One of the first female F1 racers was South African! Women in motorsport through the years

Cape Town - In celebration of Women's Month in August, we reflect on female achievements in motorsport. Women have been involved in motorsport a lot longer than most people realise. It's great achievement when a member of the fairer sex is successful (such as grabbing a podium) in a male-dominated sport. 

Clare Vale is a fine example, she became the first woman to make the V8 Master racing series podium. Another is Cape Town's Nashrene Schloss, one of few women who participate and performs well in gymkhana events.

SA's women in motorsport

There's also the likes of Helen Griffiths, Cindi Harding and Evelene Coetzee who have excelled as rally navigators in SA, and boy, can they drive too! 

Not forgetting Andrea Bates, Fabienne Lanz and so many other excellent female motorsport personalities. In 2017, Paige Lindenberg, Donny Lamola and Cassidy Simmons are making a name for themselves in various racing disciplines.

READ: 10 women who made an impact in the automotive industry

Female races date as far back as the 1900s with Louise Bazalgette entering the new sport of 'automobilism'.

Even more exciting is that the only woman to win a Formula 1 race, is South Africa's Desire Wilson; she was victorious in the short-lived British Aurora F1 series in 1980. We've included a video of Wilson at the end of this article.

What's your favourite female achievement in motoring? Who's your top female motoring personality? Email us

Below follows a cool timeline from the peeps over at CompareTheMarket highlighting women in motorsport through the years.

Read the original article here.

WATCH: The Desire Wilson story