Marie-Odile Desvignes

Marie-Odile Desvignes was a rally driver and one of the original members of the all-female Team Aseptogyl as well as one of its longest-serving. 

She began her rally career with the team in 1971, alongside her twin sister, Anne-Marie, as a complete novice. Aseptogyl founder Bob Neyret selected the sisters not only due to their experience with Alpine mountain roads, achieved through their jobs in ski resorts, but also because blonde identical twins were a handy media draw. Anne-Marie was only part of the team for a very short time, but Marie-Odile proved herself to be one of Aseptogyl’s most effective members.

For major rallies, she usually acted as a co-driver for Claudine Trautmann, until she retired in 1975, but she was also a decent driver in her own right.

Her first year in the navigator’s seat was spent next to Claudine Trautmann at the wheel of either an Alpine-Renault A110 or for rougher events, a Renault 16. The two Frenchwomen were particularly skilled on very difficult, car-breaker rallies and finished third on that year’s Bandama event, held in the Ivory Coast.

Throughout her career, she was often partnered by Francoise Conconi. Christine Rouff and Brigitte Carrier also sat beside Marie-Odile in 1971 and 1972, in the Chataigne, Bayonne and Rallye de l’Ouest events, plus more on the French calendar. One of Marie-Odile’s biggest events of 1971 was the Criterium des Cevennes, which she entered with Francoise. Marie-Pierre Palayer sat beside Claudine.

She also had a short but successful partnership with Annick Girard, another of the original Aseptogyl team. They were eighth in the Antibes Rally and fifth in the National section of the Alpine Rally. 

Marie-Odile and Francoise were entered into the 1972 Paris-St. Raphael Rally and were third in the National standings. The same year, they won the Coupe des Dames in the Criterium des Cevennes. Marie-Odile did her first Neige et Glace Rally as a driver, having co-driven for Claudine Trautmann the previous year in one of their earliest events together, finishing twelfth. She encountered more snow on the Lyon-Charbonnieres event and seems to have finished, although the result is not forthcoming.

Although she is mainly associated with Aseptogyl, Marie-Odile did drive for other teams and in other cars. She did some French rallies in an Alfa Romeo 2000 and finished the 1973 Rally Mistral in 54th place. She also sampled a Porsche 911 for the 1973 Tour de France, assisted by Brigitte Carrier.

In her Aseptogyl Alpine, she entered the Ronde Giraglia in Italy.

1973 to 1975 were mostly spent in the navigator’s seat. As Claudine Trautmann wound down her career, Marie-Odile shared co-driving duties for Christine Dacremont with Francoise. She usually took on the rougher events, as before. She and Claudine were fourth overall in the 1974 World Cup Rally, which took a very circuitous route via the Sahara desert between London and Munich. Only 19 out of 70 cars finished, and Claudine’s Peugeot 504 was the second of three Aseptogyl entries. Co-driving in a non-Aseptogyl 1800 Alpine-Renault, she helped Michel Alibelli to a win in the 1974 Bayonne-Cote Basque Rally.

After 1975, she seems to take a step back from motorsport. One of her latest events seems to have been the 1975 Rallye Côte-Côte, driving a Peugeot 504 with Yveline Vanoni. A reference on the French “Forum Auto” is made to a serious accident on the Rallye Antibes, which may have something to do with it.

She was part of a later iteration of the Aseptogyl team in 1976, driving an Autobianchi A112. She entered the Monte Carlo Rally with Jacqueline Perrin on the maps, although they did not finish. 

Much later, in the 2010s, she came out of retirement to do some historic rallies in an Alpine A110. 

She died in October 2023.

(Image from the “Team Aseptogyl” Facebook page)