Lucy Block

Lucy Block (born Lucy Jones) is an American driver who competes in rallying and other off-road disciplines. She is best-known for being the widow of WRC driver and Gymkhana creator, Ken Block and the mother of Lia Block, but she has enjoyed a good career in her own right.

She first rallied in America between 2009 and 2013, initially as a co-driver to Chrissie Beavis. Her first rally as a driver was the Middle Cog rally in 2009, swapping seats with Christine. Her car was a VW Golf. 

She took the wheel again in 2010, driving a Mazda3 in the Mexico Rally and finishing 17^th. She was also 19^th in the LLCote Rally. 

A break from competition followed while she had her third child, son Mika, but she returned in 2013. This time she was in a Ford Fiesta R2, the first of a series of Fords she would drive for the next ten years. Her best results were two fourteenth places, in the Maine and New Hampshire Rallies. 

She did not compete in 2014, but she reappeared in 2015, driving a Ford Fiesta. Her best finish was eleventh, in the New Hampshire Rally. 

After only making occasional appearances for several years, she committed to her first championship in 2018. She contested the ARA rally series in the States and earned her first top-ten finish in the New England Forest Rally. Her car was a Fiesta R2T and she and co-driver Krista Skucas were fourteenth in the final standings. 

In 2019, she only had one outing, driving the Fiesta in the 100 Acre Wood Rally. She was 24th overall. 

Driving the same car again, she did three rallies in 2021,with a best finish of fourteenth in the Cooper Tire Oregan Trail Rally. 

A fuller ARA competition season followed in 2022, driving a Rally3-spec Fiesta. This year, she was challenging much more for overall positions and her results included three top-tens. Her best finish was sixth in the Ojibwe Forests Rally and she was ninth in the championship. 

Another full season in the Fiesta brought three ninth places in 2023: in the New England Forest Rally, the Oregon Trail and the Olympus Rally. For part of the season, she was competing against her daughter Lia. Her co-driver was Alex Gelsomino, who previously co-drove for her husband Ken. Another highlight that year was her debut run in the Pikes Peak hillclimb, driving an electric Hypercraft Sierra Echo buggy. She was tenth in her class. This was a tribute to Ken, who had died in a snowmobile accident earlier in the year.

She did two rallysprint events in 2024, driving a Ford Fiesta in the Lost Pines rally and a Can-Am Maverick in Rally Austin Rallysprint. The Maverick came out for the Utah Motorsports Campus round of the 2024-2025 Nitrocross championship, where Lucy was tenth overall, fifth in her semi-final. She also competed in the BajaBugs category in a VW Beetle. This Utah track is her home circuit.

She used the Fiesta again in 2025, finishing fourth in the Rally Ranch Classic RallySprint.

Lucy, Lia, daughter Kira and son Mika all compete for their family team, Block House Racing, of which Lucy is the principal. Away from motorsport, she runs a catering company. 

(Image coypright Kevin Scott Batchelor/Popular Mechanics)

Lia Block

Lia Block is an American rally and off-road driver who has also spent time racing single-seaters. 

She began her career very early, entering her first rally not long after her 15th birthday. This wasn't event her motorsport debut: she had already tried out drag racing aged fourteen and was one of the youngest drivers ever to be granted an NHRA license. The rally was the Oregon Trail; which she managed most of the first leg before her "Hoonigan" Ford Fiesta R2 succumbed to engine problems. Still with co-driver James Matthew and a different Fiesta, she fared better in her first full season in 2022. By June, she was into the top ten, securing ninth place in the Southern Ohio Forest Rally. This was one of two top-tens that year, the second being another ninth in the Susquehannock Trail Rally. She was twelfth in the ARA championship and fifth in the 2WD class.

Top-ten finishes became the norm for her in the 2023 ARA series. She was driving a Subaru BRZ which seemed to suit her. Her best finish was fourth in the Oregon Trail Rally and she won the 2WD class in all but one of the rallies she finished, leading her to the ARA Open 2WD championship. At 16, she was the youngest champion in ARA history. She was fourth in the main championship. The only real disappointment that year was a non-finish in the Lake Superior Performance Memorial Rally, where she was trying out a Ford Escort Cosworth. 

Her ARA performances had begun to draw attention and 2023 was a busy year for her. In July, she was signed by Carl Cox Motorsport to replace Christine GZ in their Extreme E team. She joined Timo Scheider for the Sardinia and Chile races, earning a best finish of fifth in Sardinia. She was fourteenth in the championship.

She had already been running a dual campaign in the Nitrocross rallycross series in the States, driving for the Swedish OMSE team in the NEXT class. After a part-season, she was fifth in the NEXT championship, not helped by two disqualifications at MidAmerica and Utah, for rejoining the main circuit unsafely. She had won the Utah race. Her best recorded finishes of the year were two second places at Wild Horse Motorsports Park and Glen Helen. At the end of her 2023-2024 season, she was offered Travis Pastrana's car for the Group E races at Glen Helen. This is the highest level of Nitrocross. She was eighth in her race.

After this year, her career began to take multiple directions at the same time. She drove for the Dreyer & Reinbold team in the shortened 2024-2025 Nitrocross season, again in Group E. She was eighth this time after four rounds, with Utah being her best circuit. She was fifth.

Rallying had been put to one side for the moment. She only did one ARA event in 2024, the Lake Superior Performance Rally. She and navigator Keaton Williams had been running in third place and had won their last completed stage when they crashed out in their Subaru. 

Late in 2023, she had made the surprise announcement that she would be moving into single-seater racing, despite having little circuit experience. She was signed up for the 2024 F1 Academy season, driving for ART Grand Prix as the Williams supported entry. As prep, she did the Spanish-based Formula Winter Series with GRS. This was very much a learning experience and her highest finish was a 25th place at Ricardo Tormo.

