Female Rally Drivers After 1950: Norway

Miriam Aasli, during the 2014 Rally Bohemia

Norway has produced a number of female rally drivers. They tend not to be as well-travelled or well-known as their Swedish and Finnish counterparts, but they do get around.
Between 1960 and 1990, there were many more women competing in Norwegian rallies than there seem to be now.

Miriam Aasli - young driver active since 2011. Her first rally car was a Nissan Almera GTI, a rather unusual choice. She continued to rally the car in Norwegian events in 2012, entering seven, and had a best finish of 28th, in the Stavanger Rally. In 2013, she drove the Almera for most of the year, and was moderately successful, with class wins in the Hedemarken and Sørland rallies. Her only real low point was her only retirement, which came on the Telemark Rally, after the driveshaft on the Almera broke. Mid-season, she did one rally, the Stavanger Rally, in a Ford Fiesta, and was rewarded with her first top twenty finish - a twelfth place. In 2014, she changed over to the newer Fiesta full-time, and achieved two top-twenty finishes from eight rallies: 20th in the Sørland Rally and 16th in the Rally Telemark. She also did her first overseas rally, finishing 22nd in the Rally Bohemia, in the Czech Republic. In 2015, she stuck to the Norwegian championship again, in the Fiesta. Her best result was a 26th place in the Rally Hedemarken, and she was sixth in class. In 2016, she rallied the Fiesta again in the Norwegian championship, and was third in her class. The best events for her were the Rally Hedemarken and the Rally Sørland, in both of which she was second in class and 25th overall.

Kristiane Hvaal Engh - competes extensively in Norway, co-driven by her mother, Gunhild. Her best finish so far has been an eighth place in the Beljfell Lodge Stage in 2023, driving a Peugeot 208. She used this car in 2022 and 2023, before switching to an R5-spec Ford Fiesta part-way through 2023. Her best result in the Fiesta has been a 14th place in the Taleasprinten Elverum, although she was also 27th in it in her first European Trophy round, the Lausitz Rally in Germany. In 2024, she continued with the Fiesta, but only did three rallies. The best of these was the Norsk Gran Lygnasprinten, in which she was eleventh. Her 2025 schedule expanded, taking in both Norwegian and Swedish events, first with the Fiesta, then with a Skoda Fabia R5. This car gave her her best result, fifth in the Swedish Arjangs Sprinten. Her best Norwegian result was a seventh place in the Blefjellsprinten, in the Fiesta. She has competed around Scandinavia, as well as Germany, where she returned in 2025 for the Lausitz Rally, finishing 25th in the Skoda. Her debut was in 2021, driving a Renault Clio, aged 17. As well as her mother, her father and several cousins are active in rallying. 

Trine Jensen - Norwegian who rallied in the 1960s and 1970s. In the early part of her career, from 1964 to 1969, she drove a Saab 96 and VW 1500 in Norwegian rallies, finishing well in class with some wins. Later, she took part in some international events, including the RAC Rally in 1975 and 1976, and the Swedish Rally in 1975, 1976 and 1977. This time, she was driving a Ford Escort. Her best result was probably fourth in the 1973 Rally Denmark, in an Escort.

Wenche Knudtzen - competed mostly in the 1960s and 1970s and through to the 1980s. In the early days, she drove a Saab with Carl Erik Knudtzen, sometimes as co-driver. They scored some class wins in Norwegian events. Later, she teamed up with a series of different co-drivers, and apparently favoured Soviet-built cars, such as the Moskvich she used in the 1972 Daily Express Rally, and the Lada she drove in the RAC Rally in 1982, finishing on both occasions. She drove the Lada in rallies in Norway and Sweden late in her career. 

