Yolanda Surer

Yolanda Surer (now Egger, previously Tavoli; given name also spelled Jolanda) is a Swiss driver who competed in Europe for almost 20 years, between 1987 and 2004. She was married to Swiss Formula One driver Marc Surer, from 1986 to 1993. At the time, she was a model and actress and it was through him that she got involved in motorsport. Initially not taken seriously, she quickly proved that she was capable of competing against some extremely talented opposition.

She was eleventh in the Swiss Formula Ford championship in 1989. The races were held in neighbouring countries. The following year, she moved up to Formula 3-level competition, beginning with the LISTA Formula 3 Trophy, a nominally-Swiss championship. Jo Zeller was that year's winner and Yolanda was eighth. She also made some appearances in the B class of German Formula 3, as part of Jacques Isler's team. She scored one point from two races, earning a tenth spot in her first race at Zolder. She was competing against eventual winner Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen and Ellen Lohr, among others.

Part-seasons in both the German and Swiss F3 championships took up 1991. She was thirteenth in the Swiss series. In Germany, she drove for Opel Team Schuebler for the first and third rounds, before rejoining the Isler team for three further rounds later in the season. Her best finish was with Isler, coming in 15th at the Norisring. 

She moved to touring cars later, racing in German and Italian championships. Her first forays into tin-top competition were in the 1992 Nurburgring 24 Hours, where she shared a BMW 325i with Anette Meeuvissen and Gaby Sonnauer. They were 29th overall and second in class.

Her first full series in was the Group N-based German Touring Car Trophy in 1993, driving a BMW M3 for the Menton Automobilcenter team. She was on the pace straight away, winning her class in the first race at AVUS. The rest of the season gave her three seconds and three thirds, enough for seventh in the championship.

It was now time for her to move up the touring car ladder. This meant the 1994 German Touring Car Cup, which ran to Super Touring regulations. Her car was a BMW 318i prepared by BMW Team Isert. The first race, at AVUS, ended in a tenth place, racing against the likes of Audi drivers Frank Biela and Emmanuele Pirro and former Formula 1 driver, Thierry Boutsen. The BMW could not match the pace of the dominant Audis at the start of the season. Although Yolanda maintained a good finishing record, she was not able to catch up when some of the other BMW drivers began winning. Tenth remained her best finish and she was 22nd overall.

It was down to Italy for the 1995 Italian Super Touring Championship. She had been signed by BMW Italia and had Emmanuele Naspetti and Gianni Morbidelli as team-mates. After a bumpy start to the season with a non-finish and subsequent non-start, she got into her groove and became a top-ten regular. Her highest finish was fourth, which she achieved at Misano. This was one of two top-five finishes, along with her fifth place at Varano. Both times, she was the highest-placed BMW Italy driver. She was ninth in the championship.

Her second Italian season was not a full one; she left the championship after the Imola round in July. Her car was an BMW 320i this time, still run by BMW Italia. After a disastrous first round at Mugello, where she failed to finish Race 1 then didn't start Race 2, she picked up her pace again and had a best finish of seventh, at both Monza and Misano. She was twelfth in the championship.

She was also fourth in the 1996 Spa 24 Hours, in a Bastos Fina BMW, for a womens' team. Her co-drivers were Kate Rafanelli and Florence Duez.

After taking time out of her career to have children (she became pregnant while racing in the Renault Spider Cup in 1997), she returned in 2004, as Yolanda Tavoli. She drove a Honda S2000 for an all-female team in the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Her co-drivers were Gaby Roosen, Anja Wassertheurer and Friederike Moritz. They retired after 30 laps.

Not long after that, she retired from racing. She now owns and edits a German-language magazine.

(Image source possibly Marc Surer's Facebook)

Courtney Prince

Courtney Prince is an Australian driver who races sportscars and single-seaters.

She was one of her country’s youngest-ever single-seater drivers when she entered a few rounds of the Australian Formula Ford championship in 2016, aged 14. Her car was a Mygale SJ011 run by the Sonic Motor Racing team. That year, she picked up her first top tens, a pair of tenth places at Winton. This followed several years of karting.

Between then and 2019, she competed extensively in the national, Victoria and New South Wales championships, with a best finish of eighth overall in the 2019 Australian series. She was a regular upper-midfield finisher with a best race finish of second, achieved at Phillip Island in 2017, in the Australian championship. In 2018, she scored some further podiums in the New South Wales and South Australian Formula Ford series, driving for the same Sonic team. In her last season of Formula Ford, she came close again, finishing fourth twice on the way to Australian championship eighth.

In 2020 she started racing Porsches, scoring three third places at Sandown in the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge. These were her only appearances of the year. Another part-season followed in 2021, where she continued to be supported by the Sonic team who she had been with from the beginning. She was third again in the first race of the year at Phillip Island.

