Ellen Lohr

Ellen as a DTM winner

Born in Germany in 1965, Ellen started early in motorsport, and was karting competitively at the age of thirteen. She was German regional champion in 1983, as a senior, and had World Championship experience, before moving on to Formula Ford in 1984. She remained in the German series until 1987, when she graduated again to Formula Three, having scored at least one win.

It wasn't long before Ellen's talent and experience paid off and in 1989 she was seventh in German F3 as part of a strong field. She branched out into European races the following season and was rewarded with a superb second place in the rain at the blue-riband Monaco race. She was signed by the Marko team for Formula 3000 but only entered one race, for which she failed to qualify. This may have been the impetus behind the change of direction in her sporting career in 1991.

1991 was the year Ellen, then twenty-six, became a full-time professional racer. Having competed occasionally in touring cars since her earliest racing days, she became part of the AMG Mercedes team for the DTM touring car series. Her first season was a learning year, but probably the greatest achievement of her career came in 1992. At that season's first race at the Hockenheim Grand Prix circuit, Ellen won a sprint race, a first for a woman in the DTM. She followed it up with a strong second place at Avus, against established touring car specialists and ex-F1 drivers such as 1982 World Champion Keke Rosberg. She ended the year tenth in the standings.

Sadly, Ellen was unable to follow up her stellar year. She continued to race a Mercedes in the DTM until 1995, with some solid midfield places but no fireworks. In 1995, upon the DTM's cancellation, she moved across to the short-lived ITC world touring car series with Zakspeed Mercedes, but could only muster 17th and 25th in the points in her two seasons there.

Her prior success and links with Mercedes led to a test with the Sauber F1 team being arranged, she revealed in an interview with The Race in 2021. The team's schedule was thrown into confusion by a serious accident in practice for the Monaco Grand Prix, which left their driver Karl Wendlinger seriously injured. The team was unable to rearrange the test and its arrangement with Mercedes concluded at the end of the season.

It was time for another change of direction. Sticking with Mercedes, she entered the European Truck Racing Championships and tried her luck there for a couple of years, before moving back to touring cars in 1999. She broke the habit of a lifetime and switched to a Honda for the German Touring Cup, but it seemed to be the lift her fortunes needed. The following year she changed again for BMW and the results started to appear again. She was fifth in German Super Touring and a regular visitor to the top ten again. There was more of the same in 2001 and she was seventh this time.

Ellen tried something different again in 2002; US-style stock car racing in the V8 Star series, and was twelfth overall. The following year she was part of the Formula One-supporting Porsche Supercup and came eleventh after a couple of good finishes.

Yet another change beckoned in 2004. Switching disciplines completely, Ellen turned her hand to rally raids with a Mitsubishi. After a couple of promising finishes in desert events, she proved her mettle by coming third in the Baja Deutschland, way ahead of her German rival Andrea Mayer, who had been tipped to win. She tackled some more cross-country rallies in 2005 in a Mitsubishi Pajero and went some way to overcoming the disappointment of going out of the Paris-Dakar early on. She took part in World Cup raids in Spain, Portugal and the United Arab Emirates and was second on the Baja Deutschland.

A second Dakar beckoned at the beginning of 2006. Ellen and her navigator Detlef Ruf started well, and by Stage Six had worked their way across the Mauritanian desert into the top thirty. However, disaster struck on Stage Twelve. Another competitor crashed into the duo's buggy, leaving them needing assistance from the service truck. The resulting carnage meant that the stage was declared impassible for trucks and the service vehicle was delayed by six hours, dropping Ellen and Detlef out of the running. The rest of the stage was cancelled.

Despite her early-season disappointment, Ellen was slated to enter the whole Cross-Country World Cup in 2006, driving for Mercedes once again, in their new ML prototype. However, results suggest that she did not drive in any of the major raids that year.

She returned to the Dakar for a third time in 2007, driving a Mercedes with Antonia de Roissard. They did not finish. The pair did not get the chance to try again the following year due to the cancellation of the Dakar. They did enter its impromptu replacement, the Central Europe Rally, but retired on Stage Three. They then turned their full attention to stage rallying for most of the season, driving a Subaru Impreza in six events. Their last German championship outing was the Saarland Rally, which ended with the Impreza upside down in a river. Thankfully, both crew members escaped unscathed. They managed to finish their other rallies.

As well as rallying, Ellen returned to her circuit roots with a one-off outing in the Nürburgring 24 Hours. She drove an Alfa Romeo 147 with Hubert Nacken, Chris Vogler and Martin Richter, but did not finish.

In 2009, the Dakar Rally was moved to South America in a bid to escape the political unrest and safety concerns of Northwest Africa. Ellen drove a FleetBoard Mercedes but yet again, failed to finish.

In 2010, she returned to the track for some sportscar action. She was driving a Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 as a guest driver in the FIA GT3 series and the ADAC GT Masters. The ADAC series gave her a 15th and a DNF at Oschersleben, while the FIA races went much more smoothly: Ellen achieved a fourth and a third at Silverstone.

She also drove in the Dakar, still relocated to South America, in a Mercedes R-Class, this time as a press reporter. After a successful run of reports, she continued this role in 2011 and 2012.

In a surprising move, Ellen came out of her semi-retirement from competitive motorsport for the 2012 season and announced that she would be racing a truck once more, in the FIA European Truck Racing Championship. Her machinery would be by Mercedes, as always. With a best finish of ninth, she was not among the front-runners. She was 21st overall.

Her truck exploits continued in 2013, driving a Freightliner. She was still not quite quick enough to score points, but she managed one eleventh place at Zolder, and a string of twelfths in the later two-thirds of the season. These were mid-field finishes. She was unplaced in the championship.