Her first F1 Academy year was also a tough one, with several races affected by mishaps and unavoidable contact with other drivers. Her home races in Miami were a case in point and she could only manage 15th and tenth. Her best finishes were two fourth places in Singapore, and she was eighth overall.

Her second F1 Academy season had more high points. She won her first race at Singapore mid-season after keeping her lead in the reverse grid race, having started from pole. This came off the back of her first podium at Zandvoort. She had overtaken Tina Hausmann for second place, behind Nina Gademan. Both times, the second race was nowhere near as good for her, and she received a penalty at Zandvoort for starting from the wrong grid position after Chloe Chambers pulled out. She was ninth in the championship after a very up and down season.

Another big moment for her in 2025 was when she was asked to drive an ex-Keke Rosberg 1982 Williams Formula One car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Her two-year term in F1 Academy came to an end then and she decided to leave single-seaters and return to rallying. She had done one event in 2025, the Boone Forest Rally in a Ford Fiesta, finishing third overall and winning her class. It was time to get back out.

Her first rally of 2026 was in the Fiesta, in Rally3 spec. She and new co-driver Alessandro Gelsomino were excluded from the Snodrift Rally's Powerstage for receiving outside assistance, having led at the time. Lia decided to switch to a more powerful Rally2 car, a Hyundai i20, and was immediately fourth in the 100 Acre Wood Rally. This improved to third in the Olympus Rally and a close second in the Southern Ohio Forest Rally. She is also returning to rallycross in 2026.

She is the daughter of the late Ken Block, of Gymkhana fame. Her mother Lucy, sister Kira and brother Mika also compete in rallying.

(Image from rallyx.se)

Anna van Vredenburch Limburg-Stirum

Anna on the 1950 Monte

Anna von Vredenburch Limburg-Stirum was a Dutch rally driver who competed under her birth name, and as the Countess Limburg-Stirum. She won the Coupe des Dames in the 1949 Monte Carlo Rally and entered the classic alpine event six times.

Born in 1914, she first competed in rallying before and after the Second World War, starting when she was in her twenties. Her first attempt at the Monte Carlo Rally seems to have been in 1937, co-driving a Ford as Miss van Vredenburgh. The Countess Limburg-Stirum was recorded as her navigator and was probably a relative of her future husband. They were fourth in the Coupe des Dames rankings. Two years later, in the last pre-war Monte, she and the Ford were 25th overall, tied with Mrs AC Lace. In between, still in a Ford, Anna had come 85th in the 1938 Monte.

Anna married Frans Willem Van Limburg Stirum in 1946. He also competed in the Monte at least twice, driving Ford cars.

On her return to rallying, she was twelfth in the 1949 Monte, and won the Coupe des Dames, still in a Ford. Her navigator was Miss Van Vredenburch, who may have been her younger sister, Elisabeth. Their start point was Monte Carlo itself.

The Ford was brought out again for the 1950 Monte. The Countess got to the finish in 131st place, assisted by Mrs. Stahl Wytema. In April of that year, she was part of a Dutch four-woman team in a big American-styled Ford Vedette, in the Tulip Rally. One of the other drivers was Miss Vredenburch, possibly Elisabeth, who had been part of the team the year before.

She had one more go at the Monte in 1951 with Mrs Stahl-Wytema, but their Ford didn't make it to the end.

Anna was part of two major Dutch aristocratic families. Research into her personal life is made difficult by the number of "Countess Limburg Stirums" who existed at roughly the same time. They include ladies in waiting to the Dutch queen and cookbook writers. Some of the Limburg Stirum family was related, by marriage, to Audrey Hepburn, through her mother.

She died in 1999.

(Image copyright Alamy)

Nadia Cutro

Nadia Cutro is and Argentine driver who usually competed alongside her navigating sister, Florencia (Flor), in the early part of her career. 

They have been rallying since at least 2005, when Nadia was 19 and Flor was old enough to participate. Previously, Nadia had co-driven for other drivers, including her father Oscar. To begin with, the sisters had a road-spec Volkswagen Gol which they used for local events.

The Gol served them for another few seasons, the highlight of which was the yearly Rally de Entre Rios. Their best finish in that car was a 26th place in 2008.

Their first attack on the Argentine championship came in 2010. The Gol had been replaced by a more powerful Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII, run by Marcos Ligato's Tango team. Nadia was a top-twenty contender right from the start on the rough gravel stages. She was 17th in the Rally de Los Alerces de Esquel y Trevelin. then tenth in the Rally de Tucuman a couple of months later. Later in the season, she was eleventh in the San Luis Rally. 

Nadia's first international rally was in 2010. She entered Rally Argentina, then a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. It was a rally with a very long list of retirements, but the sisters finished in 31st place.

They were selected for the Pirelli Stars driver development programme in 2011, and initially continued with the satellite Tango team, in a Lancer Evo IX. They retired from their first rally, but were eighth overall in the Rally del Surubi-Goya. Later, they switched to a Fiat Punto, and were 17th in the Rally Pagos del Tuyu. 

In 2012, their car was a Fiat Palio. It was not a brilliant year, with only three finishes out of nine. The best of these was 16th in the Rally Ciudad de Goya. 

They carried on rallying the Palio in 2013, in the Junior class, supported by Fiat. They did better, finishing four out of eight rallies, with a fourteenth (third Junior team) in the Rally des Misiones, and fifteenth in the Rally de Cordoba. They were fourth overall in the Junior standings. 

The Fiat team withdrew their support for the rally programme after 2013, and Nadia acquired a Ford Fiesta for the 2014 season. Her season was much shorter this year, with one finish, in the Rally de Entre Rios. She was 17th, fourth in class. 

Nadia rallied the Fiesta again in 2015, but spent most of the season without Flor on the maps. Her best finish was ninth, in the Gran Premio de Villa Carlos Paz Rally, and she also won her class in the Entre Rios Rally, finishing fourteenth overall. 

