Susanna "Susy" Raganelli (born 21 February 1946) is an Italian former racing driver and kart racer. Raganelli won the Karting World Championship in 1966 with Tecno, and remains the only female to have won a four-wheel World Championship.
Early and personal life Raganelli was born on 21 February 1946 in Rome, Italy. Her father, Cesare Raganelli, was a local Alfa Romeo car dealer.
From the 1970s until his death in 2021, Raganelli was married to fellow racing driver Giancarlo Naddeo, who won the Italian Formula Three Championship in 1971. She encouraged Naddeo to retire from single-seater racing after an accident saw him suffer a broken leg and fractured skull.
Career In 1965, Raganelli won the karting Italian 100cc Super championship, and in 1966 helped her countrymen win the European Nation's Championship.
1966 CIK-FIA World Championship
Raganelli won the 100 cc Karting World Championship in 1966 in a Tecno–Parilla, beating Leif Engström and Ronnie Peterson, and remains the only female to have won a four-wheel World Championship. Tecno co-founder Gianfranco Pederzani later remarked in Autosprint that Raganelli was the only driver who could compete with Peterson, who twice finished runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship.
Alfa Romeo Raganelli also raced for Alfa Romeo, driving the Alfa Romeo GTA. She was the "first Italian buyer" of the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, of which only 12 were produced.
Awards and honours Orders and special awards Italian National Olympic Committee Gold Medal of Athletic Valour: 1966 Silver Medal of Athletic Valour: 1965
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