Marie-Pierre Palayer

Marie-Pierre Palayer is a multi-talented French driver who raced between 1968 and 1973. She is most famous as a member of the all-female Team Aseptogyl rally squad.

Considering the time period, Marie-Pierre began her career very early. She first appears in hillclimbs in 1968, driving a BMW 1600Ti. She was 18 years old at the time. This led to a BMW works drive in France in 1969, which included the Ronde Cévenole, Tour de France, Criterium Jean Behra and the AGACI 300 at Montlhéry, in a 2002 Ti. She was sixth, with a class win, at Montlhéry. 

In 1970, she switched to a Porsche 911 S run by the works team, and was 15th in the Tour de France, with Ginette Derolland. She also performed very well in rallies, finishing tenth in the Rallye de Lorraine and seventh in the Geneva Rally, in the Porsche, as well as an eighth place in the Lyon-Charbonnières-Stuttgart-Solitude Rally in the BMW. Her best result in open competition was a fifth place in the Rally of Picardie, but her first win came from the women-only Paris-St. Raphaël Rally. She ended the year second in the French ladies’ rally championship.

After 1971, rallying became her main focus as she joined Team Aseptogyl. Aspetogyl founder Bob Neyret had competed at Mont Ventoux against Marie-Pierre in 1968. She mostly drove one of the team’s pink-and-red Alpine-Renault A110s. A highlight of her first year with the team was a fifth place in the Geneva Rally, with Christine Rouff. Back in the familiar Porsche, she was fourth in the Paris-St. Raphaël. 

She was part of a works Peugeot team for the 1972 Bandama Rally in the Cote d’Ivoire, driving a 304 with Ginette Derolland. This event was unusual in that it had no finishers at all. Her going over the time limit was no real shame as she was one of at least six drivers who ran out of time.

She was third in the Paris-St. Raphaël Rally in 1973. That year, the podium was completely filled with Alpine-Renault drivers. This was the second to last of the original Paris-St. Raphaël rallies

She retired from driving herself after the 1973 season, and her last event was a rally raid, the Nice-Abidjan-Nice. She drove an Iveco truck. However, she continued as a navigator until 1975, partnering Claudine Trautmann and Christine Dacremont. Even after her disastrous 1972 Bandama, she usually competed on the rougher African events as a co-driver and helped Marianne Hoepfner to eighth in the 1973 Bandama, driving a Peugeot 504.

(Image from a Team Aseptogyl promotional shoot)