Roxie Lott RIP

Sad news.Never met the lady,and this link provided the first photo of what she looked like,but I have video of her racing a pink Ralt F3 at Silverstone.

Definitely sad news!

if Rob29 as a spare copy of that video i would welcome it as it was my car Rox was driving.

Rodney Dodson.

Je suis a surprised little bunnie by Ms. Milka Duno's performance today at her first IndyCar event.
She finished 14th out of 21 cars, right behind Sarah Fisher.
Jp

A promo pix from my local weekly. Let's hope that this talented and charming young lady can overcome her setback and rise to new heights. Go, Ash!

Pink and Barbie as a sponsor... rather disturbing....Oh well... I wish her success!

OK I don't suppose this lady has ever held a competition licence but then the title of the thread is Women drivers!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/taysid...ral/6651181.stm

Typical poor caption writing where it says she has never held a driving license, where the text correctly states that she never had to pass a driving test.
You did not expect that from the BBC in t'old days

Nor would they have got the year of Queen Victoria's death wrong.

No they wouldn't - I hadn't noticed that myself.
I now see they've changed the photo caption to say "Sheila Thomson has been driving for more than 70 years".
Destroying the evidence, I call it!

Sarah Kavanagh, Kirsten Kolby and Amanda Whitaker - all competing in a Rapid Fit Formula Ford round in the 1990s

Alan , you might have seen it , it is Kirsten Kolby !

www.historicracing.com has many sides on women drivers !

What about Lyn St. James? She was successfull in different series.

Today we'll see Maria de Villota (yes, daughter of.....) again in action in the WTCC: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/58957

Since yesterday three women drivers qualified for the Indy 500.
Has this been done before, three women qualified for one major race.

Gerrit Stevens

The last time two women qualified for Indy they ran into each other.

Not in single seaters I think.Maybe in sports cars Le Mans,etc with 3 drivers per car.Next year maybe 4,as Lelani is doing the IPS

There's a website about Christine Dacremont.

It contains black & white photos, colour photos, portrait photos and a time line.

I have just got this interresting e-mail:


Dear Sir,
My name is Ascari Dua, son of Anni Roosdorp born in Schaesberg (Holland) 13-04-1920 died in Antwerp 03-04-2003 where she lived all her life. She was the daughter of Herman Roosdorp born in Haarlen 19-04-1895 and also passed away in Antwerp in 1965. My grandfather moved from Holland to Belgium in the '20 and participated here actyvely in motorraces tour de Belgique 1923 - Anvers Paris Anvers 1924 - Rally Gillet. In 1930 he bought an supercharged BUGATTI driving with belgium numberplate 267645. After the war he was Vanguard Triumph dealer in Antwerp he bought in 1948 a Ferrari 166MM nr.: 0014M before the importer Garage Franchorchamps existed, this car also drove with the same numberplate 267645, with this car he participated in the 14e Grand Prix De Belgique des 24 heurs (9-10 juli 1949) togheter with De Ridder (jaguar dealer in Haasdonk his grandsun stil own the garage) they finished 8' place. In 1949 he raced on the Grenzlandringrennen (11-09) and finished on the second place. His daughter Anni Roosdorp also participated by coincidence, hence the summerdress! in a VERITAS RS belouging to my grandfather, it was the first time that she drove this car ans did not even now where the reverse gear was! With this VERITAS a speed record was tempted to be broken in Jabbeke (Belgium). Further in 1949 -Grosser Preis von Nurburgring (7-8), -the Kolner Kurs (10-1949). In 1950 he took part in the Grande Trophee between Sambre et Meuse circuit Mettet (10-9) 10 place, Zandvoort (11-06) first place, grosser preis von Deutschland, and the 12 houres from Paris (23-07) togheter with Pilette 3' place, Grand Prix de Luxembourg (18-05-50) 4' place. 1953 (30-08-53) he raced on the Nurburgring with his new JAGUAR C type nr.: XKC019 silver coloured with same liscense plate 267645 together with Toni ULM who crashed the car, 24 houres of Frachorchamps (25-26-07-1953) together with Tony ULM they finished 3' place. He also tried to brake the speed record in Jabbeke with this C type. He them bought a FERRARI 500 MONDIAL nr.: 0434MD with this car he participated in Spa Franchorchamps (23-05-54) and ended 5' place. He kept on racing: Zandvoort many races - Grand Prix automobile de Mons (Belgium) - Rally des Alpes with a Triumph 1800 roadster - Chimay- ...... He stopped racing when I was born and give me ascari as first name the same year Alberto Ascari died. His last car in 1965 I remember was a LANCIA AURELIA B20GT in wich he also particiopated many races in Zandvoort. Hoping to be of service remain yours sincerely. ascari dua,



Stefan
www.formula2.net

Does anyone know if Anni raced anywhere else?

Stefan, I have some pictures of the grand-father if Monsieur Ascari Dua is interested or just give me his email address please.

