The Automobile Club Feminin

Club members visit an airfield

The Automobile Club de France did not allow female members, so a women’s equivalent was founded in 1926. It was incorporated in 1925 and began its activities early the following year.

Its first president was Anne Rochechouart de Mortemart, the duchess of Uzes. She remained in the post until her death in 1933, when Elaine Greffulhe, the duchess of Gramont, was elected as her successor.

The ACFF’s membership came from the upper classes, with many of the committee members having husbands who sat on the all-male club’s board. A good proportion of the committee was titled and some came from notable families such as the Rothschilds. Giorigina Bingen, wife of Andre Citroen, was among them. Despite its select entry requirements, there were many senior members who were Jewish, such as Bingen, Beatrice Reinach and two Rothschild baronesses.

The founder of the Paris-St. Raphael Rally, Count Edme de Rohan-Chabot, was involved, chiefly as the publisher for the club’s magazine. Many members were regulars in early runnings of the Paris-St. Raphael, although it remained independent of the club itself.

Much of the club’s role was to provide social activities for motor-minded ladies, including tours and meet-ups at members’ (stately) homes. These were recorded in its regular magazine, alongside travel and fashion advice, social gossip, reports from major motorsport events and even poetry.

It did, however, organise its own rallies, including some international ones: the Paris-Rome Rally in 1932 and the Paris-Amsterdam in 1931. In its earliest days, it was responsible for the Paris-La Baule Rally which began in 1925.

A “Winter Sports Rally” ran between Paris and Chamonix in 1935, following a “surprise rally” which ended up in Rambouillet in 1934.

The annual rally in 1936 ran between Paris and Le Touquet and was won by Jacqueline Seligmann. Her car is not recorded. The competitive element this time was a regularity test of some 220km.

Magdeleine, Comtesse de Ganay, was the most successful driver in these rallies. She won the Paris-Cannes event in 1930 and was second in the Paris-Amsterdam Rally the year after, both in a Reinastella. 

From time to time, the Club took itself to the forests for a trial, including one in early 1935 which featured a Chanel dress as a prize, won by Jacqueline Seligmann. There were also “paper chase” and treasure hunt-style rallies in towns.

A few ACFF ladies did go on to have serious and successful motorsport careers, including Marguerite Mareuse, one of the first women to race at Le Mans.

The Second World War curtailed the activities of the club and its magazine ceased publication in 1939.

Louise Lamberjack

 

Louise with Marguerite Mareuse during the 1933 Monte

Louise Lamberjack was a French rally driver active in the 1930s. She competed as both driver and navigator. 

Motorsport was something she had grown up with, as the daughter of motorcyclist and racing driver Dominique Lamberjack and the niece of Jean-Emile Lamberjack, another racer who sold cars. Some sources claim that she was Jean-Emile’s daughter. However, she did not begin her own competition career until she was around 30.

Father and daughter competed at the same time, with Dominique opting for an unusual rally car; a Saurer coach.

Like many French women drivers of the time, Louise began by competing in women-only events, sometimes organised by the Automobile Club Feminin. Her choice of cars was more standard and probably more sensible, beginning with a Fiat. She first appears on an entry list for the 1931 Paris-St. Raphael Rally, winning the class for cars over 17hp and finishing 20th overall. She was one of 23 drivers who finished without penalty. Sadly, her second attempt at the event in 1932 ended in mechanical failure.

Over the course of the decade, she would enter six more editions of the Paris-St. Raphael, driving a number of cars. Her best results were two fourth places, in 1936 and 1937, driving a Hotchkiss and a Delahaye respectively.

Her first major win was the Coupe des Dames in Monte Carlo in 1933, navigating for Marguerite Mareuse. She first drove herself in that event in 1935, and was second in the Ladies' standings in 1936, driving a Hotchkiss which she occasionally used on the circuits. 

She was 18th on the 1939 Monte, driving a Matford. On paper, the mighty V8 Ford-engined Mathis was her most successful car, as she recorded a second place in the 1939 International Rally of La Baule. However, only the sections between drivers’ start points and La Baule itself were counted, as the Second World War was beginning and the rally proper never took place. Louise shared second spot with eight other drivers.

Her best year was probably 1936, when she drove the Hotchkiss in both rallies and races. As well as her Paris-St. Raphael fourth, she was third in the Paris-Nice International Criterium de Tourisme, considerably ahead of her father in his coach. In May, she was eighth in the Lyon Rally, leading Claire Descollas in a Lancia and Germaine Rouault in a Delahaye who were ninth and tenth.

