Female Rally Drivers After 1950: UK & Ireland, Part I

Lola Grounds (right) and Mary Handley-Page (left)

Because of the large number of post-war female rally drivers from the British Isles, I have had to split this post into two halves. As ever, drivers are arranged alphabetically. Louise Cook now has her own post, as do Frankie Bogg, Jane Gunningham, Jean Denton, Chrissie Ashford, Lorna Snow, Janie Eaton and Eleanor Allard.

Nikki Addison - driver and co-driver who rallies a Peugeot 106 in Scotland. She has used the same car since 2017 and normally works with the same co-driver, Rachel Matheson. Her best result so far has been a 21st place in the 2022 Kinloss Stages Rally. A year earlier, she was 23rd in the Annabelle Tennant Milltown Stages. The 106 was replaced by a Honda Civic part-way through 2023. As a co-driver, she has been active since 2015, sitting alongside a number of drivers including Bill Hamilton and James Munro.

Shelagh Aldersmith - British driver and navigator in the 1960s. She usually drove a Mini. In 1961, she drove an MG in the RAC Rally, with Rosemary Seers. They also drove an MG together on the 1962 Monte. One of her first Mini drives was the 1964 RAC Rally, with W West. She also entered the Monte that year, but did not finish. The Mini was her chosen car in 1967 as well: she and Carolyn Tyler entered the Monte Carlo Rally, and she was set to drive in the RAC Rally until it was cancelled. She was usually referred to as “Dr. S Aldersmith”, and has been described as "formidable".

Linda Allen - Scottish driver from Oban. She first competed in the Scottish Championship in a Vauxhall Astra, and campaigned one of these cars in the 2004 and 2005 Scottish championship. She moved on to a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4 in 2006, winning the Ladies’ award on the Snowman Rally and finishing 21st overall.

Jo Ashfield - one of the Rootes team's female driving squad in the 1950s. She was both navigator and driver, and sat alongside Mary Handley-Page, among others. In 1956, she was one of a team of lady Standard drivers, and drove a Vanguard in the Monte Carlo Rally. Her co-driver was Francoise Clark. The two had previously driven a Ford Zephyr in Monte Carlo in 1955. Jo appears to have been active since at least 1950.

Holly Bailey - British rally driver who competed in the BRC Stars of the Future junior rally series for two seasons, in 2005 and 2006. The sponsor for her Renault Clio and MG ZR was tights manufacturer Pretty Polly. As well as rally driving, she has co-driven in club rallies, and participated in many sprints and autotest events. Early in her career, she used her own road-going Nova. More recently, she has been involved in promotional road rallies for electric cars, alongside various celebrities. She has also done some navigating. After a long break, she returned to the stages in 2013, for a charity rally for Help For Heroes, but did not finish. Her car was her old ZR. She co-drove for John Taylor in 2014, and Ian Rix in 2015.

Kim Baker - rallied in the UK in the 2000s and 2010s, using cars including a MkII Escort. Her best season in the Escort was 2018, when she was 17th in the Greystoke Stages and then 18th in the Trackrod Historic Cup, winning her class. This was one of four class wins that year. A part-season in the 2014 British championship included a tenth place in the Pirelli Rally. Earlier in her career, she usually drove a Peugeot 205. Her debut was in 2013 at the wheel of a SEAT Ibiza, co-driven by Paul Heath.

Glenda Boyle - winner of the 2005 "Women in the Hotseat" Rally Challenge. She rallied a Peugeot 106 around the UK and Ireland in 2006 as her prize-drive . Part of her competition programme was the “Stars of the Future” class of the British Championship. She did some Irish rallies in 2007 with the Peugeot. In 2008, she drove a Honda Civic and appears to have entered more Irish events, including International rallies. She made a stronger return to Irish rallying in 2009 and 2010, driving the Civic with Kylie Boyle. In 2011, they were 30th in the Circuit of Ireland. She entered the Irish Tarmac Championship in 2012, and was 24th in the Donegal International Rally. She did at least some Irish rallies in 2013, including the Donegal Rally, in the Civic. She entered the Donegal Rally again in 2017, in the Civic, but did not finish.

Nicola Brown - beginner rally driver in the MG Scholarship series in 2004. She entered several BRC and National-level rallies, usually managing to finish. She did not compete again for many years, but made a small comeback in 2017. She drove a Peugeot 205 on the Somerset Stages, and was 55th overall. In 2018 and 2019, she rallied a BMW E36 Compact in the Plains Rally.