Certainly a relationship to a certain "W. Dua", who raced the ex-Ulmen Veritas at Zandvoort 1954 and Spa 1955? Somebody with this first name must have motrosport-loving parents...

Anyway, I can show you a face:



Anni in the Veritas, Grenzlandring 1949

Roger's just lent me some early 1973 A/Sports. In the first issue of that year there's a great pic of BCE leaning over Lella Lombardi in her new BT41 F3 car. Its captioned... "Bernie showing Italian Bird Lella Lombardi into her new car..."

How time's have changed!

My only other photo of Tina Cooper

There are pictures of that Tina Cooper Mini in the BWRDC/Susan TP-Jamieson book. It appears to be the same one.

Another question: does anyone know the first name of the Russian rally driver Madame Marinovitch? She was active in the Thirties and possibly earlier, driving a Matford and other cars in Europe.

Post 58 Mrs. ? Gwenda Stewart , driver of the Derby Maserati in 1935 ??

Oops ! Just found some infos on another thread Woman drivers in the 30s . But they talk about a Derby Miller , then what is the Derby Maserati ?

By 1935 she was Gwenda Hawkes. Douglas Hawkes was her third husband and was a talented engineer and the owner of the Derby Motor Company, situated just outside Paris: he had prepared her very special single-seater Morgan, which she used to take the world record for 3-wheelers at Arpajon in 1931. It also took other records at Montlhéry.

With its Indianapolis oval heritage, the Miller 91 was a good choice for record-breaking at Montlhéry. In addition, Derby's production cars, like the Miller, were front-wheel drive. Hawkes modified the car and also increased the size of the engine: Gwenda took many records with it, including the outright lap record.

The Derby-Maserati was built in 1935 for Gwenda to use in road races: it made just three appearances at voiturette events. I believe it had a 4C engine. At Dieppe in 1935 she retired on the first lap with clutch failure and at Berne, she was last of 13 finishers, having been lapped five times in a 20 lap race. The Derby-Maserati's final appearance was at Picardie in 1936, when Gwenda was lapped twice in the second 10-lap heat: unsurprisingly, her 7th place finish didn't qualify her for the final. George Duller also drove it in the 1935 Brooklands 500, but it apparently exhibited terrible handling problems.

Superb infos , thanks a lot !

On the BBC's One Show last night there was a short piece about Dorothy Levitt "The Fastest Girl On Earth". I must admit that I had never heard of her but the programme said that she held the LSR for a woman for a while at 91 mph. They went on to talk about a book that she wrote, The Woman and The Car, but after that they said that there is little or no trace of her. The programme asked viewers to provide any further information that they might have.

There is more information and a link to the programme excerpt here...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/theoneshow/art...stestgirl.shtml

As an aside...The clip includes an introduction filmed at Silverstone and refers to that circuits hairpin bends!

I didn't know there was a mystery about Dorothy Levitt but if there is, perhaps this might give a clue.

In the 6th November 1903 issue of the Times there is a report of a court case involving Dorothy Levitt and her friend Hena Frankton, they claimed damages against a van driver who had hit their car. In the 1901 Census Miss Frankton is a boarder with the family of a John and Julia Levit, no Dorothy in the household but the Levit's do have a daughter Elizabeth, aged 19, a typist. Go back to the 1891 Census and the family name is Levi and the father's name listed as Jacob rather than John.

Anyway perhaps the typist Elizabeth Levi or Levit was the real name of Dorothy Levitt, secretary at the Napier Motor Company.

I have the Dorothy Levitt book The Woman and the Car "a chattly little handbook for all women who motor or who want to motor".

"If you are going to drive alone in the highways and byways it might be advisable to carry a small revolver. I have an automatic "Colt", and find it very easy to handle as there is practically no recoil - a great consideration to a woman."

The last few competition reports-

Oct 1907 France, Gaillon Hill Climb. 40HP 6 cyl Napier, won in my class by 20 seconds. Gradient of hill 1 in 10 average.

June 1908 Prinz Heinrich Trophy, Germany. Made absolute non-stop run on 45HP Napier, won large silver plaque.

July 1908 Aston Hill Climb, Aston Clinton. Made second fastest time of over 50 competitors on 60HP Napier.

August 1908 France. Trouville, La Cote du Calvaire.

Very interesting! Dorothy's race results are very hard to find.
The Levi/Levit family might not have been the Levitts - there is a spelling difference. It looks like an attempt to gentilise a very obvious Jewish name, although Elizabeth is not a particularly diagnostic name of either group so any change would be odd. If the name change evidence stands, they could, of course, be Dorothy's aunt and uncle or something.

A couple of mentions in the Midland Automobile Club's centenary book Ton Up!

25 July 1903 Rising Sun Hill Climb Again, for the record, Cecil Edge's passenger for the competition was the well known lady motorist, Miss Dorothy Levitt, whose own 12HP Gladiator had been a regretted non-starter for the event and with whom he is said to have had other, more personal, relationships!

