Lola Grounds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shea Holbrook

Shea on the podium in 2015

Shea Holbrook races in the Pirelli World Challenge in the USA.

Despite not coming from a motorsport family, she began racing in earnest in 2008, at 18, in a Mazda Miata (MX-5), entering some rounds of the East Coast Teen Mazda Challenge, with a best finish of third, at Road Atlanta. 2008 was a busy year for her, with runs in Late Model stock cars, the Skip Barber series, NASA, FARA and SCCA races. At the end of the year, she received a scholarship from the Lyn St. James Driver Development Academy.

Her first experience of motorsport had come two years earlier, when she took a high-speed ride at the Richard Petty Driving Experience. Between then and 2008, she did some junior pick-up racing in FASCAR, and initially, competed in autocross.

2009 was quite a similar year to 2008, although a little less busy. She raced a Miata and a Honda Civic in SCCA competitions, and won the Central Florida Class H1 championship. She also did a little more single-seater racing in the Skip Barber Formula.

In 2010, she raced in the SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge, the club-level version of the Pirelli World Challenge, where she was fast from the beginning: two sixth places in her first races as a professional driver, at St. Petersburg. Her best finish was fifth, at Toronto, and she was sixth in the championship.

She stepped up to the Pirelli World Challenge in 2011, driving a Honda Civic. Very soon, she was on the pace, and she picked up her first Touring Car class win in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Although her short season meant that she was unable to challenge for overall honours, she received Sunoco Hard Charger Award and the Optima Batteries award for the best standing start.

In 2012, she had her second season in the series. She scored two podium finishes, driving a Honda Civic Si. Her consistent finishing was enough to give her fourth in a competitive championship. That year, she also set up her own team, Shea Racing, with her father, Jeff.

In 2013, she competed in Class B of the Pirelli World Challenge, in a Honda Civic. It was a slightly challenging season, and she had a best result of fourth in class, at Lime Rock. At the end, she was seventh overall. Whilst the on-track side of her career was on one of its steeper learning curves this year, her Shea Racing team was flying. It had now expanded into a multi-car team, with two regular drivers, Shea and PJ Groenke, and another guest driver.

In 2014, she moved into the TCA class, with the Civic, a move which paid off. She won her class five times, at Barber, New Jersey, Road America and Mid-Ohio, and finished on the podium in ten out of thirteen races. Her lowest final position of the year was fifth. She was runner-up at the end of the season.

Her 2015 season in the Pirelli series started well enough, with two thirds and a fifth at Circuit of the Americas, but she dropped out after a no-show at the next meeting, at Mosport. She spent the rest of the season preparing for, and competing, in jet dragster races. The car is run by the Florida Institute of Technology, and Shea won at least one IHRA title.

In 2016, she returned to the Pirelli World Challenge, with a new set of sponsors and a new Honda Accord. She just missed out on a podium position, with a best finish of fourth, at Circuit of the Americas, although her consistent top-ten finishes left her fifth in the championship. 

At the end of the season, she was made a Development Driver for Honda Racing, and took part in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill for the team.

Shea's Pirelli World Challenge season in 2017 was almost two separate seasons. She began the year in the TC class in the Accord, but struggled for pace and could not finish higher than 16th. A move back to the Civic and the TCA class in August was rewarded with a win, She was ninth overall at the end of the season.

As well as touring cars, she tried sportscars for the first time in 2017. She drove a Lamborghini Huracan in four rounds of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo USA, with multiple Indy 500 racer Pippa Mann. They scored three fourth places and were sixth in the Am class. 

Shea did not get out on the circuits much in 2018, but she did enter the Lamborghini Trofeo World Finals at Vallelunga. She was seventh and fifth in her first European races.

She did make the news when she helped Denise Mueller-Korenek to set a world record for motor-paced cycling at Bonneville Salt Flats. Denise cycled in the slipstream of a dragster, driven by Shea, reaching a speed of almost 184mph.

Her career took an unexpected turn to single-seaters in 2019. She was selected as one of the 20 female drivers for the inaugural W Series, after three rounds of assessment. During the season itself, she struggled somewhat, sometimes due to an ailing car. Her best finish was a twelfth place at Zolder and she was unplaced in the championship.

She had more luck in some ways in the F3 Americas series, although car issues dented her finishing record. Her best on-track finish was fourth at Road Atlanta and she was promoted to third by a disqualification.

