Female Drivers in the 12 Hours of Sebring: Part II, 1980-present

Deborah Gregg

In 1999, the stewardship of the 12 Hours of Sebring passed from IMSA to the American Le Mans Series, which currently runs the race. It has also been part of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup since 2010.

Women drivers have continued to enter the race most years, with some success, although there was another serious lull in their numbers in the early 1990s. Liz Halliday is the race's most successful female driver, after her second place in 2007 with Clint and Jon Field. However, Lyn St. James has recorded several class wins and top ten finishes, as well as seven separate entries, which is a female record.

Below is a list of the more recent women's results. As always, the female driver is always mentioned first in the case of a mixed team, for clarity.

1980

Vicki Smith/Klaus Bitterauf/James Moxley (Porsche 911) - 24th

Lyn St. James/Ralph Kent-Cooke (Porsche 935) - DNF

Janis Taylor/Del Russo Taylor/Dave Cavenaugh (Alfa Romeo Alfetta) - DNF

1981

Kathy Rude/Divina Galica (Mazda RX-7) - 31st/DNF

Vicki Smith/Tom Alan Marx/Bob Lee (AMC AMX) - 42nd

Elizabeth Kleinschmidt/Charles Kleinschmidt/Alan Levenson (Chevrolet Corvette) - 70th (withdrawn)

Janis Taylor/Pat Godard/Carol Cone (Alfa Romeo Alfetta) - DNF

1982

Vicki Smith/Klaus Bitterauf/Scott Flanders (Porsche 911) - 22nd

Desiré Wilson/Janet Guthrie/Bonnie Henn (Ferrari 512 BB/LM) - 26th/DNF

1983

Lyn St. James/Reggie Smith/Drake Olsen (Nimrod NRA-C2) - 5th

Deborah Gregg/Kathy Rude/Bonnie Henn (Porsche 924 Carrera) - 35th

Carmen Lista/David Marks/Roy Newsome/Bobby Diehl (Chevrolet Camaro) - 47th

Janis Taylor/Alan Crouch/Cameron Worth (Ford Pinto) - 55th

Patty Moise/Tom Nehl/Nelson Silcox (Chevrolet Camaro) - 60th/DNF

Vicki Smith/Klaus Bitterauf/Scott Flanders (Porsche 911) - 68th/DNF

1984

Deborah Gregg/Jim Trueman/Alfredo Mena (Porsche 924 Carrera) - 63rd/DNF

Vicki Smith/Klaus Bitterauf/Arvid Albanese (Porsche 911) - 65th/DNF

1985

Patty Moise/Les Delano/Andy Petery (Pontiac Firebird) - 9th

1986

Patty Moise/Les Delano/Jeremy Nightingale (Chevrolet Camaro) - 12th

1987

Linda Ludemann/Scott Schubot/Lance Jones (Tiga GT285) - 15th

Lyn St. James/Tom Gloy (Ford Mustang) - 31st

1988

Lyn St. James/Deborah Gregg (Mercury Merkur XR4Ti) - 8th

Linda Ludemann/Scott Schubot/Jim Miller (Spice SE88P) - 51st/DNF

1989

Linda Ludemann/Scott Schubot/Tom Blackaller (Spice SE88P) - 25th

1990

Lyn St. James/Calvin Fish/Robby Gordon (Mercury Cougar XR-7) - 6th, class win

Linda Ludemann/Scott Schubot (Spice SE88P) - did not start, fire in qualifying

1993

Bernadette Hubbard/Ludwig Heimrath, Jr./Ken McKinnon/Tom Rathbun (Porsche 944) - 42nd/DNF

