Yes,seems to be several errors on that list.Margie has no connection with 'GB' that I know of. Also (Mrs)Gordon Simpson we have discussed before.Its hyponated 'Gordon-Simpson'-stilll looking for her given name.

The best looking women driver by far is: www.alexisfenton.com

And, she can peddal the car too!

Danica Patrick? Alexis Fenton?

WOOOOOOOORD!

Somebody passed this on recently........nicely even handed.



Driving to the office this morning on the motorway, I looked over to my right and there was a woman in a brand new BMW doing 90 miles per hour with her face up close to her rear view mirror putting on her eyeliner! I looked away for a couple of seconds and when I looked back she was halfway over in my lane ... still working on that makeup! It scared me so much that I dropped my electric shaver, which knocked the bacon roll out of my other hand. In all the confusion of trying to straighten out the car using my knees against the steering wheel, it knocked my mobile from my ear, which fell into the coffee between my legs, causing it to splash and burn BIG JIM AND THE TWINS, causing me to scream, which made me drop the cigarette out of my mouth, ruined my shirt and DISCONNECTED AN IMPORTANT CALL.................... BLOODY WOMEN DRIVERS!!!!!!

Katherine Legge was in our office the other day, just after her Minardi run, and a very nice woman she is too. I was most impressed.

On top of being pleasant company, she's pretty quick too...

She just had her 1st drive of the UK A1 team car yesterday the women to do so.

I’ve been trying to make some sense of the pre-war Brooklands lady racers, which is not that easy when some of them seemed to change husbands more often than they changed cars. Take for example Mrs W. B. Scott, most often called Jill, she married E. M Thomas which was a coincidence as her real name wasn’t Jill at all, it was Eileen May, or sometimes Aileen! I’m still trying to find her maiden surname, any ideas?

Searching on the Times archive I’ve puzzled out a few names which I’ll post here since I can’t see the info posted on TNF nor in Atalanta or Fast Women.

Mrs Bill Urquhart-Dykes, maiden name Pauline Ruth Hegarty, daughter of Dr. Hegarty of Clonbur, County Galway, she died 9th April 1981 in Cobham, Surrey, aged 86.

The Hon. Mrs Chetwynd, maiden name Joan Gilbert Casson, afterwards Mrs Findlay, probably born circa 1899 and possibly in India where her father was in the Indian Civil service. When her husband inherited his title she became Viscountess Chetwynd.

Victoria Worsley, later King-Farlow, the daughter of Sir William Worsley 3rd Bt. of Hovingham Hall and hence an aunt of the present Duchess of Kent.

Violette Cordery, later Hindmarsh, died the night of 29th December 1983 at Oxshott, Surrey. It does seem to be Violette and not Violet as most sources have it.

Barbara Skinner who married John Bolster and was killed January 3rd 1942 in a traffic accident.

Ken,

Re. Jill Scott, she was born Eileen May Fontaine on 21st May 1903 in Kexbrough, nr. Barnsley, Yorkshire.

No more information on the others you mention.

Only 1976 to be specific, and she is Mike's ex - I believe already divorced by that time.

When I passed her (Opel) in my Vega (GT) at the exit
of Turn Seven, Riverside International Raceway IMSA
Little Sedan Race practice and qualifying, 1975, she
gave me the Dead-eye and may have been upset
enough to question the legality of a Vega that could.

From Canada, three names:

Ashley Taws. Her web site seems to be down at the moment. I saw her in FF races and she was fairly successful in the Canadian championship. She was driving the pink Barbie car, making lots of Wal Mart promos and very close to her fans (mainly children, but she acted like a role model as she was really young).

Melanie Paterson. I saw her in ALMS and touring car races.

Valérie Limoges, a Quebecer driver I saw in Trois Rivières. She experienced various formulae and got a first taste (if not a very serious one) of F1 with BAR.

Been meaning to ask about her...is it true that she's now officially retired due to her road accident injuries (hence the site being down)?

According to the link, it looks like she is not. She wishes to get back into a single seater formula in the next future. I hope to see her in a Formula Atlantic some day, I think she deserves it. Perhaps a wiser move would be Mazda series, but I guess one never aims too high.

Thanks as ever Adam. Do you have a record of Jill Scott’s father’s name? The Bullock book "Fast Women" has her coming from a wealthy coal trade background, contrasting this with "poor" Victoria Worsley, whose family, I guess, only owned a small slice of Yorkshire. Anyway I'd like to check out Mr Fontaine in the 1901 census or wherever.

Here’s another stab at trying to identify a Brooklands lady racer. With less than a hundred Maconochie's on the UK electoral roll there has to be a good chance that the Miss M. J. Maconochie who raced at Brooklands circa 1928 was Margaret Jean Maconochie, born in London in 1905. Her father A. W. Maconochie had built up the family firm, Maconochie Foods, from a Lowestoft fish paste producer into one of Britain's premier food manufacturers. A.W. died in 1926, so no doubt Miss Maconochie was doing her bit to dissipate the family fortune, successfully it seems, since Maconochie Kippers are no longer the household name they once were. Margaret later married a Mr Parry and moved to Rutland.

