PIONEERING SPIRIT
Katarina Kyvalova bought her first vintage car 25 years ago. She has been a well-known figure in motorsport for more than ten years now.
PIONEERING SPIRIT
Katarina Kyvalova bought her first vintage car 25 years ago. She has been a well-known figure in motorsport for more than ten years now.
If there is a particularly memorable evening in Katarina
Kyvalova’s career, it was around ten years ago in a bar
in Scotland. She had just been to a classic car rally and
got carried away making a bet. She would switch from
road driving to competitive sport and take part in a 24-hour race
in her pre-war Bentley, she told friends. And regretted it almost
immediately.
There were only three months until the planned event in Portugal. Instead of driving leisurely on public roads as she had been doing, it suddenly became all about speed, about victory on the racetrack. She laughs when she thinks back. “I didn’t have a racing licence or a co-driver, and I had very little idea of what was to come. But I’m a woman of my word and I wanted to prove that to everyone,” she explains.
We meet Katarina Kyvalova on Mallorca for the photoshoot. The interview was conducted beforehand. She has just got back from the UK, where she took part in the Festival of Speed. When she’s not on the road, the Slovakia-born racing driver lives in Hamburg, where she works as a real estate agent and organises motoring events. Racing is her hobby. She has taken part in all the major races worldwide and is regarded as a star on the scene, as one of the few women behind the wheel. Is she a rebel? “More a pioneer,” she says. She started her racing career by forming an all-female team and was the first woman to drive in the Le Mans Classic 24-hour race. Why? She thinks for a moment. “It makes me happy to know that I’m inspiring lots of women. I didn’t realise that for a long time. After all, I’m just pursuing my hobby.”
There were only three months until the planned event in Portugal. Instead of driving leisurely on public roads as she had been doing, it suddenly became all about speed, about victory on the racetrack. She laughs when she thinks back. “I didn’t have a racing licence or a co-driver, and I had very little idea of what was to come. But I’m a woman of my word and I wanted to prove that to everyone,” she explains.
We meet Katarina Kyvalova on Mallorca for the photoshoot. The interview was conducted beforehand. She has just got back from the UK, where she took part in the Festival of Speed. When she’s not on the road, the Slovakia-born racing driver lives in Hamburg, where she works as a real estate agent and organises motoring events. Racing is her hobby. She has taken part in all the major races worldwide and is regarded as a star on the scene, as one of the few women behind the wheel. Is she a rebel? “More a pioneer,” she says. She started her racing career by forming an all-female team and was the first woman to drive in the Le Mans Classic 24-hour race. Why? She thinks for a moment. “It makes me happy to know that I’m inspiring lots of women. I didn’t realise that for a long time. After all, I’m just pursuing my hobby.”
If there is a particularly memorable evening in Katarina
Kyvalova’s career, it was around ten years ago in a bar
in Scotland. She had just been to a classic car rally and
got carried away making a bet. She would switch from
road driving to competitive sport and take part in a 24-hour race
in her pre-war Bentley, she told friends. And regretted it almost
immediately.
There were only three months until the planned event in Portugal. Instead of driving leisurely on public roads as she had been doing, it suddenly became all about speed, about victory on the racetrack. She laughs when she thinks back. “I didn’t have a racing licence or a co-driver, and I had very little idea of what was to come. But I’m a woman of my word and I wanted to prove that to everyone,” she explains.
We meet Katarina Kyvalova on Mallorca for the photoshoot. The interview was conducted beforehand. She has just got back from the UK, where she took part in the Festival of Speed. When she’s not on the road, the Slovakia-born racing driver lives in Hamburg, where she works as a real estate agent and organises motoring events. Racing is her hobby. She has taken part in all the major races worldwide and is regarded as a star on the scene, as one of the few women behind the wheel. Is she a rebel? “More a pioneer,” she says. She started her racing career by forming an all-female team and was the first woman to drive in the Le Mans Classic 24-hour race. Why? She thinks for a moment. “It makes me happy to know that I’m inspiring lots of women. I didn’t realise that for a long time. After all, I’m just pursuing my hobby.”
There were only three months until the planned event in Portugal. Instead of driving leisurely on public roads as she had been doing, it suddenly became all about speed, about victory on the racetrack. She laughs when she thinks back. “I didn’t have a racing licence or a co-driver, and I had very little idea of what was to come. But I’m a woman of my word and I wanted to prove that to everyone,” she explains.