In 2016, she took her first rally win, driving the Fiesta on the Rally de la Naranja. Her co-driver was Luciano Bombaci, who had first sat alongside her 2015. The event was their final one of the year and a fantastic end to a season that was plagued with non-finishes.

The pair continued to work together in 2017. Nadia's new car was a Toyota Etios. It was not as quick as the Fiesta; her best finish was eleventh, achieved in the Tucuman and Cruz del Eje rallies. 

The Etios won her three RC3 classes in Argentine rallies in 2018, including a seventh place overall in the Homenaje a Jorge Recalde Rally. 

The same car and crew competed in the 2019 Argentine championship. Nadia's best finish was eleventh, on the National section of Rally Argentina. Eleventh was her best result in 2020 too, achieved on the Rally de Balarce, driving a new Toyota Yaris. This was her only finish of the year. 

2021 was much better, with eight finishes from ten rallies, five of which resulted in a top-ten finish. The best of these was a fifth place in the Tucuman Rally. 

In 2022, she carried on with the Yaris, recording a best finish of ninth in the Rally de la Rioja. She had entered the FIA Codasur rally championship, but only competed in Argentina and was 63rd overall. She was also tenth in her class in the Argentine championship.

There were three more ninth places for her and the Yaris in 2023, one including a class win in the Rally de Villa Dolores. The Rioja event was another one where she got into the top ten, repeating her 2022 performance.

Another year in the Yaris followed in 2024: her best finish was seventh, in the Rally de Misiones. She was fourth in her class in the Argentine championship. In 2025, she tackled the Argentine series again and secured three more top-ten finishes: ninth in the Rally de Misiones and tenth in the Vuelta de la Manzana and Jaaukanigas events. This year, she got a new co-driver in Miguel Recalt, as Luciano Bombaci had decided to retire from active competition.

As well as rallying, Nadia has made various guest appearances on the circuits in Argentina, starting with the Volkswagen Bora Cup in 2015 and 2016. The same year, 2016, she scored some points in the Top Race series, driving a Chevrolet. Moving up in power, she tried the Pro Am class of the Porsche GT3 Cup in Argentina.

(Image copyright Luca Martinez)

Women in the Tour of Britain

Sue Baker (left) and Jean Denton (right) in 1973

The Tour of Britain was a heavily-publicised summer event held in the UK in the 1970s, a three-day contest consisting of rally stages and races at circuits around the UK. It attracted professional race and rally drivers up to and including James Hunt and Jody Scheckter, as well as celebrities such as Noel Edmonds and Jimmy Savile. In later editions, rally drivers such as Roger Clark came to the fore, including many who travelled from across Europe.

Cars were required to follow Group 1 regulations, but came in all shapes and sizes. They were separated into classes based on their sale value. 

The Tour was sponsored by Avon tyres from 1973 to 1975, when Texaco took over. It was briefly revived in 1989, sponsored by Autoglass, but did not attract as many entries. No women took part. 

Prior to this, women had entered every time.

1973 (Won by James Hunt/Robert Fearnall, Chevrolet Camaro Z28)

Rosemary Smith/Pauline Gullick (Ford Capri) - 15th

Wendy Markey/Jenny Dell (BMW 2002 Ti) - 29th

Gillian Fortescue-Thomas/Caroline Faulder (Ford Escort Mexico) - DNF?

Jill Robinson/Frances Cobb (Ford Cortina GT) - DNF?

Alison Davis/Sheila Scott (Fiat 124 ST) - DNF?

Jenny Birrell (Simca Rallye 1) - DNF?

Jean Denton/Sue Baker (Fiat 127) - DNF?

1974 (Won by Roger Clark/Jim Porter, Ford Escort RS2000 MkI) 

Linda Jackson/Christine Mitchell (Ford RS2000 MkI) - 56th

Jenny Birrell/Alexa Davenport (Simca Rallye 2) - DNF

1975 (Won by Tony Pond/David Richards, Ford Escort RS2000 MkI) 

Jenny Birrell/Virginia Hall-Leeke (Chrysler Avenger GT) - 12th

Maggie Anderson/Susan Tucker-Peake (Renault 17TS) - 22nd

Rosemary Smith/Pauline Gullick (Ford RS2000 MkI) - 25th

Wendy Markey/Frances Cobb (Mazda MX-3) - DNF?

1976 (Won by Ari Vatanen/Peter Bryant, Ford Escort RS2000 MkII)

Jean Denton/Jackie Smith (Fiat 128 Coupe) - DNF?

Wendy Markey/Alison Jones (Lada 1200) - DNF?

(Image copyright Shutterstock/Daily Mirror)

Gisela Blume

Gisela (left) with Petra Schuster

Gisela Blume drove in European rallies in the 1980s. She was a contemporary and rival of the similarly-named Rena Blome. 

She began rallying as a co-driver, in 1978. She sat alongside Gunter Lehmann for some German events in his Datsun Cherry before spending another season with Heinz-Walter Schewe. It was in 1980 that she got behind the wheel herself, combining some outings as a driver in a Ford Fiesta with more co-driving. Her own navigator was Petra Schuster, who sat beside her for most of her career.

Gisela won the Coupe des Dames in the Monte Carlo Rally in 1981, driving a Peugeot 104. She was 56^th overall. She, Rena Blome and Waltraud Wunsch were the only non-French drivers in that particular car; Gisela finished considerably higher than 115th-placed Rena and Waltraud in 88th place.

The same car and driver was entered into the Acropolis Rally, another World Championship round, but did not finish. A sister car driven by Waltraud Wunsch was another non-finisher. Rena and Waltraud took their Peugeots to some other WRC events in 1981, but Gisela only did two. She spent the rest of the season in the German championship, driving the Fiesta and finishing ninth in her class. Her best overall result was a 15th place in the ADAC Wiking Rallye, a tarmac event.

