Ana Delfosse

Ana Delfosse was an Argentinian race-car driver and Formula One mechanic who worked for Grand Prix champion Juan Fangio and later became the first woman to win a pure-speed auto race in Argentina. Born in 1931 near Punta Arenas, Chile, she grew up on a sheep farm in Argentina. Enamored of speed at an early age, she rode a horse called Blitz (German for "lightning"). Watching Fangio driving by the ranch in his racing car led to her involvement with racing cars. At the age of 16, she became part of Fangio's pit crew and later became a driver, racing in the Andes and elsewhere.[2] On June 5, 1960, she won a race in Buenos Aires, driving a Porsche Gordini.[1][3]

Ana Delfosse
Born
Anneliese Hartenau[1]

1931
Punta Arenas, Chile
DiedApril 23, 2017(2017-04-23) (aged 85–86)
San Diego, United States
OccupationRace-car driver and mechanic
Spouse(s)Curt Delfosse

Biography

Ana Delfosse was born Anneliese Hartenau in Punta Arenas, Chile, of German parents.[1] She met her husband, Curt Delfosse, a race-car designer, while working in Fangio's garage in Buenos Aires, and they married in 1955.[4] In 1963, she and her husband immigrated to the United States, where they established an automotive business, Delfosse Racing, in San Diego, and another in Idyllwild.[2] Retiring in 1977, they moved to southern Oregon and built a home along the Little Applegate River.[2] Facing economic problems after the buyer of their California business defaulted on payments, they sold their home and moved to Ashland where they leased and operated a gas station near Interstate 5.[2]

Both died of lung problems associated with frequent exposure to leaded gasoline, asbestos from brake pads, and other toxins that posed risks to race-car mechanics and drivers in the mid-20th century. Curt died in 1998, and Ana died in 2017 while visiting her sister in San Diego. She suffered from scleroderma during her final years.[2][5]

References
  1. (in Spanish) Primera victoria de una mujer en una carrera de velocidad pura en la Argentina Archived 2016-10-12 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Eastman, Janet (June 5, 2017). "Race car Driver Ana Delfosse, Who Broke Speed Records and Social Barriers, Remembered by Ashland Friends (Photos)". The Oregonian. Advance Digital. Retrieved June 8, 2017 – via Oregon Live.
  3. (in Spanish) Libro de records: una pionera del automovilismo local
  4. Wheeler, Sam (2015). Legendary Locals of Ashland. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. pp. 70–71. ISBN 978-1-4671-0145-5.
  5. Eastman, Janet (May 11, 2015). "A frightening turn for former race car driver Ana Delfosse, once Juan Fangio's mechanic". The Oregonian. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
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