This approach works for an endless parade of nobody male drivers, and it got Lella close enough to just grasp at history, at least for a moment, before it all started to slip away from her. Painful. Later that same year, partnered by Giorgio Francia, she won the Vallelunga Six Hours; they would win the 1981 Mugello Six Hours, too. La Lombardi non aveva ancora compiuto 51 anni ed stata sepolta nel cimitero di Frugarolo, nell'alessandrino, suo paese natale. Long and successful associations with Osella and Alfa Romeo followed. Over her career, Lombardi started an impressive twelve F1 races, spanning the 1974-1976 seasons. She finished 14th at the Brazilian Grand Prix but the team decided to replace her with Ronnie Peterson, who became available after breaking away from Lotus. Just racing and fishing.. In 1974, Lombardi became the first woman to race at the Race of Champions at Brand Hatch. By creating your free Catawiki account, youll be able to bid on any of our 65,000 special objects up for auction every week. She raced with the talented racer/journalist Marie-Claude Beaumont in 1975 in an Alpine A441 under the far-sighted Francois Guiters Ecurie Elf Ladies Team, and later won the 1979 Enna Six Hours with Enrico Grimaldi (becoming the first woman to win an FIA Championship event). She was in an unreliable car whose problems were only intensified by the fact that the mechanics didnt take Lombardi seriously when she reported complaints to do with the handling. I don't know how you can positively spin that as earning it on merit. Lombardi grew up in Italy and developed an interest in racing by driving a delivery van for her family. Herd: Max [Mosley], a much better engineer than people might think, asked me if he could borrow Vittorio for a few laps. Lombardi and Beckers qualified fourth at Daytona, but crashed out after 78 laps when a slower Porsche suffered a blow-out as Beckers drew alongside. Facebook gives people the power. She gave them a good going over before finishing third, only two seconds behind Bartlett and sharing fastest lap with Stewart. A successful placing in the 1965 Formula Monza, however, gave Lombardi away, when her parents read about her in the papers. Unfortunately, she failed to qualify for the race. Amazingly, Lombardi also raced in NASCAR driving in the Firecracker 400 at the Daytona International Speedway in 1977. We miss her passion, determination and modesty.. We miss her passion, determination and modesty., Lombardi checked into Milans San Camillo Clinic in February 1992 and died on March 3, days short of her 51st birthday. Speaking in this month's. Thats unusual for a racing driver. Lella was my recommendation. [10], Lombardi retired from racing in 1988. She wasnt rich her father was a butcher and, with no sponsors to begin with, she slept in her truck to save money. Frugarolo. And their respect. While she remains one of the elite few women who've raced in Formula One, and the only of them to gain a score, motorsport continues to evolve, and in many ways, reflects the social progress seen elsewhere. Explore our range of classic cars and spark your own racing career. (Shed already been farmed out to Williams at Watkins Glen the previous October, when her FW04 conked on the warm-up lap.) Even her major success that year was tinged with tragedy. Thats unusual for a racing driver. While she had some poor seasons behind the wheel of poor cars, she also could consistently log top ten finishes. We were too busy building production racing cars. The final Grand Prixfor Lombardi was in Austria; a 12th place was her reward. She learned how to drive behind the wheel of the delivery van for her familys butcher shop. 2023 by Bump & Beyond. Thats why we were strong. Because it was a short race, Lombardi was only awarded a half of a point. The following year, Lella joined Christine Dacremont in a Lancia Stratos and finished second in their class. Career Women began competing as grand-prix racing drivers as early as 1958, when Anna-Maria de Fillipis competed in three Formula One events. No entourage. Mike Beuttler was technically the first openly gay F1 driver ever. She also raced a Lola and an Eagle for Francisco Mirs team in the US F5000 series, as team mate to rising star James Hunt. Record keeping was scarce in the 60s and 70s, and the quiet, nondescript Lombardi wasnt one to steal the public eye, especially due to her sexuality. Janet Guthrie, Sarah Fisher, Lyn St James, Danica Patrick and Simona de Silvestro all raced in IndyCars, Danica winning a race at Motegi, and Simona showing a racers courage after a fiery inversion at Indianapolis. She was just the second female driver to ever race in the Formula One World Championship, preceded only by Maria-Teresa de Filippis' pioneering race career in 1958 and '59. She was a racing driver first and foremost. That was the first time we saw her, says John Webb, the UKs most go-ahead promoter of the period. She was 50 years old and was buried in Frugarolo. Looking back on her points-scoring race, Lombardi told the New York Times: I dont think it dawned on me that I was the very first woman to collect championship points. Lella Lombardi Driver Information Born 26 March 1941 Frugarolo, Italy