Ewy von Korff-Rosqvist
This Swede, who was born in Stora Herrestad near Ystad, learned how to drive a sporty car on the unpaved and sometimes icy roads of her homeland, where she spent a lot of time on the road as a veterinary assistant. In 1959, 1960 and 1961, she won the women's classification in the European Rally Championship three times in a row in a Volvo.
The impressive performances of the fast lady did not go unnoticed in the Mercedes-Benz sports department. in 1962 she was engaged as a works driver and again competed in the European Rally Championship in a 220 SE. She took a cautious approach to the International Tulip Rally in the Netherlands in the heavy four-door car and took 48th place overall. She was already seriously in business at the Rally Poland and finished sixth. She finished the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland, which started 11 days later, in 20th position.
The last factory event of the season was the Touring Grand Prix of Argentina in November, a marathon event that was a mixture of rally and road race over six stages and a total of more than 4600 kilometres. Together with her co-pilot Ursula Wirth, who accompanied her throughout the year, she prevailed in her 220 SE against a phalanx of male competitors, mostly from South America – in those days nothing less than a sensation, which led to her being named no less than Sportswoman of the Year in her home country.
In the 1963 rally season, together with Ursula Wirth she finished 16th at the Rally Monte-Carlo and won the Coupe des Dames. With Heikke Krause in the passenger seat, she drove to 12th place in the material-killing Acropolis Rally, still in a Mercedes-Benz 220 SE. Her new start at the Touring Grand Prix of Argentina, now again with Ursula Wirth at her side, ended with a third place.
In the following year, Ewy von Korff-Rosqvist contested the rounds of the European Rally Championship with Eva-Maria Falk as co-driver. A 38th place in the Monte-Carlo Rally was followed by 15th in the Portugal Rally and a brilliant fifth place overall at the Acropolis Rally.
The season was crowned by another third place in the extremely gruelling Argentinian Touring Grand Prix, an event which, although it did not belong to any important international championship, had supported the diverse South American activities of Daimler-Benz AG for years.
During the 1965 season, Ewy von Korff-Rosqvist ended her active career. The large Mercedes-Benz saloons were finding it increasingly difficult to compete with the small, agile new-generation rally cars, and her husband, Baron Alexander von Korff, already an employee of the Mercedes-Benz racing department in Alfred Neubauer's day, was seriously ill.