Thea Turvoll Lien - rallies a Ford Fiesta in Norway. She has been active in the Norwegian championship since 2016. Between then and 2018, she was a leading driver in Group N, driving the R1 version of the car. She did best in sprint rallies. The car was upgraded to an R2 model at the end of 2017, which Thea has found somewhat harder; she has had several non-finishes. Her best result in it was 36th in the Sigdal Rally, with a class second. The car was upgraded again to R2T spec at the end of 2018 and Thea branched out into Swedish gravel rallies in 2019. Her best finish was 28th in the Aurskog-Holand Rally and she also won her class in the Rally Hedemarken. The limited 2020 season meant that she stayed in Norway, entering two rallies. Her best one was the Sigdalsrally: she was 41st overall and fifth in class. She entered the Rally Finnskog and Lygnasprinten in 2021, in the same car. Her 2025 season was spent competing extensively across Norway and Sweden, in a Rally4-spec Peugeot 208. After her second place in the Rally Hedemarken in 2024, she added three more top-tens to her tally, ninth places in the Rally Larvik and Rally Norsk Gran Lygnasprinten, plus tenth in the Rally Trogstad. She is from a rallying family with brothers who also compete.

Wenche Nafstad - rallied in Norway between 1978 and 1982. She also drove in the (now) Czech Republic, Sweden and Denmark. Some of these rallies were international events, but their full results are hard to find. Wenche was among the front-runners in a "Ladies in Action" class for Scandinavian rallies during her years of activity. Her normal co-driver was Thor Nafstad. She is still active in motorsport administration, as a co-ordinator for the Volvo Original rally series.

Laila Schou-Nilsen – Norwegian driver who rallied in Europe in the 1960s. Between 1961 and 1963, she used Skoda cars in Scandinavian events. The best of these was an Octavia, which took her to ninth place in the 1962 Vinterrally, in Norway. In 1963, she drove a Skoda TS in the 1000 Lakes Rally, finishing 29^th. Her last big rally seems to have been Monte Carlo in 1965, in which she drove a Saab 96. In the 1930s and 1940s, she made a name for herself as an Olympic downhill skier, and was an early exponent of women’s speed skating. She died in 1998.

Helene Skau Andersen - active in Norwegian rallies since 2018, driving a Volvo. Her first car was a 242 but she has since switched to a 940. She is a consistent finisher and her best result so far has been a 37th place in the 2019 Rally Aurskog-Holand. She was initially co-driven by her 15-year-old brother, Marius. Prior to her motorsport career, she competed in equestrian events.

Randi Sofie Tangeland - rallied in the 1970s, in her native Norway and Europe. She began as a junior in 1970. Soon, she was finishing well in class, driving a Fiat 850 Special, 127 and 128. She competed internationally between 1975 and 1977, entering the RAC and Swedish rallies in 1976, and the RAC in 1975 and 1977. She also co-drove for Birger Tangeland on occasion, including in international events. Her career continued into 1980, when she drove an Opel Kadett in Europe, including the Tulip Rally.

Heidi Wessel - driver and co-driver, mainly active behind the wheel in the 1960s. Among her earliest rally starts was the 1962 KNA Junior Rally in Norway, driving a Wartburg. She reappears in 1965, driving a Renault R8 Gordini with Trine Wessel, scoring some good positions in Class 5. Later, she drove a BMW 1600, Audi 90 and Alfa Romeo in Norwegian events, assisted by Trine Wessel, Kiss Sorvig and others. She disappears from the entry lists at the end of the 1960s, although Trine Wessel, presumably a sister, continues to navigate for other drivers.

(Image from bilsport.no)

Female Rally Drivers After 1950: Sweden

Sylvia Osterberg (right)

Greta Molander now has her own post, like Susanne Kottulinsky, Barbara Johansson and Jonna Eson Bradhe. Junior drivers can be found here.

