Gabriella Mondadori

Gabriella Mondadori (b. 25th October 1953 in Rieti, Italy) is a retired Italian racing driver.

Early life

Gabriella was the only child of a plumber and a typist, and grew up in a very modest blue-collar home. From an early age she showed a rebellious attitude towards her parents, and refused to conform to the role of a "traditional girl" which her parents hoped for. Instead, she was interested in cars and bikes and as soon as she was old enough to work, she started saving up for a Vespa scooter. Unfortunately, only a few weeks after finally acquiring a second-hand one at the age of 16, she collided with a delivery truck. During her stay in the hospital she briefly considered giving up and starting to study to become a typist or secretary as her parents wished her to do. But then she came across the latest issue of Autosprint and was instantly hooked on motorsport. Once out from the hospital, she caused quite the stir by applying for an internship at a local garage. Knowing she'd have to work twice as much to prove her worth as compared to her male colleagues, she spent every waking hour either reading about cars and motorsport, or taking apart and assembling engines. By 1972 she not only was a fully-fledged mechanic, but had also save enough money to buy a kart and start racing on the few off weekends she had.

Racing career

At the start of 1973, she was able to attract enough sponsorship so she could quit her day job and become a full-time racing driver. She finished 10th in the national karting championship in that year, and 3rd in 1974. In 1975 she moved on to Formula Ford, finishing 5th in the national championship. Knowing that she'd need to progress quickly through the ranks to have a realistic chance of driving in F1 some day, she moved on to the Italian F3 championship in 1976. At first it seemed that she was progressing too fast as she struggled early in the season, but recovered to an eventual 11th place finish in the championship. In 1977 she was quick from the start, but a late-season injury meant she couldn't challenge for the title and had to settle for 4th in the standings.

Dywa GP

The next step for her would've logically been European Formula Two, but she lacked the funding for it. However, early in 1978 she was contacted by Latin Auto Technology Enterprises to drive one of their cars in the new Dywa Grand Prix Series. Surprised to see that they required less sponsorship despite the cars supposedly being F1-level, she jumped on the chance knowing it's her best chance to hopefully impress a F1 team to sign her.

Personal life

In 1986 Mondadori met a motorsport journalist she immediately fell in love with, and married him in a private ceremony in 1987 while also announcing her retirement from motorsport at the same time. They have two children.