At the end of 2019, Shea announced that she was pregnant and would not race in 2020.

Shea is also a multiple championship-winning water-skier, and has stated that if she was not a racing driver, she would like to be a fighter pilot. She has used her public profile to raise money and awareness for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a disease which affects her family.

(Image from shearacing.com)

Amy Ruman

Amy with the Corvette in 2015

Amy Ruman races in Trans-Am in the United States. In 2015, she made history by becoming the first woman to win the Trans-Am championship.

Before Trans-Am, Amy was a multiple SCCA Regional champion, and has been active on circuits since 1995, after a couple of seasons of autocross and Solo. She is from a motorsport family, who race as a team: Ruman Racing. Her father, Bob, is a stalwart of the Trans-Am championship. Amy’s elder sister, Niki, also raced on and off.

Among the series Amy raced in was the SCCA Spec Racer Ford championship, sharing the car with Niki and their father for the endurance races. Her performances in SRF in 1998 were enough to catch the attention of Lyn St. James, and both sisters were invited to join the Women’s Global GT Series for 1999. That year, Niki was the faster of the two, and Amy found the races rather hard going. She was thirteenth in the championship.

Her second season of the WGGTS was somewhat more successful. She had a best finish of sixth, at Sebring, and was tenth in the championship. However, the series was cancelled at the end of the season, so there were no more chances for Amy to carry on improving.

After another season in Spec Racer Ford, Amy branched out into GT-1 racing in 2002, driving the family GT-1 Corvette. She finished third in an SCCA race at Sebring, one of her best tracks.

Her second season in GT-1 racing proved that she had found her niche. She was in the top five for every race, and scored her first win, at Beverun.

After managing runner-up spots in previous years, she won her divisional GT-1 championship in 2006 and retained it in 2007. During the 2007 season, she scored five wins in seven races.

In 2005, she had begun doing some Trans-Am racing, after substituting for her father in a race he was scheduled to drive. The race was at Cleveland, and she was tenth. Her second Trans-Am race, at Topeka in 2006, gave her a fifth place.

The Trans-Am championship itself did not run for a few seasons, and when it did reappear in 2009, Amy was part of it. Her best finish was third, at Road Atlanta, in her first race of five. Another part-season in 2010 saw her consolidate her top-three credentials, with three thirds from six races

In 2011, she committed fully to Trans-Am, and won her first race, the last round of the season at Road Atlanta. This was the first win in the series for a female driver. Three further third places were enough for third in the championship.

In 2012, she won in Trans-Am twice, at New Jersey and Brainerd. Five more races ended in podium finishes; she was only out of the top three for three of her seven races. She was second overall in the championship, and was now one of the leading drivers of the series.

She ran in Trans-Am again in 2013, but could not manage a win, although she put together enough of a challenge to finish fourth in the championship. Her best finishes were two third places, at Brainerd and Sebring.

Amy was very successful in 2014, notching up another two wins, and coming third in the 2014 championship. The first victory came from her first pole position, at New Jersey, and her second, at Daytona, was the first win for an individual female driver in a professional race at the circuit.

She made even more history in 2015, by winning the championship outright, with eight race victories from twelve starts. This was a completely dominant performance, and she was 34 points (and five wins) ahead of her nearest rival.

Amy still drives the Ruman Racing Corvette. She defended her title in 2016, after winning three races and scoring three more podium finishes. 

She did not manage to make it three in a row in 2017, and had to settle for third place. Her best finishes were a pair of seconds at Watkins Glen and Road Atlanta. Contact between her Corvette and cars from other classes was a problem this year. 

In 2018, she had a solid year and finished fifth in Trans Am, now running as the Chase for the Trigon Trophy. She picked up two thirds and one second place, the second coming from Indianapolis, but she was not able to secure another win. Winner Ernie Francis Jr's dominant form kept her off the top spot.

She was third in the 2019 Trigon Trophy, with more consistent results and a best finish of third at Road Atlanta.

Despite motor racing being limited in some places in 2020 due to coronavirus, Amy did the whole Trans Am season in her Corvette. She was fourth in the championshipm with one second place at Brainerd and two thirds at Sebring and Virginia. In 2021, she added another podium finish to her impressive list, coming third at Watkins Glen. She was fifth in the TA championship.

