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)

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)

The Paris-Amsterdam Rally

 

Suzanne de la Meurthe and Madame Marquisan with their Hispano Suiza

1. Suzanne Deutsch de la Meurthe/Madame Marquisan (Hispano Suiza)

2. Comtesse Magdeleine de Ganay/Mademoiselle Gouin (Renault Reinastella)

3. Beatrice Reinach (Ballot)

4. Camilla Steinbrugge (Bugatti)

5. Madame Kaufman (Citroen)

6. Madame Mennesson (Talbot)

7. Comtesse Constance de Lubersac (Citroen)

8. Miss Thurnauer (Bugatti)

9. Madame Friedmann (Rosengart)

10. Madame Schumann (Citroen)

11. Madame Sambon (Voisin)

12. Madame Krebs (Talbot)

13. Claude Dadvisard (Citroen)

14. Mademoiselle Cremieux (Citroen)

15. Comtesse Marie de Jouvencel (Citroen)

16. Madame Calbet (Citroen)

The rally began at the Place de la Concorde in Paris on the 12th of May 1931. The sixteen entrants were waved off by Anne, the Dowager Duchesse d’Uzes and the leader of the Automobile Club Feminin. 

Like the Paris-Rome Rally that followed it, the Paris to Amsterdam event had a strong social element, but was also a serious long-distance trial, passing through northern France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The first leg ran between Paris and Namur in Belgium, where a hillclimb was held, won by Suzanne Deutsch de la Meurthe.

Magdeleine de Ganay won the 20km regularity trial section between Gembloux and Wavre which followed. According to the Excelsior newspaper, her times matched the averages exactly. A points system based on these two events determined the final positions. Further pictures in the Club’s monthly magazine show the two leading passengers, who sat alongside the winners.

The competitive element of the rally was now over and the 16 cars made their way to Amsterdam’s Olympic stadium, via Brussels and Rotterdam. The results were announced at a gala dinner on the 14th, held at the Carlton Hotel in Amsterdam, after a day spent visiting Haarlem. The touring section continued with visits to The Hague, Vollendam and finally Luxembourg, via Arnhem and Utrecht, returning to France on Monday the 18th.

All sixteen cars finished. Many of the drivers remain elusive as to their full identities, although all seem to be members of the Club, wealthy and well-connected and based in France. Magdeleine de Ganay was a regular entrant in the women-only rallies of the time, winning at least one other of the club’s annual long distance rallies, plus the 1930 Paris-St. Raphael. The Comtesse de Lubersac, an American-born Frenchwoman, was seventh in the Paris-Rome Rally held the following year, along with Madame Calbet and Madame Mennesson. Noted art collector and one of the wealthiest women in France, Beatrice Reinach, was another who was a regular in the events held by the club. Camilla Steinbrugge was another socialite who mixed in more bohemian circles, reputedly a lover of the publisher Sylvia Beach.

Winner Suzanne Deutsch de la Meurthe was a committee member of the Automobile Club, but she was better known as a pioneering aircraft pilot.

(Image copyright Agence Rol)

Female Rally Drivers Around the World: the Netherlands

 

Most of the entries in this post were previously part of other posts relating to European rally drivers. Anna van Vredenburch Limburg-Stirum has her own post.

Angelique Aufderhaar (pictured) - usually rallies a Ford Escort RS2000 in the Netherlands, with frequent outings in Germany. She has been active since at least 2008 and for the first couple of seasons, she used a MkI Escort. Her best results have been on different versions of the Hellendoorn Rally, with a twelfth place in the 2019 Hellendoorn Historic event her highest finish. In 2013, she was also thirteenth in the Hellendoorn Short Rally. Other cars she has rallied include a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV, which she used on and off between 2018 and 2021. In 2022, she concentrated on German events, in the RS2000. She did two Dutch rallies and one German event in 2023, finishing the Rallye Ostwestfalen in 38th place. In 2024, she finished one rally in the Escort, finishing 46th in the Legend Boucles a Bastogne event in Belgium. The following year, she finished all three of the rallies she entered, with a best finish of fourteenth, with a class win, in the NED GTC Historic Rally.

Lieke Bouman (Dautzenberg) - driver and co-driver active since at least 2001, when she co-drove for her brother, Bob Dautzenberg. Since then, she has won rallies as a navigator with different drivers. As a driver, she favours small cars, most recently a Renault Clio but also a Renault 5 and a Nissan Sunny. She specialises in shorter sprint rallies, usually in the Netherlands or Belgium, but often in Germany as well. Her best result has been an eighth place in the 2017 Twente Short Rally, driving a Honda Civic. This helped her to the Dutch ladies’ title that year. More recently, she was ninth in the 2019 JUMBO Short Rally, driving a Clio. She returned to competition in 2022 after a break and was 26th in the GTC Rally, in the Clio. After another break, she did a couple of rallies in 2025, using the Clio and a Peugeot 205. She did not finish either.