Died 3 March 1992 (aged 50) Milan, Italy Nationality ITA Formula One World Championship Career Statistics Status Deceased World Titles 0 Races 18 (12 starts) Poles 0 Wins 0 Podiums 0 Fastest Laps 0 Points 0.5 First Race 1974 British Grand Prix Last Race 1976 Austrian Grand Prix Neither of her parents drove and Lella, as she became known, enjoyed her earliest experiences behind the wheel from driving the delivery truck for her father's salami factory. Brambilla, perhaps never really pushing that car whenever he was asked to try it, never mentioned the handling problem, but Ronnie Peterson quickly noted it in 1976. At the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, Lombardi scored half a point, making her the only woman to ever score any championship points in Formula 1. . Though officials erected barricades and bosses manned the barriers because the drivers were rightly unamused by Montjuchs laughable Acme Inc Armco, the latter would eventually kowtow and race with a collective madness bar world champion Emerson Fittipaldi, who stayed true to his word and refused to start. Complete European F5000 Championship results, Complete Formula One World Championship results, Complete Shellsport International Series results, Complete British Formula One Championship results, Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft results, "Information about Lella Lombardi from historicracing.com", "Trailblazing racer Lella Lombardi remembered, 30 years on from her death", "Pitstop pioneers: the queer drivers who changed motorsports", "Trailblazing racer Lella Lombardi remembered, 30 years on from her death | Formula 1", "Lombardi, Lella (1942) | Encyclopedia.com", "Pioniere. If shed been a bit more glamorous perhaps more people would have noticed.. Lombardi is one of two female drivers to qualify for Formula One and is the only female who scored points in Formula One. Poles Later she would race in NASCAR, sharing a Chevrolet with Janet Guthrie in Daytonas Firecracker 400 in 1977 but being classified only 31st after transmission problems. Motorsports have always been popular with all kinds of people. [9] Lombardi also successfully performed at other races, including the German Grand Prix at the Nrburgring, where she finished seventh. This took place in 1951, but before then shed been a moderately successful motor racer and pilot in the RAF. While failing to qualify, Pete Lyons, arguably the leading F1 journalist of that era, nevertheless described Lombardi'sintroduction to the world of Formula One like this: "Lella Lombardi drove her BT42 the same chassis with which Pace failed to qualify in France in a brisk enough, and clean enough, manner to impress people favourably.". Lombardi bought her first car in 1965, competing in Formula Monza. Racing was her passion, and she was focused on it wholly. So we were perfectly happy to have Lella. Lombardi made history for two reasons at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix - she was the first woman to score points in a Grand Prix, and the first driver to score a career total of 0.5 points, after the accident of Rolf Stommelen which stopped the Grand Prix before half-distance, remaining the only person to achieve either of these. Lombardi is one of two female drivers to qualify for Formula One and is the only female who scored points in Formula One. She had the strength of a man but a womans sensibility: she was kind and transmitted serenity. By the time she arrived at Monaco in early June she had scored half of the six victories that would help her become Italys Ford Escort Mexico Challenge champion. 0 Vittorio Brambilla was one of only two to set a time on Friday afternoon. Lella was far from being the first female female pioneer in racing. Behind the wheel, female drivers compete at the highest levels. Nel 1988 Lella si ritirata e ha aperto la scuderia Lombardi Autosport, dove diventata team manager. But she wanted me to be just as fast and was always giving me tips and help. After driving the delivery van for her familys butchers shop, she raced karts briefly, before saving everything she could to buy her first car, which she drove in Formula Monza in 1965. And much of the team that backed him in Formula 1 were wealthy gay men. And while motorsport has certainly reflected this progress, one exception is in Formula One where Lella Lombardi remains the single female who has scored points while competing. She endeared herself to the media when she was asked how it felt to handle such big cars and replied: I dont have to carry it, I just have to drive it., WATCH: 10 iconic Williams moments as the team reach 750 GPs at Monaco. Nationality After a further two category victories in 1971, at Monza and Vallelunga, she returned to F3 in 1972 and, with her Lotus 69 running under the Jolly Club umbrella, finished 10th in the standings. But Lombardi was tenacious. Perhaps its the legacy of cars being thought of as symbolic of straight men or the continual presence of concepts like the Grid Girls in F1, a tradition which was only recently discontinued. F1 Unlocked, LIVE COVERAGE: Follow all the action from final practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix, Feature She always worked