Faye Campey - drove a Peugeot 106 in the 2002 World Cup Rally. Since then, she has driven and navigated in endurance rallies in the UK, such as the Lombard Rally. Usually, she acts as a navigator, rather than driving herself.

Caroline Carslaw - Scottish driver who has been competing since 2012. Her first car was a Ford Fiesta, which she continues to rally, and she drove in two tarmac events in Scotland during her first season. In 2013, she competed in the full Scottish championship, with a best finish of  40th in the GWF Energy Merrick Stages. Her main highlights were class wins in the Border Counties and Speyside Rallies, which led to her championship title in Class 7. She was also Scottish Ladies’ Champion. In 2014, she drove in the British and Scottish championships. Her best finish was fifth in the British Rally Challenge section of the Pirelli Richard Burns Foundation Rally. In 2015, she mainly competed in Scotland, although she did come down to Cumbria for the Malcolm Wilson Rally, and Wales, for Rally GB. She managed a class win in the Speyside Stages, and was 43rd overall. In 2016, she mostly rallied the Fiesta in Scotland, although she did try out a Subaru Impreza for the Kingdom Stages. She won the Class 7 Scottish title. She rallied in the Impreza in 2017. Her best result was a 36th place in the Riponian Stages. Her car for 2018 was a Ford Fiesta R2 and she mostly competed in Scotland. The same was true in 2019 but her calendar was longer and her results better. Her best finish was 20th overall in the Grizedale Stages. 

Laura Christmas - rallies an original Mini Cooper in the UK, usually in single-venue events. She began in 2020 and she was 46th in her first rally, the Rex Pet Hotel Flying Fortress Stages. Her best result in an extensive 2021 season was a 35th place in the Harold Palin Memorial Stages. She did some rounds of the Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship, including the Dukeries, Cadwell and Snetterton rallies. In 2022, she did three more tarmac rallies, finishing two. Her only result in 2023 was a 34th place in the Rixy Stages. Her career began in the co-driver’s seat in 2019, sitting alongside Mark Peterson.

Miranda Clegg - drove a Ford Ka in a couple of British Championship rallies in 2002. She drove in the Pirelli Rally with Julie Cole, coming 19th in the one-make section.

Rose-Anne Clinton - rallied in the UK in the 1970s. Details of her career are sketchy, but she entered the 1976 RAC Rally in an Opel Ascona with Sven Kolkin. They do not appear to have finished. Later, she was a competitor in the Faberge Fiesta Challenge for women drivers, navigated by Maggie Greenland. She was not among the event winners. She has now died.

Sarah Cohen - rallied in the UK in the late 1970s. She was part of the Faberge Fiesta Ladies’ Challenge in 1979 and performed relatively strongly in the rally rounds, as well as being quite a decent circuit racer in her yellow Fiesta. Her co-driver in the Fiesta was Dorothy Selby-Bothroyd. At the same time as she was active in the Faberge challenge, she was rallying a Ford Escort in BTRDA events with John Harmer. Her best result in this car seems to have been a 60th place in the Plains Rally. She later married Harmer.

June Conway - rallied a number of smaller cars in the north of England in the 2000s. She used two different Peugeot 106s between 2002 and 2006 and a Suzuki Swift in 2008. The best of her published results was a 37th place in the 2003 Cadwell Park Stages. Her co-driver was always Vivien Young. Their cars were not always the most reliable; the Swift’s suspension gave up during its first outing on the 2008 Armstrong Massey Rally.

Sally Cooper - rallied in Europe in the early 1960s. She drove a Sunbeam in the 1961 RAC Rally, with a “Miss P Block”, and does not appear to have finished. In 1962, she entered the Monte Carlo Rally with Rosemary Smith, who was appearing in her first international event. Her car was a Sunbeam again. She may well have competed in other rallies, and possibly did some navigation as well.

