Ursula Wirth

Ursula Wirth (April 25, 1934 – April 10, 2019) was a Swedish automobile rally racer. She and Ewy Rosqvist-von Korff won the Gran Premio Argentina in 1962, when they were also the first two-woman team to enter the race.

Ursula Wirth
Two white women in helmets, hugging, outside a car.
Ursula Wirth (left) and Ewy Rosqvist-von Korff (right), in 1962.
BornApril 25, 1934
Sundsvall
DiedApril 10, 2019
Stockholm
NationalitySwedish
OccupationAutomobile racer
Known forWon the Gran Premio Argentina with Ewy Rosqvist-von Korff in 1962

Early life

Wirth was born in Sundsvall, the daughter of Kurt Artur August Max Wirth and Ruth Ingrid Tora Sjöbohm.

Career

Wirth was a rural veterinary assistant as a young woman, driving from farm to farm to treat animals. Finding that she enjoyed driving, she became interested in rally racing. She placed well in a rally at Västergötland in 1960, and soon teamed up with another woman rally driver and veterinary assistant, Ewy Rosqvist-von Korff.[1][2] Together, they won several international road rally competitions in the early 1960s,[3] including the Gran Premio Argentina in 1962.[4]

At the 1962 Argentina rally, Wirth and Rosqvist were not only the winning team, but the first two women to enter the six-stage, 2871-mile race; they won all six stages and set a speed record with their win.[5] The two Swedish women were provided with bodyguards during their time in Argentina, for fear that they would be attacked by racing fans.[6] Reports of their win were accompanied by headlines like "Pretty Dolls Whip Men in Grand Prix",[7] and "Swedish Blondes Break Tradition in Grand Prix."[8]

Wirth and Rosqvist won the Coupe des Dames at the 1963 Monte Carlo rally.[9] Wirth worked with English driver Pat Moss in 1964,[10] and left racing in 1965, but taught driving for almost thirty years in Stockholm. In 1969, she appeared in the film Monte Carlo or Bust!.[11]

Personal life

Wirth married television presenter Magnus Banck in 1965, and left rally racing. She was widowed when Banck died in 1981. She remarried in 1987, to Ingmar Fernström; he died in 2014. Ursula Wirth Fernström died in 2019, just before her 85th birthday, in Stockholm.[12]

References
  1. Hedenborg, Susanna; Pfister, Gertrud (2019-10-31). Extraordinary Sportswomen. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-11740-1.
  2. Tolvhed, Helena (2017-08-03). "Ewy Rosqvist, rally queen: gender, identity and car racing at the beginning of the 1960s". Sport in Society. 20 (8): 1047–1058. doi:10.1080/17430437.2016.1175138. ISSN 1743-0437. S2CID 147076234.
  3. "Mercedes-Benz rally driver Ewy Rosqvist celebrates her 85th birthday". Daimler. July 25, 2014. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
  4. Tomas, Fiona (2019-08-19). "Moment in Time: Nov 4, 1962 Ewy Rosqvist wins Touring Car Grand Prix of Argentina". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
  5. "Matters of moment | Motor Sport Magazine Archive". Motor Sport Magazine. December 1962. p. 7. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
  6. "Attraction control | Motor Sport Magazine Archive". Motor Sport Magazine. October 2002. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
  7. Arias, Ronald (1962-11-05). "Pretty Dolls Whip Men in Grand Prix". The Evening Sun. p. 40. Retrieved 2019-12-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Swedish Blondes Break Tradition in Grand Prix". Mt. Vernon Register-News. 1962-11-05. p. 10. Retrieved 2019-12-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Ladies team driving Mercedes-Benz 220 SE wins "Coupe des Dames"". Mercedes-Benz. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
  10. Turner, Stuart (2011-06-15). Harnessing Horsepower: The Pat Moss Carlsson Story. Veloce Publishing Ltd. p. 110. ISBN 978-1-84584-306-9.
  11. Russell, Fred (1969-05-01). "Sportsmen Play Roles in Auto Comedy". The Bridgeport Post. p. 23. Retrieved 2019-12-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Minnessida för Ursula Wirth Fernström". minnessidor.fonus.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2019-12-18.
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