Women Drivers in One-Make Series - Part I

Helen Moore (left) in 2001, with Amanda Stretton, Vicki Butler-Henderson and Louise Goodman

One-make series for saloon cars are a popular starting point for racing careers, as well as attracting enthusiastic and well-funded club racers. Women drivers have competed quite extensively in these championships, especially in Europe, where drivers like Sandra van der Sloot have gone on to greater things.

Perhaps the premier current one-make series in the UK is the Renaultsport Clio Cup. Below is a list of the female entrants on the one-make scene in the UK and Ireland, since the 1980s. Jo Polley and Hannah Chapman now have their own profiles.

Carolyn Barker - races BMWs in the UK at National level. Her car is an M3 E30. She entered motorsport through Silverstone's driving school in 2003 and was a front-runner in their novice series. She is also a BMW track instructor, in the UK and Germany. In 2009, she took part in one Mazda MX5 race.

Natalie Brookes – raced a Mini in the BARC CNC Heads championship. She has raced all over the UK, including Scotland, for the Celtic Challenge. Her best finish seems to have been a second place. 2016 looks to have been her first season, although she did own and drive in the Mini in 2015. Her 2017 season was spent putting together sponsorship, and doing some racing in a Rage buggy. In 2018, she was due to race in Classic Formula Ford, but the car was damaged pre-season. She finally got to race in 2019, in the Mazda MX-5 Super Series. Her best finish was ninth at Anglesey, although her season was once more affected by car damage. At the end of the year, she raced a Ford Ka in the Enduroka 6 Hours at Brands Hatch, but one of her team-mates had an accident early on and the car was not competitive. When not actually racing, Natalie has worked as a model and grid girl, transport manager and test driver.

Samantha (Sami) Bowler - races in the Cooper S class of the Mini Challenge in the UK. She was fifth in the 2018 championship with a best finish of fifth, achieved at Snetterton, Silverstone and Brands Hatch. 2018 was her first season racing a Mini and it appears to have been her first season of competitive motorsport too. In her second season, she was fourth in the Cooper S class with four podium finishes. Early in the season, she joined Team Motorsport Woman for the Citroen C1 24 Hours at Silverstone. The all-female team of Sami, Katie Milner, Alice Hughes and Jem Hepworth was fifth overall. She raced in the Mini Challenge again 2020, scoring three thirds and one second in the Cooper S class and finishing third in the final standings. She also entered a 750MC endurance race in December, finishing tenth and third in class against cars much more powerful than her Mini. In 2021 and 2022, she continued with the 750MC Roadsports series, frequently running in the top ten despite driving a smaller car. She entered the Mini Challenge Clubsport class in 2023, and also took part in the Mini Grand 24H race at Snetterton, although she did not finish.

Dawn Boyd (Butcher) – entered motorsport through the Formula Woman female-only initiative, in 2006. She was not in the final twenty, but gained some racing experience in a Caterham 7. Away from Formula Woman, she gravitated towards small saloons, and raced a Ford Fiesta and a Mini in 2006. The Mini was the car she carried on with in 2007, and she spent two years in the Mini Challenge. Her best results were fourth places, including one at Pembrey, in 2008. She was second in the Ladies’ Cup in 2008. After the Mini came a Volkswagen Golf, which she raced in the Golf GTi Championship for the next three seasons, with a best race finish of second. In 2012, she became part of the Ford Fiesta Championship, competing in Class C. Her first year was her better year, and she was 19^th overall. In 2014, the Golf was swapped for a Honda Civic, a car with which she got on well. She won seven races in the VTec Challenge, and was the unofficial Production Class winner (as a Challenge, the series has no official final positions). In 2015, she raced the Civic in the VTec Direct Pre03 championship, for non-turbo 2WD saloons. She was a top-ten finisher and had some impressive battles back up the grid, following mishaps. She returned to the series in 2016 and 2017. In 2019 and 2020, she raced a self-built VW Golf in the TeeKay Couplings Production GTi Championship, continuing in 2021. Dawn is also a marshal.

Emma Bruce – races a BMW Mini in Scotland. She has been active since at least 2012, when she was a challenger for the Ladies’ Cup, against her main rival, Steph McMurdo. Steph, Emma and Elaine Marshall raced as an all-female team in the Celtic Speed Scottish Mini Cooper Cup in 2013, and Emma was second in the Ladies’ Cup, behind Elaine Marshall. She was 26^th overall, tied in the main standings with Steph McMurdo. In 2014, she only entered a few races, at the beginning and the end of the season, finishing third in the Ladies’ standings and 31^st in the overall championship. She does not appear to have raced since then. 