She continued to be competitive and was fourth in the 2022 championship, picking up another third at Phillip Island and another three third places at Sydney Motorsports Park.

In 2021 and 2022, she also competed in Aussie Racing Cars, driving a motorbike-engined Mustang. She did a part-season the first time, before a longer programme in 2022. By the end of her time in the series, she was a top-ten regular and had a best finish of fifth at Winton, which she earned twice.

It was time to move up to the Carrera Cup in 2023. This proved harder and she was 17th overall, managing a couple of top tens. The best of these was an eighth place at Adelaide, in her last race of the year.

She did better in the Bathurst 6 Hours, finishing third in her class with Karlie Buccini and Ellexandra Best. Their car was a BMW. Racing against Karlie Buccini this time, she drove a BMW in the Aussie Production Cars rounds at The Bend. She got her first APC points in the bag with two seventh places, an eighth and a twelfth.

The Buccini team got back together for the 2024 Bathurst 6 Hours, with Sue Palermo replacing Ellexandra Best. They won their class in a BMW and were tenth overall.

The rest of 2024 was divided between Aussie Racing Cars and Production Cars with Team Buccini, scoring top tens in both. She was a class winner in the APC. In November, she joined up with Michael Kokkinos in his Audi R8 for an enduro at Phillip Island. She set a lap record in her first race in the car, and the pair won one race.

Another Buccini entry for the 2025 Bathurst 6 Hours led to a class win, with Karlie Buccini and Tabitha Ambrose. Their car was a BMW 340i and they were 31st overall. Driving a Ginetta with Valentino Astuti, Courtney also did a couple of rounds of the Australian GT4 championship. At the end of the year, she tested a V8 Supercar with the Eggleston Motorsport team, in their Holden Commodore. The aim of this was a possible Super2 programme for 2026.

(Image copyright Courtney Prince)

Anita Liden

 

Anita Lidén is a Swedish driver who is most famous for attempting to build a career in NASCAR in 1970.

She tried to enter the Motor Trend 500 at Riverside, but never made the start, having no car and no backers. She had shown up at Riverside and hung around the gates in the week before the 500, handing out business cards in the rain and attempting to persuade car owners to take a chance on her.

Despite her chutzpah, the enterprise did not work. Her complete lack of stock car experience, apart from some slow testing laps, and general lack of American racing experience, worked against her. Her husband Lasse, another racer who was with her, was also unsuccessful in launching a US competition career.

Anita and Lasse lived near the Anderstorp circuit, where he raced both cars and motorbikes. She was formerly a model and got into motorsport through her husband.

She had raced in Formula Ford in Sweden in 1969, in her first year of competition. She usually used the name "Anita Snabb", which translates to "Fast Anita". Her car was a Merlyn. In 1969, she entered the Junior race at the Hyllingeloppet event at Knutstorp, finishing second.

After her trip to America, she returned to Sweden and quickly went back to single-seaters. She continued to race in Formula Ford, then in the Swedish and European Formula Vee championships. She took part in the Swedish series in 1970 and 1971 and the European championship between 1970 and 1072.

Much later, in 1976, she raced in the Lee Cooper Mini Lady Cup, a Swedish all-female racing series, and won at least one race, although not the championship, which went to Birgitta Uppling. Her car was advertised for sale in 1978, so her career appears to end there.

(Image copyright Autosprint, 1971)

Ashley Taws

Ashley Taws made her name as a successful young Canadian Formula Ford driver between 2000 and 2002, recognisable for her pink, "Barbie"-sponsored car. 

She was a race-winner at 1200cc level and scored seconds and thirds in her one season of 1600cc competition. 

She first raced a car in 2000, driving a 1200cc Formula Ford. This followed a karting career which had begun when she was nine. She was 16 at the time. In only her first season, she won two races, and she was second in the championship in 2001. By this time, she had brokered a sponsorship deal with Mattel and Wal-Mart, tying in with a co-promotion for "Be Anything With Barbie". Ashley drove a pink car with Barbie decals and made personal appearances at Canadian Wal-Mart stores close to tracks where she was racing. This was one of the most high-profile and successful female-oriented brand sponsorships in motorsport.

She moved up to the more competitive 1600cc class in 2002. Immediately, she was on the pace, finishing third in Round 1 at Mosport. This was one of two podium finishes she scored that year, on her way to championship fourth. She had tied with third-placed Chris Guerrieri on points, but he got third due to a win.