Louk Heidendahl – Dutch driver who was active in the 1960s. She was a regular on the Tulip Rally, and first entered in 1960, driving a DKW Junior with Ida de Fouw. The same pairing were 29th in 1961, this time driving a Saab 96. In 1962, she was fourth in the Ladies’ standings, and 59th overall, in the Saab, with erstwhile driver, Diana van Strien, on the maps. It was back to the DKW in 1963, but a change to an Alfa Romeo Sprint Veloce in 1964 brought her a pleasing 25th place. In 1965, she moved over to the co-driver’s seat, with Joop Heidendahl, in a Mercedes. She seems to have stopped rallying after that.

Marieke van Kamperdijk (Rietveld) - rallied a Peugeot 206 in the Netherlands in 2017. She was runner-up in a Dutch ladies’ championship held that year and got her season off to a strong start with an eighth overall in the Zeebodem Short Rally. She was also thirteenth in the Centraal Nederlands Short Rally. Her only rally outside the Netherlands was the Gronegau event in Germany. Despite her relatively strong debut year, she does not appear to have competed again. 

Diana van Strien – Dutch driver who competed in the Tulip Rally on at least three occasions, between 1960 and 1962. The first two rallies were as a driver, in a Renault Gordini, and she was co-driven by Truus van der Voorst Vader. In 1962, she was the co-driver to Louk Heidendahl, another Dutchwoman, in a Saab 96. Diana was from a motorsport family, and the 1960 Tulip Rally was not her first involvement with the sport. She is recorded in 1957 as taking part in the Vaals hillclimb, a round of the Dutch Touring Car Championship, in a Ford Taunus. She was second in class, and defeated her mother, whose name is not given. Diana may well have co-driven for her mother in rallies at about this time.

Titia Westerhof - Dutch driver active in the 1970s and early 1980s. She almost always drove an Opel Kadett, although she did try out an Opel Ascona and a  Renault 5 towards the end of her career in 1980. She entered the Tulip Rally three times, beginning as a works Opel entry in 1977. Her best year was 1978, when she won the Netherlands National class and finished 23rd overall. Her best outright finish came during the same year: she was eleventh in the AMAC International Rally. Mainly, she competed in the Netherlands, although she also entered some Belgian rallies, including the 1979 Condroz event, and one Swedish rally. The Sjuharadsnatta Opel Rally Jamboree was held on snow, as opposed to her favoured asphalt.

(Image copyright Lars Smook/tubantia.nl)

Maya Weug

 

Maya Weug is a Spanish-Dutch-Belgian driver who was the winner of an FIA Women in Motorsport single-seater talent search in 2020. She was accepted into the Ferrari driver academy as a result. Throughout her short career, she has represented all three countries, having been born in Spain to a Belgian mother and a Dutch father.

She was entered into the 2021 Italian F4 championship by the Iron Lynx team as part of her development. The squad is part of the same team that runs the all-female “Iron Dames” sportscar operation. Her best finish in the opening rounds was a 15th place at Paul Ricard, which was a rookie class win. She was later twelfth overall at Misano and came close to a top ten at Vallelunga. 

Her six guest races in German F4 gave her a debut top ten: ninth at the Red Bull Ring. 

Her second season in Italian F4 started with her first top ten finish, at Imola. She was tenth in Race 1 and sixth in Race 2. By the end of the season, she had racked up six more top-ten finishes at Misano, Vallelunga, the Red Bull Ring and Spa, the best of these being a pair of sevenths at Misano and the Red Bull Ring.

Her guest spots in the German series did not go so well to start with, although she scored another ninth at Zandvoort.

The FIA’s support is long-term and seems to be paying off; Maya was not on the pace right away, but she improved rapidly in her second year.

She moved up to Formula Reginal Europe (FRECA) in 2023, driving for KIC Motorsport. She was the Finnish team's only full-time driver and the highest-performing of the five who raced with them that year. She began as a midfielder but gained confidence mid-season, breaking into the top ten at Spa with a seventh and sixth spot, the first of six top-tens earned in the middle three rounds of the series. She was 17th overall.

For 2024, her links with the Ferrari F1 team led her to a rather odd move: a seat in the F1 Academy all-female F4 series as a Ferrari supported driver. She drove for the Prema team and finished third in the championship, after a win in the final round at Abu Dhabi. She had been a regular visitor to the podium for most of the year. There was also time for a guest appearance in FRECA at Imola, where she rejoined the KIC team. She was 22nd and 14th in her two races.

