Gisela Blume

Gisela (left) with Petra Schuster

Gisela Blume drove in European rallies in the 1980s. She was a contemporary and rival of the similarly-named Rena Blome. 

She began rallying as a co-driver, in 1978. She sat alongside Gunter Lehmann for some German events in his Datsun Cherry before spending another season with Heinz-Walter Schewe. It was in 1980 that she got behind the wheel herself, combining some outings as a driver in a Ford Fiesta with more co-driving. Her own navigator was Petra Schuster, who sat beside her for most of her career.

Gisela won the Coupe des Dames in the Monte Carlo Rally in 1981, driving a Peugeot 104. She was 56^th overall. She, Rena Blome and Waltraud Wunsch were the only non-French drivers in that particular car; Gisela finished considerably higher than 115th-placed Rena and Waltraud in 88th place.

The same car and driver was entered into the Acropolis Rally, another World Championship round, but did not finish. A sister car driven by Waltraud Wunsch was another non-finisher. Rena and Waltraud took their Peugeots to some other WRC events in 1981, but Gisela only did two. She spent the rest of the season in the German championship, driving the Fiesta and finishing ninth in her class. Her best overall result was a 15th place in the ADAC Wiking Rallye, a tarmac event.

Another run in the Monte Carlo Rally in 1982 ended in transmission failure, this time driving a Ford Escort XR3i. However, this did not set the tone for the rest of her German rally season. By March, she was back inside the top twenty with a 19th place in the mixed-surface Rallye Trifels, ahead of Rena Blome again. A thirteenth place and class win followed in the Lubeck Rallye. Three further top-twenty finishes ensued, then a career-best eighth in the first running of Rallye Deutschland, again ahead of Rena.  

Her final year of major competition was 1983 and she used two different Ford Escorts: the XR3i and an RS1600i. The XR3i gave her the best results, including 15th place in the Westfalen-Lippe Rally and 19th in the Saarland Peugeot-Talbot Rally. In September, driving the RS1600i, she attempted Rallye Deutschland again, but did not finish. 

If her career had not have been so short, Gisela probably would have been in line for the Peugeot Germany seat in the 205 T16 that eventually went to Michele Mouton. She had proved herself the equal of the better-known Rena Blome, and a quick learner in different cars.

She died in 2015, at the age of 60.

Tina Hausmann

 

Tina Hausmann is a Swiss driver racing single-seaters in Europe.

Her first experience of car racing, after some success in karts in Switzerland, was in the 2023 Formula Winter Series, a Formula 4 championship based in Spain. She surprised many with a fourth and third place in her first-ever events at Jerez, but the next round at Ricardo Torme was a disappointment for her, with a pair of DNFs. She only did half of the eight-race championship.

During the 2023 summer season, she contested both Italian F4 and its associated Euro4 championship but did not score any points. Her best finish was 16th at Paul Ricard. A Race 1 accident on the second lap at Misano led to her wthdrawal from the rest of the round, although she did return for the next races at Spa.

For 2024, she signed up for both the UAE F4 series and the all-female F1 Academy. Aston Martin selected her as its supported driver for F1A and she was part of the Prema team. Her team-mates Doriane Pin and Maya Weug had considerably more experience, with Doriane having raced at Le Mans and both having competed in FRECA. She started well with a sixth place at Jeddah, but was unable to match it for the rest of the year. Usually, she is a top-ten finisher, but she has not yet got near the podium. Technical problems have played their part in this.

Her UAE campaign ended up being one round at Yas Marina, driving for Xcel Motorsport. She finished two of her three races, in 27th and 21st place.

Tina was previously active in karting and esports.

(Image copyright F1 Academy)

Janie Eaton

Janie with Ari Vatanen in 1997

Janie Eaton rallied in the UK in the 1990s and 2000s and gained attention at the time as one of Britain's youngest female drivers. She was from Essex and apparently had her first experience of driving at the wheel of the family tractor.

She began her career in 1994, when she was 17, driving a Vauxhall Nova like many young drivers of the time. Having passed her driving test in January that year, she quickly earned her rally license and entered her first major event in June, the Dukeries Rally. Assisted by Tina Powell, she finished the rally in 113th place, from 119 finishers. After two more finishes in BTRDA Gold Star rounds, she found enough sponsorship for an RAC Rally entry, which garnered her some press attention due to her young age. A portion of this came from Maldon district council and she had their logo on her car. Sadly, the clutch on the Nova went on Stage 22. 

