MARIA GRAZIA "LELLA" LOMBARDI - 03/26/1943 - 03/03/1992
(home - Frugarolo Italy)
was a racing driver from Italy. Lombardi was born in Frugarolo, a small town in Piedmont in Italy. Her father was a butcher, and Lombardi's first job was to drive the delivery van for her family shop. After a brief experience with karting, she bought her first car in 1965 and raced in Formula Monza. In 1970 she raced a Biraghi in the Italian Formula 850 series. Lombardi won four of the ten races in the calendar, winning the championship. In 1971 she moved to London where she won the Formula Ford Mexico championship. Lombardi debuted in Formula One in 1974 with a privately entered Brabham supported by the Italian Automobile Club but failed to qualify. In 1975 she was invited to join Vittorio Brambilla and Hans-Joachim Stuck at March and raced the full season. At the opening race of the campaign in South Africa, Lombardi became the second woman to qualify for a Grand Prix. Her race lasted for 23 laps until she was forced to retire with a fuel system problem. 1975 would prove to be an eventful season for the March Team. Brambilla scored a surprise victory in the rain-shortened 1975 Austrian Grand Prix, while Lombardi scored a Championship
point in the Spanish Grand Prix. Lombardi's other best result was at the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, where she finished seventh. The Nürburgring is a monster of a track. Comprising more than 1000 feet of elevation change, and a whopping 14.1 miles to complete the lap. In 1976 Lombardi was confirmed at March alongside Brambilla and Stuck. She finished 14th at the Brazilian Grand Prix but the team decided to replace her with Ronnie Peterson, who became available after breaking away from Lotus. In 1974 Lombardi was the first female racing driver to qualify and compete at the Race of Champions in Brands Hatch. She raced a Lola-Chevrolet and finished 14th. In the 1975 event, she
was once again able to qualify and compete with a March-Ford. She was forced to retire after 20 laps. Lombardi later raced in sports cars with some success. Her best season was in 1979 when she won the 6 hours of Pergusa and the 6 hours of Vallelunga. She also competed four times at the 24 hours of Le Mans, her best result being in 1976 when she finished 9th in a Porsche Carrera. In 1977, She also crossed the pond; coming to the United States to run in a NASCAR Cup race. The race would be the Firecracker 400 NASCAR race at the Daytona International Speedway. There were two other female drivers in the field: American Janet Guthrie and Belgian Christine Beckers. Lombardi would start 29th and run well, but a rear end failure relegated her to a
31st place finish. Lombardi retired from racing in 1988. In 1989 she founded her own racing team, Lombardi Autosport. Lombardi died of cancer in Milan on 3 March 1992, aged 50. She is buried in Frugarolo. Some info from Wikipedia
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