Her career was almost ended by a serious road traffic accident at the end of 2002, when she suffered injuries to her spine, left leg and internal organs. She had been a passenger in a friend's car. Seven months later, she was back out in the Formula Ford, at Toronto Molson Indy. Despite a cautious drive, she was fourth in her first race back. A third place at Trois-Rivieres helped her to championship seventh, but she dropped out after the fifth round as she was not feeling as comfortable in the car as she would like.

For a while, she stopped competing, bar a single guest appearance in the Honda Michelin Challenge in 2004. She was thirteenth at Mosport, driving a Civic.

She only returned to motorsport in 2007, in a BMW in the Canadian Touring Car Championship, and later, in 2008, a CASCAR stock car. Both cars carried Barbie sponsorship again. Although she showed promise, finishing second in only her third CASCAR race, she did not take to oval racing and quit in 2009. She is now pursuing a business career, working as an insurance broker.

(Image copyright AIM Autosport)

Corinne Armagnac

 

Corinne (far right) with (L-R) Sandrine Nahon, Muriel Osimeck and Giovanna Amati, 1990

Corinne Armagnac raced single-seaters in France in the 1990s, then switched to tin-tops after taking a break to have children.

Born in 1962, she is the daughter of sportscar racer Paul Armagnac, the youngest of four girls. Her life began tragically; her mother died in childbirth and her father was killed in a crash at the Paris 1000km, held at Montlhery, when she was only a few months old.

She competed in Formula Ford 1600 in France between 1987 and 1993. She seems to have done part-seasons in the French championship, at least to begin with. At the time, the French FF1600 series had qualification races known as the “Loctite Trophy”. The top 28 would progress to the main draw. Corinne was usually part of the Loctite Trophy field.

In 1988 she was part of the Faster team alongside Pierre de Thoisy.

In 1990, she was the team-mate of Sandrine Nahon and drove a Van Diemen RF89. Sandrine was the faster of the two, despite being barely out of her teens. At that year’s Pau Grand Prix, she was pictured in a French magazine alongside Sandrine, Giovanna Amati who was competing in Formula 3000 and Formula Renault racer Muriel Osimeck, four women who were in action at the same meeting. 

Relations between Sandrine and Corinne were not always completely straightforward; Corinne was supported by Loctite as their featured female driver, despite Sandrine’s superior pace.

In 1993, she returned to the championship, for some rounds at least. Her race results and even her championship positions are not forthcoming. 

In 2001, she came out of retirement to drive in the Peugeot 306 Cup, after taking a long break to have a family. At some point, she also raced in a Citroen Saxo one-make series.

(Image copyright Pyrenees Presse, posted by Autodiva member “nahonenleretour”)

Logan Hannah

 

Logan Hannah is a Scottish single-seater driver who won a round of the 2020 Scottish Formula Ford championship outright.

She made her senior motorsport debut in 2017, racing a Formula 4 in the UAE Championship, which runs over the winter season. Logan is a British national but mostly competed in the Middle East to begin with, first as a junior karter.

She was only sixteen when she did her first race at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. Her results were two sevenths and one eighth place, having finished three of her four races. 

In 2018, she trained for more F4 races with the Arden team, but her actual races were with Graham Brunton’s Formula Ford team. She travelled to the UK for the Walter Hayes Trophy but ran into car trouble with her Ray GR10.

In 2019, she raced in the Scottish Formula Ford championship with Graham Brunton Racing and was fourth overall, with three podium finishes in her 2015-spec Ray. She also raced FF1600 in England, in two Champion of Brands races and the season-ending Walter Hayes Trophy, which has become a regular event for her. Back in the UAE and F4 in December, she took part in the non-championship support race for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and was eighth and ninth. 

She won the David Leslie Trophy at Knockhill in 2020, the first time a Scottish woman had won a national Formula Ford race. Later, she qualified for the Walter Hayes Trophy final, finishing 15th.

Her Formula Ford season in 2021 was restricted to the Formula Ford Festival and Walter Hayes Trophy, but she announced that in 2022 she would be contesting the GB4 (formerly British F4) championship. This was a new series and GBR was one of the first teams to commit to it.

She took advantage of the reverse grid for Race 3 during a GB4 meeting to win a race at Donington, the fourth weekend of her season. This followed a second place in the reverse-grid race at Silverstone. The rest of the season was consistent rather than spectacular, and she was tenth in the championship.

After her traditional appearance in the Walter Hayes Trophy in November, she hinted that this had been her last single-seater race as she was looking to switch to sportscars, possibly Porsches. Mid-season in 2023, she entered a round of the GT Cup at Snetterton, sharing a Lamborghini with Iain Loggie. Loggie crashed the car before she got to drive.

Most of her 2024 racing was in sportscars, in the form of the Ligier European Series. She did four races, sharing the car with Ben Caisley. The pair had a best finish of fourth at Paul Ricard. Later in the year, she was a surprise wildcard entry for the all-female F1 Academy, competing at Yas Marina in Bahrain. Her best finish from her three races was tenth.

