Patsy Burt

During a long and varied career, Patsy Burt won many British national-level competitions, and was the first female driver ever to win the Brighton Speed Trials and the RAC National Sprint Championship.

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.

After initially disliking visits to the Brooklands circuit to watch her father and others competing on the high speed Surrey banking, following World War II she trained as a riding instructor.

Chassis number C/PMB/1/63, originally supplied as a 1-litre Formula Junior car, was adapted to accept a 2-litre Coventry Climax FPF engine by moving the driving position forward.

For certain sprint events PMB Garages modified the McLaren with a pointed nose and extended windscreen, designed to reduce aerodynamic drag.

In 1967 Burt's M3A was the first car to employ a vertical metal plate mounted edge-on to the direction of travel, intended to provide a reliable surface with which to break the timing beam at the start and finish of sprint and hillclimb courses.

Behind the wheel of her M3A Patsy Burt set eight international and 21 British national records for various events and distances, from both a standing and flying start.

The M3A's first major win was in 1967 at the Shelsley Walsh Speed Hill Climb, Britain's oldest hillclimb event, where she set a ladies' course record time.

Patsy Burt's Cooper T59 was on display in the National Motor Museum for many years, before being recently restored and returned to the race track.

Patsy Burt died on 4 October 2001; her death notice in The Daily Telegraph read "on her 73rd lap retired due to a mechanical problem..."[5]