For Mercedes, she also competed in some off-road events, mostly in Germany, including some rounds of the German Off Road Meisterschaft. She also did some historic racing at the Nürburgring.

In 2014, she drove for MAN in the European Truck Racing Championship. Towards the end of the season, she managed to finish in the points three times. Her best finishes were two eighth places, at Jarama and Le Mans. At Jarama, she also managed a couple of tenths. She was 16th overall in the championship.

She returned to the European Truck Racing Championship in 2015, driving for the Truck Sport Bernau team in a MAN. She was tenth in the championship, with two fifth places as her best finishes, at the Hungaroring.

Her 2016 season in the ETRC was her best yet. She was ninth in the championship, with a new best finish of second, which she achieved in the last race of the season, at Le Mans.

She did not compete in 2017 or for most of 2018, although she revealed plans to enter the Whelen Euro NASCAR series in 2019. Her season was not a huge success and her best finish in the Dexwet DF1 Racing Chevrolet Camry was a fourteenth place in the Elite 1 class, at Franciacorta and Most.

In addition to endurance events and truck racing, she also commentates on motorsport for German television. She now competes for Monaco, her adopted home country. Recently, she has become increasingly outspoken on issues affecting women in motorsport, such as the FIA's Girls On Track karting programme and the 2018 Formula E track test for female drivers hosted by Saudi Arabia.

(Image from www.dtm.com)

Elisabeth Junek

This Czech lady is perhaps one of the most famous speedqueens, best known for her heroics on the legendary Targa Florio. Until the arrival of Tomas Enge onto the Formula One scene in 2001, she was also the only Czech to have driven in Grands Prix.

Elisabeth, also known as Eliška Junková, was married to a banker called Čeněk Junek. He was interested in motor racing and competed at national level. Initially, Eliška had little interest in cars, but she warmed to them, and by 1923 was acting as Čeněk’s riding mechanic. She began driving herself in 1924. Her first race was at Pilsen and she came away with a win in the touring car class. She continued to compete in a Bugatti Type 30 known as Babushka in 1925, and soon her achievements on the track began to eclipse her husband's. She won her first race at Zbraslav-Jiloviste that year.

Her first major win came in 1926, an international race held in Prague, with Babushka. Soon afterwards, Elisabeth visited the Bugatti factory and drove away a much newer Type 35. Although she never drove for the works Bugatti team, she was a good friend of Ettore Bugatti and especially his daughter, L'Ebé. Whenever she bought cars from them she always drove them away herself instead of having them delivered. It was in this car that she was runner-up in the 2000cc class of the Klausen hillclimb. She was eleventh overall, after driving through wet, changing conditions for the duration of the twenty-minute climb.

Elisabeth became more ambitious in 1927 and attempted the treacherous Targa Florio for the first time. An accident broke the steering of her Bugatti this time, but she would be back. More pleasing was her fourth place in the German Grand Prix. She won the touring car class and was the first Bugatti home after a fleet of Mercedes-Benzes. That year, she was also scheduled to enter two French races at Montlhèry, but pulled out. No reason is stated for her Grand Prix de l’A.N.C.F., but she decided to enter the Ladies’ event of the Coupe du Salon in October. The result seems to have been lost.

She had unfinished business to attend to in Sicily, so she entered the Targa Florio again in 1928. She caused a sensation by leading for most of the arduous race, until a broken water pump threatened to put her out towards the end. Elisabeth got the problem sorted and fought back to an excellent fifth place. Alberto Divo was the winner.

For a change, Čeněk decided to drive with his wife in the German Grand Prix that year. Unfortunately he was involved in an accident and was killed. Elisabeth retired from motorsport forthwith. It was not until much later that she was coaxed back into a car for some demonstration races. She remained active for most of her life and died, as old as the century, in 1994.

She is credited as being one of the first drivers to recognise the benefits of walking the course before a race, memorising the corners and noting any hazards. This habit served her well on the Targa Florio.

(Image from www.grandprix.com)

Dorothy Levitt

When this post was first written, very little was known about this very early speedqueen. Few pictures of her seemed to exist. What glimpses there were of her life showed her to be a larger-than-life personality, straight from a novel or a TV drama.

In recent years, Dorothy has been the subject of a television programme starring Penelope Keith, which recreated part of a record-breaking promotional journey that Dorothy made from London to Liverpool and back again, in 1905, driving a De Dion-Bouton. This rekindled interest in her and her career, and it is now known that she was born Dorothy Elizabeth Levi in London, in 1882. Her Jewish family anglicised their name to Levitt.

Dorothy probably first came into contact with motorsport through her work; she was employed as a secretary at the Napier motor company. She became acquainted with Francis Selwyn-Edge, a senior figure at the company, and through him, motor racing. It is unclear how their relationship developed, or its precise nature, or why Selwyn-Edge took such an interest in her. He claimed that it was he who arranged for her to learn to drive and maintain a car, possibly sending her to Paris for training. SCH Davis, in Atalanta, claims that Napier apprentice and future racer, Leslie Callingham was the one who taught her to drive. The truth has probably disappeared; both Edge and, in her way, Dorothy, were keen and effective self-promoters, who seemed to have a good relationship with the contemporary press. Dorothy's "authorised" version of this story, written by C Byng-Hall in the introduction to The Woman and the Car, states that she learned to drive at home, "in the West Country", in the car of a visiting friend. They went together to watch a local driving competition, with Dorothy at the wheel, and her motoring prowess so impressed a watching motor company manager, that he asked her to drive one of his company's cars in a competition. This manager could have been Edge, but this story is at best, a simplification.

