Janis Taylor

Janis and Del Russo Taylor in 1983

Janis Taylor raced sportscars in the 1980s, in the USA.

She was from Denver, but settled in Florida. Her father had been an automotive enthusiast and she had grown up around fast cars, dabbling in the drag racing scene in her youth. In a 1983 interview with the Poughkeepsie Journal, she described buying her own first car at "15 or 16". It was a Triumph Spitfire and she worked on it herself.

Her first year of major competition was 1980, when she drove an Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV in the Sebring 12 Hours. She and her two team-mates, including her husband, Del Russo Taylor, did not finish. Del Russo married Janis in 1974 and was an experienced racer.

Her second attempt, in 1981, was as part of an all-female team in the Alfetta, with local drivers Carol Cone and Pat Godard. The team only had one male member, a chief mechanic who was allergic to oil. Two of the crew were air stewardesses. They had serious problems in the qualifying race, but managed to get onto the grid for the 12 Hours. Sadly, the car expired on the first lap, with Janis at the wheel.

For the next two seasons, she mostly drove a Buick-engined Chevron GTP prototype in IMSA events, often sharing with Del Russo. She was named as the car owner in 1981. Their best result together was a 29th place in the Mid-Ohio 500km, from a 15th-place start.

Her activities included the Sebring 12 Hours, which she entered twice more in 1982 and 1983, once in the Chevron and once in a Ford Pinto, driving for different team owners and finishing once in 1982, in the Pinto.

As well as some outings with Del Russo, she drove different cars in the IMSA-supporting Kelly American Challenge, including a Chevrolet Camaro in 1983.

In 1984, she switched to a Pontiac Firebird owned by Walter Johnston as her main car. Her best result was 21st, in the 1984 Riverside 6 Hours. A 1985 Daytona entry in the Firebird went ahead without her in the driving line-up, which consisted of Del Russo, Bob Lee and John Hayes-Harlow. After this, she disappears from the entry lists.

(Image copyright Poughkeepsie Journal)

Marie Laurent

Marie with her Aseptogyl-sponsored Hemicuda in 1974

Marie Laurent was a French driver who was most known for her membership of Team Aseptogyl, and her performances on-track in a Chrysler Hemicuda in the 1970s.

She first appears on the entry lists in 1970, competing in hillclimbs, although details of this are sketchy. Her car was a Simca.

Next, she raced on the circuits, winning the French Simca Challenge in 1971. Her car was a CG Proto. Early in the season, she raced the car in some rounds of the Championnat des Circuits in France, finishing fifth at Albi, and tenth in the Coupe de Printemps at Montlhéry. As well as providing her with her first championship, the Challenge brought her into contact with Jean-Claude Géral, the 1970 winner, who sold her a 1970 Hemi-engined Plymouth Barracuda, known as a Hemicuda and used to great effect by the French Chrysler team.  The pair raced the car together at least once, at Magny-Cours, during a round of the Championnat des Circuits.  Driving solo, later in the season, she was third at Paul Ricard and second at Montlhéry in the Hemicuda, behind Géral both times.

In 1972, she drove the enormous, 7000cc Hemicuda in the Championnat des Circuits. Although she was unable to match the dominant sportscars of the series, she was one of the front-runners in Group 6 and the National section. She won at least one race, the Coupe de Salon on the old Montlhéry circuit, and was second in at least one other, behind Frank Alesi in a Chevrolet Camaro. As well as the Championnat, she competed in hillclimbs, finishing second in class at Mont Ventoux and third overall at Chamrousse, in the Hemicuda. 

The results for the National part of the 1973 Championnat des Circuits are proving very hard to find. It seems likely that Marie raced the Hemicuda in at least some of the rounds. Hillclimbing was definitely still on her agenda, and she competed at Ampus in a Ford Capri, finishing in 39^th place.

For the first part of 1974, she was once more one of the front-runners in the Championnat des Circuits. She was second in the Group 1 race at Montlhéry, fourth at Nogaro, then second again at Montlhéry, after a battle with Marie-Claude Beaumont and Henri Greder, both in Opel Commodores. Apart from one more non-finish at Montlhéry, her season in the series ended there. The Hemicuda was not the force it once was, compared to the Alfa Romeos and Opel Commodores that now dominated. She was tenth in the championship.

Despite the big American car being a little outdated on the circuits, it still remained competitive on the hills. This year, Marie competed in hillclimbs as part of Team Aseptogyl, Bob Neyret’s all-female, toothpaste-promoting rally and race team. For the Tour de France, she paired up with another Aseptogyl driver, Marianne Hoepfner, in an Alpine A310. They were thirteenth, and won the Coupe des Dames.

In June, she was part of another all-female team, for Le Mans this time. She was part of Christine Beckers’ Ecurie Seiko Scato, sponsored by a watch firm. The other team members were Christine Beckers herself, and Yvette Fontaine, both Belgian. Their car was a Chevron B23. They were seventeenth, and won the 2000cc class, which was the best finish for an all-female team since the 1930s.