There were no more wins in 2022, but a trio of podium finishes and a consistent overall performance gave her third in the championship. This was repeated in 2023, when she had a best finish of fourth at Road America in her Corvette.

The Corvette came out again for the 2024 Trans Am season and Amy was back on the podium, finishing third at Sebring, Virginia and Road America. She was fourth overall. Another podium in 2025, a third place at Sebring, helped her to championship fifth, despite missing the last round at Circuit of the Americas.

(Image from http://americancarsamericangirls.com/)

Valentina Albanese

Valentina on the podium

Valentina is an Italian one-make specialist who often drives a SEAT, and is involved with the make on an official basis. She has achieved good results in individual and team racing.

Born in 1974, she got her first steps in motorsport in 1994, winning a “Volante Rosa” women’s driving competition, organised by a motoring magazine. Although she was not from a motor racing family, she had been interested in cars from a young age. She gravitated towards saloon racing from the start. Two years later, she took to the track in the Citroen Saxo Cup. She won her first championship in Italy in 1998, the Ladies’ class of the Saxo Cup.

Sticking with one-make championships, she had her next notable success in 2001, when she won some rounds of the Smart Cup in Italy, and was second in the championship. These were the first outright wins of her career.

That year, she also had her first races in the Volkswagen Fun Cup, driving a Beetle. The Cup would be her main sporting home until 2008. During her time in the Fun Cup, Valentina won several races, and was invited to be a part of the Uniroyal team in 2005. For two seasons, she was part of a Uniroyal all-female team with Francesca Pardini, following on from the “Rain Tyre Ladies” (Sylvie Delcour, Fanny Duchateau and Sabine Dubois.) In 2008, driving for a different, mixed team with Luca Trevisol, she won the European and Italian Fun Cups.

Valentina, driving alone, also raced in the Campionato Italiano Turismo Endurance that season, driving a diesel SEAT Leon TDI. This was the first year of a partnership with SEAT that has lasted many years. Driving for the Italian SEAT team, she won one race, and was tenth in the championship.

In 2009 she once again drove for SEAT in the Campionato Italiano Turismo Endurance, and won the diesel class. Alongside Gianni Giudici of Scuderia Giudici, who was the runner-up, she dominated the season.

In 2010, she was third in the main class of the same championship, driving a similar SEAT Leon, powered by petrol this time. Although she was not able to record a win, she finished on the podium a number of times. Of the four SEAT Italy drivers, she was the highest-placed.

A period of relative competitive inactivity followed. In 2011, she only made some guest appearances in the Ibiza Cup section of the CITE, as she was working for the SEAT team. She retained her SEAT links in 2012, but seems to have only carried out media work for the marque.

Her only big race during this time was the Zhuhai 500-mile race in December 2012. Sharing a Mercedes C63 AMG with Michela Cerruti, she was second overall. The team challenged for the win at some points during the race.

 In 2013, she seems to have concentrated on test-driving for SEAT, although she also demonstrated a Mercedes in Jerusalem.

Again, in 2014, she tested cars for SEAT, but did not race.

She returned to competition in 2015, in a SEAT Leon. She won the Italian Endurance Touring Car Championship (CITE) outright, partnered by Jordi Gené for part of the season. After leading for most of the season, she won the penultimate race to seal her victory. It was her fifth win of the year, from eight races, and she was forty points ahead of her nearest rivals, Stefano Valli and Vincenzo Montalbano.

Away from her racing and her promotional work for SEAT, Valentina works as a lawyer. She has stated that her motorsport ambition is to race a Super Touring-spec car in a major championship.

She was announced as the head of Porsche Motorsport in Italy in 2016.

(Image from http://www.hdmotori.it/)

Charlotte Dalmasso

Charlotte in 2015

Charlotte was the 2013 French Ladies’ Champion. She has been active as a driver since 2011, when she was twenty. Normally a tarmac specialist, she can and does compete on both surfaces.

Her first car was a Peugeot 207 RC R3T, which she used in mostly gravel rallies. Her best finish was 16th, in the Rally Antibes Côte d’Azur. This was not her only top-twenty finish: she was 19^th in the Rallye National des 10,000 Virages, the National event that ran alongside the Tour de Corse. She was competing in the Volant Peugeot one-make championship, and was fourteenth at the end of the season.

