24h Le Mans
This year will be the eighth time that the 24 Hours of Le Mans has fallen on the weekend of 18-19 June. In 1932, Alfa Romeo won the day, yet the race also had a leading lady, Frenchwoman Odette Siko, who put her name in the record books with the best ever result for a woman driver.
Four out of four for Alfa Romeo - In 1931 Alfa Romeo drivers Earl Howe and Henry Birkin put an end to the Bentley winning streak. The following year the Italian constructor confirmed its good form with a one-two finish for the 8C in which Luigi Chinetti and Raymond Sommer clinched victory over Gian Battista Guidotti and Franco Cortese. In 1933, Sommer and Tazio Nuvolari took the honours again for Alfa Romeo and in 1934 Chinetti was back on the top step of the podium, this time with Philippe Etancelin.
Odette Siko, first woman in the top 5 - A third Alfa Romeo also finished the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1932. The car was entered and driven by Siko, a pioneer in French motorsports.
She made her Le Mans début in 1930 partnered with Marguerite Mareuse, co-owner of their Bugatti T40. They finished in a promising seventh place. The pair entered the race again in 1931 but were disqualified following a misunderstanding with the pit crew. They stood ninth before the incident.
In 1932, Siko entered her own Alfa Romeo 6C and teamed up with Louis Charavel. They came fourth overall, which remains to this day the best result for a woman driver at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The pair made another attempt in 1933 but had to retire due to an accident. Thereafter, Siko turned to rally racing. Her 1932 exploit blazed a trail for many other women, especially in the 1970s when Marie-Claude Beaumont, Christine Beckers, Lella Lombardi and Michèle Mouton took the wheel. Cyndie Allemann, Rahel Frey and Natacha Gachnang formed the last all-woman team to have entered the race, in 2010. Having raced at Le Mans ten years in a row between 1974 and 1983, local woman Anny-Charlotte Verney remains the record-holder for the number of participations for a woman. Her best result was sixth in 1981.
The 1932 24 Hours of Le Mans: podium
1-Luigi Chinetti-Raymond Sommer (Alfa Romeo 8C #8)
2-Gian Battista Guidotti-Franco Cortese (Alfa Romeo 8C #11)
3-Brian Lewis-Tim Rose Richards (Talbot 105 #6)
Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO – Translated from French by Emma Paulay
