Jean Aley

Jean at the Brands Hatch ladies' race. She is fourth from the right, turning away from the camera

Jean Aley drove saloon cars in the 1960s, and also competed in rallies.

She was born into a motor racing family. Her father Anthony Curtis was one of the founding directors of HRG sportscars and both he and her mother Nancy were regular visitors to Brooklands. Jean's first practical involvement was through working for motor clubs, including the BARC and BRSCC. Between 1958 and 1960, she sprinted a Cooper sportscar and was second in class in the 1958 Brighton Speed Trials. 

Jean married John Aley in 1960, and he encouraged her to race again from 1961 onwards, usually in a Mini. She had taken some time out after an accident at Silverstone in the Cooper.

Her best year for saloons was 1962, when she drove a Mini in the Nürburgring 6 Hours and 500km races. She and Daphne Freeman did not finish the 500km, but she was fifth in class in the 6 Hours, driving with her husband John. Their Mini was described as "very standard". 

She was also one of nine women who entered a ladies' race at Brands Hatch, organised by the fledgling British Women Racing Drivers' Club. She was third, driving a Mini, behind two Lotus Sevens driven by Liz Osborn and Wendy Hamblin. Talking to the Daily Express, she said that the race had been a warm-up for the Nürburgring, and that John had lent Daphne their other Mini, a "shopping car", for the race. 

A second run in the Nürburgring 6 Hours followed in 1965, driving a little Fiat Abarth with John and Tim Lalonde. Their finishing position is unclear. Her year had begun inasupiciously, with John taking over her Mini for a round of the British Saloon Car Championship at Snetterton. His team had entered two DKWs for German drivers, but John's own car was out of action, so he took Jean's. 

Competing against each other apparently caused some friction between the Aleys, and Jean concentrated on sprints and hillclimbs after that.

Plans were discussed for an endurance trial in a smaller Fiat-Abarth in February 1967. John, Jean and drivers from the Cambridge University Automobile Club aimed to run the car day and night at Snetterton for a week, covering 1000 miles per day. It is not clear whether this ever took place.

In rallies, she occasionally navigated. She sat alongside Sheleagh Aldersmith for the 1963 Monte Carlo Rally. Unfortunately, their rally ended before they had even got on a ferry to the Continent; the radiator exploded within a few miles of Jean's house. John took some responsibility, claiming he should have checked it. 

Both of the Aleys were now involved in motorsport outside of active competition. John sometimes served as Clerk of the Course at Snetterton, with Jean as Secretary of the Meeting. Later, they managed the circuit and founded the BRSCC East Anglian branch.

Her career seems to have ended after a road accident in 1967, when a tanker sideswiped her car at a junction. She and her female passenger were both injured. After this, she continued with her administrative work, organsising two European Touring Car Championships with John.

The couple ended up divorcing. Jean remarried.

(Image copyright Daily Mirror)

Michaelle Burns-Greig

Michaelle Burns-Greig raced in the British Saloon Car Championship in the 1960s, usually in a Mini.

Michaelle (sometimes referred to as Michelle) is from Duns in the Scottish borders. She may have picked up her taste for adventure from her mother, Dorothy, who was a pilot and the first female radio operator to run her own transmission station.

After starting her career in club events and hillclimbs, she had her first BSCC experience in 1963, at the Silverstone International Trophy meeting. Her best finish was eleventh, in the Small Car Trophy at Crystal Palace.

A week later, she raced in the Daily Express’s “Fast Girl Trophy” at Brands Hatch in May, driving the Mini. Despite colliding with Gabriel Konig at low speed during the formation lap, she finished second behind Joey Freeman’s Aston Martin.

In 1964, she entered one BSCC race at Aintree, but it does not look as if she actually raced. At some point during the year she took part in at least one event at Charterhall in Scotland.

She did another part-season in 1965, with a best finish of fifteenth, at Snetterton. After that, she disappears from the touring car entry lists.

A Newcastle local paper describes her as “one of Britain’s only female single-seater racers” in 1967 and says that she raced regularly at Croft for the H&G Robinson team. Details of her potential single-seater career are not forthcoming.

After retiring from motorsport, she followed her mother into local politics in the Borders, where she remained active for many years.

Michaelle was noted for carrying a numberplate reading “SEX1” on her car as she raced.

The Fast Girl Trophy

Sally Stokes in her Mini

Brands Hatch, 19th May 1963

1. Joey Freeman (Aston Martin Spa Special)
2. Michaelle Burns-Grieg (Austin Mini)
3. Wendy Hamblin (Lotus 7) - fastest lap
4. Sally Minter (Austin A40)
5. Sally Stokes (Austin Mini Cooper S)
6. Ann Glover (Morgan Plus Four)

Anita Taylor (Ford Anglia) - DNF

Jean Dorken (Lotus Ford) - DNF

Entered, finishing position unknown:

Gabriel Konig (Austin Healey Sprite)

Mary Wheeler (Vauxhall VX4/90)

Gillian Sturgess (Daimler SP250)

Isobel Robinson (Ford Anglia)

Kim Stevens (Austin Healey Sprite)

Fritzi Landes (Austin Mini Cooper)

Wendy Atkinson (Austin Mini)

Sylvia Mason (Austin Mini)

Entered, did not race:

Jenny Tudor Owen (MGB)

Rosemary Seers (Sunbeam Rapier?)

Louisa Squires (Porsche 1600)

Tessa Hollis (Austin Healey Sprite)

Jean Aley (Mini Cooper)

The original Fast Girl Trophy was part of the BRSCC’s Members Meeting at Brands that weekend. Fifteen drivers took the start; as many as 21 may have attempted to qualify. The race was open to female drivers in saloon or sports cars and was run in a handicap format.

It was originally scheduled to run for ten laps, but was shortened to twelve minutes. Michaelle Burns-Grieg and Gabriel Konig had a low-speed collision on the formation lap, which had to be dealt with before the race commenced. On the fifth lap, Jean Dorken’s clutch blew up, then Anita Taylor rolled her Anglia after puncturing a tyre on the debris. The resulting pictures were picked up by several daily newspapers, who were all over this story of women drivers and carnage. Anita Taylor joked to a reporter that she would have to do her shopping by bicycle until the car was repaired. Some of the drivers used their own cars, while others were borrowed, from the likes of Chris Craft and Gordon Spice.

The race was won by Joey (Jocelyn) Freeman in an Aston Martin. This was her comeback race after a heavy crash in 1962, and her first all-female event. Anita Taylor and Michaelle Burns-Grieg had previously raced each other in the BSCC, the fore-runner of the BTCC. Fifth-place finisher, Sally Stokes, was making her competition debut. She was better-known as the long-term girlfriend of Jim Clark.

Another Fast Girl Trophy was apparently held at Mallory Park later in the year, but no results are forthcoming.

Full results for the race are rather hard to track down. There were fifteen starters, who were pictured in the Daily Express. One of the names on the list must have either dropped out or not qualified.

I am grateful to Richard Page, John Winfield and Richard Armstrong for their help in finding entry lists.

(Image copyright Alamy)