Fast Women Ready for 6 Hours of Silverstone

In the macho world of motor sport it can often seem like a hard arena for women to make their mark but when they do, they do it with style. On the eve of this year’s Autosport 6 Hours of Silverstone, we meet two women who have reached the top in the gruelling 200mph marathons of world-class sports car racing: Desiré Wilson and Leena Gade.

Like many aspiring stars from around the world, Desiré Wilson arrived in Europe in her early twenties with ambitions to reach the top as a professional racing driver. Desiré, born in South Africa, had talent to spare but this was the 1970s, however, when men behaved like Gene Hunt and all women were called ‘love’.

Nevertheless, in 1980, Desiré became the only woman to win a Formula 1 race of any description when she powered her Wolf to victory in a British F1 Championship race at Brands Hatch. Onward progress to the world championship was frustrated, however, and so Desiré turned her attentions to sports cars.

Flamboyant British team owner and racer, Alain de Cadenet (father of TV’s favourite wild child Amanda), recruited Desiré to handle his home-built racer against the might of Porsche and Lancia. "I was so excited and appreciative to be able to drive in this series, which seemed to be the next step in my career," Desiré remembers.

Her excitement was well founded, as she and de Cadenet finished third on their first outing and then won their first world championship sports car race at the historic Monza circuit in Italy. "Alain handed me the car in third position at the halfway point," Desiré says.

"Both the Lancia and Porsche in front had to stop and refuel but I was fine - I pulled out a good lead and the car was really flying.  Not long after, though, the heavens opened up and it rained like crazy.  I knew I could not stop for wet tyres as it would take way to long, so I drove the race of my life on dry tyres in the streaming rain - and won by 9 seconds!"

Next came Silverstone and another memorable victory. This time de Cadenet built up a lead from the start and handed the car over to Desiré, who then started to lose time with a misfire and fading brakes as the Porsches behind her prepared to pounce. "I pushed too hard into the chicane, lost the brakes, slowed down, and then took off again," Desiré remembers.

"I made my final stop with 90 minutes to go and Alain leant into the cockpit, giving me the bad news that I had been penalised for missing the chicane, so we were now a whole lap behind the leader. I just drove my heart out...

"There are times when a driver cannot explain the strange feeling, but it is like someone else is driving the car and I am watching.  These are brilliant days, and we made back the lap to cross the line with the car spluttering and banging... but winning!"

This year’s Le Mans 24 Hours saw two enormous accidents befall Audi’s works team, leaving just one car to fend off the trio of Peugeots determined to claim a ‘home’ victory in one of the world’s most famous motor races. Amid this kind of pressure London-born Leena Gade, the Chief Engineer on the surviving Audi, made history as the first woman to lead a team to victory.

It was to be a landmark on a long road for 35-year-old Leena. "At the age of 9, my moved the family to India for 3 years," she remembers.

"In that time, I met family friends whose son was studying engineering and along with my younger sister we researched the subject further. That was how my interest in engineering started, but it wasn’t until we moved back to England that I became interested in motor sport."

It may have been almost 20 years after Desiré Wilson’s heyday, but Leena still found some attitudes towards women in racing had not changed - mainly among her teachers.

"It was an all-girls school and not the norm to want to go into engineering. My French and Physics teachers were the most supportive of my choice," says Leena, who went on to study Aerospace Engineering with Materials Science at Manchester University.

Working within the passenger car industry after graduation, Leena volunteered with club racing teams to get a foothold in motor racing, building up contacts and impressing many seasoned hands.

Her big break came when Audi needed an assistant engineer for its sports car team in the USA, since when she worked her way towards this year’s Le Mans victory.

"I’ve never really noticed that I’m the only girl on the team as no matter where I’ve worked I’ve always been treated as 'one of the boys' and have never had any negativity towards me," says Leena.

"But being unique in the field does mean that you get yourself noticed and prove you are worth a gamble by being good at what you do.

"This job requires a great sense of humour. Without the humour, it can make it really tough when you have to work until 4am getting your car ready knowing you have to be back at the race track at 7.30am. But the rewards are worth it!"

Both these fast women will be at Silverstone on September 9-10-11 for this year’s 6 Hour race, Leena back in the hotseat in the Audi pits and Desiré joining the event’s 35th anniversary celebrations. "I applaud Leena for what she has accomplished," says Desiré.

"In such a macho world, to gain the respect of mechanics, team managers and especially a manufacturer is fantastic... I’ll be cheering her on."