Another run in the Monte Carlo Rally in 1982 ended in transmission failure, this time driving a Ford Escort XR3i. However, this did not set the tone for the rest of her German rally season. By March, she was back inside the top twenty with a 19th place in the mixed-surface Rallye Trifels, ahead of Rena Blome again. A thirteenth place and class win followed in the Lubeck Rallye. Three further top-twenty finishes ensued, then a career-best eighth in the first running of Rallye Deutschland, again ahead of Rena.  

Her final year of major competition was 1983 and she used two different Ford Escorts: the XR3i and an RS1600i. The XR3i gave her the best results, including 15th place in the Westfalen-Lippe Rally and 19th in the Saarland Peugeot-Talbot Rally. In September, driving the RS1600i, she attempted Rallye Deutschland again, but did not finish. 

If her career had not have been so short, Gisela probably would have been in line for the Peugeot Germany seat in the 205 T16 that eventually went to Michele Mouton. She had proved herself the equal of the better-known Rena Blome, and a quick learner in different cars.

She died in 2015, at the age of 60.

Janie Eaton

Janie with Ari Vatanen in 1997

Janie Eaton rallied in the UK in the 1990s and 2000s and gained attention at the time as one of Britain's youngest female drivers. She was from Essex and apparently had her first experience of driving at the wheel of the family tractor.

She began her career in 1994, when she was 17, driving a Vauxhall Nova like many young drivers of the time. Having passed her driving test in January that year, she quickly earned her rally license and entered her first major event in June, the Dukeries Rally. Assisted by Tina Powell, she finished the rally in 113th place, from 119 finishers. After two more finishes in BTRDA Gold Star rounds, she found enough sponsorship for an RAC Rally entry, which garnered her some press attention due to her young age. A portion of this came from Maldon district council and she had their logo on her car. Sadly, the clutch on the Nova went on Stage 22. 

The Nova, with a new clutch fitted, came out again for the first half of 1995. The year began with the Wyedean Rally in the Forest of Dean, a traditional season-opener in the UK. Janie was 100th from 118 finishers. It was then onwards and upwards for her first-ever rally abroad, the RTS Rally in Belgium. Janie and navigator Liz Jordan were 61st overall and second in class. Her second European rally was the Van Staveren Zuidersee Rallysprint in the Netherlands, and she was 60th.

After another finish in the Plains Rally, she got herself a new car, a Ford Escort RS Cosworth. Her first event in it was the Charlemagne International Rally in Luxembourg, part of the French championship. She and Clive Taylor were 55th overall. This was the first of four finishes in the car, which also got to the end of the ADAC Welfen Rally in Germany, the London International Rally and the RAC Rally. This was a particularly strong performance, although Janie and Liz Jordan only finished 89th. On the first day, they had hit a tree trunk in Tatton Park near Knutsford, and had to limp through the next stage at Chatsworth, picking up a time penalty in the process.  

At the time, she the youngest ever female finisher in the 1995 RAC rally, aged 18.

After this, she kept the Escort but competed much less. She did one rally in 1996, the Bournemouth Winter Rally, but did not finish. She did two more events in it in 1997, an early running of the Goodwood Rallysprint, which ended in a DNF, and the Welfen Rally. This was one of the best rallies of her career and she was 21st overall, fourth in class.

Her final attempt at the RAC Rally was in 1997, and she drove a Ford Ka with Pauline Taylor. The South Wales Evening Post mentioned her in a story about Ari Vatanen, as she had taken a passenger ride with the 1981 WRC champion in his Escort. She also described having seen him competing on the 1991 event, which caused her "Formula 1 ambitions to go straight out of the window." 

Since 1997, she has competed on and off at club level in stage rallies and rallysprints, often for Chelmsford Motor Club. In 2004, she drove a MkII Escort in the Rally of Kent, but did not finish.

(Image copyright Brentwood Gazette)

Helene Bittner

 

Helene Bittner was an Australian driver who raced single-seaters in Formula Libre events in the 1960s. 

She began in 1961, at her home track of Mallala which had opened recently. Her car was a 1200cc Vitesse-Ford. In her first year, she entered the Australian Grand Prix, which was then run as a Formula Libre race. Sadly, she retired after only one lap, with a broken gear lever. 

She raced the car on and off for the next couple of seasons, finishing eighth in the Australian Gold Star championship round at Mallala in 1963. In 1966, the Vitesse was replaced by the 1500cc “Rebelle” special, also Ford-engined. 

Helene was the only woman racing at the level she did and that in itself attracted attention, but she was also known for her glamour in the car and the paddock. She favoured open-face helmets and always wore red lipstick. According to Wayne Wilson in the Historic Sports & Racing Car Association newsletter, a rumour abounded that scrutineers objected to the lipstick in case it proved flammable. Another commenter, Wes Dayton, remembers her using a cigarette holder in the paddock.

Mallala was one of her favourite circuits. She entered a round of the 1966 Australian Gold Star series there in the Rebelle, finishing seventh. In 1968, she qualified for the same race but did not finish.

She continued to race this car until the 1970s. Her best major result in 1970 was a fifth place in the Advertiser Trophy at Mallala, although she continued to finish strongly in club races. She was second at Mallala in a short race for racing cars held at the SCC Trophy, then won the handicap race at the same meeting.

She competed in three more Australian Grands Prix, and finished one, in 1970, in thirteenth place. These races were part of the Tasman series.

In 1972 she was second in another club race at the Adelaide International circuit. This was a race on scratch, supporting a round of the Australian Sports Car Championship. She followed this up with another second at the next ASSC meeting. 

Later, she raced historics, still in the Rebelle, until 2011. She died in 2012.  