Can anyone name all THREE of the ladies in the photo below? (granted two of them have their names sewn onto their overalls!)



I always considered it sad that we never saw the greatest woman rally driver take to racing seriously, as anyone who saw Michele Mouton attack the Goodwood hilll in a Group B Quattro couldn't fail to be impressed by her commitment and pace over a daunting course on, what was, a weekend away from serious competition.



Finally, a postscript featuring Divina Galica, who was (is) a gutsy performer in whatever she raced and was prepared to fight her corner with the best of them.

Ken,

Jill Scott's father's name was Joseph Fountain, who was, as you say, a colliery proprietor of Birthwaite Hall, Kexborough, Yorks.

Sorry, I can't; nor can I read more than one name on their overalls! However, the yummy young thing on the right would seem to be Lorina Boughton...

Pray tell who the other two are - I have a feeling I'll be kicking myself at least once!

While I'm at it, here's a pic I took of Desiré Wilson at Oulton Park in 1980 (in the assembly area) prior to her racing the F1 Wolf she's sitting on.



She was quick...

Thank you again Adam.

Does anyone know of any “must have” sources for the Brooklands lady racers? I’ve got Atalanta and also Fast Women by Bullock, which I have to agree is basically a re-write of the Davis book with some daft errors such as “Babs” being named after Archie Scott-Brown’s daughter. The current price of £4 at Millhouse Books seems about right.

Julie Thwaites & Sue Davies-4 hour relay race at Oulton Park -2 Oct 1982.

Thanks, Rob. I thought one of the girls could have been a friend of mine, but I'm relieved to hear it's not her!

Congratulations, Rob. Indeed it was the Lenham Storage/BWRDC team at the 1982 Oulton relay. Lorina and Julie drove Davrians and Sue drove a Maguire Imp.

Two more posers for afficionados of 1970s club racing:





Both of them brightened the scene, but neither went on to great things - unless you know different....

Is the upper pic Wendy Markey and the lower pic Gillian Fortescue Thomas? I have a feeling I'm wrong on both counts...

Here's a pic I took of a helmeted Wendy on the grid during the 1974 International Trophy meeting;



Looks like Shaw Taylor in the background.

Valli Stack and Ann Moore?

Didn't Valli pose rather rudely by the lake at Mallory one time??

Yes,I seem to remember a photo printed in Autosport drew a few complaints-'this is a family mag ,etc' I don't have copies back that far to confirm.Also never knew her real name.

Valli was actually quite quick in her prodsports Biba MG Midget, collecting a few class lap records I seem to recall. Unlike Ann who was just a bit tardy in her FF2000 Elden...

Correct on both counts, paulsenna. Yes, Valli (Stack) was a protoge(!) of Chris Meek and was once caught by Autosport's photographer sunning herself on the island in the Mallory Park lake between races.

Anne Moore was a member of John Webb's charm school, an ex-International show-jumper, who didn't trouble the lap-scorers very much.

There were quite a few women racing drivers in those days. Anyone remember the likes of these? Jenny Birrell, Janet MacPherson, Georgie Shaw, Alison Davis, Susan Tucker-Peake, Vivien West, Juliette Slaughter, Helen Malkie...

Also slightly off topic, but seeing the 'Penthouse Pets' above reminds me of the Demon Tweeks 4 shocks. Anyone recall those four girls? They had quite an effect on this teenager...

No mention of Amanda Stretton as yet ?

Yes, I remember the 4 Shocks, who draped themselves over Alan Minshaw's Opel on the starting grid, and paraded in the pit lane. I have some pics which I shall try to find. As far as I know, none of them were actually women racing drivers, so probably don't deserve a place on this thread!

Speaking of Alison Davis.....

Then there was Wendy Markey....

....the great Lella Lombardi.....

and a few more to exhaust my Valli collection...

I watched Ashley Taws in Trois Rivieres. She was in the Formula Ford race there a few years ago. I think she may have won it. Anyway, she was getting right along with the program. I haven't heard about her since she was in the road car crash (as a passenger, I believe), but I thought there was a future there.

Melanie Patterson was also running in the Canadian Formula Ford series. She seemed to be pretty reasonable at marketing herself, but was useless in the car.

That seems to be a very common theme in women drivers. They can convince companies that they're good for marketing (and they're probably right), but they rarely have the talent to really hustle the car.

Having said that, only a small percentage of men can do a car any justice, either, so it's hard to say any of it is related to sex.

I thought we did discuss her.Maybe on another forum. Twice anounced plans to race then got pregnant and dropped out.

Valli was quick, not "quite quick", as I recall. I always wondered how she would have fared in a different class/car, whatever. But I don't think it was ever to be, alas.

And as for the picture (in Cars and Car Conversions, actually), well, what can one say?

Aaaaaaaaah...Marvellous.

