Female Single-Seater Drivers Around the World: the Rest of Europe

Malgosia Rdest with a VW Scirocco-R

Fabienne Wohlwend, Natalia Kowalska, Gabriela Jilkova, Victoria Blokhina and Veronika Cicha now have their own profiles.

Ljubov Andreeva (Ozeretskovskaya) - Kazakh driver racing in Russia. She took part in Formula Russia in 2014, and was one of the youngest drivers, at 18. She was no among the front-runners, and seems to have usually finished in around tenth place. She did better in the Tatarstan Formula 3 championship rounds, securing one fourth place, and a series of fifths. A second season in Formula Russia, now Formula Masters, saw a more consistent Ljuba. She had two third places at Sochi, and was fourth in the championship. In 2016, she raced a prototype in the Russian Endurance Championship, as part of a four-driver team. She was excluded from the Moscow 4-Hour race for taking an illegal shortcut. She attempted to qualify for the 2019 W Series but was unsuccessful. Later in the year, she did the first tow rounds of the SEA F4 Championship at Sepang, picking up two ninth places. After that, she took time out from racing to have some surgery on her legs. She competed quite extensively in Esports in 2020. Language barriers prevent in-depth research about Ljubov.

Ksenia Bystrova – raced in Formula Masters in Russia, in 2015. Her best finishes were two second places, both achieved at Sochi, and she was also third at Kazan. This appears to be her first season of senior-level motorsport, although she has been active in karting, and continued to race karts in 2015. Although she is a Russian national, and competes in Russia, she lives in the USA. In 2016, she seems to have done some karting. She works in the motorsport industry. 

Melissa Calvi – Luxembourgish driver who races a Formula Renault in the VdeV Monoplace Challenge. Her first season in VdeV was 2015, and she had a best finish of eighth, at Magny-Cours, after a part-season. In 2016, she has repeated that achievement twice, at Catalunya, out of the six races she did. Previously, she competed in junior karting, up to 2013. She was twice Belgian girls’ champion, and once Luxembourg champion.

Judit Forro (Hunter) - Hungarian-born. She raced in Formula Renault in the UK in 1998, and the MGF Cup in 1999, after a successful kart career in Hungary and Europe. She was married to Jamie Hunter who died while competing in the MGF Cup, and appeared to stop competing after his death. She is now a sky-diving instructor.

Emely de Heus - Dutch driver competing in single-seaters around Europe. 2021 is her first season of senior racing and she entered the Spanish F4 championship, driving for the MP Motorsport team. Previously, she was active in international karting as both a junior and senior driver. Her best result in a single-seater was a fourteenth place at Valencia and she was 29th in the championship. Despite this, she was accepted as a W Series driver for 2022, with the Sirin team. Her best finish in the shortened seven-round season was tenth at Miami, in the first race of the season. After the demise of W Series in early 2023, she was announced as a driver for F1 Academy, an F4-level women's racing series. She drove for MP Motorsport and won one race at Catalunya. Her final championship position was ninth. Earlier in the year, she had done the F4 UAE championship for the same team, but was unplaced. She comes from a motorsport family; her father Bert races GT cars.

Michelle Jandova - Czech driver who moved up to cars from karting in 2024. She entered the F4 CEZ championship with SAPE Motorsport, a Czech team. She and her team-mate Marek Micik only did the first three rounds, although Micik joined another team for the rest. Michelle was tenth in her first race at Balaton Park, then was withdrawn from the whole of the Red Bull Ring round. Her best finishes were three eighth places, achieved at the Slovakiaring and Most. She had a couple more DNFs, which dropped her to 24th in the championship.

Branislava Lapínová - Slovakian driver competing mostly in Eastern Europe in 2014. She raced in the Eset championship, in the Formula Car class. Her car was a Formula Gloria. Her best result was 21st, at the Hungaroring. She began her senior career in 2012, after some success in karting. She was driving the Formula Gloria in a Czech championship. Although she did not race in 2013, she did test a Formula Renault.

