The European Ladies' Rally Championship

Ewy Rosqvist and Ursula Wirth

The FIA European Rally Championship began in 1953. For the first thirteen years of its existence, a Ladies’ Championship prize was awarded to the overall highest-performing female driver.

In its heyday, the Ladies’ Prize was taken seriously by teams and manufacturers, who liked to use it in their lists of wins in their advertisements. The Ladies’ Prize was not a mere token either; a certain number of women had to take part in a rally for one to be given. It was not an award for showing up. This led to teams entering multiple female crews, in order to ensure that a prize would be awarded. This could be good news for female drivers, who got more chances to compete internationally, but it could also mean that once someone had picked up enough points to win, those drivers would be dropped from the team. Other tactics included deliberately pulling out of rallies, to make sure a rival was unable to score points.

The new ERC reinstated the Ladies’ Prize in 2013, with a less complicated set of rules.

Below is a list of the winners. Co-drivers’ names are given when known, and when they were a regular team-mate. Team names have been given when a driver used different cars during a season.

1953 Greta Molander (Saab 92)

1954 Sheila van Damm/Anne Hall (Sunbeam/Rootes team)

1955 Sheila van Damm/Anne Hall (Sunbeam/Rootes team)

1956 Nancy Mitchell (MG/BMC team)

1957 Nancy Mitchell (MG/BMC team)

1958 Pat Moss-Carlsson/Ann Wisdom (BMC)

1959 Ewy Rosqvist (Volvo)

1960 Pat Moss-Carlsson/Ann Wisdom (BMC)

1961 Ewy Rosqvist (Volvo)

1962 Pat Moss-Carlsson (BMC)

1963 Pauline Mayman/Valerie Domleo (BMC)

1964 Pat Moss-Carlsson (Saab 96)

1965 Pat Moss-Carlsson/Elisabeth Nyström (Saab 96)

1966 Sylvia Österberg (Volvo 122/Renault 8 Gordini)

2013 Molly Taylor/Sebastian Marshall (Citroen DS3)

2014 Ekaterina Stratieva/Carmen Poenaru (Citroen C2/Subaru Impreza)
2015 Ekaterina Stratieva/Julianna Nyirfás (Citroen C2/Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)

2016 Catie Munnings/Anne Katharina Stein (Peugeot 208)
2017 Tamara Molinaro/Ursula Mayrhofer/Giovanni Bernacchini/Martin Wydaeghe (Opel Adam)
2018 Emma Falcon/Eduardo Gonzalez Delgado (Peugeot 208 R2/Citroen DS3 R3T)
2019 Ekaterina Stratieva/Georgi Avramov (Peugeot 208 R2)

2020 Adrienn Vogel/Ivett Notheisz (Ford Fiesta Rally4)

(Image from https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-benz/classic/women-and-motor-racing/)

Lola Grounds

Lola, on the right, with Doreen Reece and their Ford Popular, 1952 RAC Rally

Lola Grounds was one of the Rootes team’s female driver roster in the 1950s. She acted as both a driver and a navigator, initially for her husband, Frank. She is normally credited as “Mrs F. Grounds”.

She was born Lola Elsa de Sena in 1918, to a Spanish father and English mother. Her first home was Sheffield, but she spent most of her life in Warwickshire, England. She married Frank Grounds in 1937.

Her rally career began in 1950. Eschewing the traditional route of a small local rally in a production car, as a first step, she joined Frank’s team for the Tulip Rally. He was initially against the idea, having little faith in women having the requisite stamina, but she talked him round. Lola was under five feet tall and was described as “dainty”, but she enjoyed the challenge of driving for long stretches, and would later become fond of special stages.

As co-driver to her husband, she competed in the Tulip Rally at least four times, in a Jaguar XK120 and a Jowett Javelin. In the early 1950s, she drove in British rallies herself: she won the Coupe des Dames in the 1952 London Rally in a Morris Minor, and took part in the 1954 MCC National Rally, in a Ford Anglia. 1952 also saw her in the RAC Rally, driving a special-bodied Jowett Jupiter with Doreen Reece. Her first big international rally, as a driver, seems to have been the Monte Carlo Rally in 1953, in which she drove an Austin A40, with Cherry Osborn and Rosemary Wareham.

In 1955, she navigated for Nancy Mitchell, in Nancy’s Daimler Conquest. They were 17^th in the Monte Carlo Rally, among others. Lola also drove herself in some European rallies, including that year’s RAC event. She and Doreen Reece crashed out, turning over Lola’s Ford Anglia on a slippery Welsh slope. The Anglia was replaced with a Triumph TR2 for the Tulip Rally, a few weeks later. Lola and Cherry Osborn just managed to finish in 141^st place, despite another crash on a wet hairpin bend. The car hit a wall, which stopped it from falling down a steep drop.