She continued in F1 Academy in 2025, now driving for MP Motorsport as a Ferrari-supported driver. She was one of this year's front-runners and the closest rival to Doriane Pin, who eventually won the title, helped by Maya being taken out on the green flag lap in the final round at Las Vegas. She was second in the championship, winning races at Jeddah, Zandvoort and Singapore.

Mid-season, she made a brief return to FRECA, deputising for the injured Tim Gerhards. She scored one 21st place at Hungary.

As she has now completed two seasons in F1 Academy, she has to move on. As part of her prize for her 2025 second place, she tested a Ferrari 296 GT3 with AF Corse.

Previously, she competed in international karting between 2013 and 2020 and won a junior title in 2016. She began karting in Spain in 2011, when she was seven.

(Image copyright Maya Weug)

Fiona James

Fiona James is a British sportscar driver who mostly races on the Continent. She also the founder and owner of Walero racewear, which manufactures body-temperature regulating fireproof underwear.

Her introduction to motorsport came when she was already an adult, in the form of a track day in 2006. Her sporting background was equestrian rather than automotive; she trained dressage horses for Team GB. “Walero” was the name of one of her notable ones.

She actually began racing in 2007, driving a Radical SR4 to some class wins in Britsports.

After that, she switched from a prototype to a GT car: a Ginetta G40. She competed for the next two seasons in both the British GT Cup and the Dutch Supercar Challenge, running part-time campaigns in each with In2Racing. Her best UK result in 2008 was a 13th place at Brands Hatch and she was 27th in the championship, having driven in four rounds. She and her team-mates also won their class at Spa.

She was thirteenth in the Supersport 2 category of Dutch Supercars in 2009, driving a Ginetta G50. Her results in the Britcar GT were improving and she scored her first top-ten at Snetterton, finishing eighth and winning her class. This was augmented by another class win at Silverstone.  

It was back to the UK in 2010, when she and the In2Racing team entered Britcar in the Ginetta. This included the season-ending Britcar 24 Hours, although they did not manage to finish. The team struggled to get on to the grid much that year, for reasons not clear.

he drove a Lamborghini Gallardo on her return to Britsports in 2011, first with Backdraft Motorsport. Her best result was an eighth at Donington. Later, she came back in the same car as part of the Panic team. She only managed to drive in the Spa round, when the car suffered a fire.

Later in the season, she drove the Gallardo in the Barcelona 24 Hours, and was 41st overall, second in class, with a four-person Backdraft Motorsport team.  

She moved back to the Netherlands for the Dutch Supercar series in 2012, still in the Gallardo, but had to cut her season short due to a skiing injury. She was ninth overall. Her team-mate Simon Atkinson was sixth.

She was meant to return in 2013, but does not appear to have raced.

In 2014, she took part in the world's longest race, the Maxi Endurance 32h, at Algarve. She was second in the Sport class, driving a BMW M3 with four other British drivers.

She did more 24-hour racing in 2015, taking part in the Barcelona 24 Hours in a BMW Z4, but she did not finish. The Backdraft Racing Lamborghini was also in evidence, at the Spa round of the Supercar Challenge. She was fourteenth in one race, and did not finish the other.

She raced a BMW for Intersport at the 2016 Silverstone 24 Hours, as part of a four-driver team. They were 25th overall, after a radiator problem and a broken propshaft.

For the first time since the start of her career, Fiona drove a prototype during 2017. She signed up with Blueberry Racing, a Dutch team, alongside Cor Euser and Dick van Elk, driving a Praga R1.

Her first race was the opening round of the Supercar Challenge at Assen, and she was eleventh and thirteenth. After the car’s debut, the team switched focus to the GT & Prototype Challenge for most of the season. Fiona  was second in class, with four wins, two seconds and a third. Her best overall finish was a fifth place at Assen, which coincided with one of her class wins.

In 2018, she took another step up in her racing career, sharing an Academy Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage in the GT4 European Series with Matt Nicoll-Jones. Part of her programme involved a run in the Aston Martin Race Festival that supported the Le Mans 24 Hours.   

Her second season in the GT4 European Series with the Aston included two third places at Brands Hatch, in the Pro-Am class. She and co-driver Tom Wood were also fifth at Paul Ricard. Unfortunately, a crash at Zandvoort ended their season prematurely. Neither driver was seriously hurt but the car was badly damaged.

She has not been able to get back on track since then but hopes to recover fully in the future.

(Image from https://european.gt4series.com)

Jenny van Hilten

Jenny van Hilten is most famous for racing a Group B-spec Ford RS200 in Europe in the late 1980s. She is from Luxembourg, and did most of her racing in the Netherlands.

