Lia Comirato Dumas

Lia Comirato Dumas was the undisputed queen of the Mille Miglia, having entered the Italian classic eight times between 1936 and 1949.

Her best finish was second in 1948, driving a Fiat with her husband, Alberto. It was one of her last attempts at the race. They were also fourth in that year's Coppa d'Oro delle Dolomiti, in a Stanguellini.

The Comirato-Dumas’ first car was a Fiat Balilla 508C with berlinetta bodywork, built in 1935. It was a fairly modest car with a one-litre side-valve engine and 34 bhp. In their first Mille Miglia, they were fourteenth overall and second in the 1100cc class, behind the similar Fiat of Milton Biagini and Arcangelo Periccioli. The car was likely tuned and prepared by Fioravante Zanussi.

It was probably Alberto’s second Mille Miglia in the car, but Lia’s first time.

The same car and driver combination tackled the 1937 Miglia, but they did not finish for reasons unrecorded.

Lia’s next car was a modified Fiat 1100, called the “Fiat Comirato 1100”. This car was not successful in the Miglia either; it failed to finish in 1938 and 1940. Heavily customised with a narrower profile and less bodywork than a standard 1100; it was the subject of complaints by rival drivers who tried to claim it was illegal.

After the war, Alberto was the first to resume his motorsport career. He raced a Fiat 1100 in 1946, but Lia did not take the wheel herself. She returned in 1948 for another Mille Miglia, finishing eighth in another Comirato-built Fiat referred to as the “Fiat-Comirato Speciale.”

This new special was Lia’s car the 1949 Miglia, which she did not finish. The car was entered for the 1950 event, but did not make it to the start.

Her last Mille Miglia was the 1952 edition. She and Alberto drove a Siata Daina Gran Sport, another Fiat derivative. They were 66th and fifth in the 1500cc class.

Lia sometimes participated in other races in Italy, still driving with her husband. Between 1948 and 1950, the couple entered three editions of the Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti. The first two times, they drove the Stanguellini, in which they recorded a fourth place in 1948. In 1950, their car was another “Comirato Speciale”, based on an OSCA this time. It was entered by the OSCA team and they were seventh overall.

Earlier, in 1938, she may have driven with Alberto in the Targa Abruzzi, in a Fiat 1100.

The only time that Lia competed outside Italy was in the Litoranea Libica, a 1000km road race held in the Italian territory of Libya. She and Alberto were 16th in the first running of this event in 1937, driving a Fiat 500. The race was run a second time in 1939 and the couple entered again in a Fiat, but their finishing position is not known.

Much about Lia’s life and career is not known. Even her dates of birth and death are obscure. Alberto, although a more prolific racer, is scarcely better documented. He is known to have come from Treviso so it is likely that Lia was also from there, although “Dumas” as a name suggests French ancestry.

It is possible that Lia entered some of the women-only rallies and hillclimbs that seem to proliferate in Italy at the end of her career, but entry lists are hard to come by. She did not compete outside of Italian territory, so it is unlikely that she took part in the Paris-St. Raphaël Rally.

(Portrait from http://www.automotivemasterpieces.com,  car image copyright Peter Kappeler)  

Female Drivers at the 12 Hours of Sebring: Part I, 1955-1979

Anita Taylor, Donna Mae Mims and Janet Guthrie in 1966 (not at Sebring)

The 12 Hours of Sebring is the second-oldest sportscar race on the calendar, after Le Mans. It has run almost continuously since 1952, with only one break, caused by the 1974 energy crisis.
After one year as a non-championship event, the 12 Hours was run as a World Sportscar Championship round between 1953 and 1972, when it became an IMSA GT event. Its early-season position makes it a favoured early shakedown for Le Mans.

Beginning in 1955, women drivers have competed at Sebring in most runnings, although there was a lull in the 1970s. Below are their results between 1955 and 1979. Denise McCluggage was the most frequent starter during this period, and Isabelle Haskell has the highest finish: eighth, with a class win.

The rest follows here.