For a long time, Dorothy’s true origins were obscured. She is sometimes described as a skilled horsewoman, an enthusiastic angler and markswoman, implying that she was from country stock, but her urban upbringing, and her family’s commercial background, do not support this idea of Dorothy as a country lady. She did not live in the West Country, but had grown up in London, and had familial links with the south coast. In her own writings, she never openly acknowledged her time as a typist and secretary.

Dorothy began her high-speed career in motor boat racing. She was quick and competitive. In the first running of the Harmsworth Trophy in 1903, she is widely accepted as the victor, even though Edge, as the owner of the craft, took the credit for the win. He is reputed to have hired Dorothy to skipper the boat for him. That year she also set the first Water Speed Record, managing 19 miles per hour in a Napier-engined speedboat.

By 1903 she was also racing cars, under the tutelage of Edge. Women were never excluded from speed eventing and Dorothy excelled in it, winning her class at the Southport Speed Trial, in a Gladiator. Using a similar car, she competed around Britain in reliability trials. According to her diary, she won one such event in September that year, over 1000 miles. She also claimed to be the first woman to take part in "public motor car competition" in 1903, but omits to name the competition. (This is incorrect: Louise Bazalgette competed in the 1000 Mile Trial in 1900). According to SCH Davis, she finished "quite high in the results" in a 1000-mile trial, but does not mention which one. She was also thirteenth in a London to Edinburgh trial. Her first hillclimb was to be the Rising Sun climb, at Edgehill in Warwickshire, but her car, the Gladiator, was out of order, so she acted as Edge’s passenger instead. Napier were the importers for Gladiator in the UK, as well as selling De Dion-Bouton cars, another marque associated with Dorothy. 

The accounts of her racing are not detailed, but in 1904 she became the first female "works" driver to get to compete. She drove a De Dion in the Hereford 1000 Mile Trial and would have won a gold medal, had it not been for a carburation problem. This particular trial was five days long, and she completed it without any assistance. For this, she received a silver medal. There are also reports of her winning a motor race on the Isle of Wight, although there could some confusion here with a boat race she entered at Cowes. She won her class in the Southport trial again, in a Napier, and also in a Blackpool trial.

The former secretary continued to enter speed events for De Dion and Napier the following season, driving a formidable 80hp car for the latter. Her most high-profile appearance that year was at the inaugural Brighton Speed Trials, where she impressed doubtful onlookers with a competent display of driving. She is said to have won a match race against the pioneer French driver, Camille du Gast, setting a women's speed record in the process, but the official reports from the event make no mention of this. If it happened at all, it was a private race. She also won one of the classes in which she was entered, and the Autocar Challenge Trophy. Contemporary sources mention an actual women's race, but Dorothy did not enter this. It was organised by the Ladies' Automobile Club, of which she was not a member.

In the main speed trial section, she was beaten to the Ladies Prize by Claudia Lasell, driving a Benz. At least five female drivers took part in the event that year. For the Blackpool trials, she drove an even more powerful Napier, with 100hp, but her result is not forthcoming. In a De Dion, she drove in the Scottish Trial, completing each day's section without stopping, and winning an award for the manufacturer.

Following her Brighton exploits, Dorothy was offered a drive in the Tourist Trophy race, for the French Mors team. This was a full race, on a road course, and she was desperate to give it a try. However, Edge vetoed the idea, wanting to protect the Napier company's interest. Dorothy, by now, was a Napier "works" driver, representing the Napier sales department. Officially, she pulled out of the event due to ill-health, but no-one was fooled.

In 1906 she set the Ladies' Record at the Shelsley Walsh hillclimb in a 50hp Napier. She made the climb in 92.4 seconds, around 12 seconds off the winning time and knocking around three minutes of the previous record set by June Larkins. She was sixth overall. The record stood until 1913. As well as the Shelsley record, she set another in the Blackpool speed trial, was third in a hillclimb at Aston Clinton, and broke the world Women’s Land Speed record, all in Napier machinery. In the Herts County Club climb, she defeated her team-mate Cecil Edge, cousin to Selwyn. In a De Dion, she was sixth in the Coventry and Warwickshire hillclimb. This all must have made up somewhat for the disappointments she suffered that season and the last: narrowly missing out on a win in a famous challenge run against Freddie Coleman's steam car, and not being able to take part in her first proper race.

Having proved herself a worthy opponent on British trials and hillclimbs, Dorothy made her appearance on the continental scene in 1907. She won her class at the Gaillon hillclimb in France. This time she also had the prestige of being part of the winning Napier team. Apparently, she was thirteenth or fourteenth in the Herkomer Trial, and first lady driver. Reports also exist of her being the runner-up in a speed trial at Bexhill on Sea, and in some sort of Concours event associated with it. This was in her own De Dion-Bouton, rather than a works Napier, which she used for the trial itself.

The Brooklands racing circuit opened its gates that year, and again Dorothy tried to enter a full race. Although she had the backing of Edge and Napier this time, the Brooklands authorities would not allow it. Her name appears in the race programme as the car's entrant, and it was driven by another Napier works driver. Intriguingly, the photograph above shows Dorothy seated in a racing car, with the Brooklands banking in the background. The occasion on which this picture was taken is unclear. However, Edge set a 24-hour speed record there in 1907, and was supported by two other Napier drivers. Dorothy may have been involved in this in some way, although it would have been somewhat unusual for Napier not to exploit the inherent publicity value of it. Edge's two teams of support drivers were all named in the programmes as regular, male Napier works drivers.

