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María de Villota, with 17 years of professional experience as a pilot, María de Villota managed to be a pioneer in different categories of motorsport and achieve achievements not only on the track, where she was the first Spanish to drive a Formula 1 and pilot test in the category queen, but also out of it.
She was the first woman in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), in the Superleague Formula, with a fourth place in the Nürburgring, and in getting the pole position in the world finals of the Ferrari Challenge championship. He also participated in the Formula 3000, in the 24 hours of Daytona and in the German Touring Car Championship ADAC Procar, where he finished third.
On July 3, 2012, Maria had a serious accident at the Duxford airfield (United Kingdom), while performing aerodynamic tests with her Formula 1 team, in which she suffered severe injuries.
She was appointed member of the Commission of Pilots of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), ambassador of the Women in Motorsport Commission of the FIA and member of the Board of Directors of the Royal Spanish Automobile Federation. She was also a contributor to various media and lecturers.
Among her different projects, she highlighted her work as a godmother at the Ana Carolina Díez Mahou Foundation, which helps children with neuromuscular and mitochondrial diseases.
María de Villota died on October 11, 2013, at 33 years of age, while she was sleeping, as a result of the neurological injuries of the accident. |
