Female Drivers in Touring Cars in Europe, 1950 to present day

Ksenya Niks, Andrina Gugger and Ulrike Krafft, at the start of the 2013 ETCC season

Apologies for what will be a lengthy post.
Women have competed in touring car championships at all levels in Europe, from the upper levels of club racing to the European championships. Interestingly, there seem to be fewer female drivers in the ETCC (now WTCC) now than there were in the 1960s.
Below is a selection of female drivers who have driven in touring car championships across Europe. Belgian drivers are likely to be found in the "Belcar" post, Italian drivers in the "Italian Drivers" post, and those who have taken part in one-make championships have their own pages. Dutch drivers, Swedish drivers, German drivers and British drivers now also have their own post. Mette Kruuse can now be found here, Nicole Drought here and Jenny van Hilten here.

Anna Alexandrova - Belarussian driver who raced in the National section of the Russian Circuit Championship in 2016, driving a Ford Fiesta. She took part in the first two races at Smolensk, but then left the series after a DNF at Nishni Novgorod. She was thirteenth and fifteenth in her two races. She also did three rounds of her home championship, in the same car, with a best finish of seventeenth, also at Smolensk. In 2015, she raced a VW Polo, taking in a couple of rounds of the Belarussian Touring Car Championship at Smolensk and finishing eleventh and twelfth. She used the same car in the Russian Endurance Challenge at Moscow, and finished fourth in the 4-hour race, sharing with Sergei Koronatov.

Johanna Amann - Austrian driver who raced a Renault Clio in the 2015 German Touring Car Cup. She has since gone on to race the same car in the ESET V4 championships. Her best result in 2016 was an eighteenth place overall at the Red Bull Ring. In 2017, she enrolled in the CEZ Touring Car Trophy, part of the ESET package. She was twelfth and fourteenth at the Red Bull Ring. Her 2018 programme in the series was the same. Prior to 2015, she was active on the slalom scene in Austria. In 2019, she competed in hillclimbs in Central Europe.

Christine Bourcier – raced in the French Super Production championship in 2000 and 2001. Her car in 2000 was a Citroen Saxo, and she used a Peugeot 106 and a Ford RS2000 in 2001. Both times, she drove for the Guerreiro Sport team. She does not appear to have raced again since then.

Margot Carvalhido - races a Peugeot 208 in the French Touring Car championship, competing in the TC Light class. She shares the car with Frederic Rondeau. In 2022, they were the leading TC Light drivers with several class wins, and held on for the class championship. She raced in Trophee Tourisme Endurance in 2023, sharing a 208 with two other drivers. Margot appears to have begun racing on the circuits at the end of 2021, in the TTE Endurance series, alongside her younger brother Enzo. She got into motorsport through sim racing, having been part of the Simulateur Academie Racing programme and winning its female driver spot.

Carla Debard - races a BMW M2 in the French Touring Car championship. She began in 2021 after several years of competitive horse riding. In her first season, she was fourteenth in the championship, with a best finish of seventh, which she achieved three times. In 2022, she emerged a much stronger driver, earning her first podium, a third place at Magny-Cours. Staying with BMW, she moved up to the FFSA GT championship in 2023, in the GT4 Am class. She was third in class with two podiums. She is from a racing family and had practised for some time before her first race. She has also competed in the Fun Cup with her father.

Tatiana Dobrynina - member of the Volkswagen Junior Academy in Russia. She races in the Russian Touring Car Championship, in the National class. Her car is a Volkswagen Polo. 2017 seems to be her first year in the series. Her best result was a thirteenth place at Kazan and she was 33rd in the championship. In 2018 she did the first two rounds of the National championship, driving a Kia Rio. Her best result was 16th at Smolensk. She has been active in Russian motorsport since 2015, when she took part in some Time Attack events in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo XI. In 2021, she raced a Shortcut prototype in the Russian Circuit Racing Series, scoring one class win at NRing. The car came out again for 2023

Karen Gaillard - Swiss driver who races in TCR in Germany. 2019 was her first season in cars and she made her TCR debut at the Nurburgring, having finished in the top three of the Cupra Young Driver Challenge in her home country. Unfortunately, she spun on the first lap and picked up two penalties. She did better in the second race, finishing ninth. Her car was a Cupra TCR. She returned to the circuits in 2020 for the Monza 12 Hour race, again driving for the Topcar Sport team. She and her two team-mates were thirteenth in the first section of the race and twelfth in the second. The team was then third in class, fifth overall in the 16 Hours of Hockenheim. In 2021 she continued to race in the 24H series, driving a Vortex prototype in the GTX class. Paired with Lionel Amrouche, she was second in class at Dubai and third in both Mugello races. She was fifth in her class championship. In 2022, she raced in the Mitjet Trophy in France, finishing 18th overall. Her best finish was sixth in an away round at Catalunya. 2023 was better and she was second in the Endurance Prototype section of the Ultimate Cup in Europe, driving a Nova Proto with Gregory de Sybourg. They were seventh in the overall championship, with a best finsh of fourth at Estoril.

