Lella Lombardi

Early career

After a brief experience with karting as a child, Lombardi bought her first car in 1965, which she raced in the Formula Monza series. She moved on to Formula Three in 1968,^[10] and in 1970 won the Italian Formula 850 series.^[11] In 1974, Lombardi was signed to drive the Shellsport-Luxembourg Lola in Formula 5000 and finished fourth.^[8]

Formula One

In 1974, Lombardi tried, unsuccessfully, to qualify for Formula One with a privately entered Brabham racing car supported by the Automobile Club d'Italia.^[12] The car was sponsored by Radio Luxembourg broadcasting on 208 meters mediumwave, which inspired the selection of 208 as Lombardi's Formula One racing number.^[13] That winter, she met an Italian nobleman, Count Vittorio Zanon, who sponsored her entrance into Formula One.^[8] In 1975, Lombardi was invited to join Vittorio Brambilla and Hans-Joachim Stuck on the March engineering team, racing the full season with Zanon's Lavazza Coffee Company’s sponsorship.^[8]

At the opening race of the campaign in South Africa, Lombardi became the first woman since Maria Teresa de Filippis in 1958 to successfully qualify for a Grand Prix. 1975 would prove to be an eventful season for the March Team, as Lombardi scored half a Championship point in the Spanish Grand Prix. This was because the race only lasted 23 laps until Lombardi was forced to retire with a fuel system problem, while the race suffered a major tragedy when the rear wing on Rolf Stommelen's Embassy Hill broke, sending him into the barrier. While trying to avoid Stommelen's car as it bounced back and crossed the track, Carlos Pace crashed. Four spectators were killed by Stommelen's flying car. The race continued for another four laps, resulting in Lombardi’s sixth-place finish and, with the race being stopped before three-fifths of the scheduled race distance was reached, all points were halved.^[14] Lombardi also successfully performed at other races, including the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, where she finished seventh.^[15] At the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, Lombardi had a one-off drive^[16] for Williams.^[17] However, she was prevented from starting the race^[17] due to an ignition problem.^[18]

In 1976, Lombardi was confirmed at March Engineering alongside Brambilla and Stuck.^[19] She finished 14th at the Brazilian Grand Prix that year,^[20] and subsequently, the team decided to replace her with Ronnie Peterson.^[21] Then, Lombardi briefly moved to RAM Racing, her best result being 12th at the Austrian Grand Prix.^[21]

Race of Champions

In 1974, Lombardi was the first female racing driver to qualify and compete at the Race of Champions in Brands Hatch. She raced a Lola-Chevrolet Grand Touring Prototype-class car and finished 14th.^[21] In the 1975 event, she was once again able to qualify and compete with a March-Ford car. She retired after 20 laps.^[22]

Sports cars

Lombardi later raced in sports cars. In 1979, she won the 6 Hours of Pergusa and the 6 Hours of Vallelunga;^[11] in 1981, she won the 6 Hours of Mugello [it].^[23] She competed four times at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where she finished 20th overall (and second in the GTP class)^[24] in 1976 in a Lancia Stratos Turbo.^[11] She also finished with podium places in a number of other European endurance races: third at Casale, 1974;^[25] third at the Imola 250 kilometers, 1977;^[26] second at Wunstorf, 1979;^[27] second at Ulm, 1979;^[27] second at the Monza 1,000 kilometers, 1981;^[28] second at the 6 Hours of Pergusa, 1981;^[29] and third at the Donington 500 kilometers, 1981.^[30]

Lombardi also raced in the Firecracker 400 NASCAR race at the Daytona International Speedway in 1977. There were two other female drivers in the field: American Janet Guthrie and Belgian Christine Beckers. Lombardi finished 31st.^[31]

Lombardi retired from racing in 1988. In 1989, she founded her own racing team, Lombardi Autosport.^[32]

Film

In 2020, the film "Beyond Driven" was made by directors Riyaana Hartley and Vincent Tran, providing essentially a dramatised documentary-style biographical account of Lombardi's life.^[42]

It features Patrizia Lombardi (Lella Lombardi's niece), Tatiana Calderon, Amna Al Qubaisi, Vicky Piria, Alice Powell, Giovanna Amati, Carmen Jorda, and Beitske Visser.^[42]

Complete European F5000 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Formula One non-championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

24 Hours of Le Mans results

More information Year, Team ...

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1975	Elf Switzerland	Marie-Claude Charmasson	Renault-Alpine A441	S 2.0	20	DNF	DNF
1976	Aseptogyl	Christine Dacremont	Lancia Stratos-Ferrari	GTP	265	20th	2nd
1977	Inaltera	Christine Beckers	Inaltera LM-Ford Cosworth	S +2.0	279	11th	4th
1980	Scuderia Torino Corse	Mark Thatcher	Osella PA8-BMW	S 2.0	157	DNF	DNF
Source:[43]

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Complete Shellsport International Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete British Formula One Championship results

(key) (note: results shown in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)