We meet Katarina Kyvalova on Mallorca for the photoshoot. The interview was conducted beforehand. She has just got back from the UK, where she took part in the Festival of Speed. When she’s not on the road, the Slovakia-born racing driver lives in Hamburg, where she works as a real estate agent and organises motoring events. Racing is her hobby. She has taken part in all the major races worldwide and is regarded as a star on the scene, as one of the few women behind the wheel. Is she a rebel? “More a pioneer,” she says. She started her racing career by forming an all-female team and was the first woman to drive in the Le Mans Classic 24-hour race. Why? She thinks for a moment. “It makes me happy to know that I’m inspiring lots of women. I didn’t realise that for a long time. After all, I’m just pursuing my hobby.”
Let’s look back at her first race. It was also special because
Katarina Kyvalova founded the Bentley Belles – an all-female team
with drivers from various classic car clubs – specifically for this
race. The quartet prepared meticulously for the race, discussed
technical issues and ran through the pit stops. But they only finally
met each other in person on the day of qualifying. The strategy:
each team member would drive for precisely 1 hour 15 minutes and
then switch. One of them would stay with the driver on the track
while the other two would try to sleep. “But you’re so full of adrenaline
you can’t sleep.” The Bentley Belles finished in 11th place. This
was a turning point in Katarina’s career. From then on, she wanted
to race.
It all just worked out somehow, says Katarina when talking about herself. Racing is not in her genes. Her family is not into cars at all, she says. The thrill of excitement is what drives her to this day. “I climbed trees when I was a child and copied my brother, who is 13 years older than me. I’ve always enjoyed skiing, climbing mountains, hiking and bungee jumping. But no other adventure fires up this spirit in me like racing,” she says enthusiastically.
It all just worked out somehow, says Katarina when talking about herself. Racing is not in her genes. Her family is not into cars at all, she says. The thrill of excitement is what drives her to this day. “I climbed trees when I was a child and copied my brother, who is 13 years older than me. I’ve always enjoyed skiing, climbing mountains, hiking and bungee jumping. But no other adventure fires up this spirit in me like racing,” she says enthusiastically.
Let’s look back at her first race. It was also special because
Katarina Kyvalova founded the Bentley Belles – an all-female team
with drivers from various classic car clubs – specifically for this
race. The quartet prepared meticulously for the race, discussed
technical issues and ran through the pit stops. But they only finally
met each other in person on the day of qualifying. The strategy:
each team member would drive for precisely 1 hour 15 minutes and
then switch. One of them would stay with the driver on the track
while the other two would try to sleep. “But you’re so full of adrenaline
you can’t sleep.” The Bentley Belles finished in 11th place. This
was a turning point in Katarina’s career. From then on, she wanted
to race.
It all just worked out somehow, says Katarina when talking about herself. Racing is not in her genes. Her family is not into cars at all, she says. The thrill of excitement is what drives her to this day. “I climbed trees when I was a child and copied my brother, who is 13 years older than me. I’ve always enjoyed skiing, climbing mountains, hiking and bungee jumping. But no other adventure fires up this spirit in me like racing,” she says enthusiastically.
It all just worked out somehow, says Katarina when talking about herself. Racing is not in her genes. Her family is not into cars at all, she says. The thrill of excitement is what drives her to this day. “I climbed trees when I was a child and copied my brother, who is 13 years older than me. I’ve always enjoyed skiing, climbing mountains, hiking and bungee jumping. But no other adventure fires up this spirit in me like racing,” she says enthusiastically.
PASSION
Katarina Kyvalova is a woman of great courage and determination. Once she has set her mind on something, almost nothing can stop her.
PASSION
Katarina Kyvalova is a woman of great courage and determination. Once she has set her mind on something, almost nothing can stop her.
Her passion for driving, for speed and old cars developed
a little later. After studying economics, Katarina moved to Hamburg
in 1998 for her marketing job. She drove 60 kilometres
every day on the motorway to work. At some point, the drive became
a competition to see how long she needed for the journey, she
says. That’s how she discovered her love for speed.
Friends took her along to car races and invited her as a passenger on trips with a vintage car club. When her then boyfriend signed up for a rally and became ill, he asked Katarina to drive. “After three kilometres, I was hooked. It was much better than being a passenger,” she recalls. She bought her first classic car, an Austin- Healey, signed herself up for rallies and made new friends at vintage car clubs, mainly in England. Her passion is old English cars, some of which she now owns herself. Every cent goes into this hobby, she says.
