Emma Felbermayr

Emma Felbermayr is an Austrian single-seater driver who rose to prominence competing in the all-female F1 Academy.

Her senior racing career only began in 2025, when she was announced as an F1 Academy driver for Rodin. Previously, she had done karting in Europe. The team entered her into the Spanish-based Eurocup 4 Winter series, which was her first-ever time in a single-seater. During the first round at Jerez she improved her finishes from 28th, through 20th to a best of thirteenth. In the next round at Portimao, she was 20th, 21st and 31st. As she missed the last round, this left her 27th in the championship, second of Rodin's three drivers, ahead of Kyuho Lee who did a full season.

She also drove in the main Spanish F4 championship, racking up almost a full season as part of the same team. It was rather an inconsistent year ending in 29th overall, with her best finish being another thirteenth at Catalunya. In contrast to her Jerez result, which was aided by a string of crashes and some judicial penalties, this one was more on her own efforts.

Her debut season in F1 Academy was a very mixed bag of results. Driving a Rodin-run car with the backing of the Sauber F1 team, she was dropped to eleventh in the first race at Shanghai after contact with Tina Hausmann's car on the last lap. She was fifth in Race 2. There was more contact and disappointing results at Jeddah and Miami, then she made a breakthrough at Montreal. On the track, she was third in Race 1, but was later disqualified due to her car being underweight. She made it up in Race 2 with her first win. 

For the rest of the season, there were no more podium finishes, although she came close in Singapore with fourth. She was tenth overall.

Her 2026 season began with a run in the UAE F4 championship, driving for PHM Motorsport this time. Her best finish was a twelfth place in the third round at Yas Marina and she was 26th overall. 

Sauber became Audi for at the beginning of 2026 and Emma was retained as their F1 Academy driver Rodin also kept her on in F1 Academy, although she continued to race for PHM elsewhere. Her programme included selected rounds of the Italian F4 championship. In May, she also joined the British F4 championship with Virtuosi Racing. She picked up one top-twenty finish at Silverstone and did slightly better in the Italian series, coming in 15th once at Misano and fourteenth at Monza.

The F1 Academy season began well at Shanghai. Emma was third in Race 1, in spite of contact from Alba Larsen. She then won the second race after a mistake by Larsen, who was leading, dropped her to the back. Alba Larsen remained somewhat of an albatross for Emma; she spun during the reverse grid race at Montreal after a small collision with her car.  She had stalled on the grid during Race 1, but earned a second place in Race 3.

She is the daughter of sportscar racer Horst Felbermayr Jr. He has expressed a desire to race at Le Mans with his daughter and son in the future. Emma has said she would like to compete at Le Mans some day. 

Her career has been aided by Allan McNish, who now runs the Audi academy.

(Image copyright Jun Da Tan)

The Macau Ladies' Races

The Macau Grand Prix and Macau Guia races are still an important part of the international motorsport calendar, although perhaps not as much as in previous years. 

In the 1950s, the early days of the Macau race circuit, the Guia meeting also hosted a ladies' race, usually for saloon cars. The first event was in 1955 and was set to be contested by three women. One dropped out. Jean Lam was leading when her rival's car broke down, giving her the win by default.

The most famous winner of the event was Maria Fernanda de Menezes Ribeiro (pictured), popularly known as "Speedy Ribeiro". She had been born in Macau itself in 1924 and was the daughter of a diplomat. Her Fiat 1100, which took her to one win and one second place, was her daily driver. She had actually taken part in the 1954 version of the Macau Grand Prix, which was then run as a regularity trial. Her car was a Vauxhall Velox belonging to her father and she was second overall. 

The Ladies' Race was never particularly over-subscribed and reports describe the action one year as "a procession". It was discontinued after the 1959 edition, which was won by Carol Ungricht. Carol was an American driver based in Okinawa, Japan. She also entered the Formula Libre race in 1958.

All-female races were later held at Macau, but they were celebrity events contested by actresses and TV personalities. Jackie Chan promoted one for several seasons.

For a list of female drivers who have attempted the Macau Grand Prix, click here. For a profile of Anne Wong, the only woman to win a race on the Guia circuit, click here.

1955

1. Jean Lam (Jaguar XK120)

2. Wen Lenard (Austin Healey)

1956

Maria Fernanda de Menezes Ribeiro (Fiat 1100)

1957

1. Narcee Matchett (Triumph TR3)

2. Maria Fernanda de Menezes Ribeiro (Fiat 1100)

1958

1. Carol Ungricht (MGA)

2. Narcee Matchett (Triumph TR3)

3. Miss S Anderson (Jaguar XK140)

1959

1. Carol Ungricht (MGA)

Maria Fernanda de Menezes Ribeiro (Fiat 1100)

(Image from macaubusiness.com)

Alexandra Asmasoebrata (Allida Alexandra)

Alexandra Asmasoebrata, also known as Allida Alexandra or Andra, is an Indonesian driver who competed up to international Formula Renault level. 

