Milka Duno

Combining beauty, brains - she's a Naval Engineer - and lightning-fast reflexes, Milka is arguably one of the most charismatic and talented drivers of her generation. This rising woman star is no slouch behind the wheel either - in her short career, the beautiful naval engineer has become one of the most popular drivers on American racetracks, garnering considerable attention from the national and international motorsports and mainstream media.

The first Latin American women driver ever to be classified "expert", Milka's professional driving career reaches new heights each year. She has participated in many international races and has driven a wide selection of race cars, including the Porsche Super Cup, Ferrari Challenge 355, Formula 2000 Dodge, Reynard Dodge 98E, Panoz GT-RA, Dodge Viper GTS, Coloni Nissan CN1/C, Reynard-Judd 01-Q, Lola B2K/40/Judd and the Dome S-101/Judd.

As “Venezuelan Auto Racing Driver of the Year” in 2000 and “American Le Mans Series 2001 Vice Champion Driver” in the 675LMP class, Milka has attracted the attention of motorsport fans worldwide - and from influential people in the organizational and competitive areas of motorsport in the USA and Europe. In 2002 Milka became the first woman in the history of sportscar racing to pilot the fastest and most technologically-advanced sportscar in the world – the Le Mans Prototype 900.

Milka began her racing career in Venezuelan club racing in 1996-97, finishing second in the Venezuelan GT Championship. She competed in the Venezuelan Porsche Cup and Ferrari Challenge. In 1998 Milka placed fourth in the Venezuelan Porsche Super Cup Championship, with two podiums. 1999 saw Milka claim third overall in the Global Women's GT Series Championship and in 2000 she won her first professional auto racing title in a Panoz GT Winter Series Championship and became the first - and still the only - woman to win a Ferrari Challenge 355 race in the USA. She debuted in the American Le Mans Series in a Dodge Viper GTS and finished third in class in the 2000 season finale in Australia.

Milka was the only female driver running a regular schedule on the ALMS in 2001, driving in the new LMP 675 class. In this new class, she won four races including the 1000 miles of Petit le Mans at Road Atlanta and finished second in the drivers points in this category. Milka also raced for the first time at Daytona in the Rolex 24 Hours with a Dodge Viper, finishing sixth in the GTS class. She also competed in the most important race around the world - the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France.

In 2002, her previous racing performances prompted invitations to participate in Open Telefonica, the most important single seat racing series in Europe - after Formula One. In this series, Milka drove a Coloni Nissan CN1/C with the Vergani Racing team, which finished second in the 2000 and 2001 championship. In her first season, she became the first woman ever to score points in this prestigious European series.

Also in 2002, Milka became the first woman in history to pilot sportscar’s fastest race car – the LMP 900. Milka distinguished herself in the most competitive car – in the most competitive class – in the most competitive sportscar series in the world – by finishing an amazing 12th out of 54 drivers.