The Paris-Nice was one of her best events: she was sixth in 1937 in the Hotchkiss. This year, the rally included a regularity test, a street race in Monaco and the La Turbie hillclimb.

Unlike some of her contemporaries, she did not return to competition after the war.

She died in 1989, aged 90.

Amber Balcaen

 

Amber Balcaen is a Canadian driver who races stock cars in the USA. She did the full ARCA season in 2022. 

She is from a racing family, but is the first to race on asphalt rather than dirt. Her career began with dirt-track karting when she was 10, in around 2002. As soon as she was old enough to race sprint cars as a senior, she got her own car and started winning.

After two or three seasons in sprintcars, she took part in the NASCAR Drive for Diversity programme in 2014 and 2016, as well as competing in Late Model racing in 2016. She was third in the Whelen All-American Series, with one win and six more podiums. She was the first Canadian female driver to win a NASCAR-sanctioned event. 

In 2017, she raced in the NASCAR K&N Series, in a Toyota Camry. She was 20th at New Smyrna in her only major outing. She took part in one race in the CARS Super Late Model Tour series in 2018, at Hickory. However, she crashed out early on. 

In 2019, she made another guest appearance in the same series, finishing fourteenth at Radford. She returned to competition in the 2021 ARCA Menards West Series, driving a Toyota. 

Although she only finished one of her three races, this was an eleventh at Irwindale. 

Her career took a hit in 2020 when she was injured in a midget car crash in July, at Valley Speedway. Her car turned over and she suffered burns, two collapsed lungs and broken bones.

Following several part-seasons, she put together a deal for a full ARCA programme in 2022, partly assisted by Busch beer’s Accelerate Her female driver sponsorship scheme. She was run by Mark Rette and usually drove a Ford, although this was substituted for a Toyota for a couple of races. When schedules allowed, she also made a few guest appearances in the East and West series, picking up one tenth place at Iowa in June.

It was her most successful ARCA main season ever, with six top-ten finishes. The best of these was a seventh at Kansas. 

A quieter year followed in 2023. She did three ARCA races for Bill Venturini's team, the best of these ending in sixth place at Daytona. She retired from the Talladega and Kansas races. She also made a guest appearance in the NASCAR Canada series. Her car overheated but she was classified in 17th place.

Away from the driving seat, she has appeared on TV in the USA, most notably in the NASCAR Racing Wives reality series. Despite the title, she was shown as a driver rather than a partner.

(Image copyright Amber Balcaen)

Sarah Rumeau

 

Sarah Rumeau is a French rally driver who had her first season of competition in 2021, finishing thirteenth in the French junior championship and winning a French women’s title. 

Her entry into rallying came after a single year spent racing a Caterham in France. This brought her to the attention of the FFSA’s Rallye Jeunes programme, which produced Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier. She made the final of its selection event and was the best female driver. Initially, she wrote off rallying as unaffordable for her, but she managed to put a schedule together for 2021.

She started off in a Ford Fiesta but switched to a Peugeot 208 in September. Her first rally in it was the Mont Blanc-Morzine Rally, and she was 67th from 163 finishers. It was in this car that she had her best finish of the year, a 22nd place in the Antibes-Cote d’Azur Rally with a Junior class win. The Fiesta was not as quick as the Peugeot. She managed one of her four women’s class wins on the Rallye Aveyron-Rouergue Occitanie, but her results were notably not as strong.

Her new car for 2022 was an Opel Corsa Rally4. She began her year with a Coupe des Dames in the Rallye Le Touquet - Pas-de-Calais, finishing 40th out of 124 crews with Julie Amblard, her regular navigator. Another ladies’ win was supplemented with a second place in Rally4 in the Rhone Charbonnieres event, 25th overall. This was one of four Rally4 runner-up spots she earned in 2022, helping her to second in the 2WD Tarmac championship and also in the Amateur Trophy. Her best overall finish was a 22nd place in the Rallye d’Antibes - Cote d’Azur, although she was a consistent top-25 finisher this year, sometimes in events with a longer list of finishers.

Her plans for 2023 included moving on to a Rally3-spec car, but she remained with a Rally4 Peugeot, as well as an Opel Corsa-e Rally, an electric car in a one-make series. She travelled throughout Europe with the Corsa-e and was competitive, finishing fourth in the championship. Her best finish was third, in the Rallye Mont-Blanc-Morzine. In the Peugeot, a 208, her best finish was 23rd in the Terre de Vaucluse Rally.