1994

Lilian Bryner/Enzo Calderari/Renato Mastropietro (Porsche 911 Carrera RSR) - 9th

Linda Pobst/Kat Teasdale/Leigh O'Brien (Chevrolet Camaro) - 42nd

1996

Lilian Bryner/Enzo Calderari/Ulli Richter (Porsche 911 Carrera RSR) - 47th

1997

Claudia Hürtgen/Michel Ligonnet/Zak Brown/Dirk Layer (Porsche 911 GT2) - 10th

Lilian Bryner/Enzo Calderari/Ulli Richter (Porsche 964) - 14th

1998

Lyn St. James/Jeret Schroeder/Tom Volk (Kudzu DL-4) - 17th

Giovanna Amati/Craig Carter/Andy Petery (BMW M3) - 32nd

1999

Melanie Snow/Martin Snow/Patrick Huisman (Porsche 911 GT2 Evo) - 9th, class win

Claudia Hürtgen/Hubert Haupt/Zak Brown (Porsche 911 GT2) - 39th

2000

Claudia Hürtgen/Hubert Haupt/Vic Rice (Porsche 911 GT2) - 31st

2001

Claudia Hürtgen/Mel Hawkins/Steve Knight (Lola B2K/40) - 30th, class win

2002

Milka Duno/Scott Maxwell/John Graham (Panoz LMP07) - 45th

2003

Melanie Paterson/Jason Workman/Ben Devlin (Lola B2K/40) - 47th

2004

Milka Duno/Justin Wilson/Phil Andrews (Lola B2K/10) - 22nd

Amanda Stretton/Christopher Stockton/Gareth Evans (TVR Tuscan)  -24th

2005

Liz Halliday/Clint Field/Gareth Ridpath (Lola B2K/40) - 33rd

2006

Liz Halliday/Clint Field/Jon Field (Lola B05/40) - 2nd, class win

2007

Liz Halliday/Darren Turner/Antonio Garcia (Aston Martin DBR9) - 11th

Andrea Robertson/David Robertson/Arie Luyendyk, Jr. (Panoz Esperante GTLM) - 34th

2008

Andrea Robertson/David Robertson/David Murry (Ford GT-R) - 24th

2009

Andrea Robertson/David Robertson/David Murry (Ford GT-R Mk.7) - 14th

2010

Andrea Robertson/David Robertson/David Murry (Ford GT-R Mk.7) - 22nd

2011

Andrea Robertson/David Robertson/Boris Said (Doran Ford GT) - 26th


2012
Keiko Ihara/Jean-Denis Deletraz/Frederic Fatien (Lola B12/80 Coupe) - DNF

2014
Katherine Legge/Andy Meyrick/Gabby Chaves (DeltaWing DWC13) - DNF
Christina Nielsen/Henrique Cisneros/Kuba Giermaziak (Porsche 911 GT America) - DNF

2015
Christina Nielsen/James Davison/Brandon Davis (Aston-Martin V12 Vantage) - 16th
Katherine Legge/Andy Meyrick/Memo Rojas (DeltaWing DWC13) - DNF

2016
Keiko Ihara/Ben Devlin/Joel Miller/Tom Long (Mazda Prototype) - 8th
Katherine Legge/Andy Meyrick/Sean Rayhall (DeltaWing DWC13) - 21st
Christina Nielsen/Alessandro Balzan/Jeff Segal (Ferrari 458 Italia) - 22nd
Ashley Freiberg/Jens Klingmann/Bret Curtis (BMW M6 GT3) - 23rd

2017
Christina Nielsen/Alessandro Balzan/Matteo Cressoni (Ferrari 488) - 17th
Katherine Legge/Andy Lally/Mark Wilkins (Acura NSX) - 30th

2018
Christina Nielsen/Patrick Long/Robert Renauer/Mathieu Jaminet (Porsche 911 GT3 R) - 22nd
Katherine Legge/Alvaro Parente/Trent Hindman (Acura NSX GT3) - 24th

2019
Katherine Legge/Bia Figueiredo/Christina Nielsen (Acura NSX GT3) - 26th

2021

Katherine Legge/Bia Figueiredo/Christina Nielsen (Porsche 911GT3R) - 22nd

2022

Ashton Harrison/Kyle Marcelli/Tom Long (Acura NSX) 27th

Katherine Legge/Rob Ferriol/Stefan Wilson (Porsche 911) - 33rd

2023

Rahel Frey/Michelle Gatting/Sarah Bovy (Lamborghini Huracan) - 35th

Katherine Legge/Sheena Monk/Marc Miller (Acura NSX) 36th

Ashton Harrison/Danny Formal/Kyle Marcelli (Acura NSX) - DNF

2024

Katherine Legge/Sheena Monk/Tatiana Calderon (Acura NSX) - DNF

Rahel Frey/Michelle Gatting/Sarah Bovy (Lamborghini Huracan) - DNF

Lilou Wadoux/Nicklas Nielsen/Luis Perez Companc (Oreca-Gibson LMP2) - DNF

(Image from www.f1rejects.com)