For most of 2012, she used the same car, staying in the same championship for part of the year. Early in the season, she bettered her best result to fifteenth, in the Rallye National Terre Ouest Provence, a gravel rally. She did one rally in a S2000-spec 207, the Rallye du Var, and was 42nd, eighth in the French Amateur class. Just before, she did the Haut Pays-Niçois Rally in a 206, trying different cars, but keeping with the Peugeot marque. She was 47^th. Two of her three Volant Peugeot rallies ended in mechanical failure, so she was out of the running in that championship, but she did manage her first points in the French Amateur championship this year.

She did two more events in S2000 207 in 2013: the Rallye Régional du Médoc, in which she was 44th, and the Rallye Régional Limousin Lac de Vassivière, which she did not finish, after an alternator problem. Most of the season was spent in a 208 VTi R2, including the Alsace Rallye de France, a WRC round. She was 47th overall, and won the Coupe des Dames. She also tried out an Opel Adam in the Rallye Régional de la Croisette, and was 48th. This year, she picked up a few points in the French Tarmac championship, and won her Ladies’ Championship, ahead of Charlotte Berton, her closest rival.

Her 2014 season began badly, with two crashes in her first two rallies. However, she was soon back on track, driving the 208, and managed a 17th place on her favourite event, the Rally Antibes Côte d’Azur. She was also 25th in the Critérium des Cévennes, with an eighth place in the Tarmac standings, the same as in the Antibes event. Although she finished higher in the Tarmac standings than Charlotte Berton, she could not catch her for the Ladies' award, as Charlotte had one more Ladies’ class win than her. She was thirteenth in the French Tarmac championship, and fifteenth in the Amateur competition.

In 2015, she pushed her international career further, entering three rounds of the World Championship: Corsica, Portugal and Monte Carlo. The best of these for her was Portugal, where she was 57th overall and tenth in the JWRC class. Corsica was a disaster, ending in a crash. The Monte fell somewhere in the middle; she finished, in 61^st place, just behind her countrywoman, Laure Jaussaud. This was not as good an overall position for her, but she did get into the JWRC and WRC3 top ten for the first time. For most of the season, she drove a Citroen DS3, in both WRC and French rallies, although she did have some outings in a Peugeot 207 and 208. Her best French rally was probably the Antibes event, in which she won the Coupe des Dames, and was twelfth in the French tarmac championship. She was 22nd overall. For this event, she used the S2000-spec 207. Driving the Citroen, she equalled her 22^nd place in the Vaison-la-Romaine Rally. Despite two class wins, she could not catch Sophie Laurent for the Coupe des Dames. She was tenth in the Amateur Trophy, and 21^st in the French Tarmac championship.

She mostly rallied a Renault Clio in 2016, and regained her Coupe des Dames title, defending it from Allison Viano. Better than this, however, was her first top-ten finish in a French rally; a seventh place in the Croisette Regional Rally. She stuck to French national and regional rallies, and was registered for the French Clio R3T championship, in which she was eighth.  She was fourteenth in the French national Tarmac championship.

Charlotte is also active as a co-driver, and started her career in the navigator’s seat in 2009.    

She took a break from competition in 2017 to have a baby, making a limited return to the stages in 2019. She drove a Peugeot 208 in the Roches Brunes Regional Rally, finishing 24th, then sampled R5 power in a Hyundai i20. Her only event in this car was the Vosges-Grand Est Rally, which she found hard-going but fun at first. She crashed out on the fifth stage.

(Image from www.charlottedalmasso.com)

Christina Nielsen

Christina and team-mates on the Sebring podium, 2015

Christina is a Danish driver who had her debut single-seater season in 2010. She now competes in sportscar racing, with considerable success.

Although she comes from a motorsport background, she did not get her first taste of racing until she was fourteen, when she tried karting for the first time. A competitive international karting career followed, for the next four year.

During her first year in cars, she competed in Danish Formula Ford, Formula Masters in Germany, and Benelux Formula Ford. Her best result was in the Danish series, where she was ninth overall. Her best race results were two fifths, at Zandvoort and Jyllandsringen. She managed top ten places during her part-seasons in the other European Formula Ford championships: tenth places at Assen (Benelux Formula Ford) and Oschersleben (Formula Masters). Formula Masters gave her a 17^th place, and the Benelux series, fourteenth.

