Diana Stoyanova in 2015
Women have been part of the rally scene in Bulgaria since the days of Communism and are still a strong presence now. The best-known Bulgarian female rally driver is multiple European ladies’ champion, Ekaterina Stratieva, who has her own post.
Elena Apostolova - Bulgaria’s leading female driver in the 1980s and early 1990s. As she was active during the Communist era, her cars were always VAZ Ladas. Her career began in 1972, driving a Trabant with her husband Stoyan. She competed in Bulgaria itself, including the Albena Rally which was a round of the ERC, and sometimes in Yugoslavia. Her best finish was probably a 25th place in the 1985 Rally Vida, also an ERC counter. Both of her daughters, Pavlina and Gergana, are involved in rallying. After her retirement, Elena began organising a women-only rally in Bulgaria. In recent years, she has returned to co-driving for Stoyan.
Gergana Apostolova - rallied in Europe in the 1990s. She is from a notable Bulgarian rally family and began her career as navigator to her father, Stoyan. This was a job she alternated with her sister, Pavlina. In 1996, she began driving herself, and competed in Germany. She was 59th in the ADAC 3-Städte Rally, driving a Suzuki Swift. In 1997, she drove a Ford Ka in the Monte Carlo Rally’s Prince Albert Challenge. Unusually, her navigator was her mother Elena, an experienced driver herself. They did not finish. “Geri’s” best overall result was 29th in the 1997 Rally Albena. Her car was a Nissan Sunny and Elena was co-driving once more.
Victoria Garkova - Bulgarian driver who started competing around Eastern Europe in 2017. Her car is a Hyundai r20 Coupe and she contested the Hyundai Trophy, as well as the Romanian junior championship and a Turkish rally. In terms of major events, her best result has been a 27th place in the Rally of Bulgaria, assisted by Velislava Pavlova. Her best outright finish was 15th in the Tvardica-Elena Rally. She was fourth in the Hyundai Trophy standings.
Tsvetomira Georgieva - rallied a Renault Clio, mainly in her home country of Bulgaria. She began competing in major rallies in 2009, and posted top-twenty finishes from the beginning, with a fifteenth place in the Rally Trayanovi Vrata. She also finished her first rally abroad, the Prime Yalta Rally in Ukraine. In 2010, she was ninth in the Hebros Rally, and finished the Vida Rally in fourteenth. Her other events, including the Serbia Rally, ended in DNFs. In 2011, she only managed two major rallies, including the IRC-counting Prime Yalta Rally, which she did not finish due to mechanical problems. She was also twelfth in the Rally Stari Stolici. She did not compete after that, and died in early 2015, aged 33.
Maria Gocheva - rallied a Lada VAZ 2105 in Bulgarian rallies in the 1990s. She was most active in 1997, when she entered several rounds of the Bulgarian championship. Her best finish that year was eighteenth in the Rally Stari Stolici. Her programme included two European championship rounds: the Albena and Hebros rallies. She was beaten to the ladies’ award in the Albena event by her chief rival, Gergana Apostolova.
Diana Stoyanova - Bulgarian driver who usually uses a Citroen Saxo VTS. Her first rally seems to have been a women-only event in 2007. She has been competing in national and international rallies in Bulgaria since 2010, including the Rally of Bulgaria itself in 2012, although she did not finish. The Hebros Rally has given her her best results so far: eleventh in 2010 and twelfth in 2011. In 2012, she did not finish any major events, although she entered at least three. In 2013, she was thirteenth in a Rallysprint event in Greece, driving the Citroen. In addition to rallying, Diana also competes in hillclimbs in the Citroen, and has concentrated on this in recent years. A return to the stages in 2016 gave her the Bulgarian ladies' title, driving a Saxo. She won her class on the Serbia Rally, and was fifteenth overall. In 2017, she only ran a limited programme in the Saxo, and did not retain her title. 2018 was a much better year; she was fourth in Rally Bulgaria and ninth in the Serbia Rally. Her car was a Honda Civic. Using the same car, she won her class in the 2019 Balkan Rally Trophy, picking up two top-ten finishes: eighth in the Serbia Rally and tenth in the Rally Sliven in Bulgaria.
(Image from www.dro4cars.com)
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