24h Le Mans
24 HOURS CENTENARY – THE LE MANS EXCEPTION ⎮ Motorsport is one of the rare mixed sports, along with sailing and horse riding, where women and men race on an equal footing and where only performance counts. Though not as represented as men, women drivers have consistently made a place for themselves at the race. Here is a look back at several who made their mark in the 1970s.
Since the inception of the 24 Hours in 1923, 65 women have taken the start in at least one running of the race, with 46 making it to the chequered flag at least once. The golden age of female drivers at Le Mans emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s. During the latter decade, 13 women participated in the legendary race.
Le Mans native Anny-Charlotte Verney came from a family very well-known to the 24 Hours: her grandfather Louis Verney was a co-founder of the race, and her father served as ACO vice president. She made history as the female record-holder for participatios with 10 starts between 1974 and 1983…who better than a local to hold such a record?
She kicked off her career in rally in 1972 before switching to circuit racing and first appearing in the 24 Hours in 1974, with a Porsche Carrera RSR. In 10 participations, Verney made it into the classification eight times and took the start nine times at the wheel of a Porsche Carrera RS, 934 or 935, with as best result sixth place in 1981. Additionally, she became a three-time French circuit champion and raced in 10 Paris-Dakar rallies, among other exploits.
Italian driver Lella Lombardi was the only woman to earn points in the Formula 1 World Championship in 1975 thanks to her sixth place finish at the Spanish Grand Prix. She made her rookie appearance in the 24 Hours that same year, forming an all-female driver line-up with Marie-Claude Beaumont at the wheel of an Alpine A441. Two years later, she achieved her best result at Le Mans, finishing 11th in one of Jean Rondeau's Inaltera prototypes with Belgian driver Christine Beckers.
Like Lombardi, Beckers gained recognition for her multifaceted talent, competing in several motorsport disciplines: circuit, rally, rally-raid, hill climb, slalom and even NASCAR.
She began her career in 1966 like many drivers in rally. The following year, she took her first of 10 starts in the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps with Marie-Claude Beaumont. The Belgian driver competed at Le Mans in 1973, 1974, 1976 and 1977. She distinguished herself in 1974 by winning the 2-Litre Prototype class at the wheel of a Chevron entered by Seiko Scato's team and shared with Marie Laurent and Yvette Fontaine. Christine Beckers: "The 24 Hours were anything but misogynistic, and the women were far from just making up the numbers."
Throughout her career, she also took part in three runnings of the Paris-Dakar (1979, 1980 and 1982) and remains to this day the only European female driver to have qualified for a NASCAR race at the oval circuit in Daytona. She took the start twice in the iconic 24-hour race at the wheel of an Inaltera then a BMW M3.
Beckers and Lombardi's teammate Marie-Claude Beaumont competed at Le Mans six times between 1971 and 1976. She also launched her career in rally and made her first appearance in endurance racing at the 24 Hours of Spa, with Beckers. Several years later, she returned to Le Mans and shared the wheel of Greder Racing's impressive Chevrolet Corvette with Henri Greder. In 1975, she took the start again, with an Alpine A441 with Lombardi, and lastly in 1976 she competed at the wheel of a Porsche 934 with Bob Wollek and Didier Pironi (who won the race two years later with a Renault-Alpine). Beaumont's best result was 12th place in 1973 with Greder at the wheel of a Corvette.
Another notable achievement by female drivers in the 1970s was a remarkable class win at the 1975 24 Hours for Christine Dacremont (four participations), Marianne Hoepfner (also four, and the last wife of actor Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Michèle Mouton (1982 World Rally vice champion and the first president of the Women In Motorsport Commission created by Jean Todt when he became president of the FIA). Like the women mentioned above, they got their start in rally.
Let us not forget Martine Rénier, Pascale Geurie, Corinne Tarnaud Koppenhague, Anna Cambiaghi and Juliette Slaughter also see at Le Mans during that era.
Despite progress, female drivers are still very much a minority in motorsport. Christine Beckers: "We don't talk enough about women who race, so those who would like to do so tell themselves that it's not possible. I did it because I saw a Grand Prix, the Belgian Formula 1 GP in which Maria Teresa de Filippis took part, and I saw a woman who was racing."
For the Centenary in June, five female drivers (Doriane Pin, Sarah Bovy, Michelle Gatting, Rahel Frey and Lilou Wadoux) will take the start and will undoubtedly inspire generations to come!
PHOTOS (Copyright - ACO/Archives): LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 1971-1983 24 HOURS OF LE MANS. From top to bottom: on the heels of nine participations with Porsche (#66, in 1977), Le Mans native Anny-Charlotte Verney took her 10th and final start in the race at the wheel of a prototype by local constructor Jean Rondeau (#28); after becoming the first female driver to score points in F1 on 27 April 1975, Lella Lombardi competed in her rookie 24 Hours on 14-15 June in a Renault-Alpine (#26); the Chevrolet Corvette with which Marie-Claude Beaumont took her first start in 1971 (#2).