Jenny and her husband Bram bought the RS200 in 1987. It had been used as a pace car by the factory previously.  

One of her most memorable races was at Zandvoort in 1988, when she entered the NTK (Dutch Touring Car) round there. After making the most of her four-wheel-drive in the wet in the Group A Super Touring race, she was fourth overall. This was her only NTK race of the year.

That year, she also drove  an RS500 in the Spa 24 Hours, with Evert Bolderheij and Bernard Winderickx. They did not finish.

She did another 24-hour race in 1988, driving a Honda Civic at the Nürburgring 24h as part of a Luxembourgish team. Her co-drivers were Carlo Gillen and “Lou”.  

Jenny, driving with her husband Bram van Hilten this time, and a driver called Phillips, returned to Spa in 1989, in the Honda Civic. They were 38th overall.  

That year, she made another appearance in Dutch touring cars, driving a Ford Fiesta XR2. Bram had made some appearances in the car earlier in the season and Jenny ran in the final round at Zandvoort. She was second in class in the Group A race, behind Bram in another XR2.

In 1990, she competed in the Citroen AX GTI Cup, and managed some top-five positions. She was noted for her pace in qualifying. Mid-season, she was third in the overall standings, second in the Ladies’.

The following year, she opted for another one-make series: the Ford Fiesta Mixed Cup, which was based in Germany. She was already familiar with the XR2s used by the series. Her male team-mate was Thomas Wirtz, a German driver. The series that year was dominated by Sabine Schmitz/Thomas Marschall and Claudia Hürtgen/Michael Funke. As a pair, Jenny and Thomas were not among the front-runners, although Jenny was sixth in the women’s points table.

The van Hilten/Wirtz pairing did another Mixed Cup season in 1992. Again, Sabine Schmitz and Thomas Marschall were runaway winners, but Jenny and Thomas had a decent season, and were fifth in the team standings. Jenny was second in the ladies’ championship.

Alongside her circuit racing career, Jenny became an adept hillclimb driver. In 1988, she won her class in the Lorentzweiler climb in the RS200. She repeated this in 1989. The Lorentzweiler course is the closest thing that Jenny had to a home circuit, being situated in Luxembourg.

(Image from http://fordrs200.altervista.org/curiosi.htm)

Chantal van der Sluis

Chantal van der Sluis raced in the early and mid 1990s, in the Netherlands. She was a race-winner in one-make series and a popular figure at the time.

She was introduced to karting at the age of thirteen, by her then-boyfriend. For three years, she steadily gained experience, competing up to European level. Her first senior season was in 1991, when she entered the Citroen AX GT Cup. For her first race, she qualified in fifth place, but went off at the first corner trying to out-manoeuvre her rivals.

This would not be the last of Chantal’s offs. At Zandvoort in 1992, she managed to vault her car over the armco barrier, although she was not hurt. Despite these mishaps, she became one of the star drivers of the series in 1992, winning two races outright and finishing third in the championship. She won the Ladies’ Cup, ahead of Sandra van der Sloot. This was Sandra’s debut year, and she looked up to Chantal as her earliest female role model. The two later became friends. The Ladies’ Cup was quite hotly contested that year, with at least seven female drivers racing in the series.

That year, she tested an Alfa Romeo 155 Cup car, alongside Allard Kalff and Ton Roks. She was almost as fast as the experienced Allard Kalff. Her other activities included posing for some pictures in Dutch Playboy.

The following year, she moved to the Renault Clio Cup and was on the pace in her new car straight away. Her best finishes were two second places and she was sixth overall.

In 1994, she drove in some rounds of the European Renault Clio Cup, although she was not as successful. It was this year that she crashed very spectacularly at Zandvoort, sending her Clio over a crash barrier and through an advertising hoarding. Her season was not all about crashes, however; she did manage a third place at Spa, behind Allard Kalff and Jip Coronel.

1994 was her last season of competition. She died in 2008, aged 38, after a long struggle with cancer.

(Image from www.autosport.nl)

Women Drivers in One-Make Series: the Netherlands in the 21st Century

L-R: Sandra Douma, Kim van den Berg, Laura Kool, Suzanne Jager, Theresia Balk

A large number of female drivers competes in one-make series in the Netherlands. Those who began their careers after 2000 can be found here. For earlier one-make specialists, please go to the original post. 