The Nova, with a new clutch fitted, came out again for the first half of 1995. The year began with the Wyedean Rally in the Forest of Dean, a traditional season-opener in the UK. Janie was 100th from 118 finishers. It was then onwards and upwards for her first-ever rally abroad, the RTS Rally in Belgium. Janie and navigator Liz Jordan were 61st overall and second in class. Her second European rally was the Van Staveren Zuidersee Rallysprint in the Netherlands, and she was 60th.

After another finish in the Plains Rally, she got herself a new car, a Ford Escort RS Cosworth. Her first event in it was the Charlemagne International Rally in Luxembourg, part of the French championship. She and Clive Taylor were 55th overall. This was the first of four finishes in the car, which also got to the end of the ADAC Welfen Rally in Germany, the London International Rally and the RAC Rally. This was a particularly strong performance, although Janie and Liz Jordan only finished 89th. On the first day, they had hit a tree trunk in Tatton Park near Knutsford, and had to limp through the next stage at Chatsworth, picking up a time penalty in the process.  

At the time, she the youngest ever female finisher in the 1995 RAC rally, aged 18.

After this, she kept the Escort but competed much less. She did one rally in 1996, the Bournemouth Winter Rally, but did not finish. She did two more events in it in 1997, an early running of the Goodwood Rallysprint, which ended in a DNF, and the Welfen Rally. This was one of the best rallies of her career and she was 21st overall, fourth in class.

Her final attempt at the RAC Rally was in 1997, and she drove a Ford Ka with Pauline Taylor. The South Wales Evening Post mentioned her in a story about Ari Vatanen, as she had taken a passenger ride with the 1981 WRC champion in his Escort. She also described having seen him competing on the 1991 event, which caused her "Formula 1 ambitions to go straight out of the window." 

Since 1997, she has competed on and off at club level in stage rallies and rallysprints, often for Chelmsford Motor Club. In 2004, she drove a MkII Escort in the Rally of Kent, but did not finish.

(Image copyright Brentwood Gazette)

Janis Taylor

Janis and Del Russo Taylor in 1983

Janis Taylor raced sportscars in the 1980s, in the USA.

She was from Denver, but settled in Florida. Her father had been an automotive enthusiast and she had grown up around fast cars, dabbling in the drag racing scene in her youth. In a 1983 interview with the Poughkeepsie Journal, she described buying her own first car at "15 or 16". It was a Triumph Spitfire and she worked on it herself.

Her first year of major competition was 1980, when she drove an Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV in the Sebring 12 Hours. She and her two team-mates, including her husband, Del Russo Taylor, did not finish. Del Russo married Janis in 1974 and was an experienced racer.

Her second attempt, in 1981, was as part of an all-female team in the Alfetta, with local drivers Carol Cone and Pat Godard. The team only had one male member, a chief mechanic who was allergic to oil. Two of the crew were air stewardesses. They had serious problems in the qualifying race, but managed to get onto the grid for the 12 Hours. Sadly, the car expired on the first lap, with Janis at the wheel.

For the next two seasons, she mostly drove a Buick-engined Chevron GTP prototype in IMSA events, often sharing with Del Russo. She was named as the car owner in 1981. Their best result together was a 29th place in the Mid-Ohio 500km, from a 15th-place start.

Her activities included the Sebring 12 Hours, which she entered twice more in 1982 and 1983, once in the Chevron and once in a Ford Pinto, driving for different team owners and finishing once in 1982, in the Pinto.

As well as some outings with Del Russo, she drove different cars in the IMSA-supporting Kelly American Challenge, including a Chevrolet Camaro in 1983.

In 1984, she switched to a Pontiac Firebird owned by Walter Johnston as her main car. Her best result was 21st, in the 1984 Riverside 6 Hours. A 1985 Daytona entry in the Firebird went ahead without her in the driving line-up, which consisted of Del Russo, Bob Lee and John Hayes-Harlow. After this, she disappears from the entry lists.

(Image copyright Poughkeepsie Journal)

"Madame Laumaille"

Madame Laumaille as a passenger at Spa in 1896

"Madame Laumaille", whose name may have been Marie Laumaille, was one of the earliest recorded woman racing drivers. 

She was French and married to Albert Laumaille, a racing cyclist, long-distance rider and early exponent of motor racing. Marie also had a background in cycling and motor touring, alongside her husband. From the 1880s onwards, they covered long distances together, with Albert on his bicycle and Marie on a pedal tricycle.

