Zihara Esteban

Zihara Esteban is a well-travelled Spanish driver whose racing has taken her in many different directions, taking in competition on two continents and in multiple disciplines, including rallying.

She began her senior career in the Spanish Clio Cup in 2011, after several years as a successful karter, both on the domestic and international scene. Her first season was rather up-and-down, with a lot of DNFs, but she managed one tenth place, at Catalunya, and was 24th overall, third in the Ladies’ standings. 

In 2012, she spent much of the year in karting again, but she also tried out the Euro Racecar NASCAR series, recently licensed from the States. She ran at the Loire and Valencia rounds, with a best finish of thirteenth at Valencia. 

2013 continued in the same way: karting, with four races in the Euro Racecar championship, at the beginning of the season. This time, she had two top-ten finishes, tenths at Nogaro and Dijon. As before, she was competing in the second-tier Open class, driving a Chevrolet, although for different teams. 

In 2014, she did not do much circuit racing; she took part in the Maxi Endurance 32 Hour race at the Algarve track, finishing third in a SEAT Leon, and fourth in a Renault Clio, driving in two teams. 

However, her main focus was rallying, in a Ford Fiesta R2. She did seven rallies, and her best result was 15th, in the Rallye del Bierzo. That year, she did her first WRC Rally, the Catalunya event. She was 46th. 

In 2015, she rallied a Peugeot 208 in Spain. Her only major rally was the Comunidad de Madrid RACE Rally, which she did not finish. She came back to the Spanish rally championship in 2017, driving a Peugeot 208. She was tenth in the Ciutat de Valls Rally, the best result of her special stage career. Her third attempt at the Spanish WRC round gave her a 49th place; she restarted after SS10 under SuperRally rules, having had problems and then received a penalty for a jump start.

A break from competition followed, then she switched to circuit racing again, doing the Valencia rounds of the 2020 NASCAR Whelen Euroseries for DF1 Racing. Her best finish was twelfth. During her time off, she developed a new strand to her career: stunts for film and TV. She performs both precision driving and physical stunts, appearing in several Spanish-language TV series. 

In 2021, she travelled to Mexico and did her first truck races in the Mikel's Trucks series. She did the first five rounds of the championship and was never out of the top ten. Her best finish was third at San Luis Potosi and she was twelfth in the championship. 

Staying in Mexico, she shifted back to touring cars, where she started. She contested the 2022 Copa TC2000, driving a Ford, and was second in her first race at Queretaro before scoring several more top-ten finishes. Only DNFs dropped her to twelfth in the championship. 

Another TC2000 season in 2023 was more successful and she won three times, on the way to championship second. This was the first time a woman had won a race in the category.

She did another season in TC2000 in 2024, but only appears to have raced a couple of times.

She did another part-season with Alessandros Racing in TC2000 in 2025. Sharing a BMW with Alex Sanchez, she contested the mid-part of the season. Their best result was a fourth place at Mexico City.

She now lives in Mexico City, where she plays padel competitively alongside her motorsport activities. She has also tried her hand at off-road competition again, taking part in a rally raid in 2025.

(Image copyright Zihara Esteban)

Nattanid Leewatanavaragul (Kat Lee)

Nattanid Leewatanavalagul is a Thai racer who competes in saloons and sportscar racing in Southeast Asia. She sometimes uses the anglicised name of Kat Lee.

Probably her most notable result was when she was third in the Thailand TCR Championship in 2017, driving a SEAT Leon. She won one race at Bangsaen, and scored four second and two third places.

Her earliest experiences of motorsport appear to be in a women-only Thai series for the Toyota Vios in 2013. She did not win, although she managed a victory the following year, and was able to use her experience to move on to the Thailand Super Series. This led to two seasons in the championship, driving a Honda Jazz for Morin Racing. She won class C in 2015 and won at least one Class B race in 2016, at Buriram. That year, she was seventh in the championship.

