Annie Blanche Marie Soisbault de Montaigu (born 18 June 1934 in Paris - died 18 September 2012 in Paris) was a French tennis player and motorsports driver.[1]
Soisbault's early success came in tennis and she reached the semifinals of the Wimbledon 1952 Jr. Tournament,[2] however it did not pay as well as racing did in the 1950s. By the time she was in her early 20s, Soisbault had purchased her first two cars: a Delahaye Grand Sport and a Triumph TR3. In that same year she was a backup driver in the 1956 Monte Carlo Rally.[3] She was considered one of the finest women racers in the 1950s and 60s.[4] She won the 1963 Tour Auto Ladies' Cup and in 1966, she was the first woman who averaged more than 100 km/h driving a Porsche 906 at Mont Ventoux.[2][5]
She is buried in Paris at Pere Lachaise.
References edit
- ^ "Annie Soisbault de Montaigu". Motor Sport. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
- ^ a b "Motor-sport world mourns female pioneer". Classic & Sports Car. 10 October 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ Blackstock, Elizabeth (6 October 2018). "Rally Champion Annie Soisbault Wasn't Afraid to Bend the Rules to Win". Jalopnik. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ "Annie Soisbault, 1934-2012". velocetoday.com. 3 October 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
- ^ Bouzanquet, Jean François (2009). Fast Ladies: Female Racing Drivers 1888 to 1970. Veloce Publishing Ltd. p. 127. ISBN 978-1-84584-225-3. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
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