Frida Axelsson - driver from a rallying family, who drives a Volkswagen Golf. She started competing in youth rallies in Sweden in 2009, when she was sixteen, after several years of navigation. In 2010, she completely wrote her car off in an accident involving a stone wall, and she sat out the whole of 2011 while it was rebuilt. She started competing in earnest again in 2013, after some 2012 action. Her best result seems to have been a 59th place in the Dan Anderssons Minne Rally, tenth in Group E. In 2014, she upgraded her car and tackled the South Swedish Rally, finishing in 84th place, but winning her class. Her season was affected by a big crash in a rally in Nyköping, which left Frida in hospital. She recovered, and returned to the stages in 2015. Her best result was a thirteenth place in the Emmanuels Minne Rally, driving a Golf. In 2016, she was tenth in the Svenljunga Super Rallysprint, still in the Golf. As well as driving, she still acts as a co-driver on occasion, once to fellow driver, and friend, Jonna Eson Brådhe. Frida is or was part of Ramona Karlsson’s Young Female Drivers mentoring project. In 2020 she returned to the stages, rallying an Opel Corsa in the Marknadsnatta event. She did not finish. She competed more regularly in 2022, driving a Golf.

Henny-Britt Ehringe - began her rally career in 1955 in Sweden, but was most successful in the mid-1960s, driving a Volvo 1500 or a Saab. She won many Coupes des Dames in her native Scandinavia, but was also competitive on the Acropolis, coming eighth in 1964 in the Volvo. She used the Saab for the 1963 RAC event, but with less success. As well as driving, she sometimes switched to navigating, and co-drove for Monica Kjerstadius on the Tulip Rally, in 1963.

Carina Hermansson - Swedish snow specialist. She was fourth in the 2003 Swedish Snow Rally, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI. The same year, she was sixth in the Snapphanerallyt. She began competing in the mid-1990s and has driven Mazda 323s, VW Golfs and Toyota Corollas as well as the Mitsubishi. She often drove for the Skeptune team. Carina made a comeback in 2012, driving a Subaru Impreza. She was very successful in Swedish rallies, with three top-ten finishes in 2012, the best of these being two eighth places, in the Dubbeldalingen and Gestrikekannan events. In 2013, she went one better, and was third in the Offerdalingen snow rally.

Yvonne Hultgren - driver and co-driver active between 1980 and the mid-1990s. By 1980, she was competing on both sides of the car: in Scandianvian rallies in a Volvo Amazon as a driver, and as co-driver to Lars-Erik Torph in a Volvo 142 in WRC events. Later, she navigated for Ove Olofsson. In 1991, she drove in her first WRC rally - the Swedish Rally. Her car was a Lancia Delta Integrale and her co-driver was Anita Jansson. She returned to the Swedish Rally in 1994, co-driven by Susanne Hultgren this time, and was 37th in a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth.

LisBeth Kerttu - rallied an Opel Corsa in Sweden in the early 1990s. Her navigator was always Carina Widerström. She competed in the South Swedish Rally every year between 1991 and 1994, with a best result of 25th, and third in class A6, in 1994. Her best class finish was second, in A6 again, in 1991. She was 35th overall. She drove in one International Swedish Rally, in 1994, when it ran as part of the two-litre championship. She was 33rd, and second in class. LisBeth was a contemporary of Yvonne Hultgren and Susanne Kottulinsky. She is now involved in rally organisation.

Monica Kjerstadius - driver and co-driver active in the 1950s. Her earliest appearance seems to be a women-only rally in 1951, in Sweden. She won Class C, driving a Skoda. In 1956, she drove a Saab 93 in the Viking Rally, with Saga Anderssson. The same year, she navigated Cecilia Koskull to a Coupe des Dames in the Midnight Sun Rally, in a Saab 1959. She almost always competed in Saab machinery. In 1957, she rallied outside Sweden, competing in the Tulip Rally with Margareta Holm as co-driver. In 1958, she won the Coupe des Dames in the Mälaren Rally, and may well have entered the Midnight Sun event. She was definitely third in the Ladies’ standings in the 1959 Midnight Sun event, in a Saab 93. Some time later, in 1962, she reappears as a navigator, to Greta Molander.