Prior to her motorsport career, she played handball competitively.

(Image copyright Sarah Rumeau)

Judy Ganley (Kondratieff)

 

Judy Kondratieff, also known as Judy Ganley, raced sportscars and saloons in the USA, between 1965 and 1972. 

She was born Judith Ann Wood in 1939. Her racing career began after her marriage to her first husband, Serguey Kondratieff, whom she had met at Stanford University. By 1965, they had separated. 

That year, Judy ran a Brabham BT8 with another racer called Bart Martin. Both of them drove it on occasion, although it was Judy who had bought it from Robs Lamplough. The car came without its original engine, so she had it fitted with a Ford V8. Only a year before, she had attended her first motor race. She would later claim that the smell of Castrol R drew her back.

Sadly, Bart died in June that year, following a serious accident at Candlestick Park.

Later in 1965, she returned to the circuits and drove an Austin-Healey Sprite in the Cotati 4 Hours. The car belonged to Judy and she shared it with Al Auger. Their finishing result has been lost.

For most of her career, she raced a Sprite, or after 1968, a Mini Cooper. In a 1970 newspaper interview, she admitted that “the big cars are too fast for me”. This was a touch disingenuous, as she was capable of going very fast in a small car. She was a regular at race meetings held by the San Francisco SCCA, and considered Laguna Seca her favourite circuit. 

In 1968, she took part in the American Road Race of Champions, driving the Mini. 

In 1970, she raced at the Sebring 12 Hours for the Ring Free Oil "Motor Maids" team, with Janet Guthrie and Rosemary Smith. She was back in a Sprite, this time in Sebring trim. The car was familiar, but this was her first experience of racing at night. She was also a lot shorter than Janet and Rosemary and found the car awkward to start with. Its right-hand drive did not help. The “Motor Maids” were 19th overall and first in class. Judy was part of the team again the following year, but car troubles intervened before it was time for her stint. The Chevron B16’s engine blew up on the second lap of the race.

At the same time as her Sebring adventures, Judy continued to race her Mini. She also married Formula One driver and former engineer, Howden Ganley, in 1971.

After her marriage to Howden Ganley and retirement in 1972, she worked in motorsport management and administration extensively. Since her early racing days, she had got involved in running her local SCCA chapter, so this was a logical extension of her skills. She worked for the McLaren Formula One team and earned a reputation as one of the best timekeepers in the business. Stories exist of her managing to time twenty cars with a single stopwatch. 

She was soon branching out into other management tasks, although these could sometimes be unorthodox. When working for the McLaren Can Am team, she instituted a routine for their drivers called “The Reading”. She would read out the letters page of Penthouse magazine in the team caravan for their benefit, as a way of helping them relax before a race.

Her achievements were not just in the areas of timing and morale-boosting, although she was adept at that. The “Doghouse Club” for Grand Prix ladies was often entertained by Judy’s singing and dancing at their fundraising events. Much later, she shared her piri-piri chicken recipe for “Racey Recipes”, a charity cookbook.

On the serious side, she provided administrative and management support to at least two Formula One teams and two major teams at Le Mans, including Matra. She even worked as an aerodynamicist in sportscar racing. When Howden Ganley and Tim Schenken founded the Tiga racing car company in 1976, Judy was there alongside them.

She died in 2007, after a long battle with cancer.

(Image copyright Judy Ganley/Erin Kondratieff)

The Paris-Amsterdam Rally

 

Suzanne de la Meurthe and Madame Marquisan with their Hispano Suiza

1. Suzanne Deutsch de la Meurthe/Madame Marquisan (Hispano Suiza)

2. Comtesse Magdeleine de Ganay/Mademoiselle Gouin (Renault Reinastella)

3. Beatrice Reinach (Ballot)

4. Camilla Steinbrugge (Bugatti)

5. Madame Kaufman (Citroen)

6. Madame Mennesson (Talbot)

7. Comtesse Constance de Lubersac (Citroen)

8. Miss Thurnauer (Bugatti)

9. Madame Friedmann (Rosengart)

10. Madame Schumann (Citroen)

11. Madame Sambon (Voisin)

12. Madame Krebs (Talbot)

13. Claude Dadvisard (Citroen)

14. Mademoiselle Cremieux (Citroen)

15. Comtesse Marie de Jouvencel (Citroen)

16. Madame Calbet (Citroen)

The rally began at the Place de la Concorde in Paris on the 12th of May 1931. The sixteen entrants were waved off by Anne, the Dowager Duchesse d’Uzes and the leader of the Automobile Club Feminin. 

