Eveline Gordon-Simpson

Eveline and Joan Richmond in 1934

Eveline Gordon-Simpson, also known as Eva, competed in Europe in the 1930s. The most celebrated of her exploits was when she finished 24th at Le Mans in 1935, driving a works MG Midget with Joan Richmond. She was one of the drivers in a six-woman, three car MG team put together by George Eyston. They were known as The Dancing Daughters, after a radio programme, or George's Young Ladies. Eveline and Joan were the first of the three teams to cross the line.

Although not quite as well-known as some of the other female drivers of her era, like Kay Petre or Elsie Wisdom, she had experience of on-track driving. She raced at Brooklands sometimes and won a Novices’ Handicap there in 1934, driving a Triumph Southern Cross. In 1935, she raced a Vale, in which she entered the Whitsun Senior Short Handicap. 

Unusually, for this time period anyway, her husband was not involved in motor racing. William Gordon-Simpson was a racehorse trainer. He and Eveline married in 1923 and moved to Epsom, a major centre for horse racing close to Brooklands. Born in 1901, she was in her early thirties when she took up motorsport.

Her earliest motorsport interest was rallying. She entered the Monte Carlo Rally in a Singer in 1932, was one of a group of British drivers who chose John O'Groats as their starting point. She was 27th, second in the ladies' standings. This was probably where she met Joan Richmond, who had driven overland in her Riley from Australia, making her official start at Palermo. Later in the year, Eveline made her start on the RAC Rally at Bath, in a Singer Twelve-Six. Her finishing position is not forthcoming, but she received a hefty penalty for passing the last time control at Torquay an hour early. Her watch had apparently been running slow and had lost a whole hour.

In March 1936, Eveline and Joan Richmond, working together this time, entered the RAC Rally again. They had previously competed together on the Scottish rally in 1934, with Joan as the main driver. 

Her marriage to William ended in 1936 and she married Hugh Conway. Although he raced Bugattis himself, her own competition career seems to tail off here. She did continue to enter rallies with Joan Richmond, using her previous married name. They drove in the 1937 RAC Rally in a "baby" Fiat.

She died in London in 1980, aged 78.