(Image copyright Peter Schell)

Marie-Jeanne Marinovitch

 

Madame Marinovitch with Louise Lamberjack in 1935

Marie-Jeanne Marinovitch, always credited as “Madame Marinovitch” and sometimes named as Jane, was a Serbian-French rally driver living in France who was active in the 1930s and 1940s. 

She was part of a prominent Serbian family living in France, probably by marriage, which included a World War I flying ace, Pierre Marinovitch, and a prime minister of Serbia.

One of the earliest mentions of her as a driver comes from June 1927, when Le Journal covered the first Journee Feminine de l’Automobile. She drove a 7hp Fiat and came fifth in a heat for the major race, then fourth in a repechage. This did not qualify her for the final and the paper described this as a shame.

Many of the women who raced in the Journee went on to compete in the all-female Paris-St. Raphaël Rally. Her first entry was in 1931 and she drove a 13hp Voisin. This was the car she used for four editions of the rally between then and 1934, scoring a best finish of third in 1933. A further outing in 1935, driving a Ford, gave her a 27th place.

In  June 1931, she took part in the Aero Club’s Rallye-Parachutes, driving the Voisin. This event involved following other competitors in aircraft and retrieving as many parachutes dropped by them as possible. In the write-up for this event, she was described as an experienced rally driver, and named as the “baronne Marinovitch”.

The Monte Carlo Rally was one of her favourite events and she entered on four occasions, beginning as a navigator to Marcelle Leblanc in 1934. They were 42nd overall in a Peugeot 301.

She won the Monte Carlo Coupe des Dames in a Ford in 1935 and a Matford in 1936, with Louise Lamberjack and Hellé-Nice as her navigators. The Matford entry with Hellé-Nice also gained them a “Challenge Officiel de la Couture” award for style. The car was an Alsace V8 model which had previously been raced by Ford France head Maurice Dollfus. Their starting point was Tallinn. Her 1935 Coupe began with a Palermo start.

A third Monte as a driver occurred in 1938. She shared the Matford with Odette Siko and finished 32nd, fifth in the ladies’ standings.

After 1934, Fords and Ford-powered cars were her usual choice for rallies. Occasionally, she drove other cars, such as the Mercedes she used for the 1935 Grand Circuit de Vosges (resulting in a non-finish) or the Delahaye she shared with Odette Siko for that year’s Liege-Rome-Liege Rally.

Another rally she returned to over and over again was the Criterium Paris-Nice, which she entered four times between 1932 and 1936. Her best result was a 16th place in 1933, driving the Voisin. 

She was one of the drivers who contested the 1939 ladies’ championship which was held in France, using Renault Juvaquatres. She crashed out of the second race at Comminges on the sixth lap, rolling her car and breaking her collarbone, but was fourth in the first.

The Second World War broke out shortly afterwards so there was plenty of time for her to recover. Her final event seems to have been the Rallye International Feminin de Paris, a continuation of the Paris-St. Raphaël. She drove a Citroen.

(Image copyright L’Eclaireur du dimanche illustre)

Susan Tucker-Peake

 

Susan and Maralyn Tucker-Peake with one of their trophies

Susan Tucker-Peake raced between 1966 and 1989, starting in club saloon races in the UK and progressing as far as the European Touring Car Championship. 

She won two rallycross races in 1972, in a Ford Anglia, and was the winner of the 1975 Ladies’ Shellsport Escort Championship. 

Although she raced a wide variety of cars throughout her sporting career, she was probably most associated with saloon cars, spending some time racing in the no-limits Special Saloon championship in the ‘70s. In 1973, she raced a Ford Escort with Graham Goode, against the likes of Gerry Marshall. She continued to race in this series until at least 1975, driving an Escort.

Trying yet another discipline, she partnered Maggie Anderson in the 1975 Avon Tour of Britain. Their car was a Renault 11TS entered by Renault Elf Racing, who were running Maggie in their one-make Renault 5 series.

This was combined with regular appearances in the Ladies’ Shellsport Escort Championship. Despite not winning a race, she won the first championship in 1975, ahead of Divina Galica. Divina was the 1976 winner, with Susan in second. She was fourth in 1977.

In 1977, she drove a Renault 5 herself in most of the British Touring Car championship, which led to a works drive with Skoda in the 1978 ETCC. She and Petr Samohyl contested four rounds together in a 130 RS, with a best finish of 21st at Brno. The car was not reliable and this was their only finish. 

After her ETCC adventure, Susan bought a Brabham BT21 F3 single-seater and rebuilt it with her husband. 

During the 1980s, she raced in Formula 4, and in a number of relay races for the BWRDC.

Her earliest motorsport experiences were in trials, competing with her sister Maralyn in their father’s self-built Tucker Nipper car.

After retiring from active competition she served as the President of the British Women Racing Drivers’ Club. In 2003, as Susan TP-Jamieson she wrote Women in Motorsport from 1945 with Peter Tutthill, a book chronicling female drivers since the war.

(Image copyright classictrials.co.uk)

Nabila Tejpar

 

Nabila Tejpar is a British rally driver who mainly competes in Europe. She has won several women’s awards in the European Rally Championship.

She began rallying in 2015 in a 1600cc Proton Satria, after she had finished university. She did four single-stage rallies and had a best finish of 22nd, on the Wethersfield Stages. Even at this early stage, she looked beyond her home country and drove a DAF 55 in the Eifel Rally Festival, held near the Nurburgring. At this event, she drove alongside her father Aziz, who was in a Ford Escort. Both Nabila’s father and grandfather are or were rally drivers, with her grandfather Aziz Sr active in his adopted homeland of Kenya. The DAF was among the cars he used in the early ‘70s.

At the start of 2016, she took a big leap forward in her career and entered the British Rally Championship, competing in the Junior championship. Her car was a Ford Fiesta R2. Although it was not her best overall finish, the Circuit of Ireland was probably her best rally; she was fourth in the Junior rankings, and won a European Ladies award for her 43rd place finish. She was eighth in the British Junior championship at the end of the season. 