In 1908, she managed a penalty-free run in the taxing Herkomer Trial in Germany and won an award, a silver plaque, in the Prinz Heinrich Trial section. This was for completing the trial without stopping. She was second in the Aston-Clinton hillclimb, and also drove in another climb at Trouville in France. However, only the car owner’s name appears on the entry list. According to her own writings, she was second in the Aston Clinton hillclimb she had entered the year previously. It seems to have been this year that she took part in the South Harting hillclimb, using a Minerva for the first time. The Napier company also imported Minerva cars into the UK.

Dorothy Levitt's motorsport career petered out here, but her interest in motoring remained. She published several books on driving, the most famous being 1909’s The Woman And The Car. In it, she recommends keeping a hand mirror in the tool drawer under the driving seat, to enable the motorist to see behind her when necessary. The idea caught on; this is the first known use of the rear-view mirror.

After her motoring adventures, Dorothy aimed to become an aviatrix, and took flying lessons in France. It is unclear whether she ever qualified as a pilot. After 1911 or so, she disappears almost completely from public life, as a personality and a writer. Her co-operation with Edge was seemingly over; her 1909 book barely mentions his name, despite the huge influence he had on her motoring career. 

During her heyday, Dorothy was often described as being very feminine and modest in her demeanour, as well as physically small and dainty. Although her actual size would be hard to exaggerate, this idea of her as a shrinking violet seems at odds with her actual behaviour, and may well have been down to the Edge publicity machine, again. A shy and demure lady would hardly wish she had run down a police officer who had arrested her for speeding (in 1903), in a public newspaper, or deliberately outshine another female competitor (a Frau Lehmann) at a post-hillclimb reception, in an extravagant dress, as Dorothy is said to have done at Herkomer in 1907. The dress was green, a favourite colour of hers, which often appeared in the paint jobs of her cars.

One of her other recognisable quirks was that she was normally accompanied by her black Pomeranian dog, Dodo, even whilst racing. The dog was said to have bitten at least one official observer during a trial. Male competitors in the 1904 Hereford trial showed up one day with a variety of stuffed and porcelain dogs attached to their cars, to try to ridicule Dorothy. She was not offended, and retaliated by giving them all gifts of dog biscuits, at one of the receptions after the event.

As a nominal member of the Napier sales team, she gave various driving demonstrations of their latest models. She was not averse to the odd publicity stunt, such as driving a taxi in London for a Daily Express feature, despite having no cab license.

Among the other stories attributed to her, was a claim that she made a small living as a society driving instructor of sorts, and that she had taught Queen Alexandra and her daughters to drive. This has never been confirmed or denied, but reports state that the Queen was driving herself around in an electric Victoriette from at least 1901. This was before Dorothy learned to drive, in 1902 at the earliest, therefore I am inclined to disbelieve this story.

The rumours of her carrying a revolver with her on long drives, for self defence, were apparently true. This has been put down to her “hunting background”, which was probably fictitious. Separating fact from colourful story is made harder by the way that Dorothy herself sometimes wrote ambiguously in her diaries and publications, describing “motor events” without separating races, trials and even concours d’elegance. Her 1903 entry, where she describes herself as the first British female racing driver, is a case in point. She also made allusions to competing against other female drivers, such as Camille du Gast, although she may only have been comparing the performances of individual cars they drove.

Following the BBC film, various new snippets of information have surfaced about her. The Radnorian blog has uncovered various other pieces of biographical information, including a date of death in 1922, when Dorothy was still only 39. You can access Radnorian's last Dorothy-related post here.

It is not completely clear why Dorothy died so young, although her long period of reclusiveness before her untimely demise could suggest a debilitating illness of some kind. The official cause of death was morphine poisoning, and some reports state that she had been suffering from measles. Her moderate legacy was left to her sister. Although she was not hugely wealthy at the time of her death, she was far from destitute, which makes her later years that bit more mysterious. It was a sad end for a great character.

(Image source unknown)

Denise McCluggage

Denise with Stirling Moss.

Denise started out as a motorsports journalist, before embarking on a long and varied driving career in the late 1950s. She took part in many international sports car races and saloon events, picking up a number of class wins. Unusually for an American, she drove in rallies in Europe and the Americas, as well as circuit races.

She was born in 1927, and began her motorsport career through her writing. As a sports reporter, she wrote about chiefly motorsport and skiing for a number of increasingly-important American papers, and used this as a springboard for her own participation.

Her first competition car was an MG, which was upgraded to a Jaguar XK140MC a year later. She used this car in local circuit events during the 1955 and 1956 seasons. Part-way through 1956, she exchanged it for a Porsche 550 RS, in which she won a ladies’ race at Nassau Speed Week. She also tried to qualify in an Osca MT4-2AD, but only managed sixth.

Back in the Porsche in 1957, she won a Ladies’ race at Watkins Glen and came fifth in a mixed SCCA National at Montgomery. On her return to the Bahamas, she was ninth in the Nassau TT race, against a strong field, which included Masten Gregory, Stirling Moss and Olivier Gendebien. She was also fourth in the Governor’s Trophy, eighth in the Memorial Trophy and first in all three Ladies’ races.

She continued to enter SCCA events at home throughout 1958, still driving the Porsche. Her exact placings are hard to come by, but it is known that she was eighth in a National race at Lime Rock in June, entered by Briggs Cunningham. This year, she seems to have made her first forays into European racing: she was seventh the Rheinland-Pfalz Preis for 1300cc sportscars at the Nürburgring, driving an Alfa Romeo Giulietta. At the end of the season, in the Bahamas, she shared a Lotus 11 Climax with Marion Lowe and was ninth in the Nassau Trophy.

