Trailblazers: Women who caused tidal waves in the motorsport industry

There is no denying the rise in the number of women involved in motorsport. Here are a few who broke barriers, faced challenges and setbacks head-on and became true icons in the racing world

(Image credits to Cosmopolitan. Left to right: Bianca Bustamante, Abbi Pulling, Dorianne Pin)

Maria Teresa de Filippis

Maria made history as the first woman to ever compete in Formula One, racing in a total of five Grand Prix over the span of 2 years (1958 and 1959). Her journey began at 22 when two of her brothers bet that she wasn’t fast enough to race among the men. They were proven wrong; Maria would go on to inspire many future female racers as a role model in the sport.

(Image credits to The New York Times)

Lella Lombardi

Lella is known as the first and only woman to have ever scored points in Formula One after placing sixth at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, a race cut short due to a horrific accident that took the lives of five spectators resulting in only half points being rewarded. Lella, as a result, has only half a point to her name. She raced in a total of 17 races and will always be remembered for her truly competitive spirit.

(Image credits to Grand Prix Rejects- Lombardi depicted on right)

Michele Mouton

Many consider Michele as one of the best Rally drivers ever, having won a total of four rallies for Audi and finishing in second place for the 1982 World Championship. Even the seasoned F1 driver Niki Lauda nicknamed her “superwoman” and called her a total game-changer.)

(Image credits to Tampa Bay Automobile Museum)

Desiré Wilson

This South African driver is arguably the most accomplished and simultaneously, unluckiest female racer. Several of her big breaks were ended abruptly due to technical issues. Wilson strived in the British Aurora F1 series, claiming the chequered flag at Brands Hatch, resulting in one of the circuit's grandstands being named after her.

(Image credits to Franschhoek motor museum)

Danica Patrick 

The only woman to have ever won an IndyCar race, Danica Patrick. Her win came at the Indy Japan 300 in 2008, a whopping five seconds in front of her closest competitor. Danica also caused tidal waves in the infamous NASCAR series. After retiring Danica turned to broadcasting, giving wonderful insight in the Netflix docuseries Drive To Survive.

(Image credits to The Denver Post)

Susie Wolff

One cannot mention trailblazers in the motorsport world without mentioning the likes of Susie Wolff. After driving a total of seven years in DTM she earned a testing and development role with Williams in 2012. Following this, she later took part in 4 GP weekends. During her career she beat several historic drivers such as Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mika Hakkinen, David Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher. She is currently the director of the all-Women racing school known as F1 Academy.

(Image credits to Motorsport Week)

Thanks to them as well as many others, women have been making incredible strides in the area. The motorsport world is truly our oyster.         

Article written by Mia Pitzer