Driving the Fiesta, she was British Ladies' Champion in 2017, and fifth in the Cadet class. She entered her first Wales Rally GB and finished in 65th place. Her best overall finish was a 15th place in the Nicky Grist Stages. She carried on with her forays into Europe, entering the Ypres Rally and finishing 88th.

For 2018, her focus switched to the Iberian Peugeot Rally Cup, which offered prize money, although her best result of the year, a 15th place, came from the Ulster Rally. Her Iberian campaign included WRC rallies in Spain and Portugal. She was the leading female driver in the Catalunya Rally, finishing 41st from 53 in her 208. Her Portugal entry was only for the National event. Back at home, she was 43rd in the Wales Rally GB.

A pan-European campaign in the 208 followed in 2019, which left her second in the ERC ladies' standings. Again, she tackled the Iberian WRC rounds, earning a 31st place in Portugal this time. She was 40th in Catalunya but had to pull out of the GB event as her co-driver Richard Bliss was unwell. As well as Spain and Portugal, she travelled further east into Europe this year, entering the Polish and Barum Czech rallies.

Her 2020 programme was based in Portugal, where she used the Peugeot in three events, the best of which for Nabila was the Alto Tamega Rally, in which she was 31st. The season was curtailed by the coronavirus crisis. Later in the year, she also tried out a Proton Iriz R5 car at the Goodwood Speed Week. 

In June 2021, she made her ERC debut in the Iriz. Her first event was the Rally of Poland. The first three stages went well and she was running in 37th place, but she rolled the car and had to retire. Although she was not seriously injured, she had to pull out of the Rally Liepaja and Rome Rally to allow time for the car to be repaired and for her and her co-driver Matt Edwards to be fit.

Nabila first competed in the Proton as co-driver to her father in 2019, when he drove it as the course car for the Eifel Rally Festival.

(Image from essex-tv.co.uk)

Caroline Grifnee

Caroline Grifnée was a driver and team manager from Belgium.

She first made her mark on the scene when she drove for the Daikin team in Belcar in 2005 and 2006, with Alexandra van de Velde. In the first year, she was a third driver in a BMW Mini, but she replaced team leader Vanina Ickx in 2006. Their car was due to be a Ferrari 360, but a heavy practice crash and loss of a sponsor meant this was changed to a BMW 120d. 

The team also took part in some Dutch Supercar rounds and won their class at Spa. 

Belcar was not her first racing adventure. She had begun competing in a 2CV in 2000, which she raced until 2002. One year, she was part of the winning team for the Spa 2CV 24 Hours. She also took part in the 2003 Toyota Yaris Cup in Belgium.

After leaving the Daikin set-up at the end of 2006, she concentrated on her career at Renault Sport, moving from logistics to project management for the Renault Sport experience.

Back in a car on the international stage, she drove a Porsche 997 GT3 for Speed Lover at the 2009 Dubai 24 Hours. Her team-mates were Jose Close, Victor Rodrigues and Jim Michaelian. They did not finish. 

In 2009 and 2010, she competed in Renault one-make series, including the Renault Megane Eurocup in 2010. Unfortunately, her time in the Megane series was ended by a massive crash at Silverstone, which observers note she was lucky to survive. The car flipped five times and lost most of its bodywork, but Caroline walked away from the accident needing only precautionary treatment.

In 2011, she drove again in the Dubai 24 Hours, winning Class A2 in a Renault Clio as part of the iOpener team. She raced in the Endurance section of the Clio Cup the following year.

Apart from a course car run in the 2013 Criterium Jurassien in a Renault Twingo, alongside Margot Laffite, she did not actually compete much for a few years. Her work at Renault led to occasional guest appearances like the Jurassien rally.

After 2014, she took to historic racing. The first historic car she drove was a Porsche 911 in the Le Mans Classic, and she was 31st in Plateau 4. Her co-driver was Carolyn Twaites. 

In 2017, she raced a Chevron B16 at Spa, part of the FIA Masters Historic Sportscar Championship. She was 17th. In 2018 and 2019, she continued in historics, racing the Chevron at Le Mans and also a Ford Escort and Porsche 911 around Europe. The MkI Escort was a favoured car for a few seasons and a video of her racing at Paul Ricard in 2019 became a Youtube hit, earning her plaudits for her impressive car control. She finished sixth in class from 23rd on the grid, with a class win.

She raced the Chevron at Estoril in the 2020 Classic Endurance race, finishing second in class. 

As a team manager, some of her most noted successes were drivers she helped through the DAMS Formula Renault 3.5 team. Among them was 2014 winner Carlos Sainz Jr.

She followed DAMS into Formula E in 2015 and was part of its management team for two teams’ and one drivers’ championship, alongside Alain Prost. After the 2017 season, she left to found her own track day company, Historic Track Day by Caroline, specialising in events for historic cars.

Caroline died suddenly in February 2021. The remaining “By Caroline” track days planned will take place.

Geunda Eadie

 

Geunda Eadie raced in the BTCC in 1980 and was the winner of the Fabergé Ladies' Fiesta Challenge in 1979.

The Fabergé Challenge was a female-only talent search sponsored by Faberge’s Kiku cosmetics brand and the Radio Times. It featured both racing and rallying and was open to complete novices and experienced drivers alike. Geunda fell into the latter camp.

Since 1972, English-based Scot Geunda had co-driven for Sandy Lawson, who worked in the BMC competitions department. Their first major outing together was the 1972 Scottish Rally, in a Mini. Later in the year, Sandy acquired a DAF 55 and Geunda co-drove for her in it on that year’s RAC Rally. It was the first of three RAC events they did together.