She intimated on social media that she was retiring from competition at the beginning of 2025.

(Image copyright Laser Tools Racing)

Caitlin Wood

Caitlin Wood is an Australian driver who races in Europe. In recent years, this has been in sportscars, although she started in single-seaters.

She began her senior motorsport career in 2013, supported by the Women’s Australian Motorsport federation as one of their most promising young drivers, following a successful karting career. Her brother had raced previously and she helped him and their father rebuilt his Spirit Formula Ford. She did part-seasons in the Australian and Victorian Formula Ford championships, earning two fourteenth places in the Australian series. More races in the Victorian championship gave her more experience.

In late 2013, she was selected as Australia’s entry for the FIA Women in Motorsport Scirocco-R shootout, in an attempt to win a VW Scirocco prize drive in Europe. She did not win and returned to single-seaters in Australia. 

Another season in the Australian Formula Ford championship followed in 2014. It was a hard year for her, but she managed to get into the top ten three times towards the end of the season. She was 21st overall. As well as her national series, she got some extra seat time in the New South Wales state championship, where she fared better, finishing sixth overall after five races. 

She put together a deal late in the season to run in the 2015 Australian Formula 4 championship, the first female driver to do so. She was thirteenth in the championship after just under half of the season, with a best finish of sixth at Sandown. 

In 2016, she intended to race in F4 for the full season but ended up in Europe, racing a KTM X-Bow in the GT4 European Series. This followed an invitation by former Formula 1 driver Tomas Enge to join a Young Stars programme run by Reiter Engineering.

She was a solid top-ten finisher in the Pro class, partnered with male drivers including Marko Helistekangas. Her best overall finish was seventh at Pau, and she was seventeenth in the main championship. However, she won the Young Stars class.

She stayed with the Reiter team in 2017 and drove both the X-Bow and their Lamborghini Gallardo. The X-Bow came out for the Dubai 24 Hours, where Caitlin was part of a four-woman Reiter team with fellow Young Stars drivers Anna Rathe, Marylin Niederhauser and Naomi Schiff. They finished the race in 72nd place.

For most of the year she drove the Gallardo in the Blancpain Endurance Series, as a prize for her Young Stars win. She was tenth in the Sprint Cup Silver Cup, having been entered in different classes over the year with Marko Helistekangas. 

She missed some of the 2018 season due to injury but managed the early and late part of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo, racing in Europe. At first, she drove for Mtech in the Pro-Am class, before doing the Silverstone rounds in the Am class with The Energy Check. She returned to Pro-Am for the closing races at the Nurburgring, picking up her best finish of sixth.

She also did her first Bathurst 12 Hours in the X-Bow, although she did not finish. Sadly, she did not finish the race in 2019 either. 

The 2019 summer season was spent as a W Series driver in Europe, having gone through several rounds of selection alongside her former Reiter team-mates, Naomi Schiff and Marylin Niederhauser. Naomi was also selected. 

Her best finish by far was fifth at Assen and she was thirteenth in the championship. She did not race in W Series in 2020 as it was cancelled, but she returned as a reserve driver in 2021. Despite her reserve status, she did four of the eight races, earning one fifth place at Spa. She also drove the Tatuus F3 car up the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

After being released by W Series, she remained in Europe and joined up with the Adrenalin Motorsport Alzer team for the NLS. Their car was a BMW 330i. She did one NLS race in 2022.

She returned to competition in a high-profile hook-up with Mattel's Barbie brand in 2024, competing in the Porsche Sprint Challenge in the UK. Sadly, fudning ran out after four rounds. Later in the year, she was drafted into the Bangalore Speedsters team for the Indian Racing League. She shared a car with Rishon Rajeev and they were seventh in the championship, ahead of the team's sister car. Caitlin's best individual finish was a fifth place at Chennai.

(Image copyright Caitlin Wood)

 

Megan Gilkes

 

Megan Gilkes is a single-seater racer from Canada. She has achieved success in Formula Ford and competed in the inaugural season of W Series.

She has been a leading name in Canadian Formula 1200 since 2017, when she competed for the first of two seasons in the championship. In her debut year she picked up her first win and she was runner-up in the championship and in 2018. Another win came at Mosport in 2018 and was one of seven podium finishes, from nine races.

Her experiences in larger-capacity cars have not been quite as successful, but she has raced both Formula 2000 in Canada and Formula Vee in Brazil. 

In 2019, she was announced as one of the 18 drivers selected for the women-only W Series and shortly after that, began competing in the F3 Americas championship. She was one of the weaker drivers in the W Series and was substituted for one race, in an unpopular move by W management. Her only real highlight was her win in the Assen reverse-grid race, which was not part of the championship.  