Sarah Budby - former karter, now racing in the Ford Fiesta Championship. She was 21st in the championship, in Class C, out of 42 drivers, after completing most of the season. Class C is for ST-spec cars. Her best finish was seventh, at Cadwell Park. Previously, she raced an MG ZR, in the MG Trophy, in 2013. She was fifth in her class and won an award for “most improved driver”. This was her second season in the ZR, although she had to sit out 2012 due to funding issues. In 2011, she drove in the Peter Best Endurance Challenge, and was third overall, despite not finishing the season. In karting, she was the first female driver to win the LKRC Junior Max Championship. She intended to compete in Fiestas again in 2015, but was not able, and she returned to karting in 2016. She raced Superkarts in 2017.

Maria Brown – races Minis in one-make series in the UK. She is one of Britain’s leading female Mini racers, making a return to the circuits in 2015, after eight years out of motorsport, caring for her son. She raced in the Mighty Minis championship, a series in which she previously had race wins, the first female driver to do so. In 2004, she graduated to the Super Mighty Mini division, and even went as far as testing a BTCC car. In 2015, she was racing to raise awareness of cerebral palsy charities, as her son is affected by this. Among her sponsors is the rock band, Iron Maiden. She made a comeback to Mini 7 racing in 2018.

Amy Chambers - British driver who was 16th in the 2005 Renault Clio Cup. She was driving for the Mardi Gras Motorsport team. Her best finish was tenth, at Brands Hatch. She now works as a test driver and race instructor.

Shanel Drewe – competed in the UK Junior Touring Car Championship in 2016, driving a regulation Citroen Saxo. This was her first experience of circuit racing, although she has been active in motorsport for the past couple of years as a mechanic, despite only being fifteen years old. She was 25th in the championship after completing a full season, with a best finish of sixteenth, at Oulton Park. In 2017, she graduated to senior motorsport and had a successful season in the Road Car class of the Clio Cup. She was second overall, with three wins. She did not race as much in 2018 but did represent the UK in the FIA's "Girls on Track" karting initiative. In 2021, she raced in the Mini Challenge, finishing 31st overall.

Joanne Eason – usually races small saloons in the UK. She began her senior career in 2007, in her mid-twenties, after many years in karting. Between 2008 and 2013, she raced a Ford Fiesta in one-make series, in different classes. In 2012 and 2013, she contested the B Class of the Ford Fiesta Championship, with a best finish of fourteenth, in 2012. She won the Ladies’ award several years in a row. After sitting out 2014, she returned in 2015, with a new challenge: the British Truck Racing Championship. Her truck was a Seddon-Atkinson, and she was racing against her husband, Wayne. Her class results were promising, but a broken leg, following an accident, put her out of contention. She did some more truck racing in 2017, and was thirteenth in the British championship. She raced Trucks again in 2018, in Division Two of the British championship.

Andree Fitchie - Northern Irish driver who raced in Ireland in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She started in hillclimbs and sprints in 1978, driving a Mini, before moving on to autocross and circuit racing. Her circuit debut was in August 1979 in the Lindsay Leasing Escort Sport championship. Later, she competed in rallies. In 1983 she made the news again with her plans to become a professional chauffeur.

Emily Glanvill – Scottish driver who raced in the Junior Touring Car Championship in the UK. She was born in 2000, and 2016 was her first season of circuit racing. Previously, she was active in Autograss grass-track racing, at club level, in the junior classes. Emily was a consistent finisher who stayed out of trouble, but was not quite on the pace. Her best finishes were early in the season, at Pembrey, and she was 24th in the championship.  In 2017, she raced as a senior in the Celticspeed Mini Cooper Cup, but dropped out part-way through the season to concentrate on her education. She made a comeback in 2019, racing in the Scottish C1 Cup. There was no delay in getting back on the pace; she was third in one race and fourth twice, all at Knockhill. This gave her a championship fifth spot.