After six races in 2010, she settled for ADAC Formel Masters in Germany, for 2011. Her best finish was eighth, at Assen, and she was 24th overall. Although her finishing record was good, she was not really able to make her way into the top ten.

In 2012, she made her first move towards sportscar racing, and competed in the Porsche Carrera Cup in Germany. She managed one top-ten, a ninth at the Nürburgring. In November, she began racing in the Middle East edition of the Porsche Carrera Cup, the first female driver to do so. She was eighth in the championship, with two fifth places, at Losail and Dubai. Mostly, she finished in the lower reaches of the top ten.

For the main part of the 2013 season, she competed in the ADAC GT Masters, in a Farnbacher Racing Porsche 911 GT3. She managed to inch into the top ten, in ninth, on two occasions, at Lausitz and Hockenheim. The last race of her season was a guest spot in the Petit Le Mans race, in another Porsche. She and her team-mates, Nicolas Armindo and Angel Benitez, were seventh in class, and 28^th overall. She also drove a Farnbacher Porsche 997 in the Nürburgring 24 Hours, but did not finish. Her team-mates were Tomas Pivoda and Leh Keen.

At the end of 2013, she did another winter season in the Middle East Porsche Cup. She was eleventh this time, repeating her fifth place at Dubai Autodrome.

2014 was an extremely busy year for her. Driving a Porsche 911 in North America, she took part in the United Sports Car Championship and the GT3 Cup Challenge, in both the USA and Canada. She raced in the entire US GT3 Cup, and scored three podium positions, a second at Lime Rock and two thirds. She was sixth in the championship. Towards the end of the season, she made a couple of guest appearances in the Pirelli World Challenge, in the GT class, driving an Aston Martin GT3. She was 16th and eleventh at Sonoma. Back in Europe, and back with the Porsche, she drove for the French IMSA Performance Matmut team for three rounds. Her best finish was eighth, at Paul Ricard.

This season, she made her first attempts at the big classic sportscar races. Driving for the NGT team in the Tudor United Sports Car Championship, she was 28^th in the Daytona 24 Hours, in the 911. She and her usual team-mates, plus fellow Dane, Nicki Thiim, were 28^th, and ninth in class. The second round of the championship was the Sebring 12 Hours, and NGT entered a three-driver team, including Christina. She did not finish, due to an accident 61 laps in.

In 2015, she raced an Aston Martin V12 Vantage, mainly in the USA. She entered both the Tudor United Sportscar Championship and the Pirelli World Challenge. She did exceptionally well in the Tudor series, driving for the TRG-AMR team, and went in to the final round, Petit Le Mans, able to win the class championship. In the end, she was second, by two points, lacking the race win that the two victors had. That year, she finished her second Sebring 12 Hours, and recorded the best overall finish of her year: 16th. She was second in class, driving with James Davison and Brandon Davis. They started from 32^nd on the grid. This was one of four seconds Christina achieved this year, the others coming at Belle Isle, Road Atlanta and Virginia.  

She did most of the Pirelli series, and did manage a class win in the eleventh round, although she was not able to challenge for class honours.

At the end of 2015, it was announced that Christina would be part of the squad for Formula Racing’s Le Mans and ELMS programme, driving a Ferrari. She was down as a reserve driver for the team before the 2015 race, but did not make the start.

She finished Le Mans in 35th place, with her Danish team-mates, Johnny Laursen and Mikkel Mac.

The Le Mans finish was an achievement, but it almost paled in comparison to the rest of her year. In the summer, she won the GTD class in the 12 Hours of Sebring, finishing 22nd overall with her team-mates, Alessandro Balzan and Jeff Segal, from the Scuderia Corsa team. Her Sebring win was followed up with another class win at Watkins Glen, plus two second and three third places, on her way to a GTD class win in the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship. This was a first for a female driver.

A part-season in the ELMS with Formula Racing was not as spectacular, but was still solid. Driving their Ferrari F458, her best finish was fifth, at Silverstone.

Her services at Scuderia Corsa were retained in 2017. Christina ended the year as a double GTD champion in the IMSA Weathertech championship, with one class win and seven podiums. Her regular co-driver was Alessandro Balzan.

Christina and Alessandro teamed up with American Bret Curtis for Le Mans. They got to the end of the race in 44th, 14th in the GTE Am class.