Like the Paris-Rome Rally that followed it, the Paris to Amsterdam event had a strong social element, but was also a serious long-distance trial, passing through northern France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The first leg ran between Paris and Namur in Belgium, where a hillclimb was held, won by Suzanne Deutsch de la Meurthe.

Magdeleine de Ganay won the 20km regularity trial section between Gembloux and Wavre which followed. According to the Excelsior newspaper, her times matched the averages exactly. A points system based on these two events determined the final positions. Further pictures in the Club’s monthly magazine show the two leading passengers, who sat alongside the winners.

The competitive element of the rally was now over and the 16 cars made their way to Amsterdam’s Olympic stadium, via Brussels and Rotterdam. The results were announced at a gala dinner on the 14th, held at the Carlton Hotel in Amsterdam, after a day spent visiting Haarlem. The touring section continued with visits to The Hague, Vollendam and finally Luxembourg, via Arnhem and Utrecht, returning to France on Monday the 18th.

All sixteen cars finished. Many of the drivers remain elusive as to their full identities, although all seem to be members of the Club, wealthy and well-connected and based in France. Magdeleine de Ganay was a regular entrant in the women-only rallies of the time, winning at least one other of the club’s annual long distance rallies, plus the 1930 Paris-St. Raphael. The Comtesse de Lubersac, an American-born Frenchwoman, was seventh in the Paris-Rome Rally held the following year, along with Madame Calbet and Madame Mennesson. Noted art collector and one of the wealthiest women in France, Beatrice Reinach, was another who was a regular in the events held by the club. Camilla Steinbrugge was another socialite who mixed in more bohemian circles, reputedly a lover of the publisher Sylvia Beach.

Winner Suzanne Deutsch de la Meurthe was a committee member of the Automobile Club, but she was better known as a pioneering aircraft pilot.

(Image copyright Agence Rol)

Marie-Jeanne Marinovitch

 

Madame Marinovitch with Louise Lamberjack in 1935

Marie-Jeanne Marinovitch, always credited as “Madame Marinovitch” and sometimes named as Jane, was a Serbian-French rally driver living in France who was active in the 1930s and 1940s. 

She was part of a prominent Serbian family living in France, probably by marriage, which included a World War I flying ace, Pierre Marinovitch, and a prime minister of Serbia.

One of the earliest mentions of her as a driver comes from June 1927, when Le Journal covered the first Journee Feminine de l’Automobile. She drove a 7hp Fiat and came fifth in a heat for the major race, then fourth in a repechage. This did not qualify her for the final and the paper described this as a shame.

Many of the women who raced in the Journee went on to compete in the all-female Paris-St. Raphaël Rally. Her first entry was in 1931 and she drove a 13hp Voisin. This was the car she used for four editions of the rally between then and 1934, scoring a best finish of third in 1933. A further outing in 1935, driving a Ford, gave her a 27th place.

In  June 1931, she took part in the Aero Club’s Rallye-Parachutes, driving the Voisin. This event involved following other competitors in aircraft and retrieving as many parachutes dropped by them as possible. In the write-up for this event, she was described as an experienced rally driver, and named as the “baronne Marinovitch”.

The Monte Carlo Rally was one of her favourite events and she entered on four occasions, beginning as a navigator to Marcelle Leblanc in 1934. They were 42nd overall in a Peugeot 301.

She won the Monte Carlo Coupe des Dames in a Ford in 1935 and a Matford in 1936, with Louise Lamberjack and Hellé-Nice as her navigators. The Matford entry with Hellé-Nice also gained them a “Challenge Officiel de la Couture” award for style. The car was an Alsace V8 model which had previously been raced by Ford France head Maurice Dollfus. Their starting point was Tallinn. Her 1935 Coupe began with a Palermo start.

A third Monte as a driver occurred in 1938. She shared the Matford with Odette Siko and finished 32nd, fifth in the ladies’ standings.

After 1934, Fords and Ford-powered cars were her usual choice for rallies. Occasionally, she drove other cars, such as the Mercedes she used for the 1935 Grand Circuit de Vosges (resulting in a non-finish) or the Delahaye she shared with Odette Siko for that year’s Liege-Rome-Liege Rally.