After four or so years of karting, she first stepped up to single-seater racing aged 16, taking part in the 2004 Formula BMW Scholarship shooutout in Spain. She was not among the winners and did not make her competitive debut until the following year. Her first races were in 2005, when she did some rounds of the China Formula Campus series, winning her class.

She first drove in the Asian Formula Renault Challenge in 2006, aged eighteen. She was 24th overall after participating in seven races. The best of these was her last one at Shanghai, where she was ninth overall. The following year, she did six races, starting at Zhuhai, Sepang and Beijing. Her best finish was a fourteenth place at Beijing.

In 2008, she reappeared in AFR. She was twelfth this time, with a best finish of fifth at Zhuhai, in her first race of the season. This was one of four top-ten finishes she had that year, the others being an eighth and two ninths at Shanghai and Sepang.

For most of her career, she combined Formula Renault and karting. The following year, she was third in the 

A shorter season in 2009 meant that eighth was her best finish, also at Zhuhai, a feat she bettered in 2010 with a fourth place at Zhuhai. She was eighth in the championship. By then, the series was being held entirely in China. 

In 2011, she drove in both the Asian Formula Renault Challenge and Formula Pilota in China. It was her best season yet; she was third in Formula Renault with five podium finishes, four thirds and one second, at her favoured Zhuhai. 

Unfortunately, she only entered four races in 2012: three rounds of Asian Formula Renault. Her finishes were two sevenths, and two DNFs. 

She bounced back in 2013, taking part in six Asian Formula Renault races and earning two thirds and four fourths. She was fourth overall. 

In 2014, she was set to race in Asia Formula Renault again, but does not appear to have competed. A long lay-off followed, where she had three children among other things. She returned to the tracks in 2026, racing in the Mandalika Kartini race, a women's championship held at the Mandalika circuit in Indonesia. There were seven other entrants in Krida Agyas. Alexandra was third.

Alexandra is the daughter of former Indonesian racing driver and politician, Alex Asmasoebrata. It was him who first took her karting and she is open about how this helped her during her own career.

(Image copyright Alexandra Asmasoebrata)

Diana Rosario

Diana Rosario is a racer from Macau who is best-known for her efforts in single-seaters, and later, sportscars.

As there is only one circuit in her home country, which is a street circuit and therefore not usually in use, she had to cross the border to race, in China and further afield in Asia. 

Her first time in a single-seater was in 2004, when she was 20. She took part in the Formula Racing Development training school following several successful years of karting in Macau. In order to gain more experience, she worked at kart circuits after school. Her career almost came to a premature end in 2000 when a 16-year-old Diana broke her collarbone during karting practice, but she later credited the experience with helping her mature as a driver.

In the early part of her career, she concentrated on single-seaters, sticking to championships promoted by FRD. She entered the 2005 Formula Campus Challenge in China, driving for the Perfect Beauty team. After eight races, she was unplaced. A few years later, she would return to the Ford-powered series, finishing second in 2009 and winning the title in 2009. Her 2009 victory was by 38 points over her nearest rival, La Wai Lung of Hong Kong.

She competed sporadically in Asian Formula Renault from 2008, with a best finish of fifth overall in 2011. The championship was run in China and her best result came at Zhuhai, where she was fourth.

At the same time, she was developing a parallel career in sportscars. She competed at the prestigious Macau Guia race meeting in 2010 and was 22nd in the Macau GT Cup, driving a Ferrari F360. Presumably in the same car, she took on the Zhuhai rounds of the Asian GT Series, finishing second and third. Her second run in the Macau GT Cup in 2011 gave her an 18th place, competing against Chinese driver Rose Tan Ying. Eduardo Mortara was the winner.

She committed fully to sportscars in 2012. The GT Cup was not her best event and she was 25th in a Ferrari F430, but her two races in the Asian GT Series were enough for eighth in the championship. Further afield, she took the Ferrari to Sepang for a round of the Malaysian Super Series, finishing eleventh in the GT class.

In 2013, she was linked with a drive in the Asian Le Mans series, but does not appear to have competed. 

Later, in 2018, she made a comeback in the Asian Blancpain GT Series, driving a Mercedes GT4 for Craft Bamboo Racing. Her best finish was fourth at Ningbo, alongside team-mate Naomi Ran Zhang. She had shared the car with James Tang earlier in the season.

She has not raced since then.

(Image from "Indigenous Species" by Susana Chan)