Driven: A pioneer for women in motorsport – an autobiography

Driven: A pioneer for women in motorsport – an autobiography
Rosemary Smith

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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Copyright (#u44828260-38fc-5484-81c8-008bd15eeebf)

HarperCollinsPublishers

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London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

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

Dedication (#u44828260-38fc-5484-81c8-008bd15eeebf)

Dedicated to Patricia (Pat) Doyle,

my lifelong friend

Contents

Cover (#u01279f94-67a6-50d0-bef0-8fc91c409b12)

Title Page (#uce27fa94-7d8f-5a67-b118-e2443de36877)

Copyright (#u56c2a1f0-ec19-5e44-90a5-19f827ab4b23)

Dedication (#u3a5d4f64-e996-5c2e-a49d-b27cef0b9698)

FOREWORD BY EDDIE JORDAN (#uaf665772-e131-5c00-b420-838f59f5c837)

INTRODUCTION (#u192d61b1-262b-5fee-a292-1b06411197da)

CHAPTER 1: THE START (#u1674e704-28d8-553f-942a-e15feee696da)

CHAPTER 2: SPECIAL STAGES (#u5d021022-889d-5e5a-8bc8-0bf426a04148)

CHAPTER 3: ‘YOU DRIVE,’ SHE SAID (#u03317731-b5d6-5165-ac37-8e859e3d9a72)

CHAPTER 4: AND WE’RE OFF! (#ub2959c55-2623-54b3-9e03-6224a7c18af2)

CHAPTER 5: REVVING UP WITH ROOTES (#u7e10a533-40de-5c5a-b8fe-1e7f9b7cd36a)

CHAPTER 6: THE AMERICAS (#ue3574aed-2865-5599-85d1-9b38529c21ad)

CHAPTER 7: AVOIDABLE ACCIDENTS (#u03deab0e-d4fb-581a-9039-a2b45d823ca7)

CHAPTER 8: MOVING ON (#ua71d7a56-53e8-51f4-9d27-c0312c0550d6)

CHAPTER 9: DOWN UNDER (#u611a62fc-dc2d-592e-be67-2902499d93ac)

CHAPTER 10: SOUTH OF THE BORDER (#u3570de7d-b29b-529c-a9f9-c753b17fe2dd)

CHAPTER 11: MEN, MARRIAGE AND MORTGAGES (#u340f4293-3532-598c-b3a0-e9fed9ee9ce4)

CHAPTER 12: RAINY KENYA (#u9d7234ae-ab9d-506c-9b58-4ea143dce900)

CHAPTER 13: RACING AROUND (#uaaa06e65-06a6-59d4-8aa3-921640d8e954)

CHAPTER 14: FROM BAD TO WORSE (#u4e7a7f24-15df-5890-928a-f2de6b1f2a1b)

CHAPTER 15: ROCK BOTTOM (#u92b95e82-ba28-5a19-9322-1eea8e2115ea)

CHAPTER 16: LET’S FACE IT (#u58eeafb7-ffd3-595a-8021-37e0bec90c7d)

CHAPTER 17: IN BUSINESS (#u7b2ff658-a3c1-50a7-b93c-fe9b4cb8c70b)

CHAPTER 18: SEEKING SOLUTIONS (#ueef3b9c2-445a-5cfc-8e51-95e30d7e600a)

CHAPTER 19: RECOLLECTIONS AND REGRETS (#u569ff670-f271-5a35-be01-43897dcd309b)

CHAPTER 20: DÉJÀ VU (#u1d0e05d4-a3d6-5e33-a65d-ebbd55c9c3cf)

CHAPTER 21: PASSION FOR LIFE (#uea56ee9a-9ba9-5a9f-a673-489274eadce6)

PICTURE SECTION (#ubfda5774-347f-5205-b64e-5f8b738abedd)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (#u713197b8-afcb-5657-8b48-17bc265ce7de)

ABOUT THE AUTHORS (#u4e92d176-488d-5bd2-9f7c-2334cb26483e)

LIST OF SEARCHABLE TERMS (#u0cb98a1f-1664-529a-b6b2-8cb8464423c9)

About the Publisher (#ubf4d0363-7e50-5c39-98f9-bff2ab4c17a5)

(Independent Newspapers Ltd)