Kim (Guven) van den Berg - Dutch saloon specialist. She began racing in 2007, in the Suzuki Swift Cup, and was eighteenth overall after seven races. Her best finishes were two tenth places at Zandvoort. She also took part in the Barcelona 24 Hours in a VW Golf, with a Dutch team, and was 45th. Later in the year, she scored her first win in the Dutch Winter Endurance Series, in the Swift. In the 2008 Swift Cup she was 27th, after missing some races, and only managing a best finish of fourteenth, at Zandvoort and Zolder. She returned to the series in 2009 and showed much improvement, becoming a regular visitor to the top ten and scoring her first top-five place, a fourth in the penultimate round, at Zandvoort. She was tenth overall. She had a less successful season in 2010, mainly down to only contesting six races. This was reversed in 2011, when she ran in most of the Swift Cup, earning her first podium position. She was eighth in the championship. In 2012, she bettered her record again, with sixth overall, and four top-three finishes. In 2013, she took part in the Lotus Ladies' Cup in Eastern Europe. Her best finish was ninth, and she was thirteenth overall. 

Carlijn Bergsma - races in one-make series in her native Netherlands, initially the Light division of the Benelux Racing League, from 2006 to 2008. From her first season, she proved herself capable of finishing in the top ten. Due to website issues, her full race results were unavailable at the time of writing. She did not compete for the full season in 2008. Previously, she took part in the Pearle Alfa 147 Challenge in 2002, and also the Toyota Yaris and SEAT Cupra Cups. In 2011, she competed in the BMW Z4 Zilhouette Cup with Pieter de Jong. They were sixth overall, with six top-three finishes. Carlijn continued in the Zilhouette Cup in 2012, driving with Sipke Bijzitter this time. They were third overall, after nine podium finishes, although no wins. In 2013, she had another season in Zilhouette racing, with Piet de Jong this time. They participated in at least two rounds, and achieved podium positions at both. With the same team-mate, she won the championship in 2014, winning three times. She continued her winning ways in the Sport division of the Supercar Challenge in 2015, winning three races in a Lotus Exige. She was fourth overall, losing a few points due to DNFs. She returned to the Supercar Challenge in 2016, with Pieter de Jong. They were fifth in their class, with two wins. In 2018, she returned to the Zilhouette Cup in a BMW, scoring at least two podiums. 

Bente Boer - races in the electric NXT Gen Cup in Europe, driving a Mini Cooper. She made her debut in the series in 2023 at the Nurburgring, where she finished eleventh in both of her races. Although these were her only NXT Gen outings, she has also raced a Mazda MX5 and was thirteenth in the 2022 Dutch Max5 Cup. Her best result was a fifth place overall. She and three other drivers also entered an MX5 into an eight-hour enduro at Zandvoort, finishing 26th and fourth in class. She continued to race the MX5 in 2024 and was fifth in the Dutch one-make championship. In August 2025, she came back to the NXT Gen Cup, finishing twelfth twice at the Sachsenring.

Cynthia Boezaart - made a late debut in motorsport in 2009, at the age of 38. She contested the Volkswagen Endurance Cup in a Golf, for Certainty Racing. The four-driver team, including Cynthia's husband, Martin, was 28th in the championship. Cynthia contested the Diesel Touring Cup in a BMW in 2010. She was 45th out of 63 drivers. Returning to the series in 2011, she was 27th, and managed to score her first pole position. In 2012, she raced in the Burando Production Open in a Ginetta G50. She was seventh overall, her best championship result to date. In 2014, she raced an Avenger kit car in the Avenger Cup, but lost out on a podium place in the final leaderboard, due to not scoring any points in the last three rounds. In 2015, she raced in the DNRT Endurance Cup in a BMW 320d. Driving as part of a team of three, she was second overall in the Zandvoort 6 Hours. She raced a Mazda MX-5 in the Max5 Cup in 2016, as part of a two-driver team with Martin. 

Myrthe Bos – raced in the PTC Cup in the Netherlands in 2011 and 2012. Both times, her car was a Toyota Aygo. In 2011, she was ninth, after doing just under half the season. A shorter programme in 2012 gave her twelfth place. She was only sixteen years old when she started in the PTC Cup. She returned to the PTC Cup in 2013, driving with Perry Grondstra, but was not among the frontrunners. After 2013, she does not appear to have raced, probably due to funding issues. Her website has been taken down.

Danielle Geel - competed in the Dutch Fiesta Sprint Cup in 2021. She was fifth in Division 1 after a part-season. Her best result was a class second at Assen, twelfth overall. Having come from a motorsport family, she raced karts between 2011 and 2015, but gave up as her family could not afford to run her alongside her brother. She is also involved in the organisational side of motorsport, working alongside the management team at Van Amersfoort Racing.

Lisette Grinwis - began her senior career in 2021, aged 16. She raced in the Ford Fiesta Sprint Cup in the Netherlands, driving for Bas Koeten Racing. She was third in Division 1 after completing eight of the twelve rounds. Her best finishes were three class thirds, achieved at the DTM support races in September and at Assen in August. In 2022, she raced in the Mazda MX5 Cup. She was previously active in karting and is supported by KNAF Academy as one of their young drivers.

