Odette Siko was a French

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

driver, who competed in

endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from a ...

and

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sports ...

racing during the 1920s and 1930s. At the

1932 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1932 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 10th Grand Prix of Endurance that took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe on 18 and 19 June 1932. A significant year for the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) with the biggest changes to the circuit in the race's ...

, she won the 2 Liter class and finished in fourth place overall, becoming the highest placing female driver in the event's history. Siko competed in three more Le Mans 24 hour races.

Auto racing career

Siko began competing occasionally in the late 1920s. She became the highest-ranked woman competitor to date in the 24 Hours of Le Mans when she placed fourth overall in the 1932 edition (and winner 2L class.), for a total of 4 entries: 1930 (7th with Marguerite Mareuse, Bugatti Type 40 1.5L I4), 1931 (disqualified confusion of signals, even co-pilot and the vehicle), 1932 (cf. place with Louis Charavel (alias Jean Sabipa) Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 1.7L I6 compressor, personal property of Mrs. Siko), and 1933 (by accident-Abd. against a tree-even copilot (Sabipa) on his Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 1.9L I6 compressor). From 1933, her career leaned more towards rallies and participating in the Paris-Saint-Raphaël women's race with

Hellé Nice Hellé Nice (born Mariette Hélène Delangle; 15 December 1900 – 1 October 1984) was a French model, dancer, and a motor racing driver who competed in numerous minor Grands Prix and other races between 1928 and 1939, whose racing career was imp ...

, and in 1935 at the

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast ...

(as copilot Simone Louise of Forest ). In 1936 she drove a

Bugatti Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French manufacturer of high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the Italian-born industrial designer Ettore Bugatti. The cars w ...

during the Critérium de Paris-Nice, (86 final). In 1937, she participated in speed trials for ten days (from 19 to 29 May) on the ring circuit of Montlhery on behalf Yacco motor oils, as "road captain" of four women, including Helle Nice Simone of Forest and Claire Descollas, who then defeated 25 world records (10 endurance and 15 in Group C International, some of which still stand to this day) in an atmosphere that was sometimes difficult between them. They went through more than 30,000 km at an average speed of 140 km / h. Their vehicle was a Ford "Matford" Mathis 3600 cm3 V8 engine nicknamed "Claire" by the team's mechanics (perhaps by Miss Descollas itself in the early sessions, because it was rugged with 1 day). In 1939, still driving the "Matford", she returned a second time in Monte-Carlo, with Louise Lamberjack for copilot: Starting from Tallinn, the two women ended the race 18th, after a very rough start to the year. The Second World War finally interrupted her career in racing.

References

French female racing drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers French racing drivers French rally drivers Year of birth missing Year of death missing {{France-autoracing-bio-stub