Cecilia Koskull - active between 1946 and 1956. She started off in Swedish national rallies, and won three Ladies’ awards in the Swedish championships in succession. By 1950, she was driving a Gmünd-bodied Porsche 356, and that year, she was ninth overall in the Midnight Sun event., with Christina Peyron. In 1951, she drove in the Tulip Rally and the Monte Carlo Rally, the latter with Greta Molander. In 1954, she switched to a Volkswagen, which she used in rallies and reliability tests. She was third lady driver in that year’s Midnight Sun Rally. Her last Midnight Sun Coupe des Dames came in 1956, in a Saab. After that, she had a daughter and retired from motorsport.

Birgitta Lundell - Swedish driver who rallied in Scandinavia in the 1970s. She entered two World Championship rallies in 1979, the Swedish and 1000 Lakes events. Her car was an Opel Kadett and she won her class in the National section of Rally Sweden. In the summer, she was 61st in the 1000 Lakes Rally in the Finnish forest. In between, she finished the South Swedish Rally in 70th place. She does not appear to have rallied after 1979.

Lotta Lundqvist - active between 1979 and 1993, during which time she was Swedish Ladies' Champion seven times. Her cars have been almost exclusively Opels, mainly the Ascona and Kadett, and she was part of the Opel team in 1991 and 1992. Lotta competed in Sweden mostly, and also the UK. She drove in four WRC rallies: the Swedish in 1985 and 1987, 1000 Lakes in 1987, and the RAC Rally in 1988 and 1989. She only finished the Swedish events, coming 22nd in an Ascona in 1985 and 18th in a Kadett in 1987, when she also managed fourth in Group A7.

Margareta Melin - rallied in Sweden in the 1950s. She appears to have entered her first Midnight Sun Rally in 1952, at the wheel of a Volvo. She won the Coupe des Dames Later, in 1954, she was second in the Ladies’ standings, driving a Simca. She may have got her start in rallying in a women-only event in Sweden in 1951. Little else seems to be written about her, although she may have initially competed under a different surname.

Brita Norling – mainly known for rallying a Volvo in the 1950s. Her first big international event seems to have been the 1949 Monte Carlo Rally, in which she drove a Buick to 61^st place. In 1950, she drove a Volvo PV 444 in the Midnight Sun Rally, and was third in the Ladies’ class. In 1952, she rallied a Hotchkiss, and is recorded as a finisher in that year’s Tulip Rally.

Evelina Olofsson - born in 1993, began rallying in 2011, in youth events. Her first rally car was a Volvo 240. Her senior debut came in 2012, in the Gästabrudstrofén, driving a Vauxhall (Opel) Corsa. Unfortunately, she retired. In 2013, she entered many rallies across Sweden,  with mixed results. Her best finish was a seventh place in the Skutskärsratten, on snow, in January. She was also 24th in the Skogsrundan. Her best class finish was fourth in the Malmjärn Runt. She was 35th overall. In 2014, she continued with the Corsa, and scored another seventh place in her first rally of the year, the Monitorrallyt. Her other top ten of the year was a tenth place in the AD Bildelar rallysprint. One of her best performances was a class win in the South Swedish Rally, finishing 39th overall. She also won her class in the Rallynorduppland, in which she was 15th. Her usual navigator, in 2014, was Paulin Bergqvist. Another season in the Corsa in 2015 gave her tenth in the Swedish Junior championship, competing mainly during the winter. 

Carina Olsson - driver and co-driver active in and around Scandinavia since around 1980. She was ninth in a "Ladies In Action" championship in 1980, driving an Opel Ascona. This car would become her favoured vehicle for some time. She used it in the 1983 Turku Rally, the Köln-Arweiler Rally in Germany in 1984 and the South Swedish Rally. In addition, she may have won a ladies' title in Sweden in 1985. Later, in 1990, she re-appears as a navigator to Lotta Lundqvist. Someone with the same name is still active in classic rallying in Sweden today, as a navigator.

Ingeborg Stille - Swedish driver who rallied in Europe in 1950. She was 135th in the Monte Carlo Rally, driving a Simca, having started in Stockholm. She drove the same, or a similar, car in the Midnight Sun Rally in Sweden. At the time, she was 52 years old. After her rallying adventures, she settled in the French Riviera until her death in 1991.