1955

Isabelle Haskell/Dick Irish (Bandini Fiat) - DNF

Greta Oakes/Sydney Oakes (Austin-Healey 100M) - DNF

1956

Margaret Wyllie/M.R.J. Wyllie (Lotus Mk IX) - 24th

Isabelle Haskell/Alejandro de Tomaso (Maserati 150S) - DNF

1957

Gilberte Thirion/Nadège Ferrier/G. Spydel (Renault Dauphine) - 35th

Evelyn Mull/John B. Mull (AC Ace) - DNF

Margaret Wyllie/M.R.J. Wyllie/Charles Moran (Lotus Eleven Le Mans) - disqualified

Isabelle Haskell/Alejandro de Tomaso (OSCA MT4 750) - DNF

1958

Isabelle Haskell/Alejandro de Tomaso/Robert Ferguson (OSCA S750) - 8th, class win

Denise McCluggage/Ruth Levy (Fiat-Abarth 750 Zagato) - DNF

Margaret Wyllie/M.R.J. Wyllie/Chuck Dietrich (Elva Mk. II) - DNS (accident in practice)

1959

Isabelle Haskell/Alejandro de Tomaso/Denise McCluggage/Ricardo Rodriguez (OSCA S750) - 18th

Smokey Drolet/Fred Lieb (Turner 750 Sport) - 43rd

Margaret Wyllie/M.R.J. Wyllie/Skip Lange (Elva Mk. IV) - DNF

1960

Denise McCluggage/Marianne “Pinkie” Windridge (OSCA 187S) - DNF

1961

Denise McCluggage/Allan Eager (Ferrari 250 GT) - 10th, class win

Peggy Gelder (McClure) /Ed Gelder/Jim Fuller (Elva Courier) - 35th

1962

Denise McCluggage/Allan Eager (OSCA S1000) - DNF

1963

Denise McCluggage/Christabel Carlisle (MG B) - DNF

1964

Donna Mae Mims/Alan Pease (Austin-Healey Sprite) - DNF

1966

Donna Mae Mims/John Luke (Yenko Stinger) - DNF

1967

Denise McCluggage/Marianne “Pinkie” Windridge (Ferrari 275 GTB/4 Spyder) - 17th

Liane Engeman/Janet Guthrie (Matra Djet 5S) - 23rd

Suzy Dietrich/Donna Mae Mims (ASA 411) - 25th

Smokey Drolet/Anita Taylor (Alpine-Renault A110) - 35th

1968

Janet Guthrie/Liane Engeman (AMC Javelin) - not classified

Donna Mae Mims/Michael Summers (Yenko Stinger) - not classified

1969

Janet Guthrie/Donna Mae Mims/Liane Engeman (Austin-Healey Sprite) - 23rd

Smokey Drolet/Rosemary Smith (BMW 2002) - 26th

1970

Janet Guthrie/Rosemary Smith/Judy Kondratieff (Austin-Healey Sprite) - 19th, class win

Donna Mae Mims/Jim Corwin (Chevrolet Corvette) - 21st

1971

Janet Guthrie/Rosemary Smith/Jennifer Birrell (Chevron B16) - DNF

1974

No race due to fuel crisis

1976

Janet Guthrie/Stephen Behr (Chevrolet Monza) - 63rd

1977
Bobbee Nylander/Gary Nylander/Michael Hammond (Porsche 911 S) - 13th

Lyn St James/John Carusso/Luis Sereix/Emory Donaldson (Chevrolet Corvette) - DNF

1978

Lyn St. James/Luis Sereix/Phil Currin (Chevrolet Corvette) - 17th

Kathy Wallace/Tom Wallace/Gene Rutherford (Oldsmobile Cutlass) - DNF

1979

Bonnie Henn/Lyn St. James/Janet Guthrie (Ferrari 365 GTB/4) - 17th

(Image from http://www.1966shelbynotchbackmustang.com/PhotosRingFree.html)

Anna Maria Peduzzi

Anna Maria with the Stanguellini

Anna Maria Peduzzi enjoyed a lengthy motorsport career spanning almost thirty years. She was born in Olgiate, Italy in 1912 and started racing very early, in the first years of the 1930s. She married Gianfranco Alessandro Maria Comotti, always known as Franco, in 1932. He was also a racer and the couple were team-mates occasionally. Franco was known more as a test driver and Anna Maria was definitely more the competition driver of the two.

Her career began in local races and hillclimbs. In 1932, she is recorded as having set the third fastest time in class F of the Gaisbergrennen hillclimb, driving an Alfa Romeo 6C. Here, she was credited as "Marocchina", rather than her full name. "Marocchina" means "Moroccan girl" in Italian and her nickname reflected her dark skin and black hair.

Anna Maria's first major race was the 1934 Mille Miglia. She and Franco were sharing the Alfa Romeo 6C she had raced the previous year. They won the 1500cc class and were thirteenth overall, a good debut. They were driving for the recently-formed Scuderia Ferrari. This was Anna Maria's only attempt at the classic race, pre-war.