She ran better in US F3, picking up one ninth place at Pittsburgh. She also started the Virginia round but crashed in the first race, meaning she was unable to start the other two that weekend. 

Back in a Van Diemen F2000, she did a couple of races in the US championship, finishing seventh at Road Atlanta. 

At the end of 2020, she travelled to the UK for the Formula Ford Festival and the  Walter Hayes Trophy, driving a Kevin Mills Racing Spectrum. Her first run in the Festival started promisingly with a fifth in her heat, then she was twelfth in her semi-final . She reached the final of the Walter Hayes at Silverstone, but was involved in a low-speed multi-car pile-up and was unable to finish. Staying in the UK, she entered the 2021 National Formula Ford championship with the team, earning a best finish of fourth at Snetterton in the penultimate race of the season.

Sticking with single-seaters, she moved over to the F4-level GB4 championship in 2022. Driving for the Hillspeed team, she won two reverse-grid races at Snetterton and Donington, plus another third from pole at Silverstone, on her way to a sixth place in the championship. Formula Ford had not been forgotten either and she did the first half of the National season, plus the Formula Ford Festival and the Walter Hayes Trophy. She scored two fourth places in Festival heats.

At the beginning of 2024, she was announced as a driver for Rodin Carlin in the all-female F1 Academy series. Part-way through the season, she announced that this would be her last as a driver and that she would concentrate on her engineering career at the Aston Martin F1 team from 2024. She was thirteenth in the championship, with a few top tens and a best finish of fifth at the Red Bull Ring.

At the end of 2025, she briefly came out of retirement to race Formula Ford at the Walter Hayes Trophy, at Silverstone. She ran well in her heat but was taken out in a collision.

(Image copyright challengecupseries.com)

Tasmin Pepper

 Tasmin Pepper is a well-travelled driver from South Africa who has experienced success in both single-seaters and saloons, including race wins in both. 

She began racing in the 2006 South African Formula Ford Championship, aged sixteen. For her first couple of  seasons she combined karting with Formula Ford. Despite this, she was fourth in 2007 and claimed her first podium finishes. Tannith Gardiner stood in for her at Zwartkops.

Moving up the single-seater ladder in 2008, she entered the South African Formula Volkswagen series, a new championship launched that year using Reynard chassis previously raced in Germany. As well as this she raced in Formula BMW Pacific, racing all over Asia as well as her homeland, including three support slots for Formula 1 races. Her best finishes in both championships were fourth places. She was seventh in Formula Volkswagen and thirteenth in Formula BMW. 

A season spent closer to home was rewarded with her first win, at Kyalami, driving a Formula Volkswagen in the South African championship. Another three podiums at Kyalami and Killarney confirmed her fourth place.

In 2010, she continued where she left off, finishing second in the championship with another win at East London and ten podium places. When she finished, she was never out of the top ten, and almost always in the top five. 

She challenged again in the 2011 Formula VW series. Sadly, she did not win this time, although she was rarely out of the top five. She was fourth overall. 

After 2012, she switched from the declining Formula VW to saloon car racing in the Wesbank Super Series, driving a VW Golf. She also returned to karting, including some visits to Europe for the X30 series after winning the South African edition in 2011. Her win was repeated in 2012. 

Volkswagens were to be her favoured car for six seasons and in 2013, she added more wins to her tally: a round of the Polo Cup at Phakisa. Later that year, she was selected for the FIA VW Scirocco R-Cup ladies' evaluation tests, but did not win the following Shootout in Europe. 

She returned home to the Polo Cup in 2014, ending the season fourth overall. This was one of her best final finishing positions, although she bettered it in 2016 and 2018 with second places and outright race wins.

In 2019, she qualified for the all-female W Series, despite being out of single-seater racing for some time. She was a solid midfield but not spectacular finisher, racing in Europe. Her best finish was sixth at Zolder, which she repeated in the non-championship race at Assen. W Series did not run in 2020 due to the global coronavirus crisis, but she was set to compete again in 2021. Sadly, coronavirus seriously curtailed travel to and from South Africa and she was unable to race at all.

She is from a motorsport family; her brother Jordan races and her father Iain used to. She has been involved in one form of racing or another since she was four.

(Image copyright Reynard Gelderblom/Wheels24)

Amanda Whitaker

 

Amanda Whitaker is a multiple champion in British and European club racing. She is one of the most successful women drivers in a single-seater.

She was a leading driver in the  Monoposto championship, having won the championship three times, between 1997 and 1999. She drove a 2000cc Formula Vauxhall car which she had previously used in the B class of the British championship.