Liz Grondel – raced a Toyota Aygo in the Netherlands in 2010 and 2011. In 2010, she competed in the M-Lease Aygo Cup, and was third overall, with eleven podium finishes from twelve races. The following year, she took part in the Aygo-based PTC Cup, but did not do a full season. She was tenth in the final standings. After this, she seems to have left motorsport, in favour of running her own cafe business.

Sharona van den Haak - drove in the SEAT Endurance Cup in 2009, in a diesel Ibiza. She and the SR Competition team were twelfth, with one pole position. This appears to have been Sharona's first competitive season on the circuits. In 2012, she was racing a BMW E30 in club endurance events. Previously, she raced karts.

Nicolette van der Hoek Ostende (Koster) - Dutch driver with wins in touring car endurance races. She was given an award for being the leading female driver in the Netherlands in 2002, after competing strongly in the Toyota Yaris Cup. Her final result was fourth overall. In 2001, she had a similar season, and led the Coupe des Dames standings from Paulien Zwart. Nicolette’s endurance successes came in the Dutch Winter Endurance series between the 2001 and 2002 seasons, where she was a race-winner. She has not competed since the birth of her daughter in 2003.

Suzanne Jager - Dutch saloon racer who competed in the Suzuki Swift Cup from 2007. She was seventh in 2007 and thirteenth in 2008. As well as the one-make championship, she shared a car with Laura Kool for the Dutch Winter Endurance Series. The pair first drove together in 2006 in the Winter Endurance Series, sharing a BMW E30. Suzanne’s partner in 2007 was Kim van den Berg, and she drove the Swift. After several years of karting, Suzanne began full-size motorsport in 2004, racing a Volvo 360. She won the 360 class in the Volvo championship in 2006, after winning five races. She did some Swift races in 2009.

Laura Katsma - competed in the Suzuki Swift Cup in the Netherlands in 2009. She was 18th in the championship, and had a best finish of ninth at the Paasraces meeting at Zandvoort. Her form dipped towards the end of the season, possibly due to an accident that put her out of one of the races. Previously, she had raced the Swift in one round of the 2008-2009 Dutch Winter Endurance Series. In 2010, she returned to the series, and was fifteenth overall. Her best finish was fourth.

Laura Kool - drove in the Suzuki Swift Cup in the Netherlands in 2007. She was fifteenth overall in what was her first full season of car racing. Later in the year, she drove the Swift in a round of the Dutch Winter Endurance Championship. As well as the Suzuki, she also did some club racing in a BMW 325i at Zandvoort, in 2006 and 2007. Prior to 2007, she was a successful karter on the European circuit, with a best result of third overall in her national championship. She does not appear to have raced since the end of 2007, despite being linked with the Dunlop Sport Maxx series.

Melanie Lancaster - one of the youngest Dutch drivers ever to race in a senior series, aged sixteen, in 2007. She started competing full-time in 2008, after some testing and race school events, in the Dacia Logan Cup in the Netherlands. Her best finish was a second at Zandvoort, and she was seventh overall after a further two third places and some more top tens. In 2009, she entered the DNRT BMW E30 Cup, after a guest spot in the Dutch Winter Endurance Series. She only appears to have competed in two races, perhaps due to funding problems. Since then, she has done some drifting and worked in race tuition and development.

Renate Sanders (Wilschut) - Dutch one-make saloon regular. She has raced in the Toyota Yaris Cup and the SEAT Cupra Cup, the latter alongside Paulien Zwart. She drove the Yaris between 2001 and 2003. Her best result was seventh in 2003. After that, she moved to the SEAT Cupra series, initially with her father Bertus, and then with Paulien Zwart. She was seventh in 2004 and sixth in 2005. In 2006, she entered the Dutch Endurance Championship in a BMW 120d, assisted once again by Bertus and Frank Wilschut. She and Frank remained team-mates for 2007, back in SEAT Cupras. The third driver was Jacco Valentijn. In 2008, they entered the Toyo Tyres 24-Hour series. They were 25th in the Dubai race, in the BMW. Using the same car, they competed in a touring car series for diesel vehicles in Holland. As Renate Wilschut, she drove a BMW 123d in the 2011 Dutch Toerwagen Cup, and was 29th in the championship. In 2013, she competed in the Lotus Ladies' Cup, and was eleventh overall, with two second places. As well as this, she drove a BMW 120d in the Burando Production Open, and was third overall. She returned to the Lotus Cup in 2014, and fared much better, coming third, after two podium places at Oschersleben.

