Elena Samsonova

Elena Samsonova was one of Russia’s earliest female racing drivers, active before the 1917 Revolution.

She was born in 1890 and began competing shortly before the First World War, having learned to drive Warsaw after graduating from high school.

In 1913, she was tenth in an off-road trial near Moscow, driving an American Hupmobile. The trial was run on a dirt track over 2.134km, which equates to two versts in old Russian measurements. Elena was one of two Hupmobile drivers, both of which were using 12hop models. She was not really competitive on her first time out, finishing tenth from fourteen starters and over three minutes behind the ninth-placed car. 

In 1914, she drove the Hupmobile in a race and another trial, on roads this time. Both events were held near St. Petersburg; the trial was on Volkhonskoe Road and the race may have been in the same area. 

Her run in the seven-lap Grand Prix de l’Automobile Club de St. Petersburg ended on the third lap due to a damaged wheel. She had been in sixth place. Only seven of the fifteen cars that started made it to the end.

She set a time in the trial but her position is not recorded. The record runs were marred by the death of another driver and no other times seem to have been published. Interestingly, she raced against another female driver, named Suvorina, in an Excelsior.

Not long before her first race in 1913, she earned her pilot’s license. After her racing career ended in 1914, she studied medicine, later working as an Army nurse and then taking the exams for the transport corps.

She escaped the purges of the 1917 Revolution and may even have served in the Bolshevik air force as an observer, although this is debated as her name does not appear in official military records. 

She died in 1958.

(Image copyright Miron Dolnikov)

Elfrieda Mais

Elfrieda Mais was a star of the early 20th-century fairground race circuit in the USA. She died in 1934 when a driving stunt went wrong.

She raced in the USA between 1912 and 1934, initially alongside her husband Johnny Mais. She was born Elfrieda Hellmann in 1893 and married Jonny in the summer of 1911. She always raced under the name “Miss Mais”, although her marriage to Johnny was short-lived and the first of four. 

As women were prohibited from driving in sanctioned events, she mostly did speed trials and demonstration runs. The early part of her career is a little unclear as she was sometimes mixed up with Arline Mazy, another driver. 

It is in 1915 that her name starts to become a common sight in American newspapers. She took on another woman, Bunny Thornton, at the “Record Aviation and Auto Racing Meet” held as part of the Minnesota State Fair. Elfrieda was driving Johnny’s Mais Special. Bunny Thornton was referred to as the English champion, although she was probably not English. Their wheel to wheel race was over five miles and was won by Elfrieda. The pair renewed their rivalry at the Illinois State Fair, reputedly for a prize of $1000. Bunny was the first of many high-profile female rivals that Elfrieda had over the years.

Her first major male rival was De Lloyd Thompson at the 1916 Minnesota State Fair. This race was even more remarkable because Thompson was flying an aeroplane and Elfrieda was in the Mais Special. This was one of a series of car vs aeroplane races that Elfrieda did, including one in South Dakota shortly after her match with Thompson. She may have even raced against a female pilot, Ruth Law. It was reported in the Springfield News-Leader that noted aviatrix Katherine Stinson defeated Elfrieda by an eighth of a mile in a similar race at the Tri-State Fair.

At around this time, she set a series of speed records, but as she was not part of the motorsport establishment, these were not official. Nevertheless, she periodically bragged in the papers of how she was the "champion woman driver of the world". She continued to work with Johnny and the Mais Special, sometimes presenting herself as Johnny’s sister. In a syndicated 1928 newspaper article she claimed that another Mais sibling, Dolores, had been among her rivals. Elfrieda did have three sisters: Lui, Margaret and Alice, but their name was not Mais.  

For the time being in 1918, Elfrieda and Johnny were still publicly a couple and they began promoting their own car and motorbike race meetings. Both the Mais Special and a Mercer were usually on the bill. They put on events in Kansas, New Mexico and Arizona. In 1919, Elfrieda also drove an Essex car for speed record runs and in 1920 she added a Dodge to her stable.

After a couple of years spent attempting speed records, she made a return to wheel-to-wheel competition in 1921. A women’s race was organised at El Paso between Elfrieda in the Essex, Marie Jones in another Essex and Lottie Sanders in Stutz, probably all owned by the Mais family.

During the 1920s, Elfrieda competed less, partly due to the increasing professionalism of the US motor racing scene and its continuing sidelining of female drivers. She had also separated from Johnny by this point. She still attempted a series of record runs, often in her adopted home state of Kansas where she and Johnny were the leading promoters. These were not sanctioned events and reporting of them is inconsistent, with times stated as new records that contradict earlier ones. The fairground racing scene owed as much to show and spectacle as to sporting principles and promoters were not above stage-management of their events. The skill of the drivers is not in doubt although race results are not hugely reliable.