It is unclear when Marie first tried a motor vehicle for herself, but there are certainly pictures of her riding alongside Albert in a decorated car for a "battle of the flowers" parade at their home town of Nice in 1896. Before this, even, they used a Peugeot "quadricycle" for a tour of France in 1893, although it is not stated whether both drove.

She was 27th overall in the 1898 Marseille-Nice trial, a two-day road race. Her vehicle was a De Dion motorised tricycle. The publication "La Vie au Grand Air" told of how she had already ridden 15,000km on bicycles and tricycles. The first leg of the race ran between Marseille and Hyeres and she was second in class. By the end of the race the following day at Nice, she was fourth in the motorcycle class. Reports at the time suggest that she had been tipped to win, had her tricycle's chain not broken. Albert was sixth. 

Shortly after, she is reported as having entered a Nice Puget-Theniers-Entrevaux-Paget race, but it ended for her when she came off her tricycle trying to avoid a child who had run in front of her. She suffered cuts to her face and, according to some sources, a broken jaw, and had to be taken to hospital. Despite this, she was still believed to be competing actively afterwards, with La semaine nicoise newspaper mentioning a proposed match race with another woman in a December issue that year. 

Although not a competitive run, Marie and Albert's arrival in Paris after a trip from Nice in 1899 was reported in the newspapers. In the summer, they drove from Nice to Aix-le Bains together with a friend named Fernandez, before setting off on a longer tour.

Albert died in 1901, bringing an end to their joint adventures. Madame Laumaille's life after that is unknown.

Jess Bäckman

Jessica Bäckman is a Swedish driver who races touring cars. She was a long-term karter who has won two Swedish championships and switched to cars for the 2018 season, aged 21. Her first-ever races were the opening rounds of the British TCR series, driving a Volkswagen Golf for Westcoast Racing. She was eighth and sixth at Silverstone. By mid-season, she was much improved and she scored one podium finish, a second place at Brands Hatch. She was fourth in the championship. In Sweden, she also raced in TCR, for the same team, although she did not do quite as well, finishing 19th with a best finish of twelfth. This was achieved at Falkenberg.

2019 was a busy year, with a full season in the European TCR series, plus appearances in its German and Scandinavian equivalents, all in a Hyundai i30. Her TCR Europe season was rather inconsistent but she did manage one third place at Hockenheim, one of three top tens. Later in the year, she revisited Hockenheim with the German championship and claimed a second place during a guest appearance for the Hyundai factory team. In November, she also took part in the inaugural FIA Motorsport Games, racing an i30 for Sweden in the Touring Car Cup.

She often races with her brother, Andreas, who is two years older than her. They began competing at the same time.

When the delayed 2020 season finally started, her main focus was the European TCR Championship. Her car was an i30, run by Target Competition. It was an unsatisfactory year for her, with a best finish of seventh at Monza and a lot of car trouble.

The Target team ran her in the World Touring Car Cup in 2021, driving a Hyundai Elantra. After a half-season, she was 21st in the championship, just ahead of her brother, with a best finish of fourteenth at the Nurburgring. Both siblings left the series voluntarily, with Jessica stating that she was not happy with her performances or her progress. She joined the Scandinavia TCR series for its final three rounds, achieving a second place at Anderstorp. Her car was an Audi RS. She also did a round of the NLS in April, driving a Hyundai i30N.

She moved to the German series in 2022, first driving a Hyundai Velostar for ROJA Motorsport, then an Audi RS3 for the Comtoyou team. After a succcessful early season with four wins and five more podiums, she was second in the championship.

In 2023, she switched to sportscars, doing part-seasons in the ADAC GT4 and GT4 European series. She and Andreas drove an Aston Martin Vantage in the first round of the ADAC championship, finishing 24th in one race, before moving to the European championship in a similar car, for two different teams. Their best finish was 16th at Monza.

Apart from some testing and a Time Attack event in a Lamborghini, she has not competed during 2024.

(Image copyright Jess Bäckman)

Vicki Smith

Vicki Smith raced sportscars up to international level in the early 1980s. 

She credited her interest in motorsport to her stepfather's Porsche, which she described herself as "crazy about" as a child. Her parents refused to support her racing endeavours until she had finished her education, probably hoping that she would forget about the whole thing. After dropping out of a journalism degree, she got herself a racing license in 1979 and set about finding a car. During her short career, she did not own any of the cars she raced in major events, depending on team owners to offer her drives. Fortunately, she was a Florida native and the Daytona and Sebring circuits were within easy reach.