Melanie Healey - between 2002 and 2006, drove in one-make series for Alfa Romeos, SEATs and Renault Clios in the UK. In 2003 and 2004, she came to prominence as one of the few female competitors in the televised SEAT Cupra Championship. Unfortunately, she was not particularly competitive, and could only manage a 15th place. After the SEAT sojourn, she won some shared class awards in Alfas in 2005, in a BRSCC club championship. Her most successful season was probably 2006, in the Clio Cup. She drove for Team Pyro and was thirteenth overall. Her best finish was seventh, at Donington. Although she returned to Clios in 2007, she only managed a part-season. In 2008, she returned to club racing in her Alfa Romeo 33. She won the club championship in 2010.

Sarah Heels – raced Alfa Romeos for many years in the UK, between 2004 and 2012. She drove at least three different cars, all Alfas: a 33, 156 and 147. She was most successful in the 147, in which she won Class C of the Alfashop Alfa Romeo Championship in 2011. She was second in 2010. She is from a racing family who have all raced Alfas at one time. She stopped racing after the 2012 season.

Chloe Hewitt – races in the Mini Challenge in the UK, in the 180 Open class. In 2016, she was fifth in her class, and this gave her fifth in the Rookie standings as well. 2016 was her first season of senior competition, after a few seasons of karting. In 2017, she was fourth in the Open class, a result she repeated for 2018 in the "S" class, with several third places. In 2019, she took part in the Brands Hatch round of the championship, earning a fifth and two seventh places. She was seventeen years old when she did her first Mini race. Her team name is “Chewitt Racing”, after a brand of sweets in the UK.

Alice Hughes - BRSCC Mighty Mini Champion in 2017, driving for Agouti Motorsport. She won two races outright and finished on the podium on six further occasions. This was her first full season of circuit racing, but her second attempt at Mighty Minis, after a part-season in 2015. In between, she raced a Ford Fiesta in the 750MC Hot Hatch Championship. In 2019, she joined up with Katie Milner and Team Motorsport Woman to race in the Citroen C1 Challenge. Driving as a pair, she and Katie were second in both of their debut races at Croft. Later, they were partnered by Sami Bowler and Jem Hepworth for the C1 24 Hours at Silverstone, finishing fifth. Previously, from the age of fourteen, she won several national titles in Autograss.

Natasha Hussain - competes in the Dunlop Ford Fiesta Championship. Her first race was in 2012 in the Fiesta Junior Chamionship, at Brands Hatch, and she was eighth and seventh in the last two races of the season. She did a full season in the Junior championship in 2013, and had an eventful year, including a pole position and a disqualification, plus her first podium. At Cadwell Park, she had a spectacular spin in both races, but recovered in the second, to take the finish. She finished the year in the middle of the championship leaderboard. In 2014, she moved up to the senior Fiesta Championship, where the grids are bigger and the racing more demanding. She was 17th overall, again in the mid-table region. In 2015, she did a part-season in the championship. 

Louise Inch – races a Mini in the UK. Between 2008 and 2011, she competed in the Mighty Mini championship, and she won the series outright in 2010, after winning two races. She narrowly avoided being disqualified, after her car was deemed to be two millimetres too low, but she was eventually awarded her title after an appeal. 2010 was only her third season, and she went from accident-prone rookie, to third place, to a win. In 2011, the situation was reversed, with a rival being stripped of his points, giving Louise a chance at the title, but she could not quite make up enough ground, and was second. She made some appearances in a Mini in 2012, but does not appear to have raced much then until 2017, when she did another part-season in Super Mighty Minis. She took 2018 and 2019 off as she had a baby. 

Dana Freeman – races a Ford Fiesta in the UK. She made her debut in senior motorsport in October 2015, after a teenage karting career. Her first races were at the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch. She competed in the D Class of the Ford Fiesta Championship, and experienced some setbacks in her first races, including a grid penalty for having to use old tyres. She ran as high as ninth in one race, but dropped back. In 2016, she raced in the championship again, and was seventh in class D. She tried out a class C car for two races, which she intended to use in 2017. This was limited to guest appearances in the final round at Donington. 

Laura Harris - finished ninth in the 2017 BARC Mighty Mini Championship. She did her first Mighty Mini races in 2013 with a part-season and by 2017, was a regular top-ten finisher. At the end of the 2017 season, a serious practice accident destroyed her car’s body and she sat out 2018 as a result. She was aiming to return and the car was being rebuilt, but she kept involved, acting as team manager for the Slarky Malarkey Mini team. The build continued in 2020 and Laura returned to the circuits for the 2CV 24 Hours at Snetterton, drivign for the all-female Blueberry Tarts team. In 2022 and 2023, she got her Mini back on track. Previously, she co-drove a Datsun in historic rallies.

