LISA KLASSEN - Lisa is a 23 year-old driver who lives in Southern California. Introduced to the sport of rally racing by her younger brother in 2000, Lisa found herself enraptured by the excitement and variety of the World Rally Championship. When the WRC came back to North America in 2004, Lisa had to go. She considered co-driving to get into the sport, but when several famous drivers told her to jump into the driver’s seat, she listened to their advice.
Back home, Lisa began volunteering at local rallies where she met her mentor, Leon Styles who would go on to win the SCCA ProRally championship during that season. Leon took Lisa under his wing and she soon began working as his service manager. In August of 2004, Leon helped Lisa to buy her first rally car, a 1976 Toyota Corolla. Only two weeks later, she competed in her first rally and was hooked on racing. During that season, Leon allowed her to drive his 2001 Evo VII in the final round of the SCCA’s Rally Sprint championship when her car was not ready. Although she had been driving for only a month and was terrified of the 400 WHP Open 4WD car, she drove it to victory. Her rookie victory caused such an upset that she was excluded from the event a month later over many protestations. In 2005 Lisa moved into a 1983 Toyota Corolla and competed in the Western States Rally Championship (WSRC) and the United States Rally Championship (USRC). After countless hours and miles of practice, Lisa took her first class win in August and went on to win the WSRC for Group 5 (Open 2WD), becoming the youngest person and the first woman to do so.
2006 marked a turning point for Lisa. Leon asked her if she would like to drive his Mitsubishi Evolution 6.5. Lisa took a chance and stepped into the Evo, even though it meant that she would have a slim chance at winning any championships that year. In her first race in the Evo, Lisa won two stages and ended up in second place, although electrical problems kept her from finishing. In her next race, she finished third overall. During her third race, a national event with over thirty participants, Lisa was on her way to third place overall when she rolled her car. With a lot of work, Leon and Lisa rebuilt the car and Lisa was able to take third place in the Open 4WD championship in the CRS.
By 2007, Lisa was ready to chase overall victories and national titles. She started off with two victories at two regional events, before heading into her first national event the Rim of the World Rally. It was at this difficult event that Lisa made history. She won the rally overall and became the first woman to win a U.S. national rally since the sport began in 1972. She would lead the U.S. and CRS championships until the end of the season when severe C02 poisoning forced her to drop out of the final event. Due to budget constraints, Lisa only completed half of the national events, yet still finished fourth out of 314 contenders in the national championship.
This year she focused her efforts on the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb where her long term goal is to beat the women’s record set in 1985. This year she finished fourth in the Pikes Peak Open class in a 2005 Mitsubishi Evo 8 and was the fastest female driver. She is currently perfecting her drifting skills and competing in local events to prepare for the upcoming Formula D series next year.
Lisa currently drives for three teams- team Sideways Rules, Kaaz U.S.A.’s drifting team and the SSI Racing team which specializes in electric vehicles. Her exposure off the track includes appearances in Motor Trend and Automobile magazines, a cover story for D Sport magazine and a stint as a co-host on SpeedTV’s show SuperCars Exposed as well as a story on Current TV’s Show Me Your Ride. She will be appearing on TLC’s show LA Ink on November 20th. Projects in the works include filming a pilot for a reality show, and Pikes Peak related articles for Modified magazine.
Career Highlights
• 1st place overall and 1st place Open 4WD in the USRC’s Rim of the World Rally, 1st in Open 4WD on Saturday and Sunday of the CRS regional rallies and 1st place overall on Saturday's regional rally. Lisa is the first woman to win this rally and the first woman to win any national event since the sport began in the U.S. in 1972.
• First Open 4WD at the 2007 Desert Storm Rally.
• 2nd overall and 2nd Open 4WD in the 2007 Seed 9 Rally.
• Two fastest stage times at the 2006 Treeline Rally.
• 3rd place overall and 3rd in Open 4WD in the 2006 Gorman Ridge Rally.
• 1st place in Open 2WD at the 2006 Desert Storm Rally.
• 1st place in Open 2WD at the 2005 Gorman Ridge Rally.
• Winner of the 2005 Western States Rally Championship in Open 2WD. Lisa is the first woman and youngest person to do so.
• 1st place in the 2004 Rally Sprint championship for Open 4WD in the CRS.