Her first big race was the 1980 Sebring 12 Hours. She shared a Porsche 911 with car owner Klaus Bitterauf and James Moxley, and they finished 24th, seventh in the GTU class.

In a completely different car, an all-American AMC AMX, she tried the Sebring classic again in 1981. Again, she was sharing the car with its owner, Bob Lee, plus Tom Alan Marx. They just about got to the finish in 42nd place. This was the second time she had competed alongside Lee, having shared a Ford Maverick with him at the Daytona 6 Hours the previous year.

Her partnership with Bitterauf and his "Klaus Haus" team continued, on and off. In 1982, she was 25th at Daytona, driving a Porsche 911 and 22nd at Sebring. The Klaus Haus team, consisting of Vicki, Bitterauf and Scott Flanders, contested four more IMSA events that year, with a best finish of 17th, at Charlotte.

Driving an Audi 80 for a different team in the Mosport 6 Hours, Vicki was 16th with Edgar Doren and Peter Aschenbrenner. 

During the 1983 season, she switched between the Klaus Haus Porsche and a Pontiac Firebird. Her best finish was another 16th, at Miami, in the Firebird. This was a solo drive. With the Klaus Haus team, she competed at the big Daytona and Sebring races, plus the 500km of Road Atlanta. She did not finish at Daytona or Sebring, but was just about classified at Road Atlanta, in 35th place.

She continued in 1984, driving different cars. One of these drives was her first-ever outing in a Group C prototype. She drove an Aston Martin-engined Nimrod NRA/C2 at the Daytona 24 Hours, sharing with Jack Miller (the team owner) and Carlos Ramirez. They were classified 49th, although they did not finish. The Nimrod project was not hugely successful and the NRA/C2 had a poor finishing record. Vicki never drove it again, although she did join Bitterauf in his 911 once more for that year's Sebring 12 Hours. They did not finish.

This was Vicki's last major race appearance. She was linked to a Lola T616 drive in the 1987 Sebring 12 Hours, but did not compete. From 1985, she was a member of the PPG Pace Car team which followed Champ Car.

One rather alarming footnote in her career was a short relationship with driver and later, convicted serial killer, Christopher Wilder. After he was shot by police in 1984, she claimed that she "never had a clue"about his proclivities.

She became more and more interested in motorcycles after 1985, working as a racetrack photographer and becoming a respected expert on Ducati machines.

Toni Breidinger

Toni Breidinger races in the NASCAR Truck series and has been a regular in the ARCA Menards Series for several seasons.

She made her ARCA debut in 2018, aged 19, driving a Toyota for Venturini Motorsports. Her first race was at Madison and she finished tenth. She was then twelfth at Gateway and 18th at Chicago. Her team-mate was Natalie Decker, and they were joined by Leilani Munter at Chicago, making up the first three-woman team in the series. She made one appearance in the CARS Super Late Model Tour in 2019, finishing 15th at Radford. Away from ARCA, Toni raced in the USAC Silver Crown championship for dirt cars and in Late Models.

In an attempt at a sideways move, she tried to qualify for the inaugural W Series championship in 2019. She made the list of 55 drivers who were assessed, but was rejected at this stage.

In 2021, she returned to ARCA, entering nine rounds of its main series. Her best finishes were two ninth places at Winchester and Springfield. She spent half the season with Tyler Young before going back to a Venturini car. In addittion to this, she contested one Menards Series West race in each car, both at Phoenix, finishing one and crashing out of the other on the opening lap.

An almost full ARCA season followed in 2022, driving Cathy Venturini's car. Six of her twenty races ended in top tens, with her best being an eighth place at Salem. She was sixth in the championship.

In 2023, she made her first starts in the Craftsman Truck championship, driving for David Gilliland and sponsored by Victoria's Secret. She finished all three races, the best of these being a 15th place at Kansas. This was combined with most of the main ARCA season, where she earned seven top-ten finishes, including a third place at her lucky track, Kansas.

This arrangement continued for 2024, with a part-season in Trucks and a regular spot in ARCA. Most of her time was spent in ARCA, with her qualifying pace improving and more top tens coming her way. She has had a variety of sponsors. The same team runs her in certain rounds of the East and West series, where she is also a top-ten regular. Her Truck schedule is more limited.

She previously raced in sprintcars against her twin sister, Annie. She is the only female NASCAR driver of Arab descent in the world, having Lebanese heritage.

