Female Rally Drivers After 1950: the Rest of the World

Natasha Chang (pictured) can be found with Caribbean Rally Drivers

This post rounds up a few drivers from countries not quite covered by the other posts. I am hoping to add to it soon. Kozue Oi can now be found in the Japanese drivers post. Malaysian drivers now have their own post. Yana Pelenichenko now has her own profile.

Caroline Brunet - the only woman competing in the Vanuatu rally championship. Her car is a Subaru Impreza and she has been active since at least 2016. She was fourth in the Vanuatu championship in 2021, with a best finish of fourth in the Rally Bellevue. In 2017, she was also fourth in the Takara Rally. Opportunities for major events in this Pacific republic are limited, but she did enter the Vanuatu International Rally in 2019. In 2022, she switched from an Impreza to a Mitusbishi Lancer Evo X. Her best finish was fifth in the Tanna Rally. Caroline is of French origin.

Mingwei Hung - Taiwanese driver who competes in Japan. She first appears on the Japanese entry lists in 2018, driving a Toyota Vitz. In 2019, she was registered for the Toyota Gazoo Challenge in 2019, finishing seventh in class. Her best result was 29th in the TGR Challenge in Toyota, driving another Vitz. She was also third in the Ena women-only rally. 2020 started with a run in a Toyota Aqua in the Nissin Rally Tango, but she retired and went back to the Vitz. Her best result was 35th in the AND Technical Tour. She used a Vitz and a Yaris in 2021 and her best result was probably a 31st place in the Tango Hanto Rally, driving the Vitz. Her best rally in 2022 was the Yamashironokuni event in Ujitawara. Driving a Yaris, she was 20th and won her class. Most of 2023 was spent in a Yaris, competing in Japan again. She was sixth i nthe Women's Rally and 18th was her best finish in a mixed event, in the Yamashironokuni Rally in Ujitawara.

Maria Pavli-Korre - rallied in Greece in the 1970s and 1980s. She is better-known for her long-standing career as a co-driver, but she was quite successful in Greek rallies in a series of small cars. The Rally Achaios was her best event and she was tenth in the 1987 edition, driving a Talbot Samba. In 1990, she was ninth in the same event, driving a Renault 5 GT Turbo. She was still driving in 1995, when she entered a Fiat Cinquecento in the Paladio Rally. Her older sister Tonia Pavli was also a rally driver.

Tonia Pavli - driver and co-driver from Greece who had a long career between 1976 and 2004. She started as a driver in 1976, driving a Renault 10. Her best finish seems to be a 16th place in the Paladio Rally, in a Fiat 128. She enjoyed long co-driving partnerships with several drivers, including “Stratissino” and “Leonidas”, both of whom won with her on the maps between 1983 and 1993. Tonia is the elder sister of Maria Pavli-Korre.

Hui Lan Shen – Taiwanese driver competing internationally. She started as a navigator, and co-drove for Lin Yuan-Hu in the Mabanol Rally Sliven in Bulgaria, in 2012. Their car was a Renault Clio. The same pairing drove a Ford Fiesta in the 2014 Guizhou Jinsha Rally in China, but did not finish. In 2014, Hui Lan took the wheel herself, and made a guest appearance in the Dacia Logan Cup in Romania. She was 33^rd in the Raliul Perla Harghitei. In November, she drove a Fiat Abarth 500 in the Rally China Longyou, but did not finish, after locking up the brakes and almost going over a cliff.  

Pantelitsa Yiangou – Cypriot driver who mostly competes in rallysprints, in Cyprus. She began in 2011, in a Subaru Impreza, and drove in a number of rallysprints in 2012, with a best finish of thirteenth, at Achna Speedway. Part-way through the 2013 season, she changed cars, and started rallying a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI instead. Using this car, she was 18^th in the OFA Rallysprint in 2014. In 2015, she went back to an Impreza, an STi N12 model this time. Her best finish was fifteenth, in the Palm Trees Rally. She rallied the Impreza in 2016, but was excluded from two rallies for receiving outside help, and then did not start the Palm Trees Rally, or finish the Cyprus Rally. In 2017, she drove a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI. This time, she finished the Cyprus Rally, in 43rd place. As well as the Lancer, she rallied a Subaru Impreza in 2019. She got to the end of the Cyprus Rally again in 31st place, in the Lancer. She drives for a family team. 

(Image copyright Ryan Lue-Clarke)