Another rally she returned to over and over again was the Criterium Paris-Nice, which she entered four times between 1932 and 1936. Her best result was a 16th place in 1933, driving the Voisin. 

She was one of the drivers who contested the 1939 ladies’ championship which was held in France, using Renault Juvaquatres. She crashed out of the second race at Comminges on the sixth lap, rolling her car and breaking her collarbone, but was fourth in the first.

The Second World War broke out shortly afterwards so there was plenty of time for her to recover. Her final event seems to have been the Rallye International Feminin de Paris, a continuation of the Paris-St. Raphaël. She drove a Citroen.

(Image copyright L’Eclaireur du dimanche illustre)

Corinne Armagnac

 

Corinne (far right) with (L-R) Sandrine Nahon, Muriel Osimeck and Giovanna Amati, 1990

Corinne Armagnac raced single-seaters in France in the 1990s, then switched to tin-tops after taking a break to have children.

Born in 1962, she is the daughter of sportscar racer Paul Armagnac, the youngest of four girls. Her life began tragically; her mother died in childbirth and her father was killed in a crash at the Paris 1000km, held at Montlhery, when she was only a few months old.

She competed in Formula Ford 1600 in France between 1987 and 1993. She seems to have done part-seasons in the French championship, at least to begin with. At the time, the French FF1600 series had qualification races known as the “Loctite Trophy”. The top 28 would progress to the main draw. Corinne was usually part of the Loctite Trophy field.

In 1988 she was part of the Faster team alongside Pierre de Thoisy.

In 1990, she was the team-mate of Sandrine Nahon and drove a Van Diemen RF89. Sandrine was the faster of the two, despite being barely out of her teens. At that year’s Pau Grand Prix, she was pictured in a French magazine alongside Sandrine, Giovanna Amati who was competing in Formula 3000 and Formula Renault racer Muriel Osimeck, four women who were in action at the same meeting. 

Relations between Sandrine and Corinne were not always completely straightforward; Corinne was supported by Loctite as their featured female driver, despite Sandrine’s superior pace.

In 1993, she returned to the championship, for some rounds at least. Her race results and even her championship positions are not forthcoming. 

In 2001, she came out of retirement to drive in the Peugeot 306 Cup, after taking a long break to have a family. At some point, she also raced in a Citroen Saxo one-make series.

(Image copyright Pyrenees Presse, posted by Autodiva member “nahonenleretour”)

Sheena Monk

 

Sheena Monk races sportscars in the USA. 

At first she raced in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo. She picked up her first podium at the end of 2017 at Imola, in her second-ever race in the Huracan. The Trofeo was her first experience of motorsport, having undergone a fast-track racing license course with Lamborghini when she was 28. She had never raced anything before that.

Her first full racing season was the 2018 Lamborghini Super Trofeo, competing in the LB Cup. She scored her first class win at Virginia International Raceway. 

Sheena made the headlines for the wrong reasons in September 2018 when she crashed her Huracan heavily at Laguna Seca. This was the last meeting of the season and she missed the final race, although this was the last of her worries at the time. Her car may have suffered a brake failure going into the Corkscrew and she hit a tyre wall, leaving her with nine separate fractures.

In 2019, still in pain and healing from her injuries, she returned to the Super Trofeo in the States. Despite her setbacks, she ended the season fourth in the championship with five thirds and one second place. She travelled to Europe for the World Final and was fifth at Jerez. This came after she had tried out for the all-female W Series in Austria. She did not progress beyond the first selection event, but it did not harm her career.

2020 was a great year for her; she raced a McLaren 570S in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and won the Grand Sport class at Road America. She and Corey Lewis were ninth in the championship. 

A second season in the car gave her sixth in the championship, with one podium position at Watkins Glen, a third. She and Spencer Pigot were more consistent this year and only out of the top ten twice, which included the Lime Rock round which they did not finish.

Pairing up with Kyle Marcelli, she tackled the Pilot Challenge again in 2022, initially driving a Toyota Supra GT4. They were twelfth in the Grand Sport class at Daytona, but Kyle had a big accident at Sebring, necessitating a change of car for the rest of the season. It took them some time to get to grips with the Ford Mustang, but by the end of the year they were up to speed, finishing third at Lime Rock and second at Virginia. They were eighth overall.

An all-female partnership with Katherine Legge followed in 2023, driving an Acura for Gradient Racing in the IMSA GTD class. They were eighth in a hotly-contested class, including a class fourth at the Daytona 24 Hours with two other co-drivers. This was their best result; their highest finish in a shorter race was fifth, at Watkins Glen.

