Susanna Raganelli

Susanna Raganelli is the only woman in history to win an FIA-sanctioned World Karting Championship, dominating the brutally competitive 100cc class in 1966 with a performance so commanding that the sport—and the world—somehow managed to forget her entirely.

EARLY YEARS

Born in Rome, Italy in 1946, Raganelli emerged from a life about which almost nothing is publicly known. No records exist of her family, her childhood, or what first drew her to motorsports—a mystery that would become characteristic of her entire story. What is certain is that by the time she was a teenager in the mid-1960s, she was already behind the wheel of a 100cc kart, competing in a discipline that demanded exceptional physical strength, lightning reflexes, and an almost pathological refusal to back down. Unlike many female racers of her era who faced uphill battles for acceptance, Raganelli simply showed up and started winning.

There’s no documentation of how she discovered karting, who mentored her, or whether her family supported or opposed her racing ambitions. The absence of these details feels almost intentional, as if she emerged fully formed onto the racing scene—already fast, already fearless, already a problem for anyone who thought they could beat her.

OTHER INTERESTS

Beyond the track, Raganelli remains an enigma. No hobbies, creative pursuits, or personal interests have been documented. After her karting career ended, she may have managed the Formula 2 and Formula 3 career of her husband, J. Carlo Neo, though even this detail remains unconfirmed. What’s clear is that she chose privacy over publicity, declining to capitalize on her historic achievements or participate in the motorsports limelight. Journalists and karting devotees who have tried to locate her in recent decades have come up empty—she wants to remain out of view, and she’s succeeded.

EARLY SUCCESS

Raganelli’s competitive karting career began in Italy’s fiercely contested 100cc Super class, where she won the Italian Championship in 1965. This wasn’t a fluke or a feel-good story about participation—she beat everyone. The following year, she was selected for the Italian national karting team competing in the European Nation’s Championship, where her teammates included Giulio Pernigotti, Duilio Truffo, Mario Costantini, and Oscar Sala. The Italian squad was obsessed with details that others overlooked: the ability to restart a kart quickly, low-speed carburetor tuning, and racecraft under pressure. Raganelli excelled at all of it.

At one event leading up to the 1966 World Championship, she posted the fastest practice time—1:05.1—a full half-second quicker than her nearest competitor. In the heats, she won by margins so large they bordered on humiliating, dropping established names like Fletcher, Pernigotti, Allen, and Peters with ease. At one point she beat Leif Engstrom by 60 yards. This wasn’t just talent; it was domination.

During the European Nation’s Championship final, she finished second behind teammate Costantini, with a young Ronnie Peterson in third. Italy took the team victory—their third consecutive—and Raganelli had proven she belonged among the best in Europe. But the best was yet to come.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 1965: Won the Italian 100cc Super Karting Championship.
• 1966: Won the FIA World Karting Championship in the 100cc class at Amager circuit near Copenhagen, Denmark, driving a Tecno chassis with a Parilla engine.
• 1966: Won all three finals at the World Karting Championship, defeating Leif Engstrom and future Formula 1 driver Ronnie Peterson.
• 1966: Contributed to Italy’s victory in the European Nation’s Championship, finishing second in the final behind teammate Mario Costantini.
• 1966: Won a 39-lap final at Vevey (likely part of the World Championship tour) with such dominance that the result was described as “ease.”

Her performance at the 1966 World Championship is the stuff of legend—if anyone bothered to remember it. Piloting a Tecno chassis built by the Pederzani brothers in Bologna and powered by a Parilla engine, she won the first final after taking the lead from Engstrom around lap four. In the second final, she waited longer—15 laps—before making her move and taking the win. The third and final race wasn’t even close. She was tactically sharper than her competitors, too: during one rolling lap, she wiped her visor clean while others fumbled, a small detail that revealed her focus and preparation.

She also survived a crash in the third heat at Vevey, going off with Buus and Peterson in greasy, wet conditions—the kind of incident that would rattle most drivers. Raganelli dusted herself off and kept winning.

INSPIRATIONS

No information exists about who or what inspired Raganelli to race. There are no documented racing heroes, no pivotal moments, no family legacy. It’s possible she was simply wired to compete and needed no external motivation. Or perhaps the people and experiences that shaped her remain locked away, another piece of a story she’s chosen not to share.

REPUTATION

Here’s the part that stings: Susanna Raganelli is regarded as a pioneer, the only woman to ever win a World Karting Championship, and yet she is essentially unknown. Motorsports media routinely ignores her, even on International Women’s Day, when listicles and tributes to female racers proliferate. She holds a distinction that no other woman in FIA-sanctioned motorsports can claim, competing in a physically punishing category that demanded the kind of obsessive competitiveness later associated with drivers like Ayrton Senna. And still, she is described as “mysterious,” “forgotten,” and “not an example to follow”—not because she failed, but because she disappeared.

Her karting contemporaries knew how good she was. The margins of victory speak for themselves. But after retiring from karting and possibly competing in a few Gran Turismo races, she vanished from the sport. A reported tour of South Africa in 1967 with drivers like Salamone and Bruno Ferrai, and an invitation to a 1975 ladies race in Monaco, are mentioned but not confirmed. What is confirmed is that she chose to step away, and the sport let her go without so much as a backward glance.

The lack of quotes from peers, officials, or team owners is maddening. Did they respect her? Fear her? Resent her? We’ll never know. What we do know is that modern motorsports has a bad habit of forgetting women who don’t fit tidy narratives, and Raganelli—who won everything and then left—doesn’t fit any narrative at all.

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

Raganelli has been retired for decades and has no known plans to return to racing or public life. Born in 1946, she would be in her late 70s now, and by all accounts, she has successfully avoided the spotlight she once commanded. Whether she follows the sport, mentors younger drivers, or thinks about her racing days at all remains unknown. She earned her privacy the hard way—by being faster than everyone else when it mattered—and she’s keeping it.

References:

The Story of Susanna Raganelli – Tkart Magazine
The Greatest Female Race Driver of All Time – Alan Dove Substack
Susanna Raganelli Career Summary – YouTube
A Forgotten Female World Karting Champion – Alan Dove Coaching
The FIA’s Only Female World Champion – Alan Dove Coaching