Let’s relive the story of the courageous Piedmontese driver, still the only woman to have conquered a point (or rather, half) in Formula 1
March 3 marks the 30th anniversary of the death of Lella Lombardi, one of the most successful female pilots in the history of Italian Motorsport and also the protagonist of a brilliant international career. A tough and gritty girl who laid the foundations for the birth of a large contingent of female pilots capable in the last two decades of beating their male colleagues.
what a character
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Lella Lombardi was born in 1941 in Frugarolo, a small village in Piedmont, the fourth daughter of a cured meat industrialist. She very tenacious, she from an early age she was attracted to four wheels and motors, preferring scale models to dolls. She already at the age of nine she began to learn the rudiments of piloting, and at thirteen she was perfectly capable of driving a car. And at eighteen she started working in the family business, combining business with pleasure: in fact, she drove a van along the Ligurian Riviera delivering supplies of meat and salami daily. lei reve was her step for her debut on karts, then in 1965 she made her debut in Formula Monza with a car purchased in installments. She proved to be quick and successful, just think that in 1968, at her Formula 3 debut, she risked winning the national title by missing the target by a handful of points. However, in 1970 she did not escape the Formula 850 title at the wheel of a Biraghi, with four victories out of ten scheduled races. In 1971, after a cracking start in Formula 850 with two more victories, Lella got an England engagement in Formula Ford Mexico. In general surprise, the second title of her career came. Within a few years she found a steering wheel in the very popular British Formula 5000 championship at the time, and she finished fifth in 1974 in a Chevrolet-powered Lola T330. In the spring of ’74 Lombardi then took part in two races open to Formula One cars, but out of the championship: the Race of Champions at Brands Hatch and the BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone, completed in a dignified manner. And in that year, Lella made the great leap of her debuting in the “real” championship of the highest Formula.
the years in f1
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Second woman to take to the track in F1 after the Neapolitan Maria Teresa De Filippis, Lella made her debut at the British GP in 1974 with a Brabham BT42 Ford Cosworth DFV, missing the qualification with the twenty-ninth time. In 1975 she switched to a March single-seater with a Ford Cosworth engine and to the general surprise she took a place on the grid in her debut at Kyalami. In the race she defended herself with dignity until the distribution went into crisis forcing her to stop. She then arrived in Spain, on the terrible street circuit of Montjuich. On a track at the limits of practicability and with safety conditions at the minimum terms, she really happened to everything. Some riders gave up the race, others retired after a lap in protest, still others were eliminated by carom and bumps to the provisional protections installed to avoid the cancellation of the race. In this climate of trepidation, Lella showed unparalleled courage avoiding any impact with the barriers with the March 751 of Lavazza March. And on the twenty-fifth lap the unfortunate Rolf Stommelen had a terrible accident with his Hill: the broken rear wing caused his car to end up in the crowd, causing four victims. The race was suspended and was never restarted. At the time of the interruption, Lombardi occupied sixth place and therefore the Piedmontese hit the points, becoming the first – and still the only – woman to succeed in this goal in F1. Due to only twenty-five laps, Lombardi only got half a point, but this did not diminish the value of her enterprise. Later Lella alternated between the March 761 of Lavazza March, a Williams-Ford managed by Frank Williams Racing Cars and the Brabham BT44B Ford of RAM Racing, alternating with some missed qualifications a further nine participations, with a twelfth place in Austria as the best result. .
after formula 1
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Also in 1975, Lella Lombardi confirming her versatility also made her debut in the World Sport Championship, competing in many of the most prestigious international Endurance races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 1000 KM of the Nurburgring. Lella alternates between different cars, both GTs such as the Porsche 911 and 934 and Sports such as Osella and Lola. His best year is 1980 in which with Giorgio Francia he conquers fifth place in the drivers’ classification of the World Championship, driving an Osella Pa9 Bmw, with one victory and two second places. Starting in 1982, he embarked on a new challenge with the white-green Alfa Romeo GTV6 Alfetta sponsored by Alpilatte in the European Touring Championship, then in great shape. Alongside valid teammates such as Giorgio Francia, Rinaldo Drovandi, Anna Cambiaghi and the recently deceased Roman Gianfranco Naddeo, he achieved fourteen partial class victories in four years and allowed Alfa Romeo to conquer the marque title in 1985. race cars of the German DTM at the Nurburgring and gets a nice sixth place as the best result. In his “free time” he does not disdain to take part in national 2CV Cross races, helping to make this nice racing car created on the basis of the legendary “Deux Pattes” extremely popular in the eyes of Italians.
farewell to racing
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In 1988 Lella Lombardi hangs up his helmet, but does not leave motorsport, founding a car team called Lella Lombardi Autosport, later a great protagonist in the Italian and foreign Tourism Sprint and Endurance races. She always remained at the forefront with her team until 1991. The worsening of her health conditions forced her to leave the scene, and after a few months of suffering she passed away on March 3, 1992 in Milan, among the tears of many fans. However, her name would remain the object of admiration by all true motorsport fans. However, Lella had broken the place that she considered sporting motor racing to be reserved for males only and would have pushed an ever larger number of conductors to try their luck in the world of motors, achieving an ever-increasing number of victories. Tomorrow, perhaps not too far away, another champion will arrive in F1 capable of equaling or even surpassing the primacy of Lombardi …
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