Lella Lombardi

Maria Grazia "Lella" Lombardi (March 26, 1941 - March 3, 1992) was a racing driver from Italy.

Born in Frugarolo, she participated in 17 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on July 20, 1974. She scored a total of 0.5 championship points, and is the only female Formula One driver in history to have a top 6 finish in a World Championship race, at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix.

After performing well in Formula 3 and Formula 5000 in the early 1970s, Lombardi entered Formula One in 1974 with an old privately-entered Brabham, but it was with March that she raced a full season in 1975. She then had a one-off drive for Williams before a short-lived and unsuccessful partnership with RAM Racing, driving another Brabham. Lella Lombardi had also started in NASCAR driving in the Firecracker 400 NASCAR race at the Daytona International Speedway in 1977. Interestingly enough, there were no less than three female drivers in the field that included American Janet Guthrie and Belgian Christine Beckers.NASCAR Winston Cup Profile....
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