(Image copyright Sheena Monk)

Angelique Detavernier

 

Angélique Detavernier is an endurance racing specialist from Belgium.

Although she has been involved in motorsport from a young age, including as a driver manager, she only began racing in 2013 after winning a karting competition. She first raced in the VW Fun Cup in Belgium. 

For most of 2014, she raced a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, mainly in the Dutch Supercar Challenge. Her best results were two third places in the GTB class, at Zolder and Assen. In the same car, she was fourth in the Zolder 24 Hours, with Miguel Vandereyt, Frederic Vervisch, Louis-Philippe Soenen, Francois Bouillon and Patrick van Glabeke. 

As well as the Porsche, she raced a Maserati in the Maserati Trofeo, finishing tenth at Spa and fourteenth at Abu Dhabi. She also returned to the Fun Cup and managed a pole position. 

In 2015, she had a second try at the Zolder 24 Hours in a Porsche 997. Driving as part of a four-driver team, she was 24th, and third in class. She was slated to enter the European rounds of the Maserati Trofeo this year and contested the Paul Ricard and Red Bull Ring rounds. Her best result was a twelfth place at Paul Ricard. At some point, she did some more Fun Cup racing, starting once from pole, and at least one Supercar Challenge race. 

Her third Zolder 24 Hours in 2016 gave her a debut top ten: a seventh place in a Porsche. In another two firsts, she raced an Audi R8 LMS in a couple of VdeV races and a Mercedes AMG in the Nurburgring round of the Blancpain Endurance Series. She was also third in a Fun Cup race in Dubai, 

In 2017 she did another couple of Blancpain Endurance races, driving an Audi R8 LMS. She was fourteenth in one GT Sports Club race at Spa, and did not finish the other. 

She had another guest outing in the car in 2018, again at Spa, in the 24H Series. She and her team-mates were eleventh in their class. This was in addition to a strong season in the GT Sports Club series, driving a Ferrari 488 rather than the Audi. She was eighth in the championship with a best finish of fourth, at the Hungaroring.

Having proved herself as a driver, there were more major races in different cars for her in 2019, firstly driving an AMG Mercedes GT4 in the Blancpain Endurance Series and the European GT4 Challenge. She was second in class at Zandvoort in the GT4 Series and third in class at the Nurburgring. She also did one Blancpain race in a Boutsen-Ginion BMW M6, finishing 22nd overall and fourth in class, and another in a Lamborghini Huracan. This time, she was fifth and tenth overall at Circuit de Catalunya.  

The worldwide coronavirus crisis curtailed motorsport severely in 2020 and Angelique did not race. In 2021, she added another string to her bow, doing three out of seven rounds of the Belcar championship in a Norma prototype and finishing third at Hockenheim and Zolder. 

Her focus switched from Belgium to France in 2022, racing a GT4-spec Audi R8 LMS in the FFSA GT championship. Her best result was a third place in the Am class at Magny-Cours. Her team-mate was Sebastien Rambaud.

She stuck with prototypes in France for 2023, racing in the Wolf Thunder Series and scoring at least one podium.

She is better-known as a model and was previously in a relationship with Formula E driver Stoffel Vandoorne.

(Image copyright Angelique Detavernier)

Female Rally Drivers Around the World: the Netherlands

 

Most of the entries in this post were previously part of other posts relating to European rally drivers.

Angelique Aufderhaar (pictured) - usually rallies a Ford Escort RS2000 in the Netherlands, with frequent outings in Germany. She has been active since at least 2008 and for the first couple of seasons, she used a MkI Escort. Her best results have been on different versions of the Hellendoorn Rally, with a twelfth place in the 2019 Hellendoorn Historic event her highest finish. In 2013, she was also thirteenth in the Hellendoorn Short Rally. Other cars she has rallied include a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV, which she used on and off between 2018 and 2021. In 2022, she concentrated on German events, in the RS2000. She did two Dutch rallies and one German event in 2023, finishing the Rallye Ostwestfalen in 38th place.