Her first car was a single-seater, a 1979 Hawke Formula Ford which she raced in the Formula E class of the 1991 FF1600 championship. The car was her father’s; he raced for many years and introduced his teenage daughter to karting.

The Hawke was upgraded to a 1987 Swift which earned her three outright wins in regional series.

After a long break caused by a lack of sponsorship, she returned to historic competition in 2005, driving in European Historic Formula 2. She soon returned to winning ways, claiming the European Formula Atlantic title in 2006. This ran as a class within F2 and she won seven times in her Chevron B34.

In 2008, she raced Historic and Classic Formula Fords in the UK, using a 1971 Elden Mk8. She was third in the final Historic standings and won Class B four times in the Classic championship.

She combined historic and modern club Formula Ford competition in 2009 and added seven further wins to her tally. She was second in the Historic championship, driving the Elden, and was fifth in another in a 1993 Swift. This was all in spite of a frightening accident at Mallory, during a Historic race. Her view was impaired by previous crash damage and she did not see a red flag, causing her to collide with a slowing Westie Mitchell. 

At the end of the year she entered the Walter Hayes Trophy, driving a Swift.

2010 was not as successful, with only three wins, but she still managed to race three different cars effectively. One of these was a Tiga FF2000 car. 

In 2011, she took a break from motorsport to have a baby. Her daughter Scarlett and son Harrison now race karts. On her website, Amanda does not say she has retired.

(Image from femaleracingnews.com)

Sandrine Nahon

 

Sandrine Nahon raced single-seaters in France up to Formula 3 level in the 1990s.

Her single-seater career began with Formula Ford in 1988. After reaching the finals of the Volant Palmyr Formula Ford driving school at Ledenon, she won the “Premier Pas” series for newcomers and was fourth in the “B” class of the main French championship.

She continued in 1989 and 1990, driving for the AMEF and Graff teams. She won at least one race at Montlhery in 1989 and was second in the Federal Trophy on the strength of this. She was second in the B championship the following year. 

Her earliest racing exploits had been in karting from the age of 11, winning ten championships at club and national level between 1981 and 1987. In 1987, aged 17, she also tried rallying, co-driving for her father, Christian. Later, she did try a couple of rallies as a driver, including the 1990 Monte Carlo Rally. She drove a Ford Sierra Cosworth and was 82nd, from 112 finishers.

Christian Nahon was instrumental in Sandrine’s career development. Her early enthusiasm started to turn into real talent in a Formula Ford and Christian sought to push her further into the limelight. In 1989, when she was still only 19, he attempted to broker a seat in a Courage prototype for Le Mans, but another driver pulled out and it did not happen.

Christian had worked for Renault and run the company’s southern African operations; Sandrine was born in Zambia. After impressing in Formula Ford, she was offered drives in Formula Renault, but preferred to go the Formula 3 route. Christian was in negotiations with a major oil company sponsor for his daughter but could not agree terms and the firm went with another female driver instead. This meant that Sandrine’s F3 efforts were largely self-financed.

She moved up to Formula 3 in 1991 and joined the French championship as a private entry. Despite a reliable car, she struggled for speed and ran at or close to the back of the grid. Her best result was probably a 20th place at the Le Mans Bugatti circuit, ahead of Bernard Cognet and Marc Rostan. 

She returned in 1992 for a part-season, driving the same Reynard 903, but did not get into the top ten. The 903, not one of Reynard’s most celebrated creations, was less reliable this year: the engine failed at Albi and a throttle problem put her out of the Coupe de Bourgogne at Dijon. Her best result was an 18th place at Magny-Cours.

As well as the French F3 championship, Sandrine drove her Reynard in French hillclimbs, winning at least three Coupe des Dames awards in 1991 and 1992.

Afterwards, she took a break from circuit-based competition, before reappearing in 1994 at the wheel of a Peugeot 905 Spider. She was team-mate to Cathy Muller and finished sixth in the Spider Cup in France. This was not her first experience with a Peugeot. In 1989, she had raced a 309 in a French one-make series.

Another hiatus followed, chiefly due to the death of her father in 1995.

1998 appears to have been her last year of competition, when she took part in some Formula Ford 1800 races, winning at least one round of the French winter series. She had raced on and off in this formula since 1996, when she returned to the tracks with the support of her partner, Frederic Martin. After this, she hung up her helmet at the age of 28.

Frederic Martin has shared a lot of information about Sandrine on the Autodiva forums, for which I am grateful.

Monique Delannoy

 

Monique Delannoy became the first female driver to compete on the Dakar in the Car class, in 1980. She drove a Peugeot 504 with Catherine Bonnier, but they did not finish. 

Prominent among the car’s sponsors was the famous Moulin Rouge of Paris. 