Erika Söderman – active in Swedish national rallying since 2012, initially in rallysprint events. Her first rally car was an Opel Calibra, and in it, she managed an eighth place in the 2013 Monitorallyt, co-driven by her twin sister, Michelle. She swapped the Calibra in for a more orthodox Astra in 2014, and achieved a second top-ten finish: ninth in the Kåtmyraslaget event. She continued to rally the Astra in 2015, and won her class in the Härjedalsbrickan Söndag rally, and was 36th overall. In 2017, she entered the Astra in another couple of rallies in Sweden, and was tenth in the 66:an event, with a class win. Another year in the Astra in 2018 included a class win in the Nasviken Rally. Prior to her rally career, Erika made a name for herself as a stunt driver, specialising in driving a Volvo on two wheels. She started this when she was only fifteen years old.

(Image from http://www.spoca.se/)

Pernilla Walfridsson

Pernilla (right) and Ulrika

Sweden's Pernilla Walfridsson was born, like many drivers, into a rallying family. Her uncle is the well-known driver and team manager Stig-Olov, and other Walfridssons are involved in the sport in various capacities. Her father, Per-Inge, is a multiple rallycross champion, and it was through him that Pernilla got her first experiences in a rally car. He competed in classic events, and she acted as his navigator.

For most of her teenage years, Pernilla was more interested in horses, although she did enjoy rallying. She rode competitively, in show-jumping, spending time in the UK as well as Sweden.

Navigating for her father brought out her interest in motorsport, and she started driving at the age of eighteen, in 1991. Like so many Scandinavian drivers, she competed in the Volvo Original Cup in her formative years, and then spent a while in her national championships. Her car seems to have been a Volvo 240. Results from this period have, so far, largely not been forthcoming. She is recorded as a starter in the 1996 Berslgsrallyt, a club event, in a Volvo 242. Her navigator was Ann Greth Eriksson.

In 1997 she started taking part in bigger rallies, using a Mitsubishi Lancer provided by her uncle’s team.  Her first major result was twelfth in the Rally Finnskog Norway. She was also 21st in the South Swedish Rally, and 50th in the Ypres-Westhoek rally in Belgium. She and her sister Linda Walfridsson were tenth in class N4 in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3.

In the same car, Pernilla and Linda also tackled their first World Rallies. The snow-bound Swedish Rally resulted in retirement, but the season-ending Network Q RAC Rally in the UK gave them a 21st place overall, sixth in Group N. Pernilla scored her first FIA points in the Production Cup, and was listed as 52nd in the standings that year.

1998 saw a few changes. The ageing Evo 3 was replaced by the newer Evo 4, and Pernilla found a new navigator, Ulrika Mattson. Their international calendar contained visits to Finland and the UK, as well as their home WRC event, and the positions were good. They were 28th in Sweden and 21st again in Finland and the RAC Rally. Even better, they were eighth, third and fourth in Group N respectively. Their only real disappointment was a non-finish on the German AVD/STH Hunsrück-Rallye, but eleventh in the FIA Production Cup, amongst drivers who had entered more events than them, was a good consolation.

In European events, their season was mixed. Pernilla was eighth in the Rally Finnskog and second in Group N, but retired from the South Swedish Rally. Later in the season, she was 21st in the Golden Tulip event, in the Netherlands.

Pernilla was now a popular figure in world rallying, in Scandinavia and the UK especially, after she had also driven in some British rallies. These included the Manx Trophy Rally, in which she was second. She was tipped as a possible future star and had a growing number of fans. With support from her family team behind her, she embarked on her most ambitious rally programme yet in 1999. Sadly, it was not a success. She failed to finish in any of her WRC rounds: Sweden, Portugal, Catalunya, Finland and Britain. Even a switch to a more powerful Lancer Evo 5 after Sweden could not help her.

Her only consolation was a string of excellent performances in the Norwegian championship. She did not finish the Rally Finnskog, but was seventh in the Solor Rally, ninth at Numedals and sixth at Trondelag. With Ulrika, she was third in Group N in the Norwegian championship. Away from Norway, a switch to an Evo 5 brought her better fortunes: she was fourth in the South Swedish Rally, and won Group N.