Lieke Bouman (Dautzenberg) - driver and co-driver active since at least 2001, when she co-drove for her brother, Bob Dautzenberg. Since then, she has won rallies as a navigator with different drivers. As a driver, she favours small cars, most recently a Renault Clio but also a Renault 5 and a Nissan Sunny. She specialises in shorter sprint rallies, usually in the Netherlands or Belgium, but often in Germany as well. Her best result has been an eighth place in the 2017 Twente Short Rally, driving a Honda Civic. This helped her to the Dutch ladies’ title that year. More recently, she was ninth in the 2019 JUMBO Short Rally, driving a Clio. She returned to competition in 2022 after a break and was 26th in the GTC Rally, in the Clio. 

Louk Heidendahl – Dutch driver who was active in the 1960s. She was a regular on the Tulip Rally, and first entered in 1960, driving a DKW Junior with Ida de Fouw. The same pairing were 29th in 1961, this time driving a Saab 96. In 1962, she was fourth in the Ladies’ standings, and 59th overall, in the Saab, with erstwhile driver, Diana van Strien, on the maps. It was back to the DKW in 1963, but a change to an Alfa Romeo Sprint Veloce in 1964 brought her a pleasing 25th place. In 1965, she moved over to the co-driver’s seat, with Joop Heidendahl, in a Mercedes. She seems to have stopped rallying after that.

Marieke van Kamperdijk (Rietveld) - rallied a Peugeot 206 in the Netherlands in 2017. She was runner-up in a Dutch ladies’ championship held that year and got her season off to a strong start with an eighth overall in the Zeebodem Short Rally. She was also thirteenth in the Centraal Nederlands Short Rally. Her only rally outside the Netherlands was the Gronegau event in Germany. Despite her relatively strong debut year, she does not appear to have competed again. 

The Countess von Limburg-Stirum (Marie) – competed in rallying before and after the Second World War. Her first attempt at the Monte Carlo Rally seems to have been in 1937, co-driving a Ford with Miss van Vredenburgh. They were fourth in the Coupe des Dames rankings. Driving herself, with von Vredenburgh on the maps, she was twelfth in the 1949 Monte, and won the Coupe des Dames, still in a Ford. The Ford was brought out again for the 1950 Monte. The Countess got to the finish in 131st place, assisted by Mrs. Stahl Wytema. In April of that year, she was part of a four-woman team in a Ford Vedette, in the Tulip Rally.

Diana van Strien – Dutch driver who competed in the Tulip Rally on at least three occasions, between 1960 and 1962. The first two rallies were as a driver, in a Renault Gordini, and she was co-driven by Truus van der Voorst Vader. In 1962, she was the co-driver to Louk Heidendahl, another Dutchwoman, in a Saab 96. Diana was from a motorsport family, and the 1960 Tulip Rally was not her first involvement with the sport. She is recorded in 1957 as taking part in the Vaals hillclimb, a round of the Dutch Touring Car Championship, in a Ford Taunus. She was second in class, and defeated her mother, whose name is not given. Diana may well have co-driven for her mother in rallies at about this time.

Titia Westerhof - Dutch driver active in the 1970s and early 1980s. She almost always drove an Opel Kadett, although she did try out an Opel Ascona and a  Renault 5 towards the end of her career in 1980. She entered the Tulip Rally three times, beginning as a works Opel entry in 1977. Her best year was 1978, when she won the Netherlands National class and finished 23rd overall. Her best outright finish came during the same year: she was eleventh in the AMAC International Rally. Mainly, she competed in the Netherlands, although she also entered some Belgian rallies, including the 1979 Condroz event, and one Swedish rally. The Sjuharadsnatta Opel Rally Jamboree was held on snow, as opposed to her favoured asphalt.

(Image copyright Lars Smook/tubantia.nl)

Jenny Dell

Jenny Dell raced sportscars and saloons in the 1960s and ‘70s. She drove in the fore-runner to the British Touring Car Championship in 1972.

Her first car was an Elva Courier which she first raced in 1967, when she was 22. 

She was most associated with the Nathan GT, which she used between 1969 and 1970. This was a Hillman Imp-engined special built by Frank Costin and Roger Nathan. Her car was formerly used by the factory Nathan team and had a BMW engine. She won at least one race outright in it, a GT event at Brands Hatch in April 1970.

The Nathan replaced a similar GT car, a 1100cc Diva. This was not the most reliable of cars, although she did manage a sixth place in it in the Brands Hatch STP round in 1969. She later sold it to Wendy Hamblin, another British driver.

Her car for the British Saloon championship was a Ford Escort, which she also tried to qualify for the 1971 Spa 24 Hours. She also drove a Mini Clubman in Special Saloons.