She also took part in circuit racing at club level. This included the ladies’ races organised by John Webb, under the Shellsport banner. She took part in a couple of rounds of the Shellsport Ladies’ Escort Challenge in 1975, driving a Ford Escort Mexico and achieving midfield finishes. 

Later, she entered a Shellsport women’s race at Oulton Park in 1979. The cars were racing school Talbot Sunbeam Tis and Geunda defeated future Formula hopeful Desire Wilson and six other women.

The previous year, she had entered the Fabergé Challenge and beaten almost 2000 other hopefuls in regional trials. These involved straightforward driving tasks as well as more off-the-wall challenges like driving around a quarry blindfolded. The championship itself ran through 1979. Near-standard yellow Ford Fiestas were provided by local dealerships and each driver was paired with a co-driver for the six rally rounds, either chosen herself or assigned. Geunda’s navigator was the experienced Dilys Rogers.

Geunda won through her consistency, rather than spectacular wins. She appears to have done better in the rallies than the races, although the results lists are incomplete. The rallies were BTRDA rounds, with the Challenge running as its own class. Reactions to the women were mixed, although they became known as the “Yellow Perils” due to their yellow cars and Penelope Pitstop’s “Perils of” cartoon.

She won the first rally, the Dukeries Rally in March and was second in the Lakeland Stages a fortnight later. Her second event win was in Wales in the summer, when she topped the Fiesta standings in the Rali Bro Myrddin. She was second or third in each of the other three rallies.

The first part of her prize drive was a run in the RAC Rally in a works-supported Fiesta. She was co-driven by fellow “Yellow Peril” Flip Kerr, as Dilys Rogers was competing alongside Judy Simpson. Geunda sadly did not finish as she went over the time limit.  

Her season in the BTCC was something of a trial. Although she fared well in her class at times, the car was unreliable. She endured several DNFs and withdrew from some of the rounds. Her best class finish was third, which she earned at the Brands Hatch Grand Prix support race. Her best overall finish was ninth at the start of the reason, at Mallory Park.

At the end of the year, she retired from motorsport to start a family. Although her competition career was over, she stayed involved professionally, working for the Jim Russel Racing School at Snetterton. She was the chief instructor on its skid pan from at least 1978, when she put Daily Mirror journalist Paul Hughes through his paces for an article. Among her other students is said to have been a young Ayrton Senna, to whom she taught skid control.

As Geunda Palmer, she appears to have been involved in some way in the 1985 Esso Ladies’ Formula Ford race held at Snetterton, run by the Jim Russell school.

Geunda came out of retirement in 2010 to co-drive for Conor Kelly on the TNR Tour of the Sperrins. The car was a Ford Escort and she helped Conor to 81st place.

(Image copyright projectbobcat.com)

The Oulton Park Ladies' Handicap

This picture was possibly taken at the Ladies' Handicap. Gabriel Konig is in dark overalls and Rosemary Smith is next to her in a raincoat

A Ladies’ Handicap was held at Oulton Park in April 1967, during the Spring Trophy. Most of its entrants came from the British Women Racing Drivers’ Club.

The race was held over ten laps and was a handicap for saloons and sportscars. It formed part of a “ladies day” held at the circuit, which also included a fashion show sponsored by local department store Browns of Chester. Rosemary Smith was promoting her “Rally Girl” clothing line at the time and her designs were modelled at the show. The event was in aid of the International Grand Prix Medical Service.

Eleven drivers started. Three of them, Anita Taylor, Mary Wheeler and Gabriel Konig, had competed in the Fast Girl Trophy four years earlier. Gabriel Konig, winner of the Fast Girl Trophy, was the winner of the handicap. No incidents were reported.

Results

1. Gabriel Konig (Austin Healey Sebring Sprite)
2. Mary Taylor (MGB)
3. Anita Taylor (Ford Lotus Cortina)
4. Margaret Cooper (Alfa Romeo GTC)
5. Jean Denton (MGB)
6. Natalie Goodwin (Ford Lotus Cortina)

(Image copyright BWRDC)

Jonna Eson Brådhe

Jonna Eson Brådhe is a Swedish rally driver active since 2010. She is the third generation of female drivers in her family, after her grandmother Margot and mother Liz.

She started as a teenager navigating for her father Johnny, and began rallying a VW Golf in youth events in 2010, aged 16. 

In 2011, she was Sweden’s top female youth rally driver. Her co-driver was her mother.

She earned her driving license in 2012, and used it to enter Swedish club rallies in a Peugeot 309, with mixed results. The Peugeot was soon replaced by a Subaru Impreza, which was faster, and scored her some decent positions in the Class C Cup. This was a welcome diversion from her roll on the Kolsva Rally in the Peugeot; she had been on course for ladies’ award when she crashed.

She got the hang of the 309 in 2013 and finished her first Swedish championship rallies. Her best finish was 54th place in the East Swedish Rally and she also finished the Uppsala Rally. It was this year that she came to the attention of Uppsala Rally winner Ramona Karlsson, who recruited her into her female driver training programme alongside six others. This lasted for a couple of seasons.

Later, she had her first taste of WRC power, albeit as a co-driver,  in a Skoda Octavia, in which she and Nils Jensen were 17th in the Fixussprinten  rally. 

Jonna became more consistent in the 309 through 2014, picking up more Swedish Championship finishes in the Uppsala and South Sweden events. This was her last year with this particular car.

In 2015, she travelled to the Middle East for the FIA Women in Motorsport Qatar Desert Challenge, competing against other elite female drivers for a spot in the Sealine Desert Challenge. She was not one of the winners. Back in Sweden, she had a new car, a Ford Fiesta which she used for the Swedish Junior Championship. She was ninth in her class at the end of the year and her best finish was probably a 46th place in the Rally Uppsala, out of 64 drivers.