The following year, she co-drove in the Standard ladies’ team, often with Cherry Osborn. Their first event together in the Standard Eight was the Monte, with Cherry driving. They also drove as a team in the Tulip Rally. Jo Ashfield and Mary Handley-Page drove the other Standard ladies’ car. The 1956 radio interview with Lola, referenced earlier, says that the Tulip was her fifth rally of the year

After a gap, she was back to co-driving for Frank in 1957. They took part in the Tulip Rally together, in a Morris Minor.

Her time in the Rootes team began in 1958. To start the year, she finished the Monte Carlo Rally in a Sunbeam Rapier, alongside Mary Handley-Page and Doreen Reece. Lola and Mary then did the Alpine Rally together, in a Sunbeam. The pair also contested Lola’s favoured Tulip Rally, in the Sunbeam, and were 21^st overall. During her career, she entered this particular event eight times. In a 1956 interview, she described her “soft spot” for the Dutch classic, and for its high-speed sections. This year, she was busy at home and abroad, as she was the Lady Mayoress of her adopted hometown of Sutton Coldfield, as well as an international rally driver. Unusually, she was Mayoress to her mother-in-law, Minnie Grounds, who was Mayor.

After Lola’s season as a Rootes driver, both she and Frank drove Ford cars in 1959. Another visit to the Monte led to another finish, driving a Ford Zephyr as part of a three-woman team with Nancy Mitchell and Anne Hall. All three were experienced drivers, and it was something of a reunion for Nancy and Lola. They were 78^th overall. For the Tulip Rally, Frank and Lola competed together again, in another Zephyr. They were 25^th.

Throughout the 1950s, she also drove her own cars in British rallies. These cars included an MG Y-Type, which she used in the 1956 RAC Rally, Ford Popular, and Morris Minor, which she drove in the London Rally with Anne Hall in 1957.

Her career, and that of her husband, seems to finish here. The early 1960s saw rallying move from being focused on navigation and driving tests, to high-speed special stages.

She died in 2004. She was survived by three children, including Robert Grounds, a motorsport photographer.

(Image from https://www.flickr.com/photos/robertgrounds copyright Birmingham Post & Mail)

Nancy Mitchell

Nancy with the MGA

Nancy Mitchell was one of BMC’s squad of British lady rally drivers in the 1950s, and competed all over Europe. Although  her career never reached the heights of that of Pat Moss or Anne Hall, she was still a versatile and respected driver, winning two European Ladies’ championships. She was a professional in her sport for many years.

Nancy got a relatively late start in motorsport, at 31. Douglas Mitchell, her husband, bought her an HRG sports car, a rare Aerodynamic model, and their first event together was the Eastbourne Rally in 1947. They apparently won one of the awards, although it is unclear which one.

Between then and 1950, Nancy entered not only rallies, but hillclimbs, sprints, trials and circuit races in HRG cars, first the Aerodynamic, then a faster 1500. Her results are proving difficult to locate, but she is said to have driven in the Alpine Rally and Alpine Trial at least once, as a member of an HRG works team. Her season in 1950 was apparently curtailed, due to a family situation, but she did manage a seventh place in a Silverstone international meeting race, in the HRG.

In 1951, she appears on the entry lists for the RAC and Scottish rallies, finishing second in the 1500cc Open class in the RAC Rally. She was second in the Ladies’ Open class to Anne Newton, later Anne Hall. She also competed in the Paris-St. Raphaël event and was second in class. Away from rallying, she drove a Healey Silverstone in hillclimbs, including the Rest And Be Thankful event, in which she was tenth in class.

From 1952, Nancy really showed her versatility, using the HRG and a series of other cars, including a Sunbeam Talbot. In this car, she drove in the Monte Carlo and Alpine rallies. She did not finish the Alpine after losing a wheel, but seems to have finished the Monte, driving as part of an all-woman team with veteran Elsie “Bill” Wisdom and Sheila van Damm. On the track, she managed second places in races at Silverstone and Castle Combe, in the HRG, and a fifth place at Silverstone in an Allard.

As well as rallying, Nancy competed extensively in hillclimbs during the 1950s, using several different cars, including a single-seater Cooper 1100, in which she set a ladies’ record at Prescott in 1953. She is also known to have hillclimbed in Cornwall, and taken part in the Lands’ End Trial.