Not to be deterred, Pernilla returned the following year, with a mixed programme on WRC, Swedish and Norwegian events. She had upgraded the car to the all-conquering Evo 6. with which Tommi Makinen had dominated the WRC. (Throughout her career, she was very loyal to Mitsubishi.)

During that year's snow season, Pernilla and Ulrika were 24th in Sweden, seventh in Group N, and retired from the Rally Finnskog. A move to sunnier climes in Catalunya resulted in another retirement, but things picked up after that. Twenty-one seemed to be Pernilla's lucky number as she was 21st again in Finland and sixth in Group N. Slightly closer to home, they were a strong eighth in the Renault South Swedish Rally, fourth in class.

The Norwegian championship was where she really shone again, this year. Apart from retirements in the Rally Finnskog and the Solor Rally, she was never out of the top ten. Her best finish was third, achieved at Larvik and Trondelag. She was also fourth at Flesberg, and fifth at Hedemarken. This was enough to win her the Group N title.  

Near the end of the season, Ulrika and Pernilla parted company after facing two years of ups, downs, offs and modest successes together. For the RAC Rally, Charlotta Thorszelius-Babbington was drafted in to read the notes. The pair did quite well on their first big event together, coming 35th and ninth in Group N. Pernilla’s final position in the Production (Group N) WRC was 37th.

It turned out that 2000 was Pernilla's last year of active competition. She had struck up a relationship with works Subaru ace Petter Solberg and gave birth to their son Oliver in 2001. The couple married after Petter became World Rally champion in 2003. Pernilla was still a face on the WRC scene, but in a supporting role. More recently, she and Petter have begun competing in historic rallies together, with Pernilla as co-driver, in a Ford Escort MkII.

Pernilla is now the team manager for the Solberg World Rallycross team.

Image from http://www.motorsportivarmland.nu/pernilla.html, copyright Anders Ekstrom)

Minna Lindroos

Finland is famous for its rally drivers, and has even produced some female stars over the years, like Minna Sillankorva and Eija Jurvanen. During the 1990s and 2000s, the Finnish rally scene's leading lady was Minna Lindroos.

She was born into a rallying family in 1977. Her brother Joonas also drives in the Finnish championship. Her motorised activities began in 1996. She was sixth in class in her first rally, in a 1200cc Lada given to her by her father.

In 1997, Minna jumped right in at the deep end, in the Junior class of Group F, a high-speed, highly-modified rally championship very popular in Finland. She was the first female driver to attempt Group F events against men, and was fourth in Class Two at the end of the season. After a year of that, she settled for a Vauxhall Astra and entered the main championship, with Aki Hietala as her navigator. She also earned an entry in Rally Finland, but retired. One consolation was that she won her first Finnish Ladies' Championship.

She improved on her results in 1999, when she guided the Astra to fourth in the national Group N standings for under-two-litre cars. It was also one of her busiest years for international rallies. During the snow rally season, she tackled the Arctic and Swedish rallies. She retired from the Rovaniemi event but was 39th in Sweden, alongside Jani Laaksonen. For the Finland rally later in the year, she teamed up with Sari Kontro-Silvennoinen, but the pair retired.

Minna and Sari drove together for the 2000 season, after Minna switched to a more powerful Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5, as driven with such devastating effect by her countryman Tommi Makinen. Straight away, she was 27th on the Arctic Rally. At Rally Finland, she also impressed, coming 26th overall and fifth in Group N.

Sticking with the Lancer for 2001, the pair were a career-best fifteenth in the Arctic Rally. They were 21st in the Pohjarmaa event and third in Group N on the prestigious Mantta Rally. This event is the traditional warm-up for Rally Finland, and many international drivers take part. Sadly, Rally Finland itself brought another retirement for Minna. She was still thirteenth in the Finnish championship, however.