Emma Karwacki – winner of the 2011 BRSCC Alfashop Alfa Romeo Championship. She won seven of her nine races, driving an Alfa Romeo 147. She had been competing in Alfas quite extensively for some years, in a 33, and further back in 2002, an Alfasud, as well as the 147. She was also very successful in 2012, although she did not take part in enough races to challenge for the title. Emma is Canadian, but based in the UK.

Jessica King – races in the Ford Fiesta Championship, in the D class. Her final position on the leaderboard was fifth. 2015 was her second year of car racing; she began in 2014, in the Fiesta Junior Championship. She was fifth overall. After turning 17, she had to move into the senior championship. In 2016, she moved up one position in class D, to fourth, with one class win. Prior to racing her Fiesta, Jessica raced karts from the age of twelve to 16.

Morgan Lewis - races a Mini in the UK in the Mini 7 championship. She first learned to drive a racing car on grass in late 2017, aged 16, before making her circuit debut in March 2018. She competed in the Mini 7 S-Class and was the leading Mini 7 novice, as well as second in the Under-17 championship. Morgan is the daughter of Formula Ford racer Jonathan Lewis and she races despite having been born with talipes (“club foot”).

Elaine Marshall – races Minis in Scotland. She won the Celtic Speed Scottish Mini Cooper Cup Ladies’ class in 2013. Her overall championship position was 16^th. She raced in the Mini Cooper Cup from at least 2011, when she was a strong challenger for the Ladies’ Cup. In 2012, she was still registered for the Newcomers’ Cup, so it is probable that 2011 was her first season. She does not appear to have raced since the end of 2013.

Stephanie McMurdo – races a BMW Mini in Scotland. She is from a family of racers, and began competing herself in 2011. Her first full season in the Celtic Speed Scottish Mini Cooper Cup was in 2012, and she was the fastest lady in the series. A more difficult season followed in 2013, and she missed some of the rounds, as well as recording some non-finishes. This meant that she lost her Ladies’ crown to her team-mate, Elaine Marshall, and was 26^th overall. She was racing for the Tynecastle team, as part of a three-woman squad with Marshall and Emma Bruce. In 2014, she was much more consistent in her finishing, and regained her Ladies’ Cup. She was 20^th overall. She does not appear to have raced in 2015.

Annabel Meade - British karter and circuit racer who did a part-season in the Renault Clio Cup in 2005. She started her full-sized career with a 2nd overall in the Ford Fiesta Si Championship in Scotland, in 2000. In 2006, she was awarded a sponsored scholarship by Mango Communications, but appears to have struggled to find funding since then. She returned to karting.

Helen Moore - did some saloon racing in the UK in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She won the Ford Fiesta Zetec Ladies' Championship in 1999. She also took part in some Formula Ford races, as part of the BRDC Junior Single Seater Championship. Unfortunately, she has struggled for sponsorship throughout her career, and has not raced at a high level since then.

Sarah Munns - regular in Mini racing in the UK since the 1990s. She won her first championship in 1997: the Mini Se7en Novice Championship. Since then, she has moved through the British Mini racing ranks, competing in the Mini Se7en championship proper, and later, the faster Mini Miglia series. She won her first main-series race in 2001, and was a strong contender for the Miglia crown in the early 2000s. Occasionally, she races other cars, including a Mazda RX-7 in the Toyo Tyres 24 Hour series in 2009. She was fourth in class for Brunswick Automotive. In 2011, she was fourth in the Mini Miglia Championship. In 2012, she switched to sprinting, and won the Tunbridge Wells Motor Club championship. She was runner-up in 2013.

Chloë Noyce – veteran of the VW Fun Cup series, having first raced in it in 2006. Her first team was Random Racing, made up of karting friends. Since 2007 she has been part of Team Tiger, a long-standing Fun Cup entry consisting of Chloë, Ben and Chris Beighton, and Oliver Bryant. The team have been race winners on various occasions, including once at Donington in 2014. In 2015, they raced in the series part-time, although they were sixth in the first race at Silverstone. She stayed with Team Tiger in 2016, and raced in the 25-Hour race again. 