Her rallying year was also quite busy. She drove in another Alpine Rally, in a Ford Zephyr this time, and was 36th overall. In the same car, she was sixth overall in the Lisbon Rally, winning the Coupe des Dames. She apparently drove a works Standard in the RAC Rally and an Alvis on the Monte, but the results have been lost. 

In 1954, she drove the Zephyr again on the Monte, starting in Glasgow. She used the same car for the Tulip Rally, and was 50th overall, with Joyce Leavens on the maps. Later in the year, she entered the Stella Alpina in an Austin Healey, but retired after an accident. She may have won a team award in the RAC Rally in a Ford Anglia, but the result has been lost, although she is down as an entry in that car. In British domestic events, she apparently competed in several different cars, including a Morgan in the London Rally, and a Triumph TR2 in the MCC National Rally, and had her last outing in the HRG.

Her hillclimbing highlight this year was a Ladies’ Record at Shelsley Walsh, set in the Cooper. It was to stand for three years.

1955 saw her driving for Daimler, in a Conquest. She scored her best result in the Monte Carlo Rally: 17th, navigated by Lola Grounds. Among the other rallies she contested was the Tulip event in the Netherlands, in which she was third in the Ladies’ standings. Driving the Daimler, she also won two circuit races, a Ladies’ race at Goodwood and a scratch race at Silverstone. 

The most remembered part of her career, her time with BMC, began in 1956. Nancy usually drove MG models, and her rallying year began with a 59th place in Monte Carlo, with Doreen Reece and Susan Hindmarsh. Nancy and Doreen also drove a Magnette in the RAC Rally, and seem to have finished. During the summer, Nancy and Pat Faichney were 15th overall in the Alpine Rally, third in class, with a Coupe des Alpes and the Ladies’ prize. Their car was an MGA. Nancy also drove it in the Liège-Rome-Liège rallies, with Anne Hall, finishing 26th, with a Coupe des Dames. She always preferred to compete alongside other women. Her achievements were enough to win her her first European Ladies’ Rally title this year.

Away from pure rallying, Nancy and Pat Faichney also drove together in the Mille Miglia, in the MGA (a famous car, still extant, christened “Mabel”).  They were 72nd overall, and first female crew.

Nancy and “Mabel” continued to work together in 1957. Nancy was 16th overall in the Liège-Rome-Liège Rally, with Joan Johns, and 32nd overall in the Lyon-Charbonnières Rally, with Doreen Reece. She won the Coupe des Dames both times, leading to her second European Ladies’ championship.

She and Pat Faichney attempted the Mille Miglia again this year, in a Triumph TR3, but they did not finish. Nancy had not abandoned circuit racing either, and managed a fourth place at Silverstone in June, driving an MG Magnette.

By 1958, “Mabel” was no longer Nancy’s first-choice car. She stuck with an MG, another Magnette this time, for the Monte Carlo Rally, with Joan Johns, but seems to have been unplaced. In the Alpine Rally, she drove an Austin-Healey 100-6 and was twelfth, two places behind the Coupe des Dames winner, Pat Moss. She drove the same car in the Liège-Rome-Liège Rally, finishing 15th overall, sixth in class, and helping BMC to the team prize. Later in the season, she was driving a Riley 1.5 in the RAC Rally, skidded on ice and ended up down a steep drop. She was not seriously harmed.   

1959 saw a partial change of team for Nancy; she was part of Ford’s Ladies’ team, driving a Zephyr. Alongside Anne Hall and Lola Grounds, she finished the Monte in 78th place. During the summer, she and Anne entered the Alpine Rally, run as the Critérium International des Alpes, but a broken propshaft put them out. Going back to BMC power, Nancy and Pat Allison finished the Portuguese Rally, in 54th place, in an early rally Mini.

Her final year of competition came in 1960. Her major events were in her favoured mountain terrain. The Monte only brought a retirement for Nancy and Pat Allison in their Austin Seven, but the Alpine Rally, her last rally, went better. She and Rosemary Seers were 24th overall, second ladies’ team, in a Sunbeam Rapier.

After retiring from the circuits and the stages, Nancy did not abandon the motoring world. She was the motoring correspondent for Vogue magazine, conducting road tests of luxury cars, for several years. She was also involved in motorsport administration, as part of the BTRDA.

She died in 1996. Some of her cars have remained in her family, and have even been entered into historic events by her daughter, Sue Chapman, and granddaughter, Anna Chapman. 

(Picture from this article by John Sprinzel)