Katarina Kyvalova an example of Passion
The preconception that classic motorsport is a thing for men is to be completely debunked. Women are more and more present in racing and are playing an always growing role in this sport. This is confirmed by the case of Katarina Kyvalova, a classic car collector and racing driver, who now runs successfully in both rally races and on track. Not only does she cultivate her passion on a professional level, but she contributes deeply to the spread of this passion to the outside. In fact, she founded an all-female racing driver crew a few years ago, which she called Bentley Belles, that raced for the first time at Benhafield’s 24, a historic first time for an all-female crew. Katarina has a history of successes behind her, such as a podium finish at the Goodwood Revival with Phil Keen, her co-driver, and a third place at Spa Six Hours. Why is she attracted so much by these cars? For her, each classic car has its own story, history and soul. That’s what makes them incredibly charming and easy to identify with. The other aspect that makes her so attached to them is the rarity and beauty of these objects. They are real art pieces that triggers so many different positive emotions, both while driving them and while looking at them. When she is racing or driving, she finds a very close connection between the driver and the car. It’s a magic moment that start turning the car key, goes through gear changing, double clutching, heel-and-toeing, dealing with big wheels and unpredictable brakes. Being in total control of the machine is what makes it truly unique. It’s surely demanding, but they give you an incredibly awarding feeling, she tells us. Of course, there are negative sides, such as the reliability or safety, fundamental aspects, especially in the classic car racing world, which is extremely competitive and can be very dangerous. A moment she will never forget? When she was driving her 4,5 L Bentley, without any seatbelts nor a roll bar, at the Le Mans Classic, at night, at full speed, down the Mulsanne Straight. Beautiful? yes. But how scary! Talking about 186 COCKPIT
events, Katharina always prefers those where you can see cars doing what they were actually build for - driving. Le Mans Classic, Monaco Historique and Goodwood Revival are her favorites, because besides seeing wonderful automobiles being raced in the right manner, there it feels like going back in time, living legendary moments of motorsports. This is what makes them truly magical. But Katharina is not only a racing driver. She also likes to show cars at Concourses. Her favorite? For sure, Concorso d’Eleganza di Villa d’Este. The intimate atmosphere, the wonderful and limited selection of cars, the spectacular venue make Villa d’Este a one-ofa-kind occasion. A must for every aficionado. On the other side, the events that she dislikes are those kinds of “showcase” events, which are too static. They tend to keep visitors or spectators on distance and, in a way, could transmit a wrong message to the outside. “Classic cars are part of a common heritage so they should be shared in the best possible way with others who have the same passion but aren’t as fortunate as us to to own or drive beautiful cars like we do”. Her opinion is quite strong on this topic. Someone says that at classic car events people should be invited, not cars. On this topic, she has different views. When talking about car rallies, Katarina believes that the focus should be mainly on people rather than on the entered cars. To bring the right people with the same interests, culture, background and approach to cars together creates a truly unique atmosphere, which is what we all hope for when attending such rallies. For example, she is organizing intimate private classic car rallies, where since inception, the main objective was to gather people who share the same level of enthusiasm for cars. A wonderful time to spend some time together, where the car selection is only secondary. It’s like being a in a big family. Talking about Concourses, she believes the opposite. Cars should be the protagonists as they have always been the main purpose of such events, independently from car owners. Katarina, apart from
racing old Bentleys on tracks around the world, is also a successful business woman, active in the property business. She is mostly satisfied when her clients are happy. If it is the seller, buyer or the tenants, when she sees her clients satisfied, it’s her biggest satisfaction. But, as we know, business doesn’t go without disappointments. Surely, she has experienced some in her career. When, for example, business partners let her down in some ways it’s very hard to accept. But this has to be taken into account when making business and she knows it very well. Katarina cares a lot about the future of the classic car world and she believes that to preserve the quality of events and to make them more attractive, there should be more focus on the quality than on the quantity, both of cars and people. The number of classic car events has been rapidly growing over the past years, so there should be rather less events but with a higher focus on the quality of displayed or driven cars, with attractive programs for everyone around the event. “Every classic car event should be a memorable experience worth joining or travel to”, Katharina confirms. Definitely, quality over quantity! As we mentioned at the beginning, the world of classic cars is men’s domain mainly, therefore is essential to make them more open and more attractive to women and to the younger generations. To achieve this objective we have to get them involved, educate them and share our passion in a very open way. An example? Organizing father/ son-only rallies, which need to be also mother/ daughter. A way to achieve this is, also, to let women or young generations get behind the wheel, let them experience what is it all about and, hopefully, the love for Classics catches on as it did many years ago with Katharina, when she got to drive a classic car for the very first time. A moment she will never forget. Thanks Katharina, for your passion and for being so important in promoting women in this world dominated by men.