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Maria Grazia "Lella" Lombardi
DOB: March 26, 1941 – March 3,
1992
NASCAR - first time since 1949 that three
women competed in a race together: Janet Guthrie,
Lella Lombardi, and
Christine Beckers. Raced in
the Spanish GP, first women to post a top six
placing (6th), 1975. Italy, 1975-77, 1980 Le
Mans
Born in Frugarolo, she participated in 17
Formula One World Championship Grands Prix,
debuting on 20 July 1974. She scored a total of 0.5
championship points, and is the only female Formula
One driver in history to have a top six finish in a
World Championship race, at the 1975 Spanish Grand
Prix. Half points were awarded for this race due to
a shortened race distance, hence Lombardi received
half a point instead of the usual one point. She is
the sole female driver to score points in Formula
One, as well as the only driver with that career
total.
After performing well in Formula Three 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. There were
two other female drivers in the field: American
Janet Guthrie and Belgian Christine Beckers.
Lombardi later raced in sports cars with some
success. She died of cancer in Milan in 1992, aged
50.
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