Still supported by Briggs Cunningham, Denise was eighth and fifth in two SCCA races at Montgomery in 1959. She was fifth in the Porsche and eighth in an Osca 750. In a move up the motorsport ladder, she shared a similar Osca with Isabelle Haskell and Alejandro de Tomaso in the Sebring Twelve Hours. They were 18th overall, second in class. In the familiar Porsche, she made the step up to the USAC Road Racing Championship at Lime Rock, and was twelfth. At Nassau, she drove the Osca again and was not quite as competitive as in previous years: 17th in the Governor’s Trophy, 27th in the Nassau Trophy and thirteenth in a Governor’s Trophy preliminary.

It was this year that she got her first taste of rallying, having been selected for the Triumph team to run in its three-car effort in the Cross Canada Rally.

There were no more USAC races for Denise in 1960, but she continued her rise with another run at Sebring. She and Marianne Rollo drove the Osca in the first part of the race, until a bearing jammed after an oil leak.

In 1961, she drove a Ferrari 250 GT SWB with Allen Eager. They won their class at Sebring and were tenth overall. The Nürburgring 1000Km brought a DNF, but when Denise returned to the States with the car, she won two National races in it. Denise later claimed that this car, which she owned herself, was one of her favourites; she drove it on the road and to and from race meetings, as well as on the track.

The Ferrari was traded for an Osca S1000 the following year. Denise and Allen Eager went out of the Sebring Twelve Hours very early after an accident, starting the season badly. Denise, driving solo, is listed as a driver in both of the Bridgehampton events, driving the Osca and an Austin Healey Sprite respectively. She crashed out in the Osca.

In 1963, undeterred by a bad previous season, she did a number of US and European races with Christabel Carlisle, in the latter’s MGB. Their fortunes were mixed: they went out early on yet again at Sebring, but did manage a third in class at Brands Hatch. It was about now that Denise really got into, rallying. She drove and navigated in the UK and France, usually in a Mini. It was in the Mini that she navigated Terry Hunter to the end of the Tour de France. In the RAC Rally, she drove a Ford Falcon with Rosemary Seers, but got stuck in a ditch. The two also retired from the Alpine Rally, for unknown reasons. With a different Ford, a Cortina, she appears to have finished the Spa-Sofia-Liege marathon with Anne Hall.

She co-drove for Anne Hall in 1964. Their car for the Acropolis as a Rover 3L. On the Monte Carlo Rally, they drove a Ford Falcon, but their car details for the Spa-Sofia-Liege event have been lost.

After 1964, Denise fades from the competition scene somewhat, and her journalistic career takes over. She was one of the founders of what became the car magazine, Auto Week, in the States, and wrote many articles, columns and books about cars and driving. She continued to publish until shortly before her death, in May 2015.

(Image from www.barcboys.com)

Deborah Kibble

New Zealand's varied climate and terrain makes it an excellent place for rallying. Deborah married into a New Zealand rallying family and she too was infected by rally fever. A year later she was co-driving for her husband Jamie, and a year after that they switched seats after a couple of trial runs proved that Deborah was a capable driver too.

For a few years the pair gained experience on the club rally scene. In 1998, it was time for a step up and Deborah took to driving a Group A Nissan Pulsar GTI-R, as driven by Tommi Makinen in the WRC. She and Jamie were a promising 42nd on their first Rally New Zealand, and things were going well until a dramatic accident near the end of the season. The Nissan was a write-off and Deborah and Jamie were lucky to survive the multiple airborne roll. The car was replaced with a Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI, and Deborah has campaigned in various incarnations of that vehicle ever since.

She returned to New Zealand's WRC round in 1999 with Catherine Dobbie and finished 33rd. By now she was competing in the NZ championships and scoring points. 2000 brought a Rally NZ retirement with Jamie back in the co-driver's seat, but the reunited pair finished the following year, in 45th. 2001 was probably Deborah's best year so far. She recorded a World Championship finish and also became New Zealand Group N Rally Champion outright, after an excellent string of results in her domestic championship.

Still in the ageing Evo VI, she defended her crown in 2002 but lost it. She also retired from Rally NZ but was a strong twelfth in the Rotorua Rally, a round of the Asia-Pacific Championship. She was fifth in Group N against an international field.

Deborah sat out most of 2003 while searching for more sponsorship. Although it was difficult, she managed to secure a deal for 2004 with Mitsubishi New Zealand.

In a brand-new Evo VIII named Tommi, after Tommi Makinen,, Deborah returned to the stages for the 2004 season. Back at the Rotorua, they were thirteenth, and twelfth at the Otago Rally in Dunedin. In between, Deborah and Jamie both entered the Race To The Sky hillclimb. Deborah came seventeenth overall, and third rally car, in this classic event.

One of her biggest tests of the year came at the third round of the NZ championships. The weather for the Southland Rally was atrocious, with mountain snow and rain causing havoc. In the freezing conditions, she took advantage of the troubles of others to record her first stage win. The leader was held up by stranded smaller cars and Deborah used her better road position to achieve a good time. She was fifteenth overall and fifth in Group N. It was still wet and cold for the Hawkes Bay rally, but there were fewer problems and she came thirteenth. One of their best finishes was at Nelson, where she was eleventh, and sixth in Group N, in good weather. That took her up to tenth overall in the championship. A small loss of ground in the Waikato event dropped her to eleventh overall in the championship but she kept their Group N position.

Deborah did not compete at all for much of 2005. Tommi was sold in March and, wanting to try something new, Deborah bought a Kawasaki ZX6R motorcycle with the proceeds. Later in the season she found herself missing the stages. The bike was sold and she came back to rallying, but as a navigator rather than a driver. She sat alongside Robert Murray.