Amanda Cornforth (Smith) - British driver who began her rally career in 2006, usually in a Ford Ka. Along with Jayne Auden and Shelly Taunt, she was part of the “Babes in the Wood” rally team. She finished the season 56th in the MSA English Rally Championship. For 2007, the team went their separate ways, although Amanda co-drove for Jayne Auden on a couple of rallies. She was very competitive in the BTRDA 1400cc championship and was often in the top three. In 2008 she tackled the British Rally Championship and continued to develop her career as a motorsport PR and sports writer. In 2009 and 2010, she entered some club rallies with her father, Derek, driving the Ka. In 2012, she returned to the stages for some BTRDA rallies, including the Trackrod clubmans' event. In 2013, she drove in three BTRDA events, finishing two of them (the Trackrod Rally and Dukeries Rally) in 51st place. She drove the Ka in a series of British rallies in 2014, usually on forest stages. Her best result was a 34th place, on the Malton Forest Rally. She was second in class. In 2015, she rallied the trusty Ka again in events in northern England and Scotland, including the Jim Clark Reivers Rally. Her best finish was 23rd, in the Riponian Stages. Mid-season, she teamed up with Jayne Auden again, as her navigator, for the Phoenix Stages. She stuck to selected northern events again 2016, in the Ka, with her father as co-driver once more. Her best finish was 51st, in the Trackrod Rally. She did one rally in 2017: the Riponian Stages, and returned to the event in the Ka in 2019. 

Amy Cox - competes in Northern Ireland and Eire. Her most recent car is a Skoda Fabia S2000, in which she has scored three top-ten finishes since 2017. The best of them were two sevenths in the 2018 Turkey Run Stages and Tour of the Sperrins. She previously rallied Ford Escorts and earned her first top-ten in the 2011 Ulster National Rally, finishing sixth. Her favoured surface is asphalt.

Liz Crellin - perhaps best-known as a navigator, who sat beside Pat Moss-Carlsson in her later career. Earlier, Liz was a driver in her own right, and won the BTRDA Silver Star driver's championship in 1968 and 1969. Driving a Mini Cooper S, she won the Ladies' Cup on the 1970 RAC Rally. Again, with Pat Wright, in a Mini, she took part in the 1971 RAC Rally, but did not fare as well. After that, she returned to the co-driver's seat in international events, sitting alongside Eeva Heinonen, among others.

Jean Crossley - rallied in Europe in the mid to late 1960s. In 1965, she entered an MG 1100 in the Tulip and Monte Carlo rallies. She did not finish either of them, and went over the time limit in the Tulip event. She followed the same schedule in 1966, with the same car. This time, she managed to finish the RAC Rally, in 63rd place. Her co-driver was Henry Dodd. She does not appear to have finished the Tulip Rally. Margaret Lowrey-Mackenzie was on the maps this time. In 1967, she made another attempt on both rallies, and seems to have finished both. She was 61st in the Tulip Rally, and 119th in the RAC Rally. This looks to have been her last season of international rallying.

Jenny Davies - competed in the UK in the late 1990s. She was a works Proton driver in the British Championship in 1998 and 1999. In 1996, she drove a Class A Peugeot 306 in the Mintex National Championship, scoring one third place in class. She was less active the following year, entering the Peugeot for a few Mintex rounds. Her first season in the British championship with Proton resulted in one third place in class. Her 1999 results have proved difficult to find.

Lyn Dimelow - 1995 ANWCC Rally champion. She drove a Peugeot 205 in the 1996 Mintex National Rally Championship, winning Class B11 and finishing eighth in Class B and 45th overall.

Aisling Dooris - Irish driver competed in the Irish and British championships between 2000 and 2004. Between 2000 and 2002, she usually drove a Suzuki Swift. She won several Coupes des Dames in both the UK and Ireland, as well as awards for Class A5, and was fairly competitive in the Irish Tarmac Championship. More recently, she has been involved in the administration side of rallying.

Melanie Fitzgerald-Smith - Irish driver who sometimes drove an ex-works Hillman Imp. She used this car on the 1969 Scottish Rally. Later, in 1971, she entered the RAC Rally, again, driving a Hillman Imp. It is likely that she competed in Ireland more extensively, and she is recorded as entering a rally in Galway in 1975, driving a Hillman Avenger.

