Maria de Villota

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María de Villota (2011)

María de Villota Comba (born January 13, 1980 in Madrid ; † October 11, 2013 in Seville ) was a Spanish racing car driver .

Career

Helmet design by María de Villota

At the age of 16, de Villota began to compete in kart races and won her first race in the same year. In 2000 she switched to formula racing and competed in the Spanish Formula Toyota . She stayed in this racing series for two seasons and won the runner-up title in her second season. In 2001 she also made her debut in the Spanish Formula 3 championship and finished her first season, in which she had not yet competed in every race, in 20th place overall. De Villota stayed in the Spanish Formula 3 championship until 2004 and achieved her best overall placement in 2002 when she finished tenth overall. In 2003 she finished 13th and in 2004 12th place in the overall ranking. In the four seasons she achieved no podium placement.

In 2005, de Villota moved to the Ferrari Challenge Europe and finished the season in eighth place overall. She also returned to Formula 3 in Spain for two races. In the B class of this championship, she achieved a podium finish. She also contested the Daytona 24-hour race in a Ferrari 360 Modena , which she finished in 24th overall. In 2006 she stayed in the Ferrari Challenge Europe and finished eleventh overall that season. She also contested two races in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC). In 2007 she switched to the ADAC Procar series and finished third in the championship with a win. She also competed in two races in the WTCC and six races in the Spanish GT championship.

In 2008, de Villota started for her father's team in a race in the Euroseries 3000 and finished 22nd overall at the end of the season. Besides this race, she did not participate in any other races in 2008. In 2009, de Villota took part in the first three Formula Palmer Audi racing weekends and was 22nd overall at the end of the season. She then competed in the 2009 season for the Atlético Madrid team supervised by Alan Docking Racing in the Superleague Formula . Her best placement in this series, in which she played half a season, was a seventh place. 2010 de Villota took part in the Superleague Formula for Atlético Madrid in nine events. Fourth place was her best result. In addition, she started some races in the Spanish GT Championship. In 2011 de Villota started the season in the Superleague Formula again, but it was replaced after one event. Her best results were two twelfth places. She also completed Formula 1 test drives for Renault . Since test drives in the current racing car were forbidden during the season, she drove a two-year-old Renault R29 .

In 2012 de Villota was a test driver for the Formula 1 team Marussia . In June 2012 she was appointed ambassador for the FIA Commission Women in Motorsport .

On July 3, 2012, she had a serious accident during straight-ahead test drives on the grounds of the Imperial War Museum Duxford in a collision with the tailgate of a team truck. Although the impact occurred at around 50 km / h at a relatively low speed, she sustained severe head and face injuries because the loading flap was exactly at head height. De Villota suffered a fractured skull in the accident and lost her right eye as well as her sense of smell and taste.

Personal

De Villota came from a motorsport family. She was the daughter of former Formula 1 pilots Emilio de Villota and sister of automobile racing driver Emilio de Villota jr. Her father also runs a racing team.

De Villota married her longtime partner Rodrigo García Millán in July 2013.

After her test accident, from October 2012 de Villota appeared again more in public and became involved in safety issues. Since the end of September 2013 she has been on a promotional tour for her autobiography "Life is a Gift".

On the morning of October 11, 2013, de Villota was found dead in a hotel room in Seville after an emergency call had been made by hotel staff shortly before. The autopsy carried out on the same day revealed a cardiac arrest as the cause of death, before a cerebral haemorrhage had already occurred. It is said to be the consequences of the neurological injuries that she sustained in the test accident.

Before the driver parade at the Japanese Grand Prix on October 13, 2013, a minute's silence was observed for María de Villota, and the award ceremony was dedicated to her.

Career stations

  • 2000: Spanish Formula Toyota
  • 2001: Spanish Formula Toyota (2nd place)
  • 2001: Spanish Formula 3 (20th place)
  • 2002: Spanish Formula 3 (10th place)
  • 2003: Spanish Formula 3 (13th place)
  • 2004: Spanish Formula 3 (12th place)
  • 2005: Spanish Formula 3
  • 2005: Ferrari Challenge Europe (8th place)
  • 2006: Ferrari Challenge Europe (11th place)
  • 2006 : WTCC
  • 2007: ADAC Procar Series (3rd place)
  • 2007 : WTCC
  • 2007: Spanish GT Championship, GTA (21st place)
  • 2008: Euroseries 3000 (22nd place)

Web links

Commons : María de Villota  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Robert Seiwert: Found dead in the hotel room. In: Motorsport-Magazin.com. October 11, 2013, accessed October 11, 2013 .
  2. ↑ Maria de Villota. Telegraph.co.uk, October 11, 2013, accessed October 12, 2013 .
  3. ↑ Maria de Villota obituary: 1980-2013. Autosport.com, October 11, 2013, accessed October 12, 2013 .
  4. ↑ Daytona 24 Hours - Race Results. Racingsportscars.com, accessed October 12, 2013 .
  5. ↑ Superleague Formula by Sonangol 2010 Kicks off at Silverstone. automobilsport.com, April 1, 2010, accessed October 11, 2013 .
  6. ↑ Christian Nimmervoll: "Ladies first: De Villota flawless in Formula 1 test". Motorsport-Total.com, August 18, 2011, accessed October 11, 2013 .
  7. ↑ Mario Fritzsche: "Marussia hires de Villota as a test driver". Motorsport-Total.com, March 7, 2012, accessed October 11, 2013 .
  8. ^ FIA Women's Commission appoints female ambassadors. Motorsport-Aktuell.com, June 5, 2012, accessed October 11, 2013 .
  9. ↑ Dominik Sharaf: "Crash in Duxford: De Villota critically injured". Motorsport-Total.com, July 3, 2012, accessed July 3, 2012 .
  10. ↑ Sven Haidinger, Dominik Sharaf: "De Villota suffered head and face injuries". Motorsport-Total.com, July 3, 2012, accessed July 4, 2012 .
  11. ↑ Sven Haidinger: "Gracia confirms: De Villota operated on for a fractured skull". Motorsport-Total.com, July 4, 2012, accessed July 4, 2012 .
  12. ↑ Sven Haidinger: “Doctors lose battle for de Villota's right eye”. Motorsport-Total.com, July 4, 2012, accessed July 4, 2012 .
  13. ^ Wedding in Santander: De Villota under the hood. Motorsport-Total.com, August 11, 2013, accessed October 11, 2013 .
  14. ↑ Maria de Villota is dead. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . October 11, 2013, accessed October 11, 2013 .
  15. ^ Hallan el cuerpo sin vida de María de Villota en un hotel de Sevilla. In: ABC . October 11, 2013, accessed October 12, 2013 .
  16. ↑ Confirmed: De Villota's death as a result of the Formula 1 accident. Motorsport-Total.com, October 12, 2013, accessed October 13, 2013 .
  17. ↑ Suzuka: Minute's silence for de Villota. Motorsport-Total.com, October 12, 2013, accessed October 13, 2013 .
personal data
SURNAME Villota, Maria de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Villota Comba, María de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish racing car driver
DATE OF BIRTH January 13, 1980
PLACE OF BIRTH Madrid , Spain
DATE OF DEATH October 11, 2013
Place of death Seville , Spain