In 2006, Deborah continued to navigate for Robert Murray. Their car was a fearsome 1986 Group B Mazda RX7, formerly driven by Neil Allport. The classic bug had truly bitten; she then acquired an ex-Ross Dunkerton EX Mitsubishi Lancer. The intention was to compete in some more classic rallies, both as a navigator and a driver. The Lancer has been in action on the historic stages (and some more modern ones) of New Zealand since 2007. Deborah’s co-drivers have included Nicola Burley, Robbie McKenzie and Heather Johnston. She now describes herself as competing for fun rather than titles.

In 2014, she drove in the Canterbury and Otago Rallies, finishing 21st and 27th respectively, in the Lancer. She was thirteenth in the 2015 Otago Rally, but did not finish the Rally of Canterbury. Heather Johnston was her co-driver.

This arrangement continued for 2016. Deborah was tenth in the Mainland New Zealand Series, in the EX Lancer. Her best overall result was 20th, in the Spring Rally. Using the same car, she did a few New Zealand rallies in 2017.

She had a new car in 2018: a Toyota Starlet. Her best finish was a class win and 31st overall in the Lawrence Rally. The EX Lancer was out again in 2019 and netted its owner three finishes from five rallies. The best of these was 24th and sixth in class on the Rankleburn Rally. Sadly, it did not finish its only 2020 outing, the Spring Rally, due to a broken differential. She did better in 2021, finishing two of her three rallies.

In 2022, she brought out the Lancer for the South Canterbury and Otago Rallies. She was 29th in the Otago event and did not finish the South Canterbury Rally. She entered the Otago event in 2023, but did not finish after an off-road excursion. Driving a different car, an Impreza, she finished the Otago Rally in 2024, in 26th place. The Impreza came out again in 2025 for the Subaru H6 Cup, in which Deborah was fourth. Her best finish overall was thirteenth in the Catlins Rallysprint.

(Thanks to Deborah herself for her contribution.)
(Image source unknown)

Danica Patrick

Danica in 2014

Danica Patrick is the most successful and visible female driver in recent motorsport history.

Danica began her racing career in karting at the age of ten. After a couple of learning years, she won several prestigious championships and set lap records that have not been bettered to this day. When the time came for her to switch to cars, she and her family decamped to Milton Keynes, England, to race in the ultra-competitive junior single-seater formulae there. In 1998 and 1999 she raced in Formula Vauxhall, with some good finishes, coming tenth in the championship in 1999. She moved on to Formula Ford in 2000, with Haywood Racing, who operated as the works Mygale team. That year she made history by finishing second in the prestigious Formula Ford Festival, a first for a female driver and the best for an American since Danny Sullivan in 1988.

She remained at Haywood for most of 2001, but the Mygale was off the pace that year. Her average finishing place was tenth and funds were running out, so she dropped out before the end of the season and returned home. At the time it seemed like a bad move, but it paid off handsomely.

It did not quite seem that way the end of 2001, when she had quit the UK Formula Ford championship and failed to secure drives in British F3 and the ALMS. She tested an F3 car for Carlin Motorsport at Pembrey but nothing came of it. Not long afterwards, she and her fellow American Patrick Long were linked to a works ALMS drive in a BMW M3, but BMW had already decided to finish its sportscar programme. It was a win in the Pro division of the annual Toyota Pro Celebrity race which brought her back into the limelight in 2002.

Danica, from Illinois, was signed on a long-term development deal with Rahal Racing. The result was that she competed in the Champ Car series in the USA for two seasons, and Danica held hopes that this could lead to a Formula One seat. She got the call from Rahal in mid-2002 and was immediately entered for some Barber Dodge Pro Series races, to re-familiarise herself with the tracks. She competed in five races in all and acquitted herself well. Her best finish was fourth, in Vancouver.

The second part of Rahal's driver development plan took her to the 2003 Toyota Atlantic series, which supports the CART championship. She impressed immediately with a third place at Monterey. For most of the season she was a steady top-ten finisher, beside other up-and-coming stars like Ryan Dalziel. She saved her best until the last round in Miami, where she was second.

The team also entered her in some American Le Mans Series sportscar races in 2003 and Danica was said to be keen to race there again.

Still getting back into the swing of ovals, she spent another year in Atlantics before graduating to the Indy Racing League. Her best 2004 finish was another runner-up spot, at Portland. She was an almost permanent fixture in the top ten that year.

Backed by David Letterman and Bobby Rahal, Danica really captured the public imagination in her first IRL season, in 2005. It started inauspiciously, but by May, the Illinois girl was making headlines. On her first attempt at the hallowed Indy 500, she qualified in second position and was widely tipped in the press as a potential winner. Danicamania was here.

On raceday itself, Danica fought hard on the track and managed to work her way back up the order after a spin, narrowly avoiding two other accidents. Gambling with pitstops paid off and she led for two periods, 19 laps in total. Eventually she was reeled in by the eventual winner, British Dan Wheldon, then passed by Vitor Meira and Bryan Herta. She was fourth overall, a female record and an impressive rookie performance.

To prove she was no fluke, Danica followed this up with another fourth place in Texas. A couple of races later she earned her first pole, at Kansas. Her other pole positions came later, at Kentucky and Chicago. As far as actual results were concerned, she managed a series of top tens, with a second-best result of sixth at Chicago. She was twelfth overall in the standings.

Danica had a second season with the Letterman team in 2006.The year got off to a nasty start for the team when third driver Paul Dana was killed in practice at Miami. His two team-mates were withdrawn from the race as a mark of respect. This followed the earlier disappointment of failing to finish the Daytona 24 Hours in a Boss Pontiac Crawford with Rusty Wallace and Allan McNish, but the disappointment was of a different magnitude.