Her second season in the Fiesta brought her mixed results. Her first rally of the year, the Rally Bilmetro, ended early due to a lost wheel and a broken driveshaft put her out of the LBC-Ruschen. In between, she was 34th in the Ostersund Winter Rally and secured her best-ever career finish, 21st in the Rally Gotland. Her preferred South Swedish Rally was the scene of a career-best 33rd in a Swedish Championship event before the car was updated to an R2-spec machine. Her best result in it was a 22nd place in the Violenrallyt.

Her car for 2017 was a Peugeot 208, another R2 car. She was sixth in her class in the European Rally Trophy championship, with a best finish of 27th, in the East Sweden Rally. She also won her class in the SM Vaakuna Rally, in Finland. This was her first overseas event, the first of two rallies in Finland that year. The second was the Real Park Lake City Rally, in which she was 48th.

In 2018, she entered her first Rally Sweden in the 208, finishing 47th. This was her first World Championship rally. She also competed in Germany, taking part in the International Lausitz Rally and coming in 49th under Superrally rules. She was third in the OT2WD class of the Swedish championship at the end of the year, winning 10,000 krona. 

She continued to compete in Sweden in 2019, still driving the 208. Her best finish was a 20th place in the Rikspokalen rally, from 167 finishers.

Despite restrictions on rallying due to coronavirus in 2020, Jonna remained busy, driving an R5 Mitsubishi Mirage. She was fifth in the Rally Sweden Lockdown, behind Mattias Ekstrom. Her best result was a third place in the Backeforssnurren event, a sprint rally. Mid-season, she was fourth in the Kvallsrallyt.

In 2021 she continued to perform well in the Mirage. She was fourth in the JR Motorsport Pokalen, winning her class, then was fourth again in the Gastabudstrofen Light. In August, she entered the Rally Killingen, a round of the Swedish championship. She finished 36th out of 94, fifth in class.

Another year in the Mirage was mostly spent in rallysprint events, with considerable success. She was sixth in both the Skilling 5 and Karlskronapokalen, both gravel rallies. These were two of five top-ten finishes she earned in 2022. Her only international trip was to Germany for the Lausitz Rally, where she was eleventh and won her class. 

She mostly stayed within Sweden in the Mirage in 2023. Her best result was a second place in the Bjorn Waldegards Minne, a gravel rallysprint with 88 finishers. In September, she did one Finnish rally: the SM Ralli Kokkola. She and co-driver Jesper Samuelsson had an off and did not finish.

2024 was a mixed year, marred by a non-qualification for the SM Veckan Sprint Rally, going over the time limit at the LBC-Ruschen event and crashing out of the Rally Nykoping, but she also had some great finishes in the Mirage. She was second in the Hasselasvangen snow rally, from 40 finishers. Later in the year, she was third in the Lovdansen gravel event, from 70 finishers.

Her one trip to Finland in 2025 gave her and the Mirage their best result: a tenth place in the Royal Rally of Scandinavia. This gravel rally had a huge rate of attrition, but Jonna stayed out of trouble. Her best Finnish rally was the SM OK Auto-Ralli, where she was 22nd and won her class. 

(Image copyright svtplay.se)

The RAC Rally Ladies' Cup

Ann Wisdom (left) and Pat Moss in 1961

The RAC Rally, now known as the Wales Rally GB, has its own ladies’ award, usually for the best-performing all-female crew. It is not awarded every year, but this list is almost certainly incomplete and will be extended in the future. If you have any information, please comment or message me.

In the early days, separate awards for female drivers in Open and Closed cars existed. These were scrapped in the mid-1950s when car classes changed.

1936

Joan Richmond (Triumph) - open car Ladies’ Cup

Midge Wilby (Armstrong-Siddeley) - closed car Ladies’ Cup

1939

Kay Hague (Riley) - open car Ladies’ Cup

Joan Chetwynd (Fordd) - closed car Ladies’ Cup

Hiatus for WWII

1951

Anne Hall (Newton)/Margaret Newton (Jaguar XK120) - open car Ladies’ Cup

Sheila van Damm/Elsie Wisdom (Hillman Minx) - closed car Ladies’ Cup

1952

Anne Hall (Newton)/Mary Newton (Jaguar XK120) - open car Ladies’ Cup

Hazel Dunham/Charlotte Sadler (Rover) - closed car Ladies’ Cup

1954

Mary Walker (Triumph TR2)

1955

Sheila van Damm/Anne Hall (Sunbeam Talbot)

1956

Angela Palfrey/Aileen Jervis (Austin A40)

1957

No rally held

1958

Pat Moss/Ann Wisdom (Morris Minor 1000)

1959

Anne Hall/Patsy Burt (Ford Anglia 105E) - 20th

1960

Anne Hall/Valerie Domleo (Ford)

1961

Pat Moss/Ann Wisdom (Austin-Healey 3000) - 2nd

1962

Pat Moss/Pauline Mayman (Austin-Healey 3000) - 3rd

1963

Pat Moss/Jennifer Nadin (Ford Cortina GT) - 7th

1964

Pat Moss/Liz Nystrom (Saab 96) - 4th

1965

Pat Moss/Liz Nystrom (Saab 96) - 10th

1966

Pat Moss/Liz Nystrom (Saab 96) - 9th

1969

Jill Robinson/Audrey Scott (BMW 2002 Ti) - 58th

1970

Liz Crellin/Pat Wright (Austin Mini Cooper) - 36th

1971

Marie-Claude Beaumont/Martine de la Grandrive (Opel Ascona)

1973

Eeva Heinonen/Selia Saaristo (Volvo 142) - 32nd

1974

Pat Moss/Liz Crellin (Toyota Celica GT) - 28th

1985

Louise Aitken-Walker/Ellen Morgan (Peugeot 205 GTi) - 16th, class win

(Image copyright S&G and Barratts/EMPICS Sport)