After 1974, she raced less frequently. Despite her success, she did not return to Le Mans, and Team Aseptogyl concentrated more on rallying as the 1970s progressed. She took part in some occasional road races and hillclimbs, in different cars. In 1977, she was 29^th in the Ronde Cévenole, driving an Alpine 1300. The latest result available for her is a 20^th place in the 1979 Mont Dore hillclimb. Unusually, she was in a single-seater, a Ralt RT1.

Some time around then, she married Jean-Pierre Gabreau, another racing driver, and had a daughter. She died in 2015, at the age of 71, after having been ill for a long time.

(Image from http://club.caradisiac.com/motor-head)

Helen Bashford-Malkie

(Image from www.the-mia.com)

Helen is a former long-term Chairman of the British Women Racing Drivers' Club (BWRDC). During her twenty-plus years racing she has sampled many cars and formulae, and she is one of a select group of women racers who have driven a Formula One car in anger. She is also one of the much smaller group who have actually had the machinery, preparation and talent to use an F1 car to good effect.

Helen Bashford was born in 1958. She attended motorsport events as a teenager and was inspired to take the wheel herself when she watched Divina Galica racing at Oulton Park. She duly enrolled at the Jim Russell racing school to learn the basics, meeting her future husband, Vin Malkie, in the process.

Her first competitive outing was in 1977, and she was driving a Chevron B1. She had to retire when the car lost its oil, and it was this oil patch that sent Vin's car out of contention too. This incident did not harm their relationship, and the couple even drove together in sportscar races sometimes.

For the next few years, Helen raced in a number of sports cars and Formula Ford, both 1600 and 2000. She made the move up to Formula Three competition in 1985 and had an excellent season with a first, second and third place, plus a pole position start. She and Vin also teamed up for some Thundersports races, and came third in the Oulton Park round, driving a Chevron B19. One of the drivers they beat was Helen's heroine Divina Galica, who was seventh, which must have been an experience for Helen.

Motherhood beckoned for her during the mid-1980s, so her racing commitments were cut back. However, after the birth of a son and daughter she was off again in 1990, competing in Group 6 sportscars. At Silverstone she set a new Group 6 lap record and netted the first of her BWRDC Jamieson Trophies for the fastest lap by a British female racer. The Trophy was hers again the next year following some extremely quick performances in International Supersports. She came third overall in the championship.

After a relatively quiet 1992, Helen was on form again in 1993. She set another lap record at the highly-regarded Spa track, in Supersports this time. She was also second in the RJB Mining Group 6 series and won the Jamieson Trophy again. The BWRDC awarded her the Wakefield Trophy in 1994 in recognition of being the best-performing lady driver in the world.

Another couple of years in Group 6 followed, and a pair of class wins ensued: class 6 in 1995 and class B in 1996. She was awarded her fifth Jamieson Trophy in 1996.

At the beginning of 1997, Helen and Vin, who were now running their own car preparation business, purchased an ex-Elio de Angelis Shadow DN9B F1 car. Having secured sufficient funds, Helen entered the Thoroughbred Grand Prix Championship for 3-litre F1 cars. She had a remarkable first season with a best result of third at Brno, making her the first woman to take a TGP podium. She was a top ten finisher in every race she entered, despite only having a small amount of testing under her belt. She was tenth at Donington, fifth at the Nürburgring, sixth at Zolder and sixth at Brands. She was tenth overall in the championship table, which was a very good debut.

The F1 action carried on in 1998, and Helen almost created history when she led at Spa, against experienced competition like the eventual winner Bob Berridge. Sadly, an accident got in the way of a stellar result, and Helen limped home to eleventh. A mechanical problem put her out at Brands too, but the rest of the races led to strong top ten finishes: fourth at Monza, sixth at Most and seventh at Donington. She was awarded her sixth Jamieson Trophy at the end of the year.

A reduced Thoroughbred Grand Prix programme followed in 1999. Helen's Shadow was fourth again at Monza, ninth and seventh at Donington and a disappointing sixteenth at Brands. The funding ran out at the end of the year and Helen accepted an offer to test and race a new Panoz sportscar in America in 2000. The Panoz was designed for use in the Women's Global GT Series, an all-female racing championship that supported the ALMS. She took part in some of the races, but returned to Europe for the 2001 season.

For the next two years, Helen partnered French-American historic specialist Carol Quiniou in classic sportscar races around Europe. Her chosen car was the sleek Lotus 23B. During this time, she spent less time racing, and more time running the car preparation business she directs with Vin. One interesting story from this time was that she was to test an American stock car for the fledgling ASCAR series in the UK. The series promoter, Bob Berridge, had offered £100,000 in prize money to any woman who won a race. It is not known whether Helen did test, but she did not race in ASCAR, which failed to take off anyway.

Although no longer a regular racer, Helen remains very active in motorsport. She and Vin acquired the rights to the Chevron name, and were directors of Chevron Cars, stocking parts for new and classic sports-racers. They started manufacturing a road-going Chevron too. Both still occasionally race Chevrons themselves; in a 2003 club meeting at Brands Hatch Helen showed she still had the knack by coming third in two races in her own B19.

In 2013, Helen stepped down as Chair of the BWRDC, but did make a return to competition in the form of a hillclimb at Shelsley Walsh. She was driving a Chevron B19.