Some of the hype around Danica died down and her results were not as attention-grabbing, although she was a much more consistent resident in the lower half of the top ten. Her qualifying pace appears to have suffered; there were no more starts from the front row. She did not improve on her best finish from 2005 but she did match it, coming fourth at Milwaukee and Nashville. She was ninth at the end of the season.

In the middle of the year it was announced that Letterman would not be renewing their contract with Danica for the 2007 season. Rumours abounded of a switch to NASCAR and the debate over women stock car drivers was reignited for a time. She then announced that she would be driving for Andretti Green Racing instead.

Her tenure at Andretti started inauspiciously with a non-finish at Miami. However, she was back in the top ten in the next race at St Petersburg, coming eighth. She went one better at Kansas, and managed to keep her qualifying position at the Indy 500 with another eighth. At Fort Worth she scored the first of her three podium positions that season: a third. She was also third at Nashville and second at Detroit. This left her seventh overall.

She stayed with Andretti Green for the 2008 season. After a sixth and a tenth at Homestead and St Petersburg, Danica made history at the Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. She beat Helio Castroneves to win the race, a first for her and a first for a female driver. The media went wild again, mostly in a positive way. Unfortunately, her next two races, Kansas and the Indy 500, ended in retirement, despite top-five qualification spots.

The remainder of her season was fairly inconsistent, although she did achieve seven top-tens out of twelve more races. The best of these was fifth, at Nashville and Sonoma. She was sixth in the final standings, her best so far.

2009 was a good year for Danica, although she did not post another win. Still driving for Andretti Green, she finished consistently in and around the top five, with the exception of the season-opening St Petersburg round. She was fifth in the Indy 500, and was fifth in the championship at the end of the season.

In 2009, she also took part in the Daytona 24 Hours with Childress-Howard Motorsports. She was eighth, alongside Andy Wallace, Rob Finlay and Casey Mears. Their car was a Pontiac Crawford Daytona prototype.

In 2010, Danica launched a two-pronged attack on the US motorsport scene, making her debut in the NASCAR Nationwide Series with JR Motorsports. Her car was a Chevrolet. Despite early sixth places in an ARCA warm-up event and a NASCAR regional race, she struggled somewhat in NASCAR proper, with a best finish of 21st out of thirteen races. In the IRL, she maintained her position from 2009. After a shaky start to the season and some poor positions, she earned a best finish of second at Texas, and six further top-tens. She was sixth at Indianapolis.

Her NASCAR results showed development in 2011, with a fourth and two tenth places at Las Vegas, Chicago and Daytona respectively, plus several more top twenty finishes. After twelve races, she was 26th overall. On the Indycar side, she had an uneventful year, with a best finish of fifth at Milwaukee. Although she scored several other top tens, including a tenth at the Indy 500, her star was no longer in the ascendant. This would be her last IRL season, and she finished tenth.

Although she had bowed out of open-wheel competition, Danica was nowhere near ready for retirement in 2012, and moved into NASCAR full-time. She took part mainly in the Nationwide series, with some outings in the Sprint Cup. Her team was JR Motorsport, and her car a Chevrolet. Her first Nationwide race of the year, at Daytona, began with a pole, but ended with a disappointing 38th overall. Her first good result was an eighth at Texas, the sixth round of the championship. She managed three more top ten finishes, plus others close to the top ten, and was tenth in the final standings. In the Sprint Cup, she was driving for Stewart-Haas Racing, in a similar car. She only entered ten races, finishing eight, with a best finish of 17th, in her last race at Phoenix.

Danica's adventures in NASCAR continued in 2013. Her first warm-up race, a Nationwide curtain-raiser event at Daytona in a Turner Scott Chevrolet, ended in a DNF, but she bounced back the same day, with a pole position in the Sprint Cup race, and eighth overall, driving for Stewart-Haas Racing. A DNF at Phoenix, then a string of disappointing finishes followed, but she was back in the top twenty at Martinsville, where she was twelfth. Unfortunately, this was to be as good as it got; although her finishing record was reasonable, she was never again among the leaders, in qualifying or on race day. She was 27th overall.

Danica does not shy away from controversy and her presence on the US racing scene has continually raised many of the old questions about female drivers. There has been the usual talk of her getting her race seat because of her gender, plus some more accusing suggestions that her small size (5'1") gives her too much of a weight advantage.

On a more personal note, she caused a stir in 2003 by posing for FHM magazine, in a provocative shoot. Her sudden marriage to a much older man in 2005 provoked a similar reaction (she has since divorced). More recently, a feud with fellow Indy competitor Milka Duno garnered attention, thanks to a YouTube video of the two having a heated disagreement. In NASCAR, she has had to contend with well-reported negativity from the likes of Richard Petty.

In 2014, she continued to race in NASCAR for Stewart-Haas Racing. She was competing in the Sprint Cup series, with some outings in the Budweiser Shootout and Sprint Unlimited championships, at Daytona. 

The Sprint Cup was a mixed experience. She scored three top tens, with the best of these being a sixth at Atlanta. However, her average finishing spot was near the bottom of the top twenty. She was 28th overall. Her car was a Chevrolet. 

Another season with Stewart-Haas followed in 2015, driving the no. 10 Chevrolet. She managed two top-ten finishes: seventh at Martinsville and ninth at Bristol. This surpassed Janet Guthrie's record for the most top-ten NASCAR finishes for a female driver. Danica was 24th overall. Her only real low point of the season was an unseemly spat with David Gilliland. She was fined and docked points for punting him off in retaliation for an earlier crash.

