Lella
Lombardi

Maria Grazia Lombardi, known as Lella, was born on 26 March 1941 in Frugarolo in Piedmont. After a brief spell of karting as a child, she bought her first car in 1965 and raced in Formula Monza. She moved up to Formula Three in 1968 and won the Italian Formula 850 series in 1970. In 1974 she finished fourth in Formula 5000 driving a Lola.

That same year she failed to qualify for Formula One in a privately entered Brabham. In 1975 she drove for March and, at the South African Grand Prix, became the first woman since Maria Teresa de Filippis in 1958 to qualify for a Grand Prix. The Spanish Grand Prix was stopped early after a serious accident in which spectators lost their lives. As less than three fifths of the distance had been covered, only half points were awarded. Lombardi was classified sixth and took half a championship point, which makes her the only woman to have scored in Formula One. She finished seventh at the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. At the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen she was entered in a Williams but could not start because of an ignition problem. She ended the world championship in 21st place.

In 1976 she began the season with March and finished 14th in Brazil. The team then replaced her with Ronnie Peterson, and Lombardi moved to RAM Racing, where her best result was 12th in Austria. In total she was entered in 17 championship Grands Prix and started 12 of them.

In 1974 she became the first woman to qualify for the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, finishing 14th. She also raced sports cars, winning the 6 Hours of Pergusa and the 6 Hours of Vallelunga in 1979 and the 6 Hours of Mugello in 1981. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1976 she finished 20th overall and second in her class in a Lancia Stratos Turbo. In 1977 she also took part in the Firecracker 400 NASCAR race at Daytona, finishing 31st. She retired from racing in 1988 and founded the team Lombardi Autosport in 1989. Lella Lombardi died on 3 March 1992, aged 50. A sculpture in Frugarolo commemorates her, and the 2020 film Beyond Driven tells her story.

Source: Wikipedia, “Lella Lombardi”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.