Gilly Handley

Gilly Handley rallied in Britain in the 1990s, usually in a Vauxhall Corsa. 

She was National Ladies' Rally Champion in 1997 and 1998 and took part in one WRC round, the 1999 Rally GB, coming 52nd. 

Gilly, from the Midlands, grew up around motorsport. Her father, John Handley, raced Minis in the ETCC in the late 1960s. Although she didn't particularly dream of competing herself as a child, she spent most of her childhood in the paddock

Her career began in 1992, first in historic rallying with her father. Their car was an Austin Healey 3000 and they won their first rally together, the Mitchell Fox Historic.

Her own driving adventures started in a one-make championship for Rover Metro GTis. Earlier, there had been a competition for novice women drivers with a Metro season as a prize drive, which Gilly entered but did not win. Men were allowed as co-drivers and she teamed up with the skilled Iain Freestone. At the end of the year, she was tenth in the overall standings, and scored more points than her chief female rival, Joanna Plumbe, who had won the women's shootout.

She did one more season in the Metro in 1994, which included a second visit to Belgium for the Ypres 24 Hours. Sadly, she and co-driver Sue Mee retired. Her best result of the year was a 26th place in the Stena Sealink Ulster Rally. She was the second Metro finisher, behind Malcolm Oxborrow and ahead of Scotswoman Anna Tait, who had also come through the 1993 women's competition.

The first of her Corsas arrived in 1995. She tackled the British championship this year, but was plagued with problems and only finished two events, the Plains Rally and the Rallye du Condroz in Belgium. The Crosa's suspension went on the Welsh Rally, the starter motor broke on the Pirelli Rally and the engine failed in Scotland. This series of expensive issues probably explains why she did not compete in 1996.

Back with a Corsa in 1997, she had the services of Richard Pashley as co-driver. They mostly competed in the BTRDA championship, although Gilly's best results came outside it. She was sixth overall in the Pirelli Trophy, the club event that ran alongside the Pirelli Rally, and 16th in the Grizedale Stages in December.

A very busy year followed in 1998, taking in a mixture of BTRDA and UK National rallies, in a Corsa. Her best result was 22nd in the Quinton Stages, from 118 finishers, the majority of which were in much more powerful cars. She also scored class wins in three British National rounds, the Bulldog, Granite City and Kerridge National rallies.

Her 1999 season was based around her RAC Rally entry. She was working with Roger Clark's son Matt on improving the car and they took a chance on a new, untested engine. Her warm-up throughout the year was the BTRDA series, where she was consistent, if not as dominant in class as in 1998. Her best finish was 27th in the Quinton Stages, from 89. 

The RAC Rally involved a trip through the Kielder forests, where Gilly had never managed to finish, and also spectator stages, which she admitted in the Wolverhampton Express made her quite nervous. However, she managed all of them.

The biggest event of her career also turned out to be her last. In the same Wolverhampton Express interview, she admitted that sponsorship now a problem, and that to "do the British round of the world championship - that's everybody in rallying's dream. Whether I do it again, well you never know, it all depends on finance. But in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy every minute of it."

As well as her competitive activities, she had a successful career in motorsport administration, first working for Malcolm Wilson, the Eddie Jordan and the Benetton Formula One team.

(Image copyright Mike Hayward, Wolverhampton Express & Star)