Patsy Burt

Patsy Burt

Patricia Mary "Patsy" Burt (10 July 1928, Chelsea, London – 4 October 2001) was a British motor racing driver.

During a long and varied career, Patsy Burt won many British national-level competitions, and was the first female driver ever to win both the Brighton Speed Trials and the RAC National Sprint Championship. Her run at Brighton in 1968 set a new outright course record, which went unbeaten until 1975. She was also, in 1961, the first British driver of either sex to participate in a full season of the European Mountain Championship. For nearly three decades, Patsy Burt's powder-blue racing cars were a familiar sight, usually placed well up the leader board, at most British hillclimb and sprint races.

Her 42 outright victories and nearly 100 national, international, and ladies' records make Patsy Burt one of the most successful British female racing drivers of all time. Her achievements earned her membership of the British Racing Drivers' Club, an institution few women are ever invited to join.