Natalia Goltsova - long-time competitor in Russian touring cars, always in a Lada. Despite having raced karts since the age of five, she was 28 when she really announced herself on the Russian scene, racing in the Lada Kalina Cup and scoring a second place at Moscow. That year, she also raced a Lada Samara on ice. In 2010, she raced in the Light category of the Russian Touring Car Championship, in the Kalina, usually finishing mid-field. This continued, and she had a best finish of tenth in 2011. On the ice, she was second in the Ladies’ championship, at Cherepovets. She continued to improve in 2012, with a best finish of fifth. In 2013, she was back to midfield, with grids strong this year, although she did manage two third places in Mitjet Cup races. After an incident involving her hair becoming caught in her helmet straps, causing her to lose concentration and crash, she did not return to ice racing in 2013, although she made some guest appearances in 2014. Most of 2014 was spent in the RTCC. This year, she scored some more top tens, including a fifth at Smolensk. She raced in the RTCC again in 2015, in a Lada run by her own family team. Her best result was fourth, at the NRING circuit, and she was ninth in the championship, one above her team-mate. As well as circuit racing, Natalia has also competed in rallycross, in a Lada, with some success. She raced her VAZ in the RTCC in 2016, with mixed results. She finished as high as fourth at Smolensk, but could not always match that pace, and was disqualified from the last round, finishing 18th in the championship. She was back in a Lada Kalina in 2017, in Russian Touring Cars. Her season highlights were two ninth places, at Smolensk and Moscow. She did better in ice-racing, scoring two top-three finishes in the VAZ. She now races historics. Her father is Vladimir Goltsov, a Soviet-era racer who also participated in the Dakar.

Nanna Gøtsche – Danish driver who races a SEAT Leon Supercopa car in endurance events. She has been racing cars since 2012, after many years of karting. Her first racing car was a Renault Clio, which she used in the Point S Silkeborg Clio Cup, achieving two third places and eighth in the championship. She continued to race Clios, sometimes for the Sally Racing team, for the next couple of seasons. In 2015, she raced in the Hankook Tyres 24H Series, usually in class A3T, for Zest Racecar Engineering. Her best result was in the Paul Ricard race, where she and her team-mates were 35^th, sixth in class. Nanna was sixth in the series' Ladies’ Cup, which was quite competitive, having completed four of the six races. In 2016, this improved to second, even with a part-season. She was driving for the Artthea Sport team, who also won the SPX class. Her car was a Porsche. In 2017, she continued in the SPX (special car) class, driving for Vortex Racing. Their GC10 V8 proved unreliable and did not finish three of the four races it entered. Nanna and her team-mates in the Danish-French team were third in class at Mugello. As well as endurance racing, she also competes in historic cars from time to time, including a Volvo Amazon.

Yvonne Gregoire - rather obscure driver of the 1970s. She occasionally appears in the French Touring Car Championship entry lists. In 1974, she drove a Simca Rally 2 in an FTCC race at Croix-en-Ternois, coming tenth in Class 2. In 1978, she reappears, in a Simca Rallye 3. She finished in 17th place in the Production 1600 class at Montlhéry. At some point, she was involved in an all-female Simca racing championship, and was apparently the runner-up, behind another mysterious driver called Catherine Bozio. This seems to have taken place in 1974.

Chantal Grimard - former Olympic swimmer who raced in Belgium in the mid-1980s. She first appears in the Belgian Touring Car Championship in 1985, driving a VW Golf GT. The full results for this championship are not available, but Chantal was not among the front-runners. In 1986, she drove in the championship again, which ran under Group N regulations. Her car was a Toyota MR2. This year, she was second in a heat of the Trophée de la Mer du Nord, but did not finish the main race. She was also 25th in the Spa 24 Hours, driving a Toyota Corolla with Anny-Charlotte Verney and Henny Hemmes. In 1987, she took part in some rounds of the French Formula Three championship, with the Belgian Sport Auto Racing team. After this, her racing career seems to peter out.