Tonya Fortune – Irish driver competing in the Irish National championship. She began her career in 2013, in junior rallying. Her first car was a Vauxhall Corsa, and her best result was a fourteenth place in the Junior section of the Raven’s Rock Rally. After one senior rally in the Corsa, in 2014, it was changed in for a Honda Civic, which she continued to rally in 2015. Although her overall finishes were modest, Tonya managed a class win on the Tipperary Stonethrowers Stages Rally, and was 66^th overall. She was 31^st in the championship, after taking some gambles with rallies held the other side of Ireland to her home. In 2015, she contested the Irish National championship again, in the Civic, and scored three class seconds. Her best overall result was a 63rd place in the Skibbereen Rally, which was one of her runner-up spots. As well as rallies, she has also competed in hillclimbs in Ireland, in her rally car. In 2016, she rallied the Civic in Ireland again. Her best finish was a class win in the Volkswagen Wexford Stages. She was 50th overall. She did some more Irish rallies in 2017, and managed a 27th place in the Carlow Stages. 

Daphne Freeman - driver and co-driver, mostly in the 1960s. One of her earliest outings was the 1959 Monte Carlo Rally, navigating for Mary Handley-Page in a Sunbeam Rapier. Later that year, she co-drove Pauline Mayman’s Morgan on the RAC Rally. In 1961, she navigated for Mary Handley-Page and Pauline Mayman again on the Monte, in another Sunbeam Rapier. The following year, she drove an Austin in the RAC Rally, with Elizabeth Jones on the maps. In 1963, she was back navigating, for Valerie Pirie this time, in a Ford Cortina, on the RAC. She also did some circuit racing and partnered Jean Aley in a Mini in the 1962 Nürburgring 500km. They did not finish.

Debbie Garlick - campaigned a Vauxhall Astra and a Peugeot 205/106 in British rallies, in 1995 and 1996 respectively. In 1996, she contested the Mintex National series for the Shropshire Rally School team, scoring points in class N1, the Coupe des Dames and the Junior driver category. She was killed in the 2004 Asian tsunami.

Debbie Gilliver - rallied a Peugeot 205 and a Vauxhall Nova in British rallies in the late 1990s. She entered the 1997 Rally GB in the Nova, but retired on Stage 23. The same car was used in some BTRDA championship rounds in 1998. Debbie’s navigator was usually Linda Craske.

Pam Haggie - competed in the UK from 1959. For her first season, she used an Austin A40, and drove in club rallies in Cheshire. In 1960, she exchanged this for a Ford Anglia 105e. She was rewarded with tenth in the White Horse Rally and a career-best third in the Mini Miglia Rally, navigated and coached by Don Barrow. Later, still in the Anglia, she entered the RAC Rally with Sheila Taylor. They retired after a collision with a team-mate’s car. After that, her name seems to disappear from the entry lists. She was a hairdresser by trade.

Gilly Handley - rallied in Britain in the 1990s, usually in a Vauxhall Corsa. She was National Ladies' Rally Champion in 1997 and 1998 and took part in one WRC round, the 1999 Rally GB, coming 52nd. Her career began in 1993, first in historic rallying with her father, then in a modern Metro. She mainly drove in BTRDA rallies, but also took part in some British Championship events from 1995 onwards.

Anne Hay - rallied in the UK in the early 1980s. She was part of the same group of drivers who had come through the Faberge Fiesta Challenge, although she did not compete in it herself. Most of her rallying was in Scotland, including a run in the 1986 Scottish Rally. For this event, she drove an MG Metro and unfortunately retired with an oil pressure problem. Among her other cars was a Talbot Sunbeam, which she drove in the 1981 Granite City Rally, finishing 51st and fourth in class.

Sue Hedley - competed in National level rallies in the UK, as well as finishing the RAC Rally in 1998. She was national Ladies’ champion in 2001 and 2002, driving a Vauxhall Nova. This was modified to run on LPG for the 2002 season. She was set to be the first person to rally an LPG-powered car in the British Rally Championship, but the deal fell through. She later drove a Vauxhall Astra in British events.

Melissa Heijink - rallied a Skoda Felicia in the UK in 1997. She finished the RAC Rally once, the same year, in 88th place. She and Anna Tait got their chance in Group N Felicias as the winners of Silverstone Rally School’s LadyQuest. Both cars were supported by the Skoda works team. Melissa entered at least two other British rallies in the Mintex championship, including the Panaround Rally. She does not appear to have competed since.

