Valerie Domleo (11 April 1932 – 24 December 2020), also known as Valerie Domleo-Morley or Valerie Morley, was an English physicist, rally
co-driver
A co-driver is the navigator of a rally car in the sport of rallying, who sits in the front passenger seat. The co-driver's job is to navigate, commonly by reading off a set of pacenotes to the driver (what lies ahead, where to turn, the severity ...
and farmer.
Formative years and family
Domleo was born in
Hendon
Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Gre ...
, Middlesex, England on 11 April 1932 to Allan Domleo, who became the mayor of
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...
in Derbyshire, and Ella Muriel White. She had an older brother, Allan P. Domleo. Educated at the
Ockbrook School
Ockbrook School was an independent coeducational day and boarding school for children aged 3–18 years situated in rural Derbyshire between the cities of Nottingham and Derby. Boarding was for boys and girls from age 11–18 years. On Monday 7 J ...
, she subsequently earned a university degree in physics in London.
Valerie wed fellow rally driver
Donald Morley at the Dale Street Methodist Church in
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...
on July 11, 1966. They had two sons, Andrew and Roger, both born in
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...
, and were married until Donald's death in 2006.
In her later years, after retiring from rallying, Valerie and her family became farmers in
Stowmarket, Suffolk County, England.
Scientific career
Sometime after her university graduation, Domleo secured employment as a physicist with
Morris Motors in
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...
, West Midlands. During the early 1960s, she was employed as a physicist at a research organization in
Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles sou ...
, Birmingham. By 1965, she was working as a physicist in
Leamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...
, Warwickshire.
Driving career
A motorcycle enthusiast in her early twenties, Domleo took up rally driving during the 1950s. Her first event was as "a navigator in a club treasure hunt." In 1958, she and
Rosemary Smith, a dress designer from Dublin, won the four-day Dutch Tulip Rally. The duo drove "a factory entered Hillman Imp" as one of 159 cars participating from sixteen countries in the April 1965 rally that covered roughly 1,800 miles.
During the 1960s, she competed in
European Rally Championship
The European Rally Championship (officially FIA European Rally Championship) is an automobile rally competition held annually on the European continent and organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).
The championship has b ...
events, mainly as co-driver to numerous other women who drove during this same period, including
Rosemary Smith,
Pat Moss
Patricia Ann Moss-Carlsson (''née'' Moss; 27 December 1934 – 14 October 2008) was one of the most successful female auto rally drivers of all time, achieving three outright wins and seven podium finishes in international rallies. She was cro ...
,
Pauline Mayman and Anne Hall. Partnering with Anne Hall, she won the Ladies Award in the 1960
RAC Rally and the 1961
Monte Carlo Rally
The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeas ...
.
She most often drove for the Ford, B.M.C. or Rootes teams and was a member of the Godiva Car Club during the mid-1960s.
An article in ''
Motor Sport
''Motor Sport'' is a monthly motor racing magazine, founded in the United Kingdom in 1924
as the ''Brooklands Gazette''. The name was changed to ''Motor Sport'' for the August 1925 issue. The magazine covers motor sport in general, although from ...
'' in July 1961 described her as "one of Britain's best navigators."
Injuries
In 1954, she sustained burns during a car fire that broke out after her team's Mini Cooper, which was being driven by Mayman, collided with a farm tractor during the Monte Carlo rally. Flown home after her initial treatment, she recuperated and returned to driving.
Death
Domleo died in Stowmarket at the age of eight-eight on 24 December 2020.
References
External links
eWRC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Domleo, Valerie
Female rally drivers
British rally co-drivers
1932 births
Living people
English female racing drivers