Petra Krajnyák – Hungarian driver who competes in the Hankook Racer Cup. Her car is a Suzuki Swift, and she drives for the OXXO Energy team, alongside Anett György. In 2016, her best result was eighth place, achieved twice in the middle of the season. This took her up to 11^th place in the championship, after missing a round. 2016 appears to be her first season of senior competition. In 2017, she raced a Kia Lotos in a one-make series in Hungary. Her best finish was eleventh at the Slovakiaring.  In 2018, she tried rallying, driving a Kia Picanto in the Nyiregyhaza Rally. She was 23rd overall. On the circuits, she competed in the Kia Platinum Cup. She rallied the Picanto in 2019 and managed a best finish of 17th on the Baranya Kupa Rallye. She also did her first ERC rally, the Rally of Hungary, in a Ford Fiesta, winning her class and finishing 51st. She was the Picanto rally champion at the end of the year. In 2020 she continued to rally the Fiesta in the Hungarian championship. Her best finish was twelfth in the Palhaza Rally. Another season in the Fiesta had her repeating this in the Orfu Rally, as well as picking up two further top-twenty finishes. She also tried off-road rallying in a Can-Am Maverick. She did three rallies in Hungary in the Fiesta in 2022, with a best finish of 21st in the Orfu Rally. 

Sabine Kukute – Latvian driver who raced a Nissan 350Z in the Speedest 1000 Euro Race series. Later, in 2008, she took part in the Baltic Touring Car Championship, driving a BMW 320. Her best finish was eighth, at Riga, and she was 21^st overall. The same year, she appeared on reality TV in Latvia, for which she is best known.

Marina Mise – raced in the Croatian Touring Car Championship in 2007. Her car was a Skoda Felicia. She did not race for the whole season, but had a reasonably competitive sixth place at Dugopolje as her best finish. Although she did not do much circuit racing, she was quite active in hillclimbs in Croatia, competing in her national championship in 2007 and 2008. In 2008, she also used a Yugo, and in 2010, she was still on the hills, in a Fiat Cinquecento.

Eva Mondou - French driver who graduated from karts to cars in 2021. She competes in the French Touring Car championship, driving a Renault Clio. She first raced in the Spa round, sharing the car with Bastien Girard. They were eleventh in the first race and tenth in the next two. The pair first raced together with Perftech in 2021, taking on the Le Mans round of the Trophee Tourisme Endurance in the Clio. Eva’s father William was one of their co-drivers. Eva was 16 years old at the time. She was fifth in the TCA-2 class in 2022, driving the Clio.

Michaela Peškova – raced a Ferrari 430 in Slovakia in 2010. Her best finish in the Slovakian racing championship was fifth, at the Slovakiaring. She also shared a Renault Megane with Karolina Czapka-Lampel in a two-hour enduro at the same meeting, finishing seventh. In 2009, she shared a BMW M3 with Matej Kotrba for the endurance races of the Czech Touring Car Championship. She does not appear to have raced since 2010.

Danielle Plomteux - Belgian touring car driver who specialised in long-distance events. In 1969, she raced an Opel Rallye Kadett in the Grand National at Zolder, a multi-heat endurance event. She was 61st. The following year, she was part of a team driving a tiny Honda S800 in the Nürburgring 36 Hours. She won her class, with team-mates Charles de Meutter and Serge Trosch, also Belgian. The same year, she returned to the Nürburgring for the Marathon de la Route, in a much bigger Opel Commodore. The race was 84 hours long, and ran over three-and-a-half days. Danielle and her team-mates, “Clyde” and a Y. Errolean, were twelfth, and second in the 2500cc class.

Irina Protasova - Ukrainian driver who has raced in multiple categories, always driving for Ukrainian teams. She was part of the Bevz Konstantyn set-up in 2010 for the S2000 European Touring Car Cup, driving a BMW 320i E46 in the first two rounds, after which the team pulled out. She scored two twelfths in Braga, and a ninth and a DNF at Salzburg. In 2012, driving a similar car, she took part in two races in the Dutch Supercar Challenge, for Chayka Racing. In 2007, she also tried rallying, driving a Subaru Impreza to tenth place in the Prime Yalta Rally in Ukraine. 

Kate Rafanelli - finished fourth in the 1996 Spa 24 Hours, driving a BMW with Florence Duez and Yolanda Surer. She returned to Spa in 1997, this time with Vanina Ickx and Florence Duez, in another BMW, but did not finish after an off. The same result transpired from her 1994 efforts with Benoit Galand and Didier Stassart, in a 325i this time. As well as her 24-hour racing, Kate also competed in the Andros Trophy on at least one occasion. Her family ran a BMW preparation company, so it is likely that she raced BMWs elsewhere in smaller events.

