Among all the crews of The Great Race there is one that arouses curiosity if not passion: suffragettes. This name evokes a political, social struggle for the recognition of women's right to self-determination. If the legitimacy of this fight is not in doubt, the analogy with motor racing seems more complicated to justify. Yet in the history of the automobile famous women very early manifested their individualism and their wish to do, like, and better, than men.
En voiture Simone !
The youngest among us surely do not know this expression, yet it is based on an unusual character, a remarkable, passionate woman who succeeds in living her passion and marking her time: Simone Louise Des Forest.
Born March 7, 1910 in Royans, she passed her license at 19 and participated in her first car race at 20 in 1930. From 1931, in defiance of the sexist prejudices of the time, she became a professional racing driver. She went on to race and rally and in 1934 crossed Europe from Bucharest to Monaco, bypassing Switzerland from the north, a journey of 3,772 km which she recounts in a travel diary. Her adventure does not stop there, she will break 25 world records, become an airplane pilot, be the first woman to run a driving school ...
To savor more I invite you to discover this page in his honor on the retromotiv site.
The place of women in The Great Race
The suffragette crew is planned exclusively for the Kick starter campaign, here are some preparatory sketches of François Launay.