Celebrating Simone Louise des Forest

Simone Des Forest was born on March 7, 1910 in Royan, France.

Invigorated by the rush of speed and adrenaline at only 12 years old, she quickly fell in love with automobiles. She attended the first driving school reserved for women in Versailles and obtained her license in 1929 when she was 19 years old. This was a groundbreaking feat as driving was primarily reserved for wealthy men.

One year later, Simone des Forest competed in her first rally at the Côte de la Baraque — an intense road race up the hills of Clermont-Ferrand — to start her long and impressive racing career. Hooked on the feel behind the wheel, she joined the Paris-Vichy car rally and the Monte-Carlo Automobile Rally to continue her racing streak. During the latter, des Forest drove 3,772 kilometers over slick and snowy roads from Bucharest to Monte Carlo in a Peugeot 301. She also broke several world records at the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry circuit with Yacco, an engine oil brand that sponsored an exclusively female race team.

Throughout her career, Simone des Forest burned rubber at several well-known events across the globe: the Mille Miglia in Italy, the 24 Hours in Spa, the 6 Hours of Nürburgring, and many more. In her later years, she even opened up her own driving school where she taught for 25 years. With a variety of accomplishments under her (seat)belt, des Forest proved to the French people and the world that women were just as fast as men when it came to racing and driving.