She returned to the Sprint Cup in 2016, driving for Stewart-Haas with a new sponsor, Nature's Bakery. This year, she was not as competitive as she was in 2015, just missing out on a top-ten finish. Her best result was an eleventh, at Charlotte. She was 23rd in the Sprint Cup. She did somewhat better in some of the additional races promoted by NASCAR, finishing seventh in the Daytona Can-Am Duels, and ninth in the Sprint Showdown. 

At the end of 2017, she called time on her NASCAR career, thanking Stewart-Haas for all of the opportunities they had given her. The decision was partly influenced by loss of sponsors, including Nature's Bakery who pulled the plug after one season. This announcement followed another run in the Monster Energy Cup which included a tenth place at Dover, and ended in 28th overall. 

In 2018, she contested the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500 one more time as a sort of farewell tour. She qualified seventh in her final Indy 500 but crashed out on lap 67, unfortunately a repeat of what happened in the season-opening Daytona 500. 

After a period of keeping a lower profile, Danica made her debut as a Formula 1 TV analyst towards the end of 2021.

(Image from http://parade.condenast.com/18527/erinhill/danica-patrick-i-want-to-be-the-best-driver-not-the-best-female-driver/)

Christine Dacremont

Christine Dacremont was a French rally driver and sportscar racer of the 1970s. She competed between 1970 and 1979. She began her career in hillclimbing in 1970, and her first competition car was a Triumph Spitfire. She used the same car in her first rally, the Rallye Fleurs et Parfums at Grasse, also in 1970.

The Triumph was replaced with an Alpine-Renault A110 for 1971, which Christine used in French rallies. Her early results were solid, but unspectacular, the highlights being class seconds in the Rallye D'Ouest and the Paris-St.Raphaël women's rally.

In 1972, she joined Team Aseptogyl as one of its all-female driving squad. This was strangely appropriate. The team was sponsored by a brand of toothpaste and run by Bob Neyret, an ex-dentist, and Christine worked as a dental assistant when not rallying. Her first year with the team was spent in the French championship. She carried on all year, despite being on crutches for part of it, due to a motorcycle accident. Away from the team, she entered her own A110 in the Tour de France, but did not finish.

She continued with the team for the 1973 season. One of her more major outings was the Paris-St.Raphaël, in which she was fourth, in a Fiat 124 Spider. Her biggest rally of the season was her first World Championship event, the Monte Carlo Rally. Co-driven by Marie-Odile Desvignes, she retired before the finish, after the engine of her A110 developed problems. For the rest of the season, she continued to gain experience at home with the Aseptogyl set-up.

The following season, Christine gained her first experience of long-distance events. Driving a Peugeot 504, she took part in a rally raid across the Sahara, followed by the Bandama Rally on the Ivory Coast. She was not among the winners, but the experience stood her in good stead for the World Cup Rally later in the year. The route ran across the Sahara and through Europe to Munich. Christine was second in her Peugeot.

1975 heralded her return to the World Championship stages in Morocco. Unfortunately, she and Marie-Pierre Palayer crashed their Peugeot 504 and had to retire. Luckily, despite the proximity of dates, this did not interfere with Christine's first attempt at Le Mans. She was part of the Moynet-Simca team that won the 2000cc class. Her team-mates were Michele Mouton and Marianne Hoepfner. They were 21st overall.

In 1976, she won two French rallies, in Ardennes and Chataigne, at the wheel of an Alpine A310. On the world stage, she was eighth in the Rallye du Maroc and fourth in in the gruelling Bandama Rally, in a Peugeot 504. During her career, Christine proved that she was much more comfortable in endurance events, and on rough terrain. This year, her co-driver was Yveline Vannoni, who was previously the navigator for Marianne Hoepfner. Later in the year, Christine tried out a Lancia Stratos rally car, having sampled Stratos power in her second Le Mans. She partnered Lella Lombardi, and was 22nd, second in class.

The following year, she was sixth in Monte Carlo, driving the Stratos with Colette Galli. This remains one of the highest female finishes to date. The Stratos brought less joy at Le Mans: Christine and Marianne Hoepfner retired after only five hours with engine trouble. More trouble struck on the World Cup Rally, which was the most ambitious yet, running from London to Sydney. Team Aseptogyl entered two diesel-powered Fiat 131s, one for Christine and Yveline and one for Marianne Hoepfner and Bob Neyret. Christine was involved in a serious accident near Darwin and spent three months in hospital recovering, wiping out the rest of her season. Thankfully, she made a full recovery.

She returned to the stages once more in January 1978, for the Monte Carlo Rally. Her car, still run by Team Aspetogyl, was a diesel Citroen 2500 CX. She was off the pace in 69th, but not far behind the first diesel finisher, Claude Laurent in a Volkswagen. She also entered the Tour de Corse in a smaller, more proven Fiat 127, but did not finish after an oil line broke.

1978 also saw her last Le Mans appearance. She and Marianne Hoepfner drove a Peugeot WMP P76 prototype run by Aspetogyl. They lasted until the 19th hour, before a head gasket blew. Throughout the latter part of their careers, Christine and Marianne often drove together, sometimes navigating for one another in French rallies. Christine read the maps for other Aseptogyl drivers on occasion, including Corinne Koppenhague.

1979 was her last year of competition. Her main event was the Paris-Dakar Rally. She drove a Lada and does not appear to have finished. Team Aseptogyl did not last much longer, disappearing at the end of the season, although Bob Neyret returned in 1983 with an all-female driving squad for the Monte. Christine was no longer a part, nor were any of the previous major Aseptogyl drivers.

(Image copyright Libol)