A woman and her Porsche 356 on La Carrera Panamericana

On April 21- 23, as part of Renée’s training for La Carrera Panamericana, she will be bringing her 356 to Road Atlanta to race in the Classic Motorsports Mitty where Porsche will be this year’s featured marque. This will be an important race for Renée as it will be her first race since her accident in the 2015 La Carrera Panamericana.

64 years ago, the first woman dared to take on “The Ultimate Road Race”, La Carrera Panamericana, behind the engineering of an iconic Porsche 356. Since then only one other woman driver has taken on this grueling 7-day, 2,000-mile gauntlet through Mexico in a 356 Porsche– Renée Brinkerhoff, but with one small difference –– Renee finished the race and won!

In 2013, Renée and her 356 started a racing career – both at the age of 57. In their first car race of any kind and with no racing experience the duo made history when Renée became the first woman in the 30-year running of the infamous Mexican rally race, La Carrera Panamericana, to win her class behind the wheel of a 1956 Porsche 356 and in their debut year. She is only the second woman driver to ever podium in the history of the race. She is also the only woman to race, finish and place the three years she has participated in the La Carrera Panamericana.

But the best part of this story is Renée kept this desire to race a secret from EVERYONE for 35 years! You can imagine her family’s reaction when at the age of 57 she told them she wanted to race a car and not just in any race – but a race that was run in the early 50s and cancelled after only 5 years due in large part to the multiple fatalities, 27 to be exact. This race, La Carrera Panamericana, was revived in the 80s with new “safety” protocols, but even with these added standards, the auto-racing world still considers it to be one of the most dangerous events of its kind.

At the age of 60, Renée and her car can’t be stopped! The two are returning to the 30th anniversary of La Carrera Panamericana in October with their sights set on a top 10 overall finish – something that’s never been done by a woman driving a Porsche or any other car for that matter. For further details please visit here.