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The female all-rounder who arrived "too early"

By:

James Newbold

Feb 17, 2021, 1:19 PM

From Formula 3 to truck racing, Dakar and EuroNASCAR via a winning stint in the DTM, there's not much Ellen Lohr hasn't seen in a stellar racing career that highlights the merit in being a generalist. But she believes her career came too early...

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As Laurent Aiello splashed to victory in the 1990 Monaco Formula 3 race, a piece of history was unfolding in the spray 21 seconds behind him. Thanks to what, at the time, was the best-ever finish for a German in the event's history, second-placed Ellen Lohr had achieved a landmark result for female racing drivers, and seemingly put her name on the watchlist of all the F1 team bosses.

From fifth on the grid, Lohr's VW Motorsport Ralt passed Alex Zanardi (41 F1 starts) when he struggled to find a gear at the start, then gained further places when Olivier Beretta (9 F1 starts) spun and team-mate Otto Rensing crashed out. Having been inspired by watching Jean Alesi throw his Tyrrell between the barriers while spectating trackside, Lohr saw her own name in lights.

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James Newbold Autosport Plus Editor

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James Newbold is Autosport's Plus Editor, responsible for coordinating website feature content.

In a sign of things to come, having completed his Politics and International Relations degree at the University of East Anglia in 2015, he left his graduation ceremony early to catch the last train to Brussels for the following day's Spa 24 Hours.

After a period as a freelancer, he joined the Autosport staff in 2018 and won the Motorsport UK young journalist of the year award. He initially edited Autosport magazine's Performance and Engineering supplements before joining the website team in his current role in 2020.

A keen enthusiast of anything that can be categorised unusual or niche, he enjoys unearthing little-known stories across all branches of motorsport, but has spent most of his career covering sportscars and is a regular part of the Le Mans 24 Hours reporting team.

He lives with his wife and children in Plymouth, England.