Karen Schipper – raced in the SEAT Endurance Cup during the 2007 and 2009 seasons. In 2009, she was fifth in the championship, with one podium finish. Her car was a SEAT Ibiza, and she was racing as part of a four-driver SNA Racing team. In 2007, she raced for the SP-Support team, in the Unipart Endurance Cup. Results are harder to come by, but the team was eighth in the season finale at Zandvoort.

Femke Terpstra - karter and saloon racer from the Netherlands. After three years of championship karting, she entered the Light division of the Benelux Racing League in 2007, driving a Ford Focus silhouette car. She was sixteenth overall after car trouble marred her season. As well as the BRL, she did four races of the Mini Challenge, won two of them and came second in another. This was enough to win her the championship. In 2008, she returned to BRL Lights. It was a much stronger year for her and she was seventh. Her best race finish was fourth, at Zolder, and she was consistently in the top ten finishers. She took part in two BRL races in 2009, but retired after that, following some sponsorship deals that turned out to be false.

Femke Thijssen – finished fourth in the PTC Cup in 2012, driving a Toyota Aygo. She won one race. Later that year, she did at least some races in the Dutch Supercar Challenge, driving the Aygo with Henk Thijssen. In 2013, she did some more PTC Cup racing, and won at least one race, as part of a two-driver team with Joyce Kraan. They were thirteenth in the ACNN PTC championship, as a team. 

Madelon van der Vossen - competed in the Toyota Yaris Cup in the Netherlands in 2001 and 2002. In 2001, she only made one guest appearance, but in 2002, she completed most of the season and was  27th overall. That year, there was quite a strong female presence in the series, and in the Ladies’ Cup, she was normally third. She seems to have missed part of the season due to injuries sustained in a crash, and did not return to the circuits.

Maaike de Wit - began racing full-time in 2008, in the Formido Suzuki Swift Cup in the Netherlands. She was 29th in the championship, with a best finish of fourteenth at the Jubileumraces at Zandvoort. Her first season was marred by quite a lot of DNFs. After a brief run in her Swift in the 2008-2009 Dutch Winter Endurance Championship, she returned to the Swift Cup in 2009. She was 23rd in the points, after a slightly more consistent season, with more finishes. Her best result was fifteenth at the Masters of Formula 3 meeting at Zandvoort. On her return in 2010, she improved that to a tenth place at Zandvoort.

Ella Zander - began her racing career in 2009, in the Dutch Suzuki Swift Cup. She did not enter all of the races, and had best finishes of 17th and 18th in the final races of the year, at Zandvoort. In spite of this, she had a reliable season and finished all of the races she started. She was 24th in the championship.

(Image copyright Chris Schotanus)

Henny Hemmes

Henny as a champion, in 1987

Henny Hemmes raced saloon cars in Europe from the 1970s to the 1990s. She entered the Spa 24 Hours fourteen times, and had a best finish of sixth.

Like many other Speedqueens, Henny got into motor racing through her husband, Peter, but initially, she was not a competitor. Roelof Wunderink was a friend of Peter’s, and he and Henny acted as pit crew for him during his rise through the racing ranks.

Henny had always been sporty and competitive, and wanted to have a go herself. In 1975, encouraged by Peter and Roelof, she entered a racing talent contest organised by André Pilette, based around Formula Vee. She was the winner, out of eighty entrants.

After proving that she had the basic talent needed, she jumped straight into the Dutch Touring Car Championship, wasting no time at all. Her car was a Toyota Celica GT which she had bought herself, run by the Eumig Film Racing Team. She was a steady finisher in all of her races, and featured well in the 1600cc class, with a best finish of third, in the final race of the season at Zandvoort. She was fourth in class at the end of the year.  

In her second year of racing, she entered her first Spa 24 Hours. As well as her first major endurance race of many, it was the start of a racing partnership with members of the Vermeulen family, who would be her regular Spa team-mates in the future. Henny and Loek Vermeulen shared her Toyota in 1976, driving for the Dutch National Team. They were 21^st overall, second in class. Henny, as the leading female driver, was awarded a diamond ring.

Driving solo, she competed in some rounds of the DTCC (NTK), in the Toyota, but was not able to put together a strong challenge.

For the next two seasons, she continued to be sponsored by Eumig Film, but swapped the Celica for a Chevrolet Camaro. She used this car in the 1977 NTK, for some rounds, finishing fourth overall, and in the Spa 24 Hours. In 1977, she was sixth in the Francorchamps enduro, from pole, with Loek and Huub Vermeulen. She set a new closed-wheel lap record in the process. The following year, she did not finish. Her co-drivers were Loek Vemeulen and Hans Deen. Elsewhere, she raced the Camaro in the Belgian rounds of the Benelux and German touring car championships, finishing sixth in one German round at Zandvoort. She scored her first big win at Zandvoort, in the 2-Hour race.

