With recent discussions made about when the next time a female driver will feature on the Formula 1 grid, it’s possible for some to get the impression that motorsport is simply a man’s world.
What’s worth noting though is that if you look closely enough into the history of various motorsport categories, there’s enough evidence around to prove women can and have excelled in racing cars.
In recognition of their feats, we highlight eight of the most talented and successful women to get involved in motorsport over the years.
Michele Mouton
Michele Mouton is a name that often crops up when discussing successful female racing drivers, but her record is seriously impressive by anyone’s standards. The French former rally driver competed in the Group B era, when rally cars were at their most powerful, sensational and frightening.
Just being able to drive Group B rally cars quickly without crashing took a huge amount of skill and courage. Mouton, who drove one of iconic Audi Quattro cars through most of the Group B era, certainly mastered this task.
She took four victories in the World Rally Championship, three of which came during the 1982 season. That same year, Mouton came a close second overall in the drivers’ championship, behind only the brilliant Walter Rohrl. Mouton’s other achievements include winning her class in the 1975 24 Hours of Le Mans and winning the 1985 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in America.
Even after she stopped racing professionally, Mouton has had quite the impact on the motorsport scene. She co-founded the annual Race of Champions event in 1988 and in 2010 became the first president of the FIA’s Women & Motor Sport Commission. The latter aims to encourage more women to get involved all aspects of motor sport.
Jutta Kleinschmidt
The Dakar Rally is one of the toughest motorsport races in the world, with competitors needing to cover over 9,000km of gruelling terrain as fast as they can, often in searing heat.
Just getting to the finish in one piece is a great feat in itself but to win is a whole other thing. That’s exactly what Jutta Kleinschmidt achieved in 2001, the last time the original Paris-Dakar route was used for this famous rally.
The German bagged overall victory behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi Pajero rally car, becoming the first (and so far only) woman to win the Dakar Rally. Before this ground-breaking feat, Kleinschmidt was an employee at BMW and raced in a previous Dakar rally on a BMW motorcycle.
Pat Moss
Anyone who knows anything about motorsport has probably heard of Sir Stirling Moss, the talented British Formula 1 driver, but did you know his sister was good behind the wheel too?
Pat Moss achieved a lot of success in rallying during the fifties and sixties, taking three wins and seven podium finished in international rallies. She was also European Ladies’ Rally Champion on five occasions during a career in which she proved handy in cars like the Morris Minor and MINI Cooper. Moss also co-authored a book called ‘The Art and Technique of Driving’.
Janet Guthrie
Janet Guthrie started out as an aerospace engineer but sometime after graduation, she moved into motorsport on a part-time basis, before stepping up to a full-time basis by the early seventies.
Her most notable feats are becoming the first woman to qualify for both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500, the most famous races in the IndyCar and NASCAR series respectively. Guthrie took a best finish of 9th in the Indy 500 and overall broke new ground for women within the American motorsport scene.
Maria Costello
The fact Maria Costello received an MBE for services to motorcycling in 2009 tells you plenty on its own about her impact on motorsport.
Costello has competed in many motorcycle events including the Isle of Man TT, one of the most difficult and dangerous races around. Like many racers who compete in the same sort of events, Costello has picked up numerous injuries over time, and has in fact broken over 20 bones during her career.
That hasn’t deterred her however, and in 2004 she set a Guinness World Record as the fastest woman to lap the Isle of Man TT at an average speed of 114.73mph – a record since surpassed by Jenny Tinmouth in 2009.
Denise McCluggage
An American racing driver and journalist, Denise McCluggage proved talented in both fields. Her most notable feats in motorsport include winning the GT category at the 1961 Sebring 12 Hours endurance race in a Ferrari 250. She also won her class in the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally driving a Ford Falcon.
She’s also the only journalist to be inducting into the Automotive Hall of Fame in Michigan and received the Ken W. Purdy Award for Excellence in Automotive Journalism.
Lyn St. James
Lyn St. James made a handful of appearances in IndyCar and CART open wheel races during the nineties and she’s one of seven women to have qualified for the Indianapolis 500. She also became the first women to take the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year award.
It is in endurance racing were Lyn St. James truly excelled: she won the 24 Hours of Daytona twice, the 12 Hours of Sebring once and she competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice as well. A team she lead also did superbly in the 1979 24 Hours of Nurburgring race, taking first and second in their class.
Sabine Schmitz
A lot of people will know Sabine Schmitz from her past appearances on Top Gear, plus the fact she’ll be one of the new presenters for the revamped version of the motoring show.
The thing is, you could make a solid case for stating that out all of the new Top Gear presenters, Schmitz is the best behind the wheel. How so? Well for starters, she’s so adept at driving around the ultra-demanding Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit, she’s picked up the nickname ‘Queen of the Ring’. Just to prove it’s a well-earnt title, she’s won the 24 Hours of Nurburgring endurance race two times.
Sabine also runs a Nurburgring-based company called Sabine Schmitz Motorsport which offers advanced driver training courses and “Ring Taxi” services around the Nurburgring circuit.
Are there any other women in motorsport you think deserve a mention on this list? Why not let us know your suggestions on our Facebook and Twitter channels!