Friends took her along to car races and invited her as a passenger on trips with a vintage car club. When her then boyfriend signed up for a rally and became ill, he asked Katarina to drive. “After three kilometres, I was hooked. It was much better than being a passenger,” she recalls. She bought her first classic car, an Austin- Healey, signed herself up for rallies and made new friends at vintage car clubs, mainly in England. Her passion is old English cars, some of which she now owns herself. Every cent goes into this hobby, she says.
Her passion for driving, for speed and old cars developed
a little later. After studying economics, Katarina moved to Hamburg
in 1998 for her marketing job. She drove 60 kilometres
every day on the motorway to work. At some point, the drive became
a competition to see how long she needed for the journey, she
says. That’s how she discovered her love for speed.
Friends took her along to car races and invited her as a passenger on trips with a vintage car club. When her then boyfriend signed up for a rally and became ill, he asked Katarina to drive. “After three kilometres, I was hooked. It was much better than being a passenger,” she recalls. She bought her first classic car, an Austin- Healey, signed herself up for rallies and made new friends at vintage car clubs, mainly in England. Her passion is old English cars, some of which she now owns herself. Every cent goes into this hobby, she says.
Friends took her along to car races and invited her as a passenger on trips with a vintage car club. When her then boyfriend signed up for a rally and became ill, he asked Katarina to drive. “After three kilometres, I was hooked. It was much better than being a passenger,” she recalls. She bought her first classic car, an Austin- Healey, signed herself up for rallies and made new friends at vintage car clubs, mainly in England. Her passion is old English cars, some of which she now owns herself. Every cent goes into this hobby, she says.
Katarina has been driving in road races, such as Italy’s Mille
Miglia, for 15 years. Since her bet in 2014, she has also competed in
fast-paced classic car races like the one in Portugal, in Spa in
Belgium
and in Monaco. What skills help her? “You have to know
yourself well and not overestimate yourself. Women are different
from men in that regard. I analyse a lot, whereas men drive somewhere
between dying or winning,” says Katarina. It is important to
practise, of course, and mechanical skills don’t go amiss either.
Can you envisage the mental stress, like in a computer game? She grins. “It’s a long way from that. You’re not sitting relaxed in an armchair. Your nerves play a very important role, your heart beats really fast, and you’re tense, which is also because of the atmosphere. The starting line, the lights, the vehicles around you. No computer game can simulate that.” Admittedly, fear is always a factor too. “You have to drive at the limit – after all, it’s not about just being there,” she says. She has seen serious accidents, and yes, there have been situations in which she’s wondered what on earth she was doing. “But I love my cars so much that I worry more about them than about myself.”
Katarina ventures back out on the road every now and then. One of her biggest adventures was the 14,000-kilometre Peking to Paris rally in 2024. There were so many great moments on the journey, she says, not least the people who had never seen cars like that before. She had never been photographed so much. On her bucket list is the journey in the opposite direction, from Beijing via Japan and the USA to Paris. She still wants to drive in Australia, in Daytona …still so many places.
Can you envisage the mental stress, like in a computer game? She grins. “It’s a long way from that. You’re not sitting relaxed in an armchair. Your nerves play a very important role, your heart beats really fast, and you’re tense, which is also because of the atmosphere. The starting line, the lights, the vehicles around you. No computer game can simulate that.” Admittedly, fear is always a factor too. “You have to drive at the limit – after all, it’s not about just being there,” she says. She has seen serious accidents, and yes, there have been situations in which she’s wondered what on earth she was doing. “But I love my cars so much that I worry more about them than about myself.”
Katarina ventures back out on the road every now and then. One of her biggest adventures was the 14,000-kilometre Peking to Paris rally in 2024. There were so many great moments on the journey, she says, not least the people who had never seen cars like that before. She had never been photographed so much. On her bucket list is the journey in the opposite direction, from Beijing via Japan and the USA to Paris. She still wants to drive in Australia, in Daytona …still so many places.