(Image copyright Roman Empire)

F1 Academy

F1 Academy is the latest in a long line of female-only development championships, launched in 2023. 

It was brought forward by the FIA after the demise of W Series and unlike W Series, has the support of the FIA and its Women in Motorsport Commission.

The championship uses F4 cars with an uprated aero package. There are five independent teams, each running three drivers each. All five are major players in global junior single-seater competition. Drivers must have an appropriate license and be aged between 16 and 25 at the start of the year. They are recruited by the teams privately. Each driver has to bring about £150k in funds to compete, but this is considerably less than it costs to take part in the equivalent mixed F4 championship in their region. Each race seat is subsidised by the teams and the FIA. The championship's CEO is Susie Wolff.

As well as seven meetings with three races (reduced to two in 2024)  at each, F1 Academy drivers have access to 15 official test days throughout the year, giving them a large amount of track time for their investment. 

The aim of the championship is progression, so the winner each year has to move on. No-one may spend more than two seasons in the series.

Prema, one of the Academy teams, offered a Formula Regional Europe (FRECA) race seat to 2023 winner Marta Garcia. Teams who sign any F1 Academy driver finishing first, second or third into FRECA are allowed to run a fourth car for that driver.

2023 Results

1. Marta Garcia (Prema)

2. Lena Buhler (ART Grand Prix)

3. Hamda al-Qubaisi (MP Motorsport)

4. Nerea Marti (Campos)

5. Abbi Pulling (Rodin Carlin)

6. Amna al-Qubaisi (MP Motorsport)

7. Bianca Bustamante (Prema)

8. Jessica Edgar (Rodin Carlin)

9. Emely de Heus (MP Motorsport)

10. Lola Lovinfosse (Campos)

11. Carrie Schreiner (ART Grand Prix)

12. Chloe Grant (ART Grand Prix)

13. Megan Gilkes (Rodin Carlin)

14. Chloe Chong (Prema)

15. Maite Caceres (Campos)

2024

The second F1 Academy season increased its links with Formula 1. Each F1 team chose an Academy driver to support, meaning that two-thirds of the grid ran with F1-related liveries. The race weekends were run alongside seven F1 rounds. Instead of three races, two would be held.

An extra car for a wildcard driver from the country the race is held in was provided for some rounds.

The non-F1 affiliated cars attracted some high-profile sponsors, including Tommy Hilfiger and Charlotte Tilbury cosmetics.

There were six new full-time drivers, after Marta Garcia and Lena Buhler moved into FRECA, with Buhler ageing out of the competition. Megan Gilkes retired from racing and Chloe Chong, Maite Caceres and Chloe Grant went to race elsewhere.

Olympic Speedqueens

 

Divina Galica (left) and Ann Moore

Many Speedqueens have achieved success in other sports. Here are five of the best-known Olympian female racing drivers. This is in no way an exhaustive list.

Divina Galica was a downhill skier who competed in four winter Olympics between 1964 and 1992, in the downhill and slalom skiing events and later, speed skiing, a demonstration discipline. She attempted to qualify for three grands prix between 1976 and 1978 and enjoyed success in Group 8 single-seaters, truck racing and sportscars. Her introduction to motorsport came through a Shellsport celebrity race for sportspeople.

Showjumper Ann Moore also got into motor racing through the Shellsport organisation and its celebrity events. As an equestrian, she won a silver medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics, riding her horse Psalm. Her racing career was short, beginning with one ladies' race in 1975 and six further outings in a Formula Ford 2000.

Belgian swimmer Chantal Grimard made a surprise switch to touring cars in the 1980s. She first raced in the Belgian championship in 1985, driving a VW Golf, before appearing in the 1986 Spa 24 Hours in a Toyota Corolla. This was part of an all-female team. She also did some rounds of the French F3 championship in 1987 before retiring. As a swimmer, she had entered four events at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.

Swiss sportscar racer Lilian Bryner was another equestrian, competing at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. As a racing driver, she was the first woman to win the Spa 24 Hours in 2004, driving a Ferrari 550. She had won the GT class the year before, finishing second. She has raced multiple times at Le Mans and has World Sportscar Championship wins in a Ferrari 333 prototype.

Carole Montillet of France won a gold medal in downhill skiing and also had a decent career in rally raids after her retirement. She won the all-female Rallye Aicha des Gazelles rally raid in 2011 and 2012, after class wins in the quad class in 2004 and 2005. In 2007, she took part in the Dakar, driving a Nissan, but did not finish.