16 June 1906 Shelsley Walsh Out of 29 competitors who completed the course in the open event, Miss Dorothy Levitt recorded 92.4secs in her 50HP Napier (7790cc) to take sixth fastest time of the day ...

Just found another one. The grid for a 1973 ShellSPORT Mexico Celebrity race was fixed to allow Gillian F-T and Lella L to start on the front row apparently. Neither won unfortunately, however the reporter, Ian Phillips I think, informed readers that the "...Crumpet Race was won by ...." .

Great times!!

In Braunbeck's Sport-Lexikon (1910) she merits a mention in the section of brief biographies as "Levitt, Miss Dorothee, bekannte englische Automobilistin" (well-known English female driver), with a note that she was 14th in the 1907 Herkomer Prize, driving a Napier entered by SF Edge. Dorothy Levitt and her teammate Cecil Edge were the only British entries.

I can't find her in the entry list for the 1908 Prinz Heinrich Fahrt, but it looks like it only gives the names of the entrants. In other similar lists, where the driver is different to the entrant the driver's name is given in brackets, but there are none whatsoever in the 1908 list. Dorothy Levitt presumably drove Napier #5, which was entered by SJ Edge [sic]. There were 68 finishers, but Braunbeck only gives the top ten.

KJJ missed another court report on Dorothy Levitt. On Nov 6th 1903 she was among a number of motorists summonsed at Marlborough St for speeding in Hyde Park. Although she did not appear in court personally, she was said to have driven at a "terrific pace" and, when stopped, apparently "said she would like to drive over every policeman and wished she had run over the sergeant and killed him."

The magistrate, Mr Denman, dismissed this as "a silly bit of swagger" and proceeded to fine her £3 with 2s costs. Swagger it may have been, but the other six defendants were only fined £2 plus costs!

The Times also confirms that she won a gold medal in the 1907 Herkomer and that she drove in the 1908 Prinz Heinrich.

Hi!

I just sold my GP Bugatti, chassis No. 37371, that Lady Mary Grosvenor owned and race in the late 40's early 50's. If anyone would like photos of her racing , I would be happy to send them along.

Autofair

I remember a local Grass Track meeting at Knebworth Park in the 70's. It was sponsored by local Hillman Dealer and racer and rally driver Peter Harper. They had a competition and the prize was to be taken around the track in an Avenger Tiger(!) with Gill F-T as driver. Unfortunately the ground had become quite rutted and G F-T and the punter ended up upside down in a cloud of dust. It seemed very funny at the time, although I think the prize winner was a little bit shaken up - but they did offer to clean his suit

The "local grass track meeting" at Knebworth may have been a round of the highly popular/high profile Players No6 Autocross Championship?

Richard - I did spot that report a couple of days after my original post, I wonder what the penalty would be for such a comment today? I think the fine was £5 by the way, but then she had picked up £35 in compensation from her court visit the previous day.

So does anyone have an idea what happened to her? The telephone directories seem to show her living at In Portman Mansions until 1913

Just a query but does anybody know the names of Mrs George Duller and Mrs C.Christie both of whom raced at Brooklands in the 1920s? George Duller's wife may have been related to the Cordery family. I think I scribbled her name down on a piece of paper and put in in my updating pile but it appears to have disappeared, as regularly happens in my house with odd socks and TV remotes. I cannot think where I saw the info.

John

Well the Historic racing site certainly has Duller's wife as a Cordery, but .... this is from the Times 13th July 1925:

"Five other races were decided during the meeting, and two of these, both scratch events, were won by Miss V. Cordery. In the half-mile sprint she made a fine start and won comfortably; and in the one-lap race for ladies she beat Mrs George Duller, wife of the famous jockey, with her sister, Miss M Cordery, third."

Now I read that as V and M Cordery being sisters, not Mrs Duller.

Anyway a George E Duller married a Bessie Grace Hyams in Epsom in 1918 and a Bessie Duller was running a dress and gown shop in Epsom in the 1950s .... maybe she was the elusive Mrs Duller?

I always thought George Duller's initials were R L

David,

Robert Lennard Duller was Jack Duller, George's brother.

I know came across an R L Duller when I was looking up George Duller last night, however George Duller the famous jockey, horse trainer and car racer who died in 1962 was definitely George E Duller, the GRO death index confirms that.

Posted before I saw Adam's clarification above.

Allegedly George Edward - http://www.horseracinghistory.co.uk/hrho/a...Document?id=960 in which case he was probably born 1891 in West Ham. There was no R Duller birth registered 1891-93.

Robert Lennard Duller was born in 1904.

My mistake - I knew one of them was R L

Just in case it causes confusion the date of death on that horse racing site is wrong, he defintely died in 1962 - Times obit confirms that.

The George Duller you identified from West Ham certainly looks right, in the 1891 Census his father is a cab proprietor but by 1901 he is a horse trainer.