"Marocchina" raced around Italy throughout the 1930s, in local championships and speed events. Exact details of her activities are sketchy. At some point in her life, she contracted polio, from which she made a good recovery, and this may explain some of her absences from race records. It is believed that this happened prior to World War II.

The Second World War put a stop to all motorsport activities in Europe in 1940, meaning an enforced hiatus for all drivers involved. Franco was a committed anti-Fascist and was almost executed for his resistance work during the war, which must have been very frightening for Anna Maria. I have never read that she was involved in any resistance activities herself, but it is feasible that she helped in one way or another.

After the war was over, things took a while to get back up to speed, but by the time we meet Anna Maria again in 1952, motor racing was back to normal. This year, her vehicle of choice was a 750cc Stanguellini. It proved to be an excellent car. Competing around Italy, she scored some very good finishes. At Montauban, she came fifth in her heat and seventh in the final. The Coppa Ascoli followed the same format and yielded a second in the heat and a third in the final. She was fourth in both rounds at Collemaggio.

The Circuito di Senigallia was probably her best race of the year; she was second in the 750cc event to Salvatore Casella, another Stanguellini pilot. Her next event was the legendary Pescara 12-hour road race, which she failed to finish, but she made up for that somewhat by winning her class at the Trofeo Sardo. At the Bari Grand Prix she was fourth.

It was not all good news for Anna Maria in 1952; in the Eifelrennen 750cc race she was disqualified from her class win for receiving a push start from a bystander. This was considered unfair by many, as Anna Maria's polio had left her with a weakness in her arms, making her unable to push her own car.

Wisely, she stayed with the Stanguellini for the 1953 season. This year, she appears to have concentrated on a smaller number of big races. The highlights of her year were a third in class in the Giro di Sicilia with Augusto Zocca and another third in class in her second Mille Miglia. Her car was shared with Franco Goldoni this time and they were 117th overall, out of 283 finishers.

Anna Maria's first Targa Florio was a difficult introduction, and she retired following an accident. This did not prevent her from returning the following year, in the Stanguellini. She did not manage to finish this time either, but her exit was less dramatic.

The rest of 1954 was a mixed bag. She and Augusto Zocca teamed up again for the Giro di Sicilia, but did not finish. Driving solo, she was third in the 750cc class at the Circuito Santa Gorizia and later won that class again in the Trofeo Sardo. She was less successful in the Giro della Calabrie, coming fifth in class this time. The Castelfusano 6-hour race gave her another third in class. The Mille Miglia saw her driving with Franco Goldoni again. They did not finish.

The Stanguellini continued to be Anna Maria's mount for the 1955 season. She revisited some of her previous haunts and ventured to new tracks as well. Her attempt at the Mille Miglia was more successful than the previous one; she and Augusto Zocca were 99th, fifth in the 750cc class. She was second in the same class in the Circuito di Gorizia and fifth overall in one of the two races she contested at Mugello. The other result has been lost, although it is known that she was on the start list. For a greater challenge, she entered her car into the up to 1100cc class event of the Circuito di Reggio Calabria and was seventh. Her second race in that region, the longer Giro di Calabria, resulted in a DNF.

For most of 1956, the lady from Olgiate raced a 2000cc, four-cylinder Ferrari 500 TR, the only one of its kind built. For her first major outings in this powerful machine, she formed a team with Gilberte Thirion of Belgium. They were tenth in the two big races they did together, the Paris 1000km and the Supercortemaggiore Grand Prix. In Paris, they also scored a 2000cc class win. Back in her native Italy, Anna Maria was ninth in the Circuito di Reggio Calabria and unclassified in the Circuito di Sassari, after coming fourth in her heat. For her last big race of the year, she changed her car for a Stanguellini S1100 and was eighth in the Roma GP. Throughout her career, Anna Maria was always very patriotic with her choice of cars, racing Italian models almost exclusively.

In 1957, she took a break from international competition. She retained ownership of the Ferrari and returned with it the following year. Again, she was rather selective with her events and chose to partake in a few bigger races rather than lots of minor ones. At the beginning of the season, she was eleventh in the Pergusa GP. Later on, she tried her hand at the Targa Florio for the third time, driving with Francesco Siracusa. They did not make the finish. In between, Anna Maria was scheduled to drive in the Buenos Aires 1000km, which would have been her furthest trip abroad. However, for reasons unknown, she did not go to the race herself. The Ferrari was crewed by Gino Munaron and Luciano Mantovani instead. For some reason, she rarely raced outside Italy at any time during her career.