Angélique Sadalian - began racing in French national events in 2014, aged eighteen. She was the women’s champion on the 2014 VTR Tour, a simulator racing series, and this led to a drive in a Mitjet enduro race at Magny-Cours, as part of a three-driver team. She did some more Mitjet racing in 2015, based at Magny-Cours, then moved on to the Peugeot 208 Racing Cup in 2016. She was driving for No Limit Racing, with Guillaume Plubel. In 2018, she did the Fun Cup enduro at KLe Mans in May.

Mari Santonja - races touring cars in the Spanish championship. She drove a Honda Civic Type R and was tenth in the 2019 championship. Her best finish was seventh at the Circuito Ricardo Tormo. This was her first season of racing, although she has been working as a motorsport mechanic for longer and has also competed in rallies as a navigator.

Julia Schayer - raced in the Polish Endurance championship in 2020 and won the D4 class, driving a Kia Picanto. She was 31st in the series overall and had one class win with her team-mate Jakub Szablewski. Individually, she was fifth in the Kia class. 2020 appears to be her first season of circuit racing, although she had previously done some Time Attack events in the Kia. In 2021 she raced a Suzuki Swift in the ESET 1600 TCR championship, winning her class twice at the Hungaroring. This followed several seasons of karting.

Lydia Sempere - competes in the Spanish Touring Car championship, a TCR series. Her car in 2021 was a Renault Megane and she did the whole season, apart from the final rounds at Barcelona which she missed, due to a DNF in the first race of the weekend. Her best result was a tenth place at Aragon and she often struggled for pace. In 2022 and 2023, she raced in the Clio Cup in Spain. Previously, she was active in karting as a junior and a senior. Lydia is profoundly deaf and races with visual aids in her car which help her understand the car’s performance and when she needs to change gear.

Sandra Sutter – Swiss driver who races in ADAC Procar in Germany. After some time spent in karting, she did her first Procar races in 2008, when she was 18 years old. She drove a Ford Fiesta for the Vizethum team at Oschersleben, and was eighth in one race. In 2009, she joined the NK Racing team, still in a Fiesta. She did five races for the team, almost half a season. Oschersleben was her best circuit, and she was sixth twice there. Her final position in Division II was eleventh. After a break, during which she returned to karting, she did another part-season in Procar in the Fiesta in 2011, supported by Glatzel Racing. She was fourteenth overall, after four races, at Lausitz and Assen. Her best finish was eleventh, at Lausitz. 

Emilie Tapy - raced in French Supertouring between 1999 and 2005. She was 29th in 1999, driving a BMW M3 E30, after only a few races. Her 2005 return yielded an eleventh place, in another BMW. In between, she had another drive in a BMW in 2000, and was fourteenth. In 2006, she competed in an Opel Astra Coupe in GT races. She was 20th and 25th at Pau in a joint French/British GT race meeting. Her team-mate was Anne-Sophie Nourry. She drove the same car with Audrey Roche at Val de Vienne, scoring a 21st and 27th place with two class wins. She was also linked to a Larbre Competition Dodge Viper drive, but this did not occur.

Marie-Rose Tibesar (“Miss Timaro”) - competed in European Touring Cars in 1962 and 1963. In 1962, she drove in the Brands Hatch and Nürburgring 6-Hour races, in her own BMW 700. She was 20th at the Nürburgring with Ulrich Therstappen, and 19th at Brands Hatch with Rona Pearson. Both times she was fifth in class. The following year, she entered the Brands Hatch 3 Hours with Peter Galliford, but they did not finish. She did not enter any more major races. “Miss Timaro” was from Luxembourg.

Isabel van de Velde - drove in the Belgian touring car championship in the mid-1980s. Full information about this championship is hard to come by, so it is difficult to know the extent of her racing activities. She first appears in the entry list for the 1985 EG Trophy support race, driving a VW Polo for the Belgian VW Club team. It is unclear whether or not she finished. In 1985, she drove a Toyota Starlet in the Trophée de la Mer du Nord. She qualified for the final, but her results in the heats, as well as her actual final position, are not forthcoming. She may well have taken part in other races during those two seasons.

Isabella (Bella) Walkoun - Austrian driver who races a Mini in central Europe. In 2013, she competed in the ESET Championship, and was among the leading Austrian drivers. Her best overall finish was sixth, at the Red Bull Ring. She entered the same championship in 2014, using the Mini and a Mitubishi Colt. Her best finish has been fifth, at Salzburg. 2013 seems to have been her first season of racing.

(Image from http://www.automobilsport.com)