After her TCR success, she entered the Asian Mini Challenge and did the Thailand rounds of the Asian TCR series in 2018. Her best result in TCR was a second place at Bangsaen, driving a SEAT Leon. As a guest driver, she did not score championship points. She won at least two races at Zhuhai in China in the Mini.

She raced in the Super Compact class of the Thailand Super Series in 2019.

In 2021, she made some guest appearances in the series, driving a Honda, but was not registered for the championship.

Her first races in Europe came in 2022, when she drove another Leon for Monlau Motorsport in some of the 24H Series races. She was part of a two-car, all-Thai squad featuring Sandy Stuvik and she won the TCR class at Catalunya, finishing 16th overall. She did not finish the Algarve race, driving for the same team but with different team-mates.

After a break, she did some rounds of the 2024 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia, sharing the car with Dechathorn Phuakkarawut. They were second in the Am class, with three wins and eighth further podium places. Driving a Huracan, Kat entered the Super Trofeo World Final, finishing eighth in the Am class.

In 2025 she moved back to the Thailand Super Series, racing in the Super Touring category in a Honda CRZ with Thanaroj Tanasitnitikate. They won at least one race at Sepang.

(Image copyright Lamborghini)

Jackie Astbury

Jackie Astbury was a British driver who rallied from 1933, in the UK and France. She is normally credited as "Miss J Astbury".

She drove a Wolseley Hornet in the 1933 RAC Rally, which was then held in March, and finished 70th in class 2, having started at Bath. In the summer, she used an MG Magna in the Scottish Rally, having started at the opposite end of England in Harrogate. Her first outing in the Singer Nine which became her regular car was the Ulster Rally in August. In December, she tried a lower-paced event, entering the London to Gloucester Trial in the MG. She won a silver medal for keeping 90% of her starting score.

There was more trial action in 1934, when she took part in the Colmore event in a Singer. Again, she was among the second-class award winners. Driving the Magna this time, she won a first-class award in the trial section of the Women's Automobile and Sports Association's Day in the Hills. 

The biggest brush with fame she had in 1934 was not completely related to her performance on the rally stage. She had protested the result of the Ulster Rally, claiming that she had waited for a signal to leave one stage and not received one, making her late for the Bangor time control. Her protest was upheld and she was promoted to third place, winning herself £20 and the Visitors' Cup in the Singer.

In 1934, she finished the RAC Rally in a Singer. Using the same car, she won the Thistle Cup for best Scottish-starting driver in the 1935 Monte Carlo Rally. Her final finishing position was 50th. She also won her class in the RAC Rally. In between, she competed in the JCC's Brooklands Rally, winning a second-class award. She also travelled back to France for the Criterium International de Tourisme Paris-Nice, finishing 13th behind Grand Prix driver Raymond Sommer. She was second in the Coupe des Dames standings and third in the Light Car class.

In 1936, she repeated her Monte Carlo achievements, still in the Singer, improving her final position to 40th. This was in spite of a double spin on a sharp corner, before she even left Scotland. The Coventry Evening Telegraph acknowledged that she "did well",  taking time to praise her "fair curls in immaculate order" and her "smart khaki driving suit adorned with a Scotch thistle". She took the same car to the Brooklands Rally and won another second-class award, and finished another RAC Rally. Back in France again, she entered the all-female Paris-St. Raphael Rally for the first time, and was sixth overall, behind Betty Haig and Enid Riddell.

Jackie occasionally raced on track, including a run in a ladies' race at Donington in 1935. She was second in a Frazer Nash, behind Fay Taylour in a similar car.

Her motorsport career ends in 1936, although she did present a "Perseverence Prize" at the 1937 Scottish Rally. John M Archer was the winner; this award went to a driver who had entered the rally three or more times and had never previously won a prize. A Sketch report from September 1937 says that she had been "very ill indeed", and that "motoring friends crowded round congratulating her on her recovery" at Shelsley Walsh. This would explain her abrupt disappearance.

She may also have played badminton competitively before she began her motoring career.

(Image from the Brian Goodman Collection)