This was the first of five runs in the desert classic. In 1981, she used a Mercedes 240 jeep and was 25th, with Bernadette Sacy. The following year, she drove a Volkswagen Iltis with Alain Bodard, but again did not finish. 

Another run in an Iltis in 1983, this time as a navigator to her husband, Jean, gave her a 38th place. Co-driving again, she assisted Nicole Maitrot, a former motorcycle competitor, to 16th place in the 1984 Dakar in a Mitsubishi Pajero run by two Ligier F1 team personnel. The two women formed the lightest team on the entry list at 90kg between them. They won the Ladies’ Cup and the diesel class. 

Jean Delannoy also competed that year in a separate Pajero.

The Delannoys may well have met through motorsport. They raced together in the first season of the Coupe de l’Avenir for Simca-derived small sportscars in 1976 and had been involved in sportscar racing since at least 1973.

Monique later raced in the Leyland Trophy in France, with Bernadette Sacy. This was a one-make series for British Leyland cars, in 1978.  

Monique made a brief return to the circuits in 1984, racing a Crossle in a non-championship French Formula Ford race. She was 19th in one race at Ledenon. 

(Image copyright motor-lifestyle.com)

Delia Stegemann

Delia Stegemann was the first winner of the Ford Fiesta Lady Cup in Germany. She also raced single-seaters up to Formula 3.

The Lady Cup in 1982 was her first experience of motorsport. She was chosen from an initial shortlist of 1400 prospective women drivers put forward by Ford dealerships. During the next stage of a selection process judged by the likes of Manfred Winkelhock, she was put through to the final group of 20 drivers and made her first start that summer, aged 19.

Delia was one of the leading drivers in the Lady Cup from quite early on and was eventually named joint champion with Anette Meeuvissen. There was some debate over which driver should receive the honour, as both were tied on points although Anette had more wins. Both were named champion at different points before being jointly awarded the prize money.

Her debut may have been in a saloon car, but she was soon gravitating towards single-seaters. In keeping with the usual route into formula racing, she began in Formula Ford in 1983. Her best Formula Ford finish was third at the Nürburgring in a Royale. 

Delia entered at least one more Lady Cup in 1984 and had probably been part of the 1983 grid too. She was fourth in 1984, ahead of 1983 champion Claudia Ostlender.

She took part in German Formula 3 between 1985 and 1987. Initially she drove for the Team Lechner Racing School, although her debut was limited to a one-off end-of-season race at the Nürburgring. She was tenth, from fifteen finishers. This was combined with some races in the German Formula Ford 2000 championship, where she finished eleventh.

She did most of the German F3 season in 1986, missing only two of the eleven races. Her car was a Ralt RT30 run by Werner Schroder Racing. The season was not a great success, with four fifteenth places as her best finishes. Apparently she also raced a Martini during the season, but it is not always clear which car she was in for which race. 

In 1987 she had an updated car in the form of a Ralt RT31, but it was only another one-off Nürburgring appearance for Monninghoff Racing, leading to a 17th place. 

She was last active in 1991 when she was 66th in the Nürburgring 24 Hours in a Fiesta XR2. She used the same car in the Fiesta Mixed Cup, sharing it with Josef Venc. They scored one second place.

Ann Moore

Ann leaps over her FF2000 car on Psalm

Ann Moore was a British showjumping champion who had a brief motorsport career in 1976, promoted by John Webb of Shellsport.

Ann won a silver medal in individual showjumping at the 1972 Munich Olympics, riding her horse Psalm. This made her the most successful of Britain’s female equestrians at a time when showjumping had a sizeable TV audience. She was voted the Sports Journalists’ Association Sportswoman of the Year in 1973, having been runner-up in the two years previously.

John Webb was the director of Brands Hatch circuit at the time. He was both sharp to the promotional value of female drivers and supportive of their abilities. He had one of his biggest successes the year before with Divina Galica, a former Olympic skier who would go on to attempt to qualify for a Formula One race in the same year that Ann Moore took the wheel. Ann’s public profile was far higher than Divina’s was due to the relative popularity of her sport. There was also a strong history of successful female drivers having first competed in equestrian events. Pat Moss was a showjumper like Ann, and another of the Webb protegees was Gillian Fortescue-Thomas, a former amateur jockey. The appeal to John Webb and his publicist wife Angela was obvious. Ann was signed up for what was referred to as the Webb “Charm School”.

Ann’s first race was in 1975. She was one of the celebrity racers hired to fill out the grid for the Shellsport Escort Ladies’ series, at Brands. Previous celebrity entrants had included TV announcer Linda Cunningham and actress and porn performer Fiona Richmond. The championship used the Shellsport fleet of Ford Escorts, which was kept at the circuit. Ann was eleventh after a spin. Divina Galica was the winner.

