Driven: A pioneer for women in motorsport – an autobiography
The inspirational story of the female motorsport pioneer who broke through the gender barrier to compete in and win some of the most iconic rallies in the world.Rosemary Smith is recognised internationally for her outstanding achievements in the world of motorsport. A female pioneer in a notoriously male-dominated sport, she drove in the Monte Carlo rally eight times, winning the Coupe des Dames on numerous occasions as well as competing in most other iconic rallies all over the world, including the London to Sydney in 1968, the World Cup London to Mexico in 1970 and the East African Safari Rally in the 1970s. In a Hillman Imp, Rosemary won the Tulip Rally outright, beating all the male drivers to the finish.Now, for the first time, Rosemary reveals the inside story of her amazing life, recounting many memorable adventures and exploits both on and off the track.But Rosemary’s story is not all fast cars and marathon rallies. She writes with honesty about her early life, about a disastrous marriage and money troubles – and how she overcame it all.
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First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2018
FIRST EDITION
© Rosemary Smith 2018
Cover layout design by Claire Ward © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018
Cover photographs courtesy of the author
All other images courtesy of the author unless otherwise indicated.
While every effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright material reproduced herein and secure permissions, the publishers would like to apologise for any omissions and will be pleased to incorporate missing acknowledgements in any future edition of this book.
Rosemary Smith asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
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Source ISBN: 9780008301859
Ebook Edition © October 2018 ISBN: 9780008301873
Version: 2018-09-13
Contents
CHAPTER 3: ‘YOU DRIVE,’ SHE SAID
CHAPTER 5: REVVING UP WITH ROOTES
CHAPTER 7: AVOIDABLE ACCIDENTS
CHAPTER 10: SOUTH OF THE BORDER
CHAPTER 11: MEN, MARRIAGE AND MORTGAGES
(Independent Newspapers Ltd)
by Eddie Jordan
I hear people these days talking non-stop about passion and commitment, and that’s great, because without them there won’t be success. But these two elements come after the primary vital ingredient: inspiration.
Rosemary Smith inspired a generation of young Irish drivers, myself included, to pursue our dreams of an international career. As a young lad going to Synge Street School in Dublin, I was mad about cars – inspired initially by my cousin Noel Smith, who was a fine rally driver and got his hands on a Porsche 911 from time to time. But up in the stratosphere there was a supercool Irish icon who inspired the following generation of Irish drivers that we could achieve success on the international stage – and that icon was Rosemary Smith.
Like most young car nuts of that era, I bought Autosport when I could, and I remember Rosemary getting the front cover for her heroic outright win in the Tulip Rally in 1965. It was the equivalent of a WRC event today. The Swinging Sixties was in full flow in London and Paddy Hopkirk’s Monte Carlo Rally wins brought the Mini (the car, not the skirt!) and motorsport on to the front pages and into the social columns. Motorsport was uber-cool and Rosemary was the queen of it. She was an Irish superstar, a Dusty Springfield lookalike who was incredibly talented behind the wheel.
Breakfast with Jim Clark on the RAC Rally in the 1960s (Mirrorpix)
In 1966 I did my Leaving Cert (A-levels) and Rosemary was entered into the RAC Rally, reports of which we followed in detail when we should have been studying. There were 150 entries headed by Jim Clark and Graham Hill – two racing world champions. The real Stig (Blomqvist) and Roger Clarke and dozens of other rally aces were joined by Rosemary in her tiny Hillman Imp. She has an incredible knack of being able to drive error-free and managed to be one of only 50 finishers, ending in a magnificent 14th place.
Rosemary was incredibly glamorous and made rallying and racing the sport we longed to be part of. She was a rare Irish driver on the world stage and it is great that in motorsport she is still treated like royalty – in fact, better than royalty – and she deserves it.
We first met around 1975 when I was starting to race in England, with Aintree being the closest UK circuit, and she was campaigning a Ford Escort. She was a fine circuit racer who could hold her own against the best. The Renault F1 team told me in 2017 that they were going to give her a run at Paul Ricard and I was delighted.
Rosemary is a pioneer for women in motorsport and remains a great ambassador for her sport, and especially women’s place in it. Hers is a remarkable story of a lifetime of success at the very highest level in one of the most male-dominated sports on the planet. It is a story every aspiring driver can draw inspiration from.
