Maria La Caze de Noronha was a noble Portuguese-born driver who rallied in Europe in the 1930s. She married into a French family in 1913 and lived for quite some time in North Africa. She was usually named as "Dona La Caze de Noronha".
Her motoring career began in the women's rallies that started up in France at the end of the 1920s. Driving an American Oakland, she entered the first running of the Paris - St. Raphael Rally. Other cars she used included a Morris-Leon-Bollee, which she took to eleventh place in the Paris-Vichy Rally, also a women-only event.
She is most associated with the Amilcar marque, and she started rallying one in 1930. In her first year, she secured a joint win in the Paris-Pyrenees-Paris Rally, a mixed event. Earlier in the year, the same car and driver combination tackled the Paris-Vichy Rally, another mixed one, although she could only manage 35th then. She was eighth in her class and ninth in the women's standings. Her other two big rallies were female-only, organised by the French Ladies' Automobile Club. She was fourth in the Paris-St.Raphael with a class win.
The French "Eve" newspaper covered her 1931 adventures, in which she narrowly avoided crashing her BNC out of the Monte at the end of the concentration stage, near Nice. She had the 2000 miles plus solo, singing Portuguese fado music to keep herself awake. Unfortunately, she was over the time limit once she got going again. Other reports sya that she struggled on the braking and acceleration tests.
As well as rallies, she sometimes drove in wheel-to-wheel races. Driving a Ruby-engined MLC cyclecar, she finished the 1931 6H Routes Pavees, held at Pont-a-Marcq. She was 24th overall and fifth in class. Earlier in the year, she entered the Bol d'Or at Montlhery, driving the same or a similar car. She does not appear to have finished.
She drove an Amilcar in the 1932 Monte Carlo Rally and a Mathis in the 1934 event, although she may have retired very early in 1934. Her start points were Lisbon and Valencia respectively.
Although she mainly competed in France, she also did some events in her home country. In 1932 and 1933, she took part in the Grand Prova de Resistencia, held at Foro near Estoril. The first time, she drove her Amilcar, but the second time, she was in an MLC, which was a similar car to both the Amilcar and the BNC. She was sixth overall in this car.
After 1933, she appears to stop competing.
Away from rallying, she worked as a journalist, sometimes reporting from French-occupied North Africa. She was the Paris correspondent for a Portuguese magazine called "Illustracio". She was related to Formula 1 driver Robert La Caze through her husband.
She died in 1974, aged 85.
(Image copyright Biblioteque National de France)
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