hard, was easy on the car and understood how to get what she wanted from it. She would often speak of sacrifices. This was back in 1936 and by 1939 shed competed in the Antwerp Grand Prix. It was easily one of the most consistently successful eras of her career. Maria Grazia "Lella" Lombardi (26 March 1941 3 March 1992) was an Italian racing driver who participated in 17 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix. Her experience has shaped the involvement of women in racing and how people perceive females in the racing industry. That same year she attempted to make her Grand Prix debut in the British GP at Brands Hatch, in a Brabham BT42 rented from Bernie Ecclestone for 5,000, entered by Hexagon of Highgate and sponsored by Allie Polymer Group. Lella Lombardi is a name firmly etched into the motorsport history books. Thankfully, things began to change, helped by these motoring queer pioneers. She impressed him not only with her driving but also by her mechanical knowledge and feel. Lella Lombardis racing career has influenced the perceptions of subsequent generations of females in racing. In 1979, she won the 6 hours of Pergusa and the 6 hours of Vallelunga. Progress would require a backwards step first. I liked Lella a lot, Marie-Claude says. Lella Lombardi: "Preferisco un incidente che innamorarmi", http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/llombard00/cup/index.html, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lella_Lombardi&oldid=1132016872, Italian Formula Three Championship drivers, Sportspeople from the Province of Alessandria, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 6 January 2023, at 21:48. She also competed four times at the 24 hours of Le Mans, where she finished 20th in 1976 in a Lancia Stratos Turbo. She raced a Lola-Chevrolet and finished 14th. 1974 British Grand Prix And in 1976 she shared a Lancia Stratos Turbo with Christine Dacremont at Le Mans and finished 20th one lap and one place ahead of the Cosworth DFV-powered Inaltera of Jean-Pierre Jaussaud, Jean Rondeau and Belgiums Christine Beckers. The world in general, and motor racing in particular, was a less enlightened place in the mid-'70s than present day. The following year ended in a retirement. Those were not easy cars to drive basically a Formula 2 with a big, tall lump stuck in the back but she got quicker and quicker during the year. Montjuich 1975: Lella Lombardi hustles her March to sixth place and the only GP point for a woman albeit halved by the shortened race. She moved up through the ranks of local racing and built her reputation as the Tigress of Turinwhen she finished second in the 1968 Italian Formula Three championship. Pitting on lap seven because of flat spots, he would, amid the chaos, recover to finish a lapped fifth. At the Spanish Grand Prix in 1975, former butcher's delivery driver and ex Formula 3 Championship runner up, Lella Lombardi, became the first, and still only, female driver to win F1 World Championship points. Date of birth. While apremature end to a life and career that had not reachedits full potential, Lella Lombardi nevertheless made her point; no one can take that away from her. Her next-best finish was a seventh place at the German Grand Prix. The Grand Prix cars of the '70s were not very reliable, particularly the further down the grid you traveled. Two years later she further proved her ability as she won four of the 10 Formula 850 races in a Biraghi, and went on to take the championship in 1971. World Titles We had a good relationship and we always agreed. Or become a seller if you've got a car to sell. Race stopped after 29/75 Laps. [13] Journalist Phil Pash reports that though Lombardi viewed racing as a masculine sport, she succeeded regardless because of her competitive spirit. [13] Among others who comment on the effects of Lombardis legacy is Matt Majendie, who writes about Jamie Chadwick. She admitted privately, however, that it felt like riding a buffalo and, unsurprisingly, Guthrie, who had finished a fine 12th in that years Daytona 500, outqualified her by nine places. (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap. 18 (12 starts) She was much more concerned by the settings than I was, great with the mechanics and very speedy. Recognised by his signature yellow Brabham, Beuttler remained forever, a dash of colour in a grey field. Michele Mouton came within a whisker of becoming the World Rally Champion, Lilian Bryner has won the Spa 24 Hours, and Sabine Schmitz has twice triumphed at the Nrburgring 24. 1976 Austrian Grand Prix. We gave Ronnie a new chassis for Monaco after his misunderstanding with Carlos Reutemann in Belgium, says Herd. asks Mark Hughes. READ MORE: F1s 'one-win wonders' how many do you remember? She qualified 7 seconds off pole in P24 and got half a point because there were 18 DNFs, 5 people died and the race was abandoned. People were staring and peeping. As one might expect, Lombardi turned her hand to endurance racing in both sports and touring cars racing at Le Mans on four occasions, including her final appearance when she partnered with Mark Thatcher, son of the British Prime Minister.
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