She did at least some rounds of the 1972 BSCC in a Vauxhall Firenza, as a team-mate to Gerry Marshall and Denis Thorne. Her best result seems to have been a class win in the final round at Oulton.

A fellow saloon car racer, Wendy Markey, had Jenny as her co-driver in the 1973 Avon Tour of Britain. Their car was a BMW 2002 and they won the ladies’ award, finishing 19th overall.

She carried on racing until at least 1975, when she is recorded as entering one of the BWRDC’s Shellsport Ladies’ Escort races. She had won a round of the first Shellsport Escort championship in 1974. Jenny was an enthusiastic member of the BWRDC from early on, winning the club’s Goodwin Trophy in 1969 as its highest-performing member. In 1972, she entered the one-make “Fast Girls” Ford Consul Challenge, mostly contested by club members, and finished eleventh.

Jenny’s sister was dating motorcycle racer Bill Ivy when he died in 1969. Jenny herself died young of cancer at some time in the 1980s, having been ill for some time.

(Image copyright Phillip Jackson/Shutterstock)

Maxine Wahome

 Maxine Wahome is the leading female rally driver currently active in Africa.

She competes in rallies and autocross in her home country, as well as being a major figure in Kenya’s Women in Motorsport association. 

Her car for 2021 was a Subaru Impreza, which she used in the African championship, finishing tenth. Her best finish was fifth in the KCB Thika Rally, although she also featured strongly in the Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally, finishing sixth and winning Group N. She was tenth in both the Kenyan and African championships and third in the African Junior championship.

She was the first woman for several years to finish the Safari Rally in 2022. The event was running as part of the World Championship after a long hiatus. Two female drivers had entered, but Danish Lisa Christoffersen’s car failed scrutineering. Driving a Ford Fiesta Rally3 for the first time on gravel, Maxine was one of a large proportion of the competitors who had to finish under SuperRally rules, earning a 17th place and a WRC3 class win. 

This was her second Safari, although she only entered the national event in 2021.

This followed a win in the Lioness Rally, the first all-female event held in Kenya. She drove the Impreza this time.

Maxine has rallied across East Africa. In 2022, she competed in Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda in addition to Kenya. Her best event was a home one, the Bamba Rally Mombasa, in which she was fifth.

Originally she was a motocross rider and was one of the top three fastest in Kenya. She switched to autocross in 2020, then rallying in 2021.

(Image copyright FIA)

Logan Hannah

 

Logan Hannah is a Scottish single-seater driver who won a round of the 2020 Scottish Formula Ford championship outright.

She made her senior motorsport debut in 2017, racing a Formula 4 in the UAE Championship, which runs over the winter season. Logan is a British national but mostly competed in the Middle East to begin with, first as a junior karter.

She was only sixteen when she did her first race at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. Her results were two sevenths and one eighth place, having finished three of her four races. 

In 2018, she trained for more F4 races with the Arden team, but her actual races were with Graham Brunton’s Formula Ford team. She travelled to the UK for the Walter Hayes Trophy but ran into car trouble with her Ray GR10.

In 2019, she raced in the Scottish Formula Ford championship with Graham Brunton Racing and was fourth overall, with three podium finishes in her 2015-spec Ray. She also raced FF1600 in England, in two Champion of Brands races and the season-ending Walter Hayes Trophy, which has become a regular event for her. Back in the UAE and F4 in December, she took part in the non-championship support race for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and was eighth and ninth. 

She won the David Leslie Trophy at Knockhill in 2020, the first time a Scottish woman had won a national Formula Ford race. Later, she qualified for the Walter Hayes Trophy final, finishing 15th.

Her Formula Ford season in 2021 was restricted to the Formula Ford Festival and Walter Hayes Trophy, but she announced that in 2022 she would be contesting the GB4 (formerly British F4) championship. This was a new series and GBR was one of the first teams to commit to it.

She took advantage of the reverse grid for Race 3 during a GB4 meeting to win a race at Donington, the fourth weekend of her season. This followed a second place in the reverse-grid race at Silverstone. The rest of the season was consistent rather than spectacular, and she was tenth in the championship.

After her traditional appearance in the Walter Hayes Trophy in November, she hinted that this had been her last single-seater race as she was looking to switch to sportscars, possibly Porsches. Mid-season in 2023, she entered a round of the GT Cup at Snetterton, sharing a Lamborghini with Iain Loggie. Loggie crashed the car before she got to drive.

(Image copyright Laser Tools Racing)