Ilsa Cox

 

Ilsa Cox is a multiple champion in UK club saloon car racing. 

She began in 1987 at Castle Combe, which would be the scene of many of her future triumphs. Her first car was a Suzuki Swift that she entered into the Production Saloon Car Championship. She became a Combe regular despite living in Brighton, a considerable distance away.

In 1997 she was the Castle Combe Saloon Car champion, driving a Peugeot 205 GTi. Even in her first year in that championship, 1995, she won eight times, and was narrowly beaten to the trophy. 1995 was the first year that the series ran and Ilsa became one of its established stars very quickly. 

Much later, she won back to back Castle Combe GT championships in a SEAT Cupra, in 2017 and 2018.

It’s not only Combe-based series in which she has triumphed. In 2008, she won Class A of the 750MC Hot Hatch Championship, driving a Peugeot 206 GTi. 

More recently, she has been racing the SEAT Cupra in various club championships. One of her first successes was in the Eurosaloons championship, where she won a race outright at Oulton Park in 2009. She was second in the “B” class of the series, with three wins. 

She continued to race the SEAT in the CNC Heads Saloon/Sports championship. In 2014, she won one race and was second in Class D. 

As well as racing in the CNC Heads series in 2015, she took part in the Classic Thunder Touring Car Championship, still in the SEAT. She was fifth and seventh in these championships, respectively and won her class in the first.

Her schedule for the next couple of years took in some of the CNC Heads rounds. She was 26th overall in 2016 but did not do enough of the championship to mount a serious challenge in 2017. 

She was back to winning ways again in 2018, picking up another Castle Combe GT crown in the Cupra and winning nine races outright. This was not her only championship either; she won the Hammerite Classic Thunder Touring Car series as well.

She attempted to defend her CTCC Classic Thunder crown in 2019, winning at least one race at Silverstone and three others on the way to a class win. The shortened championship ran in 2020 but Ilsa did not race.

As well as this, she works as a performance driving instructor, and promotes women’s track days. Her driving career began with her working as a road driving instructor in the 1980s.

Ilsa won the British Women Racing Drivers’ Club’s Gold Star award in 2010. She was also part of a BWRDC team in the 2013 Birkett Relay at Silverstone, driving the Cupra. The Birkett is an event she has returned to, finishing ninth in 2017 as part of an all-SEAT team.

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