2002 was a quieter year. Minna was working with new co-driver Sirkka Rautiainen for the first time. They tackled the Finnish championship and entered the Arctic Rally again, but retired. The Lancer was getting a little long in the tooth and reliability was a problem, so it was time for a change, although that particular car had given Minna some of her best results, and her best championship finish - ninth.

Her car of choice for 2003 was a Honda Civic Type R. She and Sirkka were 31st in the Arctic Rally, on Minna's favoured snow surface, at the start of the season, and managed to pick up some other creditable finishes in the Finnish series. They were 38th at Osuuspankki and 43rd at Vaakuna, against very large fields including World Championship drivers like Jani Paasonen and Sebastian Lindholm. It was a shortened season for her, as she was sharing the car with Joonas.

Having learnt a lot about how the Civic worked and forged a good relationship with Sirkka, Minna attacked her national championship again with renewed vigour. She was an unassuming 61st in the Arctic rally on her sixth attempt and 55th on the Exide Rally, but at Mantsala she was an excellent thirteenth. On the summer Syrus Rally she was 31st.

A year off followed in 2005. Minna concentrating on finishing her driving instructor training and did not compete in any rallies.

In 2006, Minna tackled six Finnish National championship rallies, in a bid to win the Ladies' Trophy yet again. She succeeded, after finishing as the first female in all but one rally. Her co-driver was Sirkka Rautiainen once more. She also made a move into historic competition, taking up the co-driver's notes for Timo Koskisen in his Ford Cortina GT, after co-driving for her brother in three events late in the season.

Minna had a long break from competition between 2006 and 2016, and presumably settled down to life as a performance driving instructor and TV producer in Finland. Her website was taken down and her page on the family site was no longer updated. However, she made a comeback in 2016, driving a BMW 325i in two Finnish rallies. She was seventeenth in a snow rally at Keurusselka, from 79 finishers, and fifteenth in the historic Mantta rally.

Since then, she has co-driven occasionally for Ville Lehtonen in a BMW. In 2020, she entered the Kuhmoisten Sora-Ralli in the BMW, but it was cancelled after two stages. 

Co-driven by her niece Evellina Lindroos, she made a comeback in 2023. She started with the Jyvaskylan Talviralli in a Citroen C2, finishing 24th, then did three more events in the BMW. She won her class in the Itaralli and the Orimattlila Ralli. 

(Image from http://www.autourheilu.fi/)

Jennie-Lee Hermansson

Jennie-Lee is Swedish. She was born in 1980 and has been rallying since 1999. Her first car was a 1300cc Renault Clio, which she used for national events, and, bravely, the Rally of Sweden in her first year of competition. She and co-driver Stefan Bergman were 63rd.

The Clio was replaced by a similarly-engined Suzuki Swift in 2000, and a Volkswagen Polo in 2001. At first, Jennie stuck to Swedish rallies, but by 2002 she had branched out again and was driving in Germany. Her first big German event was the ADAC Eiffel-Rallye, as part of the Joki Motorsport team. She and Sune Elofsson failed to finish. However, on the 3-Städte-Rallye later in the season she was 24th with Anders Wänn. They won class N1 and were 19th in Group N.

Her international adventures carried on in 2003. As well as a number of Swedish events, Jennie sampled her first British rallies towards the end of the season, still in the Polo. She impressed many onlookers with her car control, although she did not set the leaderboards alight.

After her positive British experience, Jennie-Lee moved to the UK in 2004 in order to contest the whole British Rally Championship, with 22 Motorsport. Her car was a Group N Subaru Impreza and her new co-driver was the experienced Howard Davies. They started the season well at the Pirelli Rally in Gateshead, coming 17th overall, fifth in the Production class, and earning a Ladies' Award for Jennie. On the Rally of Wales they were far less lucky; Jennie crashed the Subaru hard on a forest stage. The incident was caught on the in-car camera and was a staple of rally video collections that year.