Ditto drivers’ backstories: Elfrieda claimed in her 1928 interview that she retired from the circuits in 1923 after seeing off another woman driver called Phoebe Miller. I have found no evidence of the mysterious Ms Miller, supposedly a ”millionaire sportswoman” from Memphis who retired herself following her marriage. Elfrieda was certainly less active as the 1920s wore on. She did find herself some more female rivals in 1924 in the shape of Jane Stanage and Mrs Robert H Radtke, who raced her at the North Shore Polo Club speedway. Only Jane Stanage turned up on the day and Elfrieda defeated her.

She took on another female driver, Marion Martins, in Canada in 1925. The two went head-to-head at Regina, Calgary and Edmonton fairgrounds, all half-mile dirt ovals. Elfrieda won one race at Victoria Park, Calgary. Her car was a Briscoe. Marion was almost certainly the driver who went on to become Joan La Costa. 

Joan La Costa eclipsed Elfrieda in the next few seasons, both in speed and in flamboyance. Elfrieda attempted to gain prominence once more in 1928 and her already-mentioned, largely fabricated media interview was part of this. She was now a German driver and had won a ladies’ title in 1927, although she had actually been relatively inactive. 

Increasingly, she turned to stunt driving at fairground dirt tracks to earn money and satisfy her taste for danger. She had tried to enter official AAA events in California in 1931, but her entries were refused and the leading US motorsport authority reiterated its ban on female drivers. In May, she was one of three women who tried to enter the Indianapolis 500. She continued to challenge both male and female drivers on dirt tracks, sometimes in a Duesenberg. 

She was killed in 1934, when one of these stunts went wrong. Having survived driving through a burning wall, her car went through a guardrail and overturned on a bank at the Alabama State Fair. She had previously performed the act successfully on several occasions. 

She is buried in Indianapolis. 

(Image from theoldmotor.com)

Oksana Kosachenko

Oksana Kosachenko is best known as a Formula One team official and as the former manager of Vitaly Petrov, but she began her motorsport life as a driver.

She had a short competition career in the mid-2000s while she was working as a motorsport broadcaster. Her route into sports journalism was via gymnastics, which she had to give up as a young adult for medical reasons. As she was born in 1966, this would have been in the 1980s. Some sources claim that she was a coach and choreographer to rhythmic gymnasts, but the stories are all rather vague. Her involvement in motorsport started in broadcasting but very soon encompassed driver management and championship co-ordination.

She took part in the Russian VW Polo Cup in 2002 and 2003, with a best finish of tenth at St Petersburg in 2002. Her car was supplied by the “Sport Garage” team and the TV show for which she worked. Initially, she turned down the offer of a race seat but she was persuaded to take part and provide in-car commentary. Her season in 2003 was affected by an accident at St Petersburg; she was not able to start the next race and was off the pace for the much of the rest of the season. 

In 2004, she drove a Sport Garage Polo in some rounds of the Russian Touring Car Light Championship, but she was never among the front-runners. Her best result by a long way was a thirteenth place at the Nevaring near St Petersburg. 

In 2005, she made two appearances in the Russian Touring Car Championship, at Moscow. She finished 17th in both of her races, driving a Honda Civic. This was combined with a part-season in Touring Light, driving the same VW Polo as previously. 

Her competition career ends here but she continued as a commentator, working with European Formula 3 and the DTM for Russian television. At about the same time, her “Manuscript” promotional agency managed the Russian Touring Car Championship.

In tandem with her commentary and racing activities, she worked as a driver’s agent. She was the manager of Russian Formula One driver Vitaly Petrov from 2001, when Petrov was only 16. Under Oksana’s tutelage, he progressed from winning the Lada Cup in Russia, through the junior formulae, regional Formula 3000, GP2 and then Formula One in 2010 with Renault.

Their partnership concluded in 2013 when Oksana took on the role of commercial manager for the Caterham team. She lasted only one year with the team, which went into administration in 2014. 

Almost immediately she repositioned herself as an outspoken media pundit. Even while she was still at Caterham, she gave a superficially telling interview to a Russian paper about team spying and most drivers’ dislike of Monaco. 

More recently, she has made a series of inflammatory statements, including describing the struggling Williams team as “more like a Formula 2 team” and claiming that Aston Martin was unlikely to become a winning team.

She has distanced herself completely from her time as a driver and said on more than one occasion that women were not strong enough to be successful racing drivers.

(Image from fehrplay.com)

Jayne Auden-Row

Jayne Auden-Row is a regular on the UK club rallying scene and Britain’s only hearing-impaired rally driver.

She has been competing in the UK since 2001, initially as a co-driver. She was soon winning class titles in the BTRDA rally series. She started off competing in the North of England, co-driven by her father, but was soon driving all round the UK. An early career highlight was a fourteenth place in the 2003 Roskirk Stages.

Her first couple of rallies were single-stage events on asphalt, but she gravitated towards gravel and began competing almost exclusively on loose surfaces in 2005.