The next phase of her career was a move into single-seaters. It was announced early in 1976 that Ann would compete in “around 30 races” that year in an Elden Formula Ford 2000 car, arranged by the Webbs and sponsored by Rolatruc. She made her debut at the start of the season with two races at Brands, then one at Mallory Park in March.

Among her events that year was a charity single-seater race in aid of a sports-related cause. Ann’s car, complete with her livery and name, is seen being used by boxer Joe Bugner for training. 

The FF2000 car was perhaps not the best choice for a novice; Formula Ford 1600 may have been more suitable, or more outings in the Escort. Spectators of the time remark that Ann was slow and often spun her car. Her much-vaunted “professional” racing career came to a halt after only six races. 

A statement made to the press explained that she had not realised how much of her time would be taken up by motor racing, and that she would only take part in occasional celebrity races in the future. It is not clear whether she did appear in any more of Shellsport’s celebrity races, which usually used Escorts, but they were held throughout the season and there would have been plenty of opportunity.

Ann had already retired from showjumping two years previously, aged 24.

(Image by Nick Rogers, copyright Shutterstock)

Louise Roberge

Louise Roberge was a Canadian racer of the late 1960s and early 1970s, most famous for her exploits in a Formula Ford car. She was a contemporary and rival of Monique Proulx. 

According to a newspaper interview she gave in she began racing in a Mini in 1968, and was fifth in her first race. She did at least three rounds of the same championship in 1969, scoring a fourth, fifth and sixth place in the Class A series for cars up to 1300cc. All three races took place at the Mont-Tremblant circuit. In the same interview, with the Winnipeg Free Press, she claimed to have done some rallies at high school, which would have been shortly before her early marriage to Matthieu Roberge when she was 18. Unusually, Louise was a married mother of three when her career began and she always described her husband as supportive, even when she crashed the Mini in the early part of her career. 

Few other details of her early career are readily available, although she is said to have picked up her love of cars from her father. According to another 1971 interview in the Brandon Sun, the fifth place was in a racing school event and she did four further novice races in 1969, in order to upgrade her license. Among her rivals in the Mini was Louis Germain, her partner in the design firm she managed, Caractera Limited. The pair often raced together and Louis acted as her mechanic. Louise’s husband Matthieu had no involvement in motorsport at all, other than helping to bankroll her career.

Away from the circuits, Louise was also said to be a skilled driver on ice. The Ottawa Citizen in January 1969 reports that she had run as high as fourth in an Ottawa Winter Carnival Grand Prix, driving a Mini. She did not finish after the exhaust came off. A ninth place in an ice race across the Plains of Abraham is detailed in a 1970 Winnipeg Free Press article and is said to have occurred in 1969. Louise was one of the organisers of the same event in 1970. She must have done more ice races in the early part of her career, as she talks of crashing out of one of them.

In 1970, she began racing single-seaters, after taking more tuition at the Jim Russell Racing Drivers’ School. Her first single-seater car was a Lotus 61, which was replaced by a Lotus 69 later in the season. She did five rounds of the Molson Quebec championship in this car, scoring a best finish of sixteenth at Trois-Rivieres, in the 61. She had some sponsorship from a tobacco company and her car was apparently white with a rainbow stripe detail.

In 1971, driving the 69 in Quebec Formula B, she was sixth at Mont Tremblant in May. Her other known results are two non-finishes. Louis Germain was also active in the series this year, as was Gilles Villeneuve, who finished below Louise in the final standings. She was sixteenth, which suggests that she did finish some other races that year.

It was this year that another female driver, Monique Proulx, appeared on the scene. She and Louise did not race each other directly as Monique was in saloons at this point, but the press was keen to play up any rivalry between the two. In a 1972 interview with the Calgary Herald, Monique stated that Louise “did not like her” and refused to be in a photograph with her. “She’s a good driver, Louise, but she does not push. Me, I push,” she is quoted as saying.

Louise may also have owned or raced a Lotus 51, although further race results have proved very hard to track down. Any results from 1972 are proving equally difficult to find; Monique Proulx’s comments suggest that she was still racing that year.

The 69 was sold in 1973 and she seems to stop competing around that time. Earlier, in the 1971 Winnipeg Free Press interview, she said that she expected to stop racing when she was 30, although she did not elaborate on this. In the same piece, she made a cryptic comment that one of her three children was destined for motorsport fame, but declined to say which one.

In addition to racing cars, Louise was said to be an enthusiast of adventure sports in general, including canoeing, skating and sky-diving. She may also have worked as a model at some point.

She fades into obscurity after 1973.

(Image copyright Ottawa Citizen)