The car was rebuilt for the Scottish Rally and it was business as usual: 18th overall, another fifth in Group N. The Ladies' award went to Lorna Smith this time, who was much more experienced on the Scottish roads. Jennie struggled more with the tarmac terrain of Duns on the Jim Clark Memorial Rally a month later; she could only muster a 33rd position after a string of problems. She took away the award for the best finish by a non-UK driver as a consolation.

By the time the Manx Rally came around, Jennie was much more proficient on tarmac and she was 22nd, seventh in class. She also earned her second Ladies' Prize. She improved some more in Ulster with an 18th place, sixth in Group N. The Ladies' prize went to Lucy Whitford this time, as this event required a female co-driver for the award. Her arch-rival Lorna Smith was the top female on the Trackrod Rally a month later, but Jennie remained consistent with 16th and fifth in Production. She saved the best until last, coming twelfth on the Tempest Rally, fourth in Group N and first lady. She was eleventh in the final points table, a point behind Lorna Smith and ahead of several more experienced and better-regarded drivers than herself.

Jennie returned to Sweden for 2005, where she became professionally involved with former WRC driving veteran Kenneth Eriksson. Eriksson now acts as her mentor and has high regard for her driving style. Jennie also became involved with the Mitsubishi works team in Sweden, putting together a decent sponsorship package with a view to competing in the Production WRC eventually. Mitsubishi's decision to pull out of the World Rally Championship and stop producing more new homologated Lancers cast some uncertainty on her plans, meaning that she only took part in a few local events in Sweden for two seasons. Despite this setback, Mitsubishi Sweden got behind her for the 2007 calendar. Eight years after her first World Rally, Jennie contested the Rally of Sweden in February 2007. Sadly, she retired after stage ten due to a crash which left her navigator Markku Kangas injured.

Since then, she has undertaken a programme of Swedish national rallies and rallysprints, usually accompanied by Gemma Price or Serena Rapezzi in 2007 and 2008. In 2009, her sponsor was John Deere. Driving a Lancer Evo 9, she was fifth in the ESAB Rallyt, with a class win, third in the Lars-Erik Torph Memorial event and fourth in the Nyckeljakten Rally, with a Group N win. Her navigator was Ola Persson.

She continued to enjoy sponsorship from John Deere and a list of other companies in 2010, and competed once more with Ola Persson in Sweden. She also carried out some testing in the Lancer. Further information about which rallies Jennie-Lee drove in is proving hard to track down, due to language barriers. There are many in-car videos freely available, but little in the way of results lists. The situation appears to be the same for 2011 and 2012. In 2011, she competed in Rally Sweden, and was 22nd overall.

In 2012, she and new navigator Ida Hegge were 25th in the ESAB Rally. They also contested the Rally Killingen, finishing 24th. Driving with Stefan Gustavsson, she was fourteenth in the Gastabudstrofen event, and retired from the Dan Anderssons Minne rally.

In 2013, with some oil company sponsorship, she planned to contest the Swedish Championship. Her challenge ended up being only four rounds long, driving a Lancer Evo IX with Ida Hegge. She was 41st in the Vinterpokalen and 28th in the South Swedish Rally. Later on, she crashed out of the AM-Snapphanerallyt and suffered technical problems in the East Sweden Rally.

In 2014, she stuck with the same car, but had a new co-driver: Stefan Ohlsson. She drove in mainly gravel rallies, and had a best finish of twelfth, in the Karlstad Rally.

Still in the Lancer, she took part in the Swedish championship in 2015. Her season was blighted by a string of non-finishes. The Edane Rally was her best event, and she was 16th overall.

Jennie-Lee did some Swedish rallies in 2016, driving a Lancer. It was quite a short season for her, but she was rewarded with a third place in the AD Bildelar Ludvika Jubileumsrushen rally.

Her 2017 season was quite similar. She drove a Lancer Evo IX and was third in two rallysprint events, the Ludvika Rushen and the Grandgardesprinten.

She sat out most of the 2018, only returning to the Lancer's driving seat in September for the Ekilstuna Rally. She finished, although down on power due to intercooler problems. She also took part in an autocross event at Lima.

(Image from www.jennie-lee.com)