Shirley van der Lof - Dutch driver, granddaughter of Dries van der Lof. In 2008, she was one of the front-runners in the Trophy class of German F3, having won the Nürburgring round. She was fourth overall at the end of the season, with two more wins at Lausitz and Oschersleben, and a string of podium places. Previously, she drove in Benelux Formula Ford for two years, gaining a reputation as a fast but accident-prone competitor. As a junior, she ran well in the Dutch karting championships. She drove well at the 2006 UK Formula Ford Festival, winning one of her races and gaining some attention from the press. She continued in German F3 in 2009, driving for the Zettler team. This time, she was running in the Cup class, and did not score as highly, finishing 20th overall. Her best finish was eighth, at Oschersleben. After not racing at all in 2010, she switched to sportscars in 2011, driving a Ferrari F430 and 430 GT2, and a Radical. She used the F430 in one round of the Belcar series, at Zolder, but did not finish. The Radical was for the Bridgestone Special Open Trophy race at Assen, and she was fourth, with a fastest lap. She drove the GT2 in a round of the Dutch Supercar Challenge. In 2012, she was not as active, and seems to have concentrated on historic racing in an AC Cobra. After a year on the sidelines, she reappeared in 2014, as part of the Racingdivas team for the Dubai 24 Hours. She won her class, and was 31st overall, in a BMW 320d. The team did not have the funds for any more races in 2014. In 2018, she did some historic racing, driving an AC Cobra in a Masters event at Zandvoort. She tried to qualify for the W Series in 2019 but was unsuccessful.

Alexandra Marinescu – Romanian driver who competes internationally. After several years of karting, she had her first senior experience in 2014, at the age of fourteen, in the Skip Barber Racing Series in the USA. She was 16^th in the championship. In 2015, she moved to the UK, to race in the MSA Formula, a Formula 4 championship. Although she registered for the series, she does not appear to have raced. She did compete in British F4 in 2016, for six rounds. She almost made it into the top ten at Snetterton, with a twelfth place. She was 22nd overall. She tried to qualify for the W Series in 2019 but was unsuccessful and was eliminated after the first assessment event.

Aurelia Nobels - Belgian driver who began racing in Formula 4 in 2022. Her first race in the Danish championship at Jyllandsringen gave her a seventh place, which she improved to a sixth the next day. In an unusual move, she also entered the Brazilian F4 championship, picking up a twelfth place as her best finish at Mogi Guacu. Back in Europe, she joined the Spanish F4 series for its Spa away round, but was not competitive, only managing one 23rd place. In July 2022, she was selected as a senior driver for the FIA’s Girls on Track initiative. This led to a run in the Italian F4 championship in 2023, along with its related Euro4 championship, for Prema. She was unplaced in both series. In 2024, she joined Sainteloc Racing for the UAE F4 championship, in preparation for a season in F1 Academy. She was linked with a Ferrari-backed seat.

Kornelia Olkucka - raced in CEZ F4 in 2024. This was her debut in cars. She is from Poland and raced for the Swiss Maffi team. The first two rounds at Balaton Park and the Red Bull Ring were tough for her, but she became a reliable finisher, with a best finish of sixth at Brno. Her team withdrew her from the last round at Salzburg and she was 17th in the championship, second of the three female regulars behind Michalina Sabaj.

Wiktoria Pankiewicz – Polish driver who races in Formula 4 in Italy. 2015 is her first season of senior motorsport; she is one of the younger drivers on the grid, at fifteen years old. Her best result has been fifteenth, at Imola. Although her finishing record was good, she was not strong enough to be among the front-runners, and she did not race for the full season. She competed alongside her twin sister, Julia, and finished one above her in the championship, in 32nd place. She did not race in 2016. 

Michalina Sabaj - Polish driver who began competing in CEZ F4 in 2024. This was her first season in cars, after some time spent in karts. She entered the championship with AS Motorsport, a Slovenian team. The season started slowly for her, with a twelfth and eighth place at Balaton Park. Following a disappointing weekend at the Red Bull Ring, she picked up towards the end of the season, scoring a best place of fourth at Salzburg. She was fifth in the championship. Her F4 campaign was meant to be complemented by a drive in a Wolf in the Italian Prototype Championship, but this did not happen.

Valerie Theuwissen – Belgian driver who raced in Belgian Formula Renault in 2007. She was driving for a family team, Theuwissen Racing, in the Renault Stars Challenge. Her final finishing position was twelfth, after twelve races. The following year, she raced in Formula 16, another Formula Renault series. Although she did not compete for the whole season, she was second overall, after two wins and two second places. She does not appear to have raced since then.

Lucia Zivec – Slovenian driver who raced in Formula 3 in Europe in the 1990s. In 1999, she made appearances in the Austrian and Czech series, driving a 1993-spec Dallara, driving for Wolfgang Krebitz Racing. Her best finish seems to have been a twelfth place, at the Ceska Open, held at Most. Mid-way through the season, her team stopped entering races. She does not appear to have competed since. Now, someone of the same name works in the aerospace industry. 

(Image from http://www.motofakty.pl/)