Katarina has been driving in road races, such as Italy’s Mille
Miglia, for 15 years. Since her bet in 2014, she has also competed in
fast-paced classic car races like the one in Portugal, in Spa in
Belgium
and in Monaco. What skills help her? “You have to know
yourself well and not overestimate yourself. Women are different
from men in that regard. I analyse a lot, whereas men drive somewhere
between dying or winning,” says Katarina. It is important to
practise, of course, and mechanical skills don’t go amiss either.
Can you envisage the mental stress, like in a computer game? She grins. “It’s a long way from that. You’re not sitting relaxed in an armchair. Your nerves play a very important role, your heart beats really fast, and you’re tense, which is also because of the atmosphere. The starting line, the lights, the vehicles around you. No computer game can simulate that.” Admittedly, fear is always a factor too. “You have to drive at the limit – after all, it’s not about just being there,” she says. She has seen serious accidents, and yes, there have been situations in which she’s wondered what on earth she was doing. “But I love my cars so much that I worry more about them than about myself.”
Katarina ventures back out on the road every now and then. One of her biggest adventures was the 14,000-kilometre Peking to Paris rally in 2024. There were so many great moments on the journey, she says, not least the people who had never seen cars like that before. She had never been photographed so much. On her bucket list is the journey in the opposite direction, from Beijing via Japan and the USA to Paris. She still wants to drive in Australia, in Daytona …still so many places.
Can you envisage the mental stress, like in a computer game? She grins. “It’s a long way from that. You’re not sitting relaxed in an armchair. Your nerves play a very important role, your heart beats really fast, and you’re tense, which is also because of the atmosphere. The starting line, the lights, the vehicles around you. No computer game can simulate that.” Admittedly, fear is always a factor too. “You have to drive at the limit – after all, it’s not about just being there,” she says. She has seen serious accidents, and yes, there have been situations in which she’s wondered what on earth she was doing. “But I love my cars so much that I worry more about them than about myself.”
Katarina ventures back out on the road every now and then. One of her biggest adventures was the 14,000-kilometre Peking to Paris rally in 2024. There were so many great moments on the journey, she says, not least the people who had never seen cars like that before. She had never been photographed so much. On her bucket list is the journey in the opposite direction, from Beijing via Japan and the USA to Paris. She still wants to drive in Australia, in Daytona …still so many places.
HAVEN OF PEACE
Katarina Kyvalova rebalances her adrenaline levels on Mallorca, where she enjoys the island’s relaxed atmosphere with her dog, Cooper.
HAVEN OF PEACE
Katarina Kyvalova rebalances her adrenaline levels on Mallorca, where she enjoys the island’s relaxed atmosphere with her dog, Cooper.
Does she ever slow down? “I’m great at doing nothing,” she
says. She can relax easily, particularly in winter when it’s not racing
season. Or when travelling, on holiday on Mallorca. She loves hiking
in the mountains and skiing, and also recently discovered golf.
Whenever possible, she enjoys spending time with her brother’s
family, who live in Hamburg too. Over the summer, however, she
lives on planes and out of a suitcase, she says. Her partner is also
a motorsport enthusiast. Sometimes they go to events together,
sometimes not. “That’s great because we always have lots to talk
about when we see each other. And we support each other, of
course, like everyone else does in the community.” Will she ever
have enough of her passion? “No, even though I’m very unhurried
in my car when I’m out and about,” she says, laughing. “Katarina is
always around cars or sitting in one. That’s the way I am.”
Does she ever slow down? “I’m great at doing nothing,” she
says. She can relax easily, particularly in winter when it’s not racing
season. Or when travelling, on holiday on Mallorca. She loves hiking
in the mountains and skiing, and also recently discovered golf.
Whenever possible, she enjoys spending time with her brother’s
family, who live in Hamburg too. Over the summer, however, she
lives on planes and out of a suitcase, she says. Her partner is also
a motorsport enthusiast. Sometimes they go to events together,
sometimes not. “That’s great because we always have lots to talk
about when we see each other. And we support each other, of
course, like everyone else does in the community.” Will she ever
have enough of her passion? “No, even though I’m very unhurried
in my car when I’m out and about,” she says, laughing. “Katarina is
always around cars or sitting in one. That’s the way I am.”
CREDITS
Photography: Andra, Production: Marc Cain, Styling: Judith Gerstbrein, Hair & Make-up: Tania Cozma, Sascha Wobido
Photography: Andra, Production: Marc Cain, Styling: Judith Gerstbrein, Hair & Make-up: Tania Cozma, Sascha Wobido