Linzi Henderson - Scottish driver who began in junior rallying in 2012, in a 1000cc Peugeot 107. She was 16, but this was not her first rally experience - she co-drove for her father, Walter Henderson, in at least one event, in 2011. She moved up to senior competition in 2013, at 17, and continued to use the Peugeot. It finished one of the three rallies she drove it in, the Stobart Rail Pendragon Stages. She was 51st. Her best result of 2013 was a seventh place in the Albar Kames Trophy Rally, a single-stage asphalt event. She was driving her father’s Subaru Impreza. For 2014, she acquired an MG ZR, and drove in the Scottish championship, on both tarmac and gravel. Her finishing record was much improved, and she was often the fastest female driver. Her best overall result was 38th, in the GWF Energy Merrick Stages, and she was third in class. She was quite active in the Impreza in 2016, mostly in Scotland. Her best finish was 29th, in the Grampian Stages. In 2019, she rallied a Ford Fiesta and had a best finish of 15th in the Galloway Hills Rally, winning her class. At the start of the season, she took a Rover 220 on the Knockhill Stages with Jane Nicol. Her only event in 2020 was the Snowman Rally, although she crashed the Fiesta. She drove an Escort RS2000 in the 2021 Argyll Rally, but did not finish. Another Fiesta was her chosen car in 2022 and 2023, although she did try out a MkII Escort in the 2023 Armstrong Galloway Hills Rally. 

Octavia Hopwood - rallied a Volkswagen Golf around the UK in 2016, normally competing on tarmac. 2016 seems to have been her first season. Her best outright finish was a 34th place in the SMC Stages, in April. She was ninth in her class. In 2023, she came back in a BMW E30, finishing 66th in the Mike Sones Memorial AGBO Stages. Away from the stages, Octavia works as a wildlife TV presenter, and has been a stunt performer and competitive climber.

Lynda Hughes (Morgan) - UK driver who competed in two Safari Rallies, in 1989 and 1991. She was twelfth on both occasions and she won class A6 in 1989. Her cars were a Nissan March and Daihatsu Charade respectively.

Linda Jackson - competed in UK rallies, mostly in the 1970s. She drove in the RAC Rally in 1973 and 1975, finishing 69th in 1975. Her car was a Ford Escort both times and her navigator in 1975 was the Swedish actress Leena Skoog. In between, she drove the Escort in the 1974 Tour of Britain. Linda began rallying in 1967, according to a 1974 newspaper article, although she only started “getting results” in 1971.

Joan Johns - drove in European rallies in the late 1950s, as main driver and co-driver. She was sixth on the 1956 RAC Rally in an Austin A90 Westminster, and finished the Monte Carlo Rally in the same car, co-driven by Pat Moss. In 1957 and 1958 she co-drove a series of MGs with Nancy Mitchell. They won the Coupe des Dames on the 1957 Liège-Rome-Liège Rally and finished the 1958 Monte Carlo Rally.

Toni Kelly – Irish driver who has finished the Rally of Ireland twice. The first time was in 2007, when she was 66^th, with a win in class A7, driving a Honda Civic Type-R with the experienced Gemma Price. The second time was in 2009. She won class A7 again, but was a respectable 21^st overall. In between, she rallied the Civic in Northern Ireland, in 2008, with a best finish of eleventh in the Circuit of Ireland International Rally. She crashed out of the Rally of Ireland, and had to take six months out of competition to recover. Her last competitive outing seems to have been in 2011, when she was 69^th in the Donegal International Rally, in the Civic, with a class win. After ten years out, she returned to the stages in 2023, driving a BMW 318 in a single-stage event in Barbados. Since 2012, Toni has been running her own driving school, and has worked as a TV presenter on Ireland’s RPM motorsport show. 

Becky Kirvan - winner of Silverstone Rally School's LadyQuest in 2006. Her prize drive was a series of supported entries in British rallies in an MG ZR, in 2006 and 2007. After a break from competition, which she spent building a car and rental business, she returned in 2010, driving a Nissan Micra. She contested the BTRDA Rally First championship. She won the BTRDA Ladies' Championship, despite destroying her car on her penultimate event. In 2011, she moved up to the BRC Challenge, driving a Ford Fiesta ST, and won its Ladies' award. She also entered, and finished, her first Wales Rally GB, in 39th place. She sat out the 2012 season to look after her new baby. In 2017, she made a small return, finishing 55th in the Trackrod Forest Stages. Her car was a Fiesta.

(Image copyright Robert Grounds)