AUSTRIA'S Trivia - JACKPOT

[AUSTRIA]

JACKPOT: 4 points remaining from lap 1)

LADIES CUP:

4 Questions, 4 extra points to clear the jackpot

What is the name of the lady, as known, ...

A) ... who first drove a car

B) ... who first took part in a car-race

C) ... who first took part in a 'Grand Prix'

D) ... who first won a car-race

Please add the dates and the events ...

[Michael M]

A) Bertha Benz

[Michael M]

C) Elisabeth Junek

[Michael M]

Sorry, was too fast, didn't read the last line.
A) early August 1888 (exact date unknown), private trip from Mannheim (Benz residence) to Pforzheim to visit her mother, without knowledge of Carl Benz.

[Michael M]

to C) Elisabeth Junek, GP Germany Nürburgring, Place 4, Bugatti T39A

[Michael M]

B) Although this was more a trial than a race:
Lilli Sternberg, Prinz-Heinrich-Fahrt 1910, Opel.

[AUSTRIA]

A) What I have

B) More then 10 years earlier !!!

c) I need some more research, but it seems, that Elisabeth was not the first woman in GP-racing ...

D) ... not easy ...

anybody else ? I'll give you the answers Thuesday evening.

[Crash Test]

Since it is a jackpot, id better have a go A) ... was her first name Mary?

B) ... hmm, do riding mechanics count?

C) ... hmm, do riding mechanics count?

D) ... dont know

Oh well, i tried.

[AUSTRIA]

Riding mechanics, hmmm...

Not what I meant, but the question was '... took part ...' - so rising mechanics take part, don't they?

As a compromise I will accept, if you additionally post a picture of the nice mechanic-lady, what's about that )

[Michael M]

B) Okay, I believe I have it:
Madame Laumaillé, March 6-7, 1898, Marseille-Nice, De Dion

C) Forget to show the year for Elisabeth Junek: 1926

[AUSTRIA]

You are right with Mme. Laumaillé (De Dion - tricycle); finished fourth in class 4 (cycles less than 100 kg) and 27th over all

Although Ivan Rendall gives the following:

Mme. Labrousse
Paris-Spa; 1 July 1899;
finished fifth in the three-seater class

Do you know, what kind of race this was, I've never heard about.

[Michael M]

C) Must read 1927 of course, there was no Nürburgring in 1926 ...

[AUSTRIA]

C)
Mme. du Gast; Panhard
Paris - Berlin; 27 - 29 June 1901
VI GP de l'ACF (1906 named 'GP' in retrospect)
finished 33th over all (47 drivers classified)
If you don't accept this race as 'GP':

Ira Veil
GP USA 1908
I was not able to find anything about Ira Veil, and I'm not sure, it was a woman. In German-speaking countries 'Ira' is a female name.

If you also don't accept this, so Michael will be right with Elisabeth Junek.

D) I cannot believe it. At least the victory of Divina Galica in a race of the Aurora-series should be known.

But the best ever woman in racing was Clärenore Stinnes ! She won the Rallye from Leningrad to Moskow from 52 men !!! And she rounded the world in a car in 25 month, starting on 25. May 1927 in Berlin. The Lady is still alive and is writing her memoirs.

I guess, Tim should know some nice stories about nice girl, racing on the Brooklands-track, especially Kay Petre and Gwenda Stewart.

Another win: Violette Morris on her BNC won the 1100-class of the 24 houres-race Bol d'or in 1927.

Another 24-hours record was run by Mrs. Victor Bruce at the Monthlery-track (year?): 3439,488 km single-handed!

And very impressing was Ennes Merck (daugther of the founder of Merck-Pharma) with her Mercedes S, who died too early, only 29 years old, in 1927. I wonder, how she was able to handle the heavy car, known as very hard to steer. (see the comments of Caracciola and Merz, who both complained about)

The formula one girls as Teresa and Lella are well known, but there were many other fast women, especially in the twenties and thirties ...


P.S. I've forgotten something: the riding mechanics: the first I know was the wive of Le Blant in his Steam-Serpollet, but there was also one woman in the early days of the Australian GP, in 1928. Must dig it out, if somebody is interested.


[This message has been edited by AUSTRIA (edited 26 April 2000).]

[TimD]

Actually, Austria, AF Rivers-Fletcher, may he rest in peace, once told me a very good story about a very nice girl at the Brooklands circuit.

But I don't think it had a great deal to do with racing....

... and I don't think I'd better repeat it!

Ahem!

On the subject of ladies racing at Brooklands, I agree. There were many talented female racing drivers. Gwenda Stewart, Kay Petre, Elsie Wisdom (known as "Bill"), Doreen Evans, to name just a few. Indeed, the first ladies race took place on the circuit in 1908.

From a very early time, the Brooklands authorities accepted female entries on an equal footing with those from men, without favour and without prejudice.

It throws an interesting light on the attitude of Mr Bernard C. Ecclestone in our era.

One little protest I will make, if anyone ever goes to the Brooklands museum, they will find a room dedicated to the involvement of one Dame Barbara Cartland, novelist and society girl.

Please, please do not accept the notion that Barbara Cartland was anything more than a bit-player at Brooklands. She will talk at great length about the MG race she organised in the early thirties for society ladies, but that was a publicity stunt arranged with the cooperation of the MG Car Company.

It was frowned upon at the time, and far from giving women the opportunity to race, it was boycotted by every one of the regular female Brooklands drivers of the time, who valued their safety more than the publicity of racing with novices.

Sadly, Miss Petre, Miss Evans and Mrs Wisdom are no longer with us to present their memoirs, and history is left with Dame Barbara who is only too willing to share hers....

Sorry. That one is a real issue for me.

[AUSTRIA]

He, he, Tim!

Every story, that happened at the Brooklands circuit must have more or less a deal with racing, at least when it happened before 1938. So if the story is very good - as you mentioned - you are not allowed to make us all anxious and then say only' ... ahem ...'. So please, do, what you have to do ...

P.S.
I have fully forgotten to list also Michelle Mouton - although it might be dangerous, counting a woman, who is still alive, to history. (Sorry Michelle). She impressed me all the time, when she pushed her quattro so gently through the corners and often showed her male collegues the way.

I think, the history of rallying is as interesting as the 'common' racing history, especially in the interwars-era, where it was hardly to seperate from racing with the 'touring cars' - the later sportscars.
So I hope, Grahams announced excursion to that corner of racing history in his trivia will not be a single event.

[Michael M]

Hi Austria, nice to see you finished your easter vacation.
I knew of course that the trial Paris-Berlin has been called 6th GP de l'ACF in retrospect (by the way, 1st on this basis consequently has been Paris-Bordeaux-Paris 1895), but I really can not count them as GPs. Firstly because this description has been added later only, and secondly because a GP in my eyes can onyl be a circuit race. And for Ira Veil - in the USA this is a typical male name ....!
For me the first real GP is the 1906 Grand Prix de l'ACF at Le Mans which was something like a continuation of the Gordon Bennet series, and from that onwards I couldn't find any female participant before Elisabeth Junek.

I was sure that there was something earlier than Galina Galica, but I had no idea what. Cläre Stinnes, yes, I know her round the world trip, but was not aware she won also races / rallyes. Boooh Austria! A class win is no race win! Although I agree, I didn't know this one. And Kay Petre of course in the "White Riley" beats the lap record at Brooklands in 1935 for the "Mountain Circuit Class F". Wanted to post a pic here, but my scanner gave up the ghost.

[AUSTRIA]

Full score - 4 points to Michael

[Michael M]

Austria, not correct!
I didn't had any answer to D).

[AUSTRIA]

My donation, Michael