Her career continued in the same vein in 1959. Using the Ferrari and a 750cc OSCA prepared by the Scuderia Saint Ambroeus, Anna Maria, who was now 47, entered a small selection of the bigger Italian races. In the Ferrari, she was third in the 2000cc section of the Coppa Ambroeus at Monza, and unclassified at the Messina GP. In the OSCA, she was 20th in the Targa Florio with Giancarlo Rigamonti. They were third in the 750cc class.

The Ferrari was retired in 1960. Anna Maria contested her last Targa Florio in another OSCA, this time a 1500cc F2 model. She was driving with Francesco Siracusa, also her partner in 1958. They were 17th overall, third in the class for cars under 1600cc.

Her other race that year was the Coppa Ascari at Monza. Her car this time was a little 600cc NSU Prinz and her co-driver was Luisa Pozzoli, another female sportscar ace who had competed against Anna Maria in previous years. They were fifth in class, 26th in the main standings.

Her last year of competition was 1961. The only major event she entered that year was the Coppa Ascari. She and Alma Cacciandra failed to finish in the Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

Throughout her lengthy career, Anna Maria competed against a good many future Grand Prix drivers and more than "held her own". Interestingly, someone she often raced against in the early 1950s was Maria Teresa de Filippis. The older Anna Maria sometimes beat the future Formula One driver and it is interesting to speculate what would have happened if Anna Maria had shown interest in single-seater racing, or travelled more widely to events.

After her retirement from the racetrack, Anna became a wholly private individual, and rather reclusive. Her date of death is not even widely known.

(Image from www.omniauto.it)

Maria Teresa de Filippis

The first woman to enter, and then complete, a Formula One Grand Prix was Italian Maria Teresa de Filippis, in 1958. Her tenth place in a World Championship race at Spa-Francorchamps was a milestone in motorsport history and a high point in a career that had lasted almost twelve years.

Maria Teresa was a contessa, the daughter of an Italian count. She learned to drive at a young age and took an interest in sports, especially horse-riding, at which she excelled. In 1948, her two elder brothers dared her to enter a hillclimb in her Fiat 500, saying that she would not be as competitive as she was on her horse. Both brothers took part in local races and speed events.

To their surprise, their little sister not only completed the hillclimb, but won her class too, plus a special award for "Driver of the Meeting".

The racing bug had truly bitten. Maria Teresa acquired a Urania 750cc sports model for the 1949 season and campaigned it around Italy. In regional races she scored three class wins and three seconds. In the bigger races she also took some good finishes, the best being a sixth in the Stella Alpina. She was ninth in class in the Coppa d'Oro delle Dolomiti but did not finish the Coppa Toscana.

She carried on with the little Urania for part of 1950, entering her first Mille Miglia with Motta. they failed to finish, but so did a great many others that year. Driving solo, Maria Teresa was tenth in the Premio di Apertura.

Part-way through 1950, Maria Teresa hooked up with the Formula One driver Luigi Musso. they became close friends and team-mates, both racing 750cc Giaurs on occasion. Soon, Maria Teresa became caught up in Musso's complicated love life , although they seemed to bring out the best in one another on the track. She was ninth at Collemaggio, twelfth at Modena and sixth in the Circuito di Senigallia. She carried on improving throughout 1951, with another ninth at Castello, third in the Coppa Ascoli and fourth in the Cidonio Grand Prix.

Maria Teresa and Luigi Musso continued their arrangement through 1952, despite Luigi already being married. They carried on campaigning their Giaur sportscars around Italy, although they were getting a little old and outclassed by then. Musso also raced a series of more potent Fiats and Maseratis.

It was time for a change of car. The Giaur was sold and replaced by an OSCA 1100, bigger and faster than its predecessor but not quite as reliable. It failed to get to the end of the Circuito di Senigallia or the Montenero Cup, but gave its owner some superb race results. She was fifth at Avellino and second at the Trullo d'Oro and the Circuito di Sassari. Away from the circuits, on the famous Pescara road course she was fourth in the 24-hour race with a class win, beaten only by three cars with vastly superior horsepower to her own.

At the end of 1953, Maria Teresa ended her romantic involvement with Luigi Musso, although they remained friends. When Musso was killed during the French Grand Prix in 1958, she was deeply affected and later cited this as one of the reasons for her retirement not long after. However, this was five years into the future, and after the 1954 season she bought Musso's old 2000cc Maserati A6GCS to race herself.

1954 itself was spent racing an OSCA MT4, in Italy. She had a best finish of second in the Napoli Grand Prix, and was also fifth at Caserta, and sixth at Pergusa and Siracuse. These were all non-championship Grands Prix.

