‘THE DRIVER’
2026

Part of my QUEENS series, this piece features Michele Mouton who was described in Autosport as motorsport’s most successful ever female driver, Niki Lauda described her as a “superwoman”, the documentary Queen of Speed, about her rise to the top of rallying, was awarded an Emmy for Best Sports Documentary.


She competed for the Audi factory team in the World Rally Championship, she took four victories and finished second in the driver’s world championship in 1982. In 1986 she moved to Peugeot and won the German Rally Championship as the first female driver to win a major championship in rallying.  After she retired she co-founder Race of Champions and became the first president of the FIA’s Women in Motorsport Commission in 2010 and the FIA’s manager in the World Rally Championship in 2011.