Arianna Casoli

Arianna Casoli races in the Whelen Euro NASCAR series. The Italian is the most prolific female driver in the championship and is one of its longest-standing competitors.

It was in 2016 that she first strapped herself into a stock car, aged 42. She raced in the Elite 2 development class and her car was a Ford, one of the championship's stock bodies. Her best finish was 15th, at Adria, and she was 19th in the championship, although she was that year’s top lady driver. Prior to her first races, she had only done a little testing in a car that was the most powerful and heaviest thing she had ever driven.

She fared better at the wheel of a CAAL Racing Chevrolet in 2017, almost getting into the top ten at Venray. She was 15th overall that year.

Another season in Elite 2 in 2018 gave her a championship 17th. She improved this to 15th in 2019, with a best finish of twelfth at Zolder.

An accident in 2020 threatened to end her Euro NASCAR adventure, but she completed the four-round championship, finishing tenth with a best finish of fifth at Zolder.

A full championship ran in 2021, with Arianna in the EuroNASCAR2 class. She was 18th in the championship, with one top-ten finish, a tenth place at Most.

She did a part-season in the same class in 2022, with a best finish of 17th at Brands Hatch. This was repeated in 2023.

Another EuroNASCAR season in 2024 ended with a trip to Brazil for the final rounds of the NASCAR Brazil series.

Prior to 2016, she raced in a number of one-make series in Italy, including the Saxo and MGF Cups, beginning in 1996, when she was 22. Her first car was a Renault Clio. This stopped in 2002 so she could finish her education and have children. She began racing seriously again in 2015 in the SEAT Ibiza Cup in Italy, having made a guest appearance in 2013 with her friend Valentina Albanese.

(Image copyright @suomi1985)

The TC2000 Carrera de la Mujer

The Carrera de la Mujer ("Race of Women") is a recurring event held at the end of the TC 2000 season in Colombia. It is a female-only race run in aid of breast cancer charities. The 2024 edition was the seventh running; it is not an annual event.

It is for saloon cars of the type found racing in Colombian TC 2000, and cars of a variety of ages can take part. Grids are normally fairly large and consist of female TC 2000 regulars, celebrities, media and other guest drivers who are competing for charity. The race is a sprint, usually lasting 20 minutes. Drivers can compete solo or with a co-driver, who does not have to be female.

Details of the race are sketchy, although each edition is numbered, which helps a little. It isn't clear when the first race was held, although it was not before 2013. Entry lists, results and winners are similarly difficult to find.

Below is the beginning of a timeline for the Carrera de la Mujer, with winners where they are known.

I

II (2014)

III (2015)

IV

V

VI (2022) 

Angelica Jaimes (Renault)

VII (2024)

Teresa Penuela (Renault)

 

(Image copyright TC 2000)

Carla Costa

Carla and Barbara Costa

Carla Costa is a Portuguese driver from the Azores, Portuguese-administered islands in the Atlantic.

Her career began as far back as 1998 and her first car was a Renault 4, an unlikely rally car. Nevertheless, she used it between 1998 and 2002, before replacing it with a sportier Citroen AX.

It was in 2005 that she started competing regularly, using a 1200cc Renault Clio. Co-driven by Elisabete Nunes, she won her class in two events: the Rali FM Ilha Azul and the Alem Mar Ilha Lilas rally. 

The first part of her career ends here. She did not compete again for ten years, but made her return in 2015, entering the Azores Ladies' Trophy, a women-only rally series with its own events. Her car was a Citroen Saxo and her co-driver was her daughter, Barbara. They won the last event of the championship, the Especial Sprint da Riviera, outright, after third places in the two previous rounds. This was enough to secure her the ladies' championship title.

She competed in the Ladies’ Trophy again in 2016, and won the first two rounds, the Rali Regional Vila Nova and the Rali Praia da Vittoria. A retirement in the third round dropped her to third in the championship. Her car was a Renault Clio.

Her navigator since that year was still her daughter, and the pair continued to rally together for the first couple of events in 2017. With Rul Avila, Carla won two "Ladies & Veterans" rallies outright in the 2017 Azores championship. She was driving the Clio.

She was back in mixed competition in 2018, still in the Clio. She earned two top-twenty finishes in the Sical and Ilha Graciosa rallies.

In 2019, she was second in the Azores ladies' championship, first in the asphalt series, with a best finish of 22nd in the Acoreana Rali. This year, she had several different co-drivers, the most frequent being Lisandra Inacio.

After a year off during the first part of the worldwide coronavirus crisis, she returned to the stages for the 2021 PicoWines Rali, finishing 26th. This was followed up by another win in the 2022 Azores Ladies' championship and had a best finish of eighth in the Rali Ilha Graciosa, driving a Renault Clio.

She was very active again in the Clio in 2023, finishing thirteenth in the Azores championship and scoring another eighth spot in the Ilha Graciosa Rally.

Another Azores championship season proceeded in 2024, including a sixth place in Especial Sprint Motorshow. She ended the year Azores ladies' champion again and was 16th in the championship.

Her son Diogo and husband Joao have both competed as co-drivers and drivers. In 2024, Carla, Joao and Diogo all drove in the Rali Alem Mar - Ilha Lilas event. Joao was 20th, Carla was 30th and Diogo crashed out.