1955 was a year of contrasts: she won a race in Sardinia and was runner-up in the Napoli Grand Prix. Going back to her roots, she took part in some long-distance hillclimbs and won the Catania-Etna event outright. Still in Sicily, she was thirteenth in the Giro di Sicilia, against a big field.

In another exciting (in a different way) moment, she crashed out at Mugello spectacularly. Emergency services spent quite some time helping Maria Teresa out of the stricken Maserati, which was dangling half-over a cliff. In another stroke of poor luck, she crashed hard in Sardinia and was unable to finish her season.

Needless to say, Maria lived to tell the tale. She was back with the Maserati for 1955 and was more ambitious than ever, attacking the both the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio, in which she was ninth. She was driving for Officine Alfieri Maserati with Luigi Bellucci. Most of her big races that year were endurance events; she was tenth on the Giro di Sicilia and a strong third in the Messina 10 Hours, driving with Musitelli. She also tackled the Mille Miglia, but did not finish.

1956 got off to a terrible start. Maria's first trip to the Americas, for the Buenos Aires 1000km, left her with a broken shoulder. She had hit a telegraph pole early on after swerving to avoid another accident.

After a recovery period of some months, she returned to the Italian circuits that summer. She was not given to over-analysing accidents and was not afraid of what might happen to her. As a consolation, she won at Caserta and came second in the Napoli Grand Prix for the second time. She even returned to Buenos Aires for the 1000km the following year, although she and Alberto Rodriguez-Larreta retired their OSCA TN 1500 with electrical trouble.

Ever-keen to advance herself, Maria joined Scuderia Centro Sud, a leading racing team, for 1957. However, she did not receive a great deal of financial support and struggled, competing in a handful of races with no real results to show for it. Nevertheless, she carried on with her push up the sporting ladder and a acquired a Maserati 250F Grand Prix car, with the intention of entering Formula One with the Scuderia.

The car had a good debut in the non-championship Syracuse GP. Maria was fifth and the highest-placed debutante. DNFs at the Pergusa GP and the Messina 10 Hours were not as encouraging, but she carried on regardless and entered her first World Championship Grands Prix. This was a first for a woman.

The 250F had been the privateer car to have only a couple of years ago. It had taken Juan Manuel Fangio to world titles and won countless races, but was now out of date compared to the Coopers, BRMs and Vanwalls that dominated 1958. When Maria tried to qualify for the Monaco Grand Prix, she was far from making the final sixteen, but in good company; fifteen others failed to make the cut.

A month later, Maria was lining up on the grid for her first Grand Prix start, the 1958 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa. From 19th on the grid, she worked her way up to tenth, behind Jo Bonnier and winner Tony Brooks. It was a small victory, for Maria and for a lady driver. Fangio himself commented on her fearlessness, and commented that she drove the Maserati "too fast"!

Buoyed by her comparative success at Spa, she qualified her Maserati for two more Grand Prix. In Portugal, she was forced out by engine trouble after only six laps, but at Monza she completed 57 of the 70, coming tantalisingly close to a final classification again.

Having formed a close friendship with the French driver Jean Behra, Maria joined his racing team for another attempt at the Monte Carlo Grand Prix. She was driving a Formula Two Porsche and failed to qualify. This was her last World Championship race.

Her only other big race that year was the British Empire Trophy at Silverstone. It was her first visit to the United Kingdom. She qualified her old 250F but did not finish the race.

In August that year, Jean Behra was killed in a sportscar race at AVUS, Germany. Maria had intended to be in that race too, but did not take part. She was overcome with grief at not being there for her friend. Having lost many of her friends and her former lover, she lost her nerve and turned her back on motorsport completely. She threw herself into family life and could not bear to set foot on a circuit for many years.

By 1969, her wounds had healed somewhat. She became involved with a club for former Grand Prix drivers and was active in its administration for many years. Since then, she has spoken freely of the great cameraderie she shared with her fellow drivers during her racing days, and has expressed disappointment that the F1 stars of today are missing out on it.

In 2006, at the age of eighty, Maria Teresa drove a car in anger for the first time in decades. She was an honoured guest of Maserati at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and had been invited to demonstrate its latest GT racer, with Jodie Kidd and Troy Bayliss. This most "from the heart" of drivers received a warm reception. In recent years, her profile has risen slightly. In 2012, she was chosen to appear in advertising for UBS, alongside Yo-Yo Ma.

She died on the 9th of January, 2016.

(Image copyright Fulton/Getty Images)