Cooper were fifth in the championship. Previously, she raced an Audi R8 LMS for the team, entering the Sonoma rounds of the GT4 Sprint series in 2018 and joining a five-woman team for the NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill. She also drove in the Porsche Trophy West for Flying Lizard, winning her class. Before that, she raced Porsches and Subarus at club level. In 2022, she and Michael Cooper switched to a RealTime Racing Acura NSX for the Fanatec GT World Challenge. They were sixth in the championship after a best finish of third at Watkins Glen. In 2023, she assumed the presidency of Shift Up Now, a women's motorsport association founded by Pippa Mann.
Dinah Weisberg - races a Mazda MX5 (Miata) in the USA. She has been active in this car since 2015, competing in SCCA events, TC America and the TC class of the Pirelli World Challenge. In 2019, she won an SCCA Major Championship event outright, on her way to ninth overall. Two years earlier, in 2016, she was twelfth in the Pirelli World Challenge, her best points tally in a nationwide championship. Before the Mazda, she raced a Porsche Boxster in the Pirelli World Challenge between 2012 and 2014.
Joy Wilkerson - racing driver and actress in the USA in the 1970s. She started in an all-female “powderpuff derby” at Ascot Speedway, after having been a trophy girl in the 1960s. Most of her racing was done in midgets and sprint cars, but she also raced USAC stock cars and an SCCA Formula Ford. She took part in a Toyota Match Race which supported the US Grand Prix East, a forerunner of the Toyota Pro Celebrity Race. At around the same time, she became licensed by NASCAR for stock car racing in 1974. Although she never quite competed at the highest level, she drove the pace car for a NASCAR event in Ontario.
“Julie Wood” – competed in the KTM X-Bow Battle,
based in Austria. She was part of the championship between 2012 and 2014. In
2012, she was eleventh in the Rookie standings. He following year, she was
unplaced in the Battle standings. The situation was similar in 2014, although
she did manage a fifteenth place in the Endurance championship, with Harduin
Putrich. She does not appear to have raced since then. Her real name is
unclear; “Julie Wood” is the name of a female motorcyclist in the Michel
Vaillant motorsport comics.
Mary “Mickey” Wright - races in Trans Am in the USA.
After competing in local “powder puff derby” events in her youth, she took up
motorsport again in her forties. Between 2011 and 2013, she raced on dirt
tracks, and in club-level stock car and road circuit races. She moved into
Trans Am in 2012, running a part-season in the TA2 class. Another season with a
couple of guest appearances followed, and this year she managed her first top ten,
an eighth place at Sebring. In 2014, she joined up with Derhaag Motorsports,
having secured some decent sponsorship, and did the full championship season.
Her second season with Derhaag, in 2016, gave her one top-ten finish, a
tenth place at Brainerd. She has used the name “Mickey” since childhood, a
nickname given to her by her brothers due to her squeakiness.
Margaret (Peggy) Wyllie - raced in the US between 1953 and 1965. She started off in Ladies’ races, but was soon regularly taking part in mixed SCCA events, in a Jaguar or MG. She won eight races during her career, all Ladies’ events. In 1956, she drove in her first Sebring 12 Hour race, sharing a Lotus Mark IX with her husband, Jesse “Doc” Wyllie. They did three Sebring races together, as well as seven editions of the 500 Miles of Road America. Their best finish was sixth, in 1962, driving a Lola Mk I. In recent years, she has been working to promote and provide engineering education to female students.
(Image from http://forum.sky.it/ladies-brum-brum-extra-f-1-t250775.html)
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