Whilst this years Australian Formula One Grand Prix didn’t live up to
expectations one event during the weekend deserved much praise. The induction
into the Australian Motorsport Hall of fame of Joan Richmond, an Australian
motorsport pioneer. Australia’s first lady of speed, Joan Richmond started motor
racing when horse racing, banned her from becoming a jockey. The daughter of a
wealthy woolgrowing family from Central West NSW she was taught to drive by
the family chauffer. Aged 26, she would come fifth in the 1931 Australian Grand
Prix at Phillip Island over 331km, driving a Brooklands Riley. Then, heading
overseas to try her luck she sensationally won the inaugural Brooklands 100 in
the UK in 1932 against some of the best male competitors of the era. She met and
dated London Stockbroker and racer Bill Bilney who proposed to her on the eve
of a 12-hour race at Donington Park where they were to share the driving.
Tragically Bilney crashed in the rain and was killed. Joan Richmond died aged 94
in Melbourne in1999 and her induction into the Australian Motorsport Hall of
Fame is a most fitting tribute to her legacy. John Goss was also inducted last
weekend, the only driver to win both the Australian Grand Prix and the Bathurst
1000. I’m David Berthon

Download this podcast here