Do you know, I am absolutely positive some rake brought it along to the last TNF Woburn gathering...(RTH - a fellow admirer, could confirm I'm sure).

The picture of Lorina Boughton at Oulton is interesting - I'm sure there was a really rather more "frumpy" one on file at Motoring News some years earlier...

I agree. She definitely stood her ground behind the wheel. Nothing impressive, but effective anyway. I hope she will push that career forward.

Another student from John Webb's finishing school was Jan Brise, widow of Tony Brise and daughter of triallist Reg Allen. She did a bit of Escort and Sports 2000 racing, then remarried and retired from racing.



In the hope of rekindling a few memories for paulsenna, here is a photo of the 4Shocks (well, three of them anyway)

The road and race visor strip on the Jan Brise pic reminded me of Fiona Butterfield...Wasn't she pretty good...IIRC she was dating David Kennedy for some time.

Mo.

Many thanks for that, Alan

Back to lady racers... There was a series of races and rallies for about a dozen ladies in Faberge sponsored Ford Fiestas in the late 70s. Louise Aitken-Walker was the only one to rise to prominence from it, I think. Other names I recall are Lesley Cowcill, Geunda Eadie, the afore mentioned Fiona Butterfield, Viv Ayres and Julie Speechley (later married to John Taylor?).

They've been married for donkey's years, Mo! They have three great kids - one young man named Aron (now in his early-twenties), plus two little 'uns Finn & Sorcha - and have been living in Killiney since about 1998. TB and I stayed with them a few weeks back, and she hasn't changed a bit. A great friend.

Eveline "Eva" Gordon-Simpson, maiden surname Brewer, born Garstang, Lancashire 30 July 1901, married 1937 to Hugh Conway, the Bugatti expert and future Rolls Royce director, she died in 1980. Sources: GRO indexes, Hugh Conway's Times obituary 9th December 1989.

There was a Faberge Fiesta reunion this year.
The Fiona Butterfield car was later bought by her co-driver Marilyn Tricker and husband Kevin, who eventually did this to it on a Goodwood stage rally and cut it up with an anglegrinder.

Livin' in Killiney no less...Life must be good at RTE...

Mo.

Yes,from my dusty archive,the 1977 Autosport Year Book.;She held class lap records for 'up tp £2,000 Production Sports cars' at;
Aintree 1-20.0 25.9.76
Brands Club 63.0 12.9.76
Castle Combe 1-27.6 10.7.76
Ingliston 65.2 22.8.76
Rufforth 1-37.4 5.9.76
Seems she only did the one season-anyone know what she has done since?

Not sure if I have posted this before on another thread, anyone remember Jacqui Bond-Smith?
Wife of John Bond-Smith, my father was her mechanic on a Galaxie 500 in 65/66, also their Lotus Elan around this time and then Lotus 23B in '67. Her father Arthur Cook built and raced the clubmans 'Wavendon Wombat' in the early 60s. Her sister, Joey Beale still races in HSCC Roadsports with a Lotus Elite.

Sad to say that Ashley Taws has indeed officially retired from racing. The road car shunt caused devasting injuries. Apparently, she was a passenger in the rear middle seat and had only the benefit of a lap belt for restraint. She suffered considerable trauma from a jack-knifing affect from the single restraint.

By all accounts, she was tres quick. I was looking forward to seeing her compete in a regional at Mosport in '02 until some wags stole her whole tow vehicle, trailer and car from a motel parking lot in Trois Rivierres the week prior. The FF car was discovered some time later in a road-side ditch with considerable damage.

Later that year, I did have the chance to meet her at a Wal Mart display. She was very charming and my two young sons were very impressed. A few weeks later, the tragic crash that ended her promising career.

Shit happens.

The summer before her accident Ashley participated in a children's charity event my wife and I were involved in. She and her Dad hauled from Montreal (I think it was the Molson Indy weekend) early on a Sunday morning to be at the function (held near Mosport).

She was absolutely a class act and made a fabulous impression on everybody.

There has already been a thread on Violette Cordery. Some biographical information on her and her husband John Hindmarsh can be found here and some more about Hindmarsh’s fate in particular here.

Yes, it's sometimes a puzzle which thread to use. All the notices in the Times newspaper placed by the family ( death, birth etc. ) use the spelling Violette not Violet. Roy Salvadori's mother-in-law of course. Thanks for the interesting links.

Is she still involved in racing in any capacity? I remember the team finished out the year with Andrew Bordin driving (think he won at least one event too), then apparently disbanded.

Here's Alison with her Ginetta G15 at Snetterton in the days when you could watch from on top of the pits garages

Desiré Wilson in the Riverside garage area, 1983:

Small point Alan,they were not GARAGES but real pits.Used to be one of my favourite places,same at Silverstone.

I've scanned through this very interesting thread and don't believe I've seen Pat Sonnenschein mentioned. She co-drove a Mini Cooper in a number of the mid-60's Kyalami 9hr races.