For 2018, Christina moved on to Wright Motorsports and their Porsche 911. She contested the IMSA Weathertech series with Patrick Long and they were seventh in GTD, with one win at Road America.

Away from IMSA, she kinked up with the Italian Ebimotors team for Le Mans. She drove a 911 with Erik Maris and Fabio Babini, finishing 31st overall and sixth in class.

2019 began with a run at the Daytona 24 Hours, driving for an all-female Acura team. The Meyer Shank squad was led by Jackie Heinricher, who was unable to race herself, and sponsored by Caterpillar. Christina was joined by Bia Figuereido, Simona de Silvestro and Katherine Legge. They limped to the finish with a crash-damaged car following a race that was shortened due to bad weather, but had led the class for part of it. Christina continued to be part of the team for most of the year, picking up a best finish of fourth in class at Watkins Glen.

Ever on the move, she spent most of the season racing in Asia. She drove for Craft Bamboo Racing with Darryl O'Young in the Blancpain GT World Challenge, in a Mercedes AMG GT3. They were seventh in the GT3 Silver class, with second places at Sepang and Fuji and another third at Sepang.

A mid-season stint with Strakka Racing in the Intercontinental GT Challenge was less successful. Despite being in a similar car, Christina only earned one tenth place at Laguna Seca.

On a sojourn to Australia, she raced another Mercedes in the Bathurst 12 Hours with Mark Griffith and Yelmer Buurman. They were fifth in class.

At the end of the year, she was invited to India for the inaugural X1 Racing League series. She was drafted in as AD Racing Delhi's compulsory female pro but left before the racing started as her car was not running. She was replaced by Mira Erda.

Her 2020 plans involved another crack at IMSA in an all-female team, this time run by Grasser Racing. Their car was a Lamborghini Huracan and was set to run as "GEAR Racing", standing for "Girl Empowerment Around Racing. The team was run by Jackie Heinricher. Sadly, the team's sponsorship fell through. Christina and her team-mates raced a Grasser-run car at Daytona, but did not finish. This was their only race of the year as GEAR could not find another sponsor.

Christina sat most of the season out and worked on her women's motoring initiative in the States, although she did visit Sweden in August for a guest spot in the Scandinavian Porsche Carrera Cup. She was tenth and eighth.

Most of her 2021 season was also spent racing in Europe. She drove for two different teams in the NLS (VLN), beginning with Team AVIA Sorg Rennsport for two races. Her time in their BMW 330i was not a huge success and by Race 4, she had moved to Yeeti Racing, in a BMW M4 alongside Celia Martin. Their three races together yielded two class seconds and a non-finish. Away from the NLS proper, she also teamed up with Celia again in the Giti Tyres team for the Nurburgring 24 Hours. The all-female team of Christina, Celia, Pippa Mann and leader Carrie Schreiner steered their Audi R8 LMS to a class win, 45th overall.

Christina also drove Yeeti's BMW M2 Cup5 car in the last round of the championship, but did not finish.

The USA had not been forgotten, either. She did the first three rounds of the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship in a Porsche 911, driving for Earl Bamber's team. She was thirteenth in class in the Daytona 24 Hours, driving with Earl Bamber, Katherine Legge and Rob Ferriol. They were 32nd overall. She and her team-mates were then tenth at Daytona and fifth at Sebring. A little later, she paired up with Aurora Straus to become the first all-female team for the Pirelli GT4 America SprintX series. They drove a Porsche Cayman for Murillo Racing and finished fourth at Sonoma.  

It was a very quiet year in 2022, but Christina was called into action for the Iron Dames team at Spa, driving their LMGTE Ferrari in the WEC race. She and Doriane Pin were 15th in LMGTE and tenth in the Pro-Am class. In October, she joined the Racers Edge team for the Indianapolis round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge, driving their Acura NSX. She was second in the Pro-Am class, then ninth in the Intercontinental GT Challenge race the next day.

Her father is Lars Erik Nielsen, who raced at Le Mans. Both father and daughter now joke that Christina used to be known as Lars Erik’s daughter, now Lars Erik is known for being Christina’s father.

(Image from http://racemag.dk/)

Speedqueens sends its condolences to the family and friends of Maria Teresa de Filippis

11th November 1926 - 9th January 2016

Read Maria Teresa's Speedqueens biography here.

(Image from http://katyfairman.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/MariaTeresaDeFilippis.html)