On International Women’s Day, Alfa Romeo salutes its legendary female race drivers

Alfa Romeo is celebrating Intercontinental Women’s Working day by highlighting some of the gals who have raced its cars in excess of the past century. They collectively obtained a long list of outstanding achievements on and off the track in the encounter of adversity.

One particular of the earliest-regarded gals that raced an Alfa Romeo skillfully is Maria Antonietta d’Avanzo, an Italian baroness who started out competing soon just after Environment War I. Her job spanned numerous many years, for the duration of which she competed in opposition to many pilots, which include an ambitious youthful man named Enzo Ferrari who would have a profoundly crucial result on Alfa Romeo’s impression and accomplishment on the track. He was a mediocre racer, by most accounts, but he proved to be a brilliant supervisor and was shortly place in demand of the carmaker’s racing attempts.

Ferrari bought Anna Maria Peduzzi just one of her initially race cars: an Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 Super Sport. Racing possibly alone or with her partner, she took initially in the 1500 classification of the 1934 version of the Mille Miglia. Hellé Wonderful and Odette Siko also raced Alfa Romeo cars for the duration of the 1930s the latter completed fourth overall and initially in the 2.-liter classification in a privately-entered 6C 1750 Super Sport. Alfa Romeo’s formal entry, an 8C 2300, took 2nd overall.

Belgian-born Christine Beckers and Dutch racer Liane Engeman both of those competed in the GTA — just one of the company’s most effective race cars — for the duration of the 1960s. Alfa Romeo afterwards hired Engeman as a model.

Maria Grazia Lombardi (also regarded as Lella) raced a GTV6, but she’s improved regarded as the only female to have scored details in Method One particular. She competed from 1974 to 1976 and scored fifty percent a stage in 1975. She also raced in 4 editions of the 24 Several hours of Le Mans and completed twentieth overall and 2nd in her class in a Lancia Stratos.

Colombian pilot Tatiana Calderon joined the Sauber Method One particular team as a progress driver in 2017 just after a effective job racing karts. In 2018, she turned a check driver for Alfa Romeo’s Method One particular team. She will not line up on the starting off grid (at least not nonetheless) but she performs a significant section in generating the company’s major-level race cars. Compared with several of her predecessors who raced as privateers or for small teams, she’s officially affiliated with the enterprise. Race teams (and car brands in normal) started welcoming more gals into their ranks in the nineties.

Sibling enterprise Maserati also shed light-weight on some of the gals who have played an crucial function in its racing background. Italian pilot Maria Teresa de Filippis drove a privately-owned Maserati 250F in 1958, when she turned the initially female to qualify for a Method One particular Grand Prix. While she completed the Belgian Grand Prix race in previous put, she acquired a spot in Method One particular background.