She kept using a Peugeot 106 until 2007, when she changed to a Super 1600-spec green MG ZR part-way through the season. Jayne was a member of the “Babes in the Wood” rally team in 2007 alongside Amanda Cornforth and Shelly Taunt. They were tenth in the BTRDA team standings. Jayne’s best finish was third in class in the Cambrian Rally, 66th overall. She rolled the ZR during her final event, the Grizedale Stages, but was unhurt. She did, however, rally a different ZR for her first 2009 outing, the Malcolm Wilson Rally. 

She continued to drive the rejuvenated ZR through 2008 and 2009, usually in BTRDA rallies, picking up class and club championships including the ANWMC ladies’ award. The car remained reliable, getting to the finish of eleven out fourteen rallies.

Co-driven by her father Dave Auden once more, she rallied the ZR in BTRDA rallies in 2010 and 2011. It was still going strong for the 2012 season; she competed in all eight BTRDA rounds, and was ninth in the 1400cc championship. She was also third in the MGZR class, and won the ladies' prize. 

Continuing with the ZR, Jayne carried on rallying in 2013, mainly in BTRDA events. Her best finish was fourteenth on the Wales Rally GB National event. This was the first of four Rally GBs for Jayne and her best overall finish, although she managed class seconds in 2014 and 2016. 

Wales Rally GB was her strongest finish of 2014. She did an extensive programme of BTRDA rallies and finished every one, netting herself eighth in the 1400S class.  

Her 2015 schedule was very similar, including a run in the National event of the Wales Rally GB. Her best result came from a one-off drive in a Mitsubishi Lancer, with former team-mate, Amanda Cornforth, co-driving. She was 22nd overall in the Phoenix Stages. She was reunited with the Lancer for the Cambrian Rally in October, although she and Dave Auden did not do as well.

In 2016, she contested the Welsh Forest championship, switching between the Lancer and the ZR. Her second Phoenix Stages in the Lancer gave her a strong 17th place, co-driven by Chris Row. The pair were married by now, having been in a relationship for the past few years.

Her best result in the MG was when she was 46th in the Wales Rally GB National event and second in her class. 

A break ensued while Jayne had her first child then she returned to rallying in 2018, first as a co-driver. She returned to the driver's seat in 2019 and did three BTRDA events in her trusty MG ZR. Her father Dave was sharing her now-famous “Green Machine” as his own car was not ready. She rallied the MG in one event in 2021, the Visit Conwy Cambrian Rally, but did not finish. It came out for another single appearance in 2022, the Neil Howard Stages at Oulton Park. Jane and David were 63rd overall.

(Image copyright Manchester Evening News)

Janet Brise

Janet Brise raced sportscars in the UK in the 1970s. She took to racing after the death of her husband, Formula One driver Tony Brise. 

Janet was a model prior to her marriage. She married Tony in 1975 and he bought her a course of lessons at a racing school for her birthday. He was killed in the plane crash that also claimed the life of his team boss Graham Hill in November. A widow at the age of 23, she turned to motorsport to fill the void. At first, she competed alongside her father in trials. Reg Allen was a noted triallist and Janet sat alongside him in his Kincraft car as a “bouncer”.

In the years following Tony’s death, Janet was involved with a compensation claim against Graham Hill Racing. Hill himself had been flying the team plane when it crashed and he was found to have been in breach of several flight regulations. She said at the time that she hoped the action would not lose her the friendship of Bette Hill; pictures show Bette congratulating Janet after a podium position a few years later. 

She began competing by herself in 1978, intending to make her debut at Brands Hatch during its Easter meeting. The plan was for her to race a Formula Ford and photos exist of her sitting in a Rolatruc Elden belonging to the Brands Hatch racing school, but it is not clear whether she actually raced the car. The Cheshire Observer reported that her debut was at Oulton in July, when she entered the Elf Renault 5 Challenge. She was ninth after spinning early on. Shortly afterwards, she was second in an all-female Shellsport Escort race, behind Desire Wilson. James Hunt presented the prizes; his girlfriend Jane Birbeck was among the entries. 

 
She took part in both rounds of the official Shellsport Ladies Escort Championship that year and scored two third places. 

 
In 1979, she did a season in the Chequered Flag Sports 2000 championship, sometimes sharing a car with Desire Wilson. She was sponsored by the Kelly recruitment agency, which was then called “Kelly Girl”. Janet had worked for the company as a secretary. Her car was a Lola. She was not one of the leading drivers in the series but she held her own on the track. Juliette Slaughter, who had raced in Sports 2000 the year before, said of her “Janet knows her racecraft.” 

Janet married John Finch in 1979. He was an insurance under-writer and he met Janet at a racing school.
Her motorsport career ended after the 1979 season, when she had raced a Debenhams-sponsored Ford Escort. Some time later she ran an antique shop in London with her fellow Formula One widow Nella Pryce, who lost her husband Tom in 1977.

She remains close to the Brise family.

(Images courtesy of Alan Cox)