In 1979, she continued in the Camaro, now sponsored by ADP and the newspaper for which she wrote. She had “Journal Tintin” on her car, a reference to the Belgian boy reporter. It was an eventful year in the Dutch championship, with a couple of crashes and subsequent accusations by rivals, but Henny also put in some good performances, the best of these being two second places. She and Loek Vermeulen were 18^th in the Spa 24 Hours.

1980 panned out in a similar way. Henny drove the Camaro in the NTK, and was involved in some rather robust driving which ruffled a few feathers. Her best finish was second, in the season finale at Zandvoort. She was behind last year’s team-mate, Loek Vermeulen, who had tangled with her earlier in the season. The Spa 24 Hours was rather disappointing, as Henny did not finish. As a consolation, she won her third non-championship Diners Trophy race at Zandvoort.

In 1981, she was fourth in her class in the NTK, in the Camaro. She mostly steered clear of accidents, and was a consistent top-five finisher, with some class pole positions as well. Her final championship position was third, after two second places, one from pole. Another season in the Camaro gave her the NTK win she had been waiting for, in the Trophy of the Dunes, and she was second in the ADAC Nordsee Cup, both at Zandvoort. Due to her not completing the whole season, she was second in the championship. After two non-finishes, she managed to get to the end of another Spa 24 Hours in 1983, driving a Mazda RX-7 rather than the Camaro. She was 17^th overall, with Hans van der Beek and Fred Frankenhout.

After her race win in 1983, she got her championship in 1984, winning the over 2500cc class of the NTK in the Camaro. It was a dominant performance, with four wins from eight races, including an outright victory against faster cars in the season finale. Driving a BMW in the Spa 24 Hours, she was eleventh, with Břetislav Enge.

1985 began well, with a second place, but for much of the season, Henny struggled or was absent from the NTK. She also sat out the Spa 24 Hours for the first time in several years. The following year, she did not appear in the NTK, although she had been due to drive a BMW. Instead, she raced trucks for DAF and Liaz. She returned to touring cars for the Spa 24 Hours, driving a Toyota Corolla as part of an all-female team, with Anny-Charlotte Verney and Chantal Grimard. They were 25^th.

A return to the NTK in 1987 was very successful. Henny had moved on from the ageing Camaro, and raced a Ford Sierra Cosworth, sponsored by Blaupunkt. She was the Division One champion, with one win and two second places.  

She was second in Division One in 1988, although it was a fighting performance in the Sierra, with three wins. Only Ger van Krimpen’s second-place tally put him ahead. She drove a Toyota Corolla in the Spa 24 Hours, but did not finish.

A new three-door Sierra arrived for her in 1989, and she proved herself still a force to be reckoned with at the Colmar Berg round of the NTK, in Luxembourg. She won both Production heats, and the final. At the Clubraces in April, she was a hard-fighting second. These results gave her fourth in the championship.

After a year’s gap, Henny returned to the Spa 24 Hours in 1990. She was driving a Honda Civic for Team Seikel, and won her class. She and her team-mates, Peter Seikel and Stanislao de Angelis, were 19^th overall. Her other activities this year included the European Community Challenge, a road rally through twelve EC states, in a Ford Sierra. Her second run in the Challenge, with a team of fellow woman journalists in 1991, brought a sixth place, and a record for the best female result, and the best result for a media team. A second Spa 24 Hours for Team Seikel ended in another class win, after Henny, Dagmar Suster and Lothar Schörg were 21^st.

1992 saw her last participation in the Spa 24 Hours. It was a third outing in the Seikel Honda Civic, and she was 23^rd, with another class win. Her co-drivers were Astrid Hild and Thomas Müller.

Her full-time professional racing career ends here, although she continued to be active for a while longer. She was named as a third driver for the Seikel team in the ADAC GT Championship in Germany, in a Honda NSX, but was a reserve only. In 1994, she was sixth in the Neon Challenge support race for the Detroit Grand Prix.

After that, she stopped racing wheel-to-wheel, but continued testing cars, as part of her job as a motoring journalist, and broke some speed records. In 1996, she drove a Saab 900 at Talladega Speedway, and set a new one-hour world record. In 2007, she drove a Saleen in a speed shootout in California. She won a “Hot Shoe Award” for her speed.

Henny continued to write about motoring and test cars for a number of publications, including AutoWeek. She worked as a motoring writer from 1979 onwards and was also a member of the FIA's Women in Motorsport Commission.

She died in April 2019, aged 70.

(Image copyright Gerrie Hoekstra)