Rachel Owen - Welsh driver who raced in the Mini Challenge between 2004 and 2006, in the Club class. She scored well in this class, but did not really challenge for overall honours. In 2005, she also raced a Caterham as Wales's entry in the Formula Woman Nations Cup, an all-female event. Her finishes were mid-field.

Sarah Parsons - raced in the Mini Challenge in the UK. Her first season was 2007, when she was eighteen years old. She was racing alongside her father, Graham. She was tenth in the Cooper class in her first year, and ninth in 2008. Her 2009 season was disrupted by a crash at Donington, but she was sixth in the championship. The Advent team for which she and Graham had been competing pulled out in 2010, so she moved to the Exelr8 team, and was fifth in the Cooper class, with eight podium finishes. She shared the Exelr8 car with team owner, Justina Williams in 2011. This seems to have been her last season of competition.

Jenny Ryan - winner of the 2007 UK Mini Cooper Challenge series. She won four races. It was her second attempt at the British Mini Challenge. Previously, in 2005, she won a Fiat Punto club racing championship in her native Ireland.

Taelor Shand – races a Mini in Scotland, as part of the Celtic Speed Scottish Mini Cooper Cup. 2015 was her first season in the championship, and she only did the last few rounds. She was second in the Ladies’ Cup, behind Hannah Chapman, and tenth in the Newcomers’ Cup. Her final championship position was 26^th.  She won the Ladies' title in 2016 from Hannah Chapman, who could not finish the season. In the overall classification, she was 27th, and she was ninth in the Newcomer standings. Hannah retook the Ladies' title in 2017, with Taelor finishing joint 13th in the overall championship. Her best result was fifth. 

Alana Taylor – Scottish driver who races a BMW 121 in the UK. 2016 was her first season of senior car racing, after several years of karting. She was competing in the NSSCC BMW championship in Scotland, with some appearances in the Invitation class of the Kumho BMW Series in the UK as a whole. She is supported currently by the MSA Academy development programme.

Lisa Thackwell - raced a Renault 5 and a Ford Fiesta in Europe between 1989 and 1991. She entered the Fiesta Mixed Cup with her future husband, David Brabham, in 1991. Previously, she competed in the Renault 5 Cup. Her brother is Mike Thackwell, a former F1 driver.

Claire Tippet - raced in the Volkswagen Cup in the UK between 2003 and 2006. Her car was a Mk1 Golf and her best result was a tenth place in 2004. Unfortunately, she was unable to compete much in 2006 due to a lack of sponsorship, so she moved into motorsport administration and race instructing. She made a comeback in 2022, racing a historic BMW with the CSCC and securing many class wins. This continued in 2023.

Katie Turner - races in the NXT Gen Cup in Europe. Her car is the championship’s standard electric Mini Cooper. 2023 is her first season of racing and her best finish has been a fifteenth place at Oschersleben. She is currently 21st in the championship. At 19, she is one of the older drivers in the series and prior to joining the NXT Gen Cup, she had only taken part in track days.

Wendy Wathen - raced Minis in the UK in 1979 and 1980. She got into racing through her husband, Michael, who also campaigned a Mini. They often shared the car. Wendy had only begun racing in 1979 and she was killed in an accident on 1980’s May Bank Holiday weekend. She was competing in the Mini championship at Castle Combe when she was involved in a serious accident, suffering head injuries.

Aimee Watts - races a Citroen C1 in the UK, in the Silverlake C1 Challenge. She won her first race at the end of 2021 at Brands Hatch. This was the three-hour finale for the C1 Challenge and she shared the car with her father, former BTCC racer Patrick Watts, and Orlando Lindsay. She triumphed despite carrying a leg injury. 2021 was her first full season in a car and she planned to race a classic Mini in 2022, having tried out the car in 2021. However, she chose a Mazda MX5 instead. She ran strongly in the Club class in 2023.

Grace Williams - raced a Mini Cooper in the UK between 2013 and 2015. The Mini was her first racing car. For all three seasons, she competed in the Cooper class. She was eighth in her first season and ninth in her second. 2015 was a part-season and she did not complete enough races to challenge for honours. She does not appear to have raced since the end of 2015.

Justina Williams - best known as a member of the management team at Exelr8 Motorsport. She co-owns the team with Antony Williams. In 2010, she got behind the wheel herself in the Mini Challenge. She was one of the leading drivers in the Cooper class, with two class wins at Brands Hatch and Thruxton. She was third in class at the end of the year.

(Image from http://www.vb-h.net/)