Judy Kondratieff, SFR driver from the 1960's, passed away in April 2007 at her home in England.

 From Howden Ganley, Judy's husband:

Although we had lived in England for many years we had moved back to California in 1999, and she died here at our home in Blackhawk on April 27th of this year. She was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer in 1998, and given only a short time to live, but beat all the medical prognosis by over eight years.

There are many tributes to Judy on the Autosport web page.

 Judy Kondratieff Ganley – Born: June 26, 1936  Died: April 27, 2007

What would posses an attractive, smart, twenty-five year old women, to go sports car racing?  No doubt the fact her brother and husband were racing with the San Francisco Region had some influence, however, it was something else that kindled her desire…the smell of Castrol Oil.  After attending her first sports car race in 1964, Judy recalled it was that smell of Castrol Oil which permeated the air, that stuck with her.

Deciding she would give it a try, she took the first step and purchased an olive green, Bugeye Sprite.  She then attended the RDC driving school where her instructor was Steve Froines, a seasoned racer on the rise and a friend of her brothers.  She did well at the school, received her license and looked forward to her first race.

Over the next three years, Judy raced the Sprite up and down the West Coast and performed much of her own maintenance on the car.  Seeking a different challenge and a bit more safety, she switched to a Mini-Cooper in 1968 and continued a busy racing schedule.  Like many other SCCA members, Judy was not satisfied with just participating on race weekends.  She decided to give more of her time to other SFR activities including public relations, driver instruction, driver observer, corner worker, two consecutive terms as the Region’s Treasurer and one year as Assistant Regional Executive. 

With her success as a sports car racer and being a women driver, Judy was recommended to Atlanta based Baker Racing in 1970.  Sponsored by Ring Free Motor Oil Company, Baker Racing had entered a Prototype Sprite in the 12 Hours of Sebring and wanted it driven by an all-women team.  Judy would be driving with Janet Guthrie of Indy 500 fame and European rally ace, Rosemary Smith.  After a whirlwind week of publicity events, the team got down to business with preparation and practice.  Judy encountered a few problems during practice – she was not as tall as Guthrie or Smith; she was driving a car with right-hand drive/left-hand shift for the first time and she had limited night vision.  Despite these problems, she completed her assigned driving stints, alternating with Guthrie and Smith and the team finished first in class and nineteenth overall.  With her Regional and Sebring successes, Judy was voted Women Racer of the Year by the Northern California Motorsports Writers Association.

1971 was a busy and diverse year as Judy continued racing selected events with the SFR, took on additional public relations assignments including Sears Roebuck at the Indianapolis 500 and attended the 12 Hours of Sebring as a reserve driver for the Ring Free Motor Oil Team.  Unfortunately, the teams Chevron B-16 blew an engine on the second lap so she did not compete in the race.

In 1972, Judy retired from driving but her involvement in racing was far from over.  She accepted an invitation from Patty McLaren and traveled to Europe to attend the GPs with the McLaren F1 Team.  Before long, Judy was assisting with timing/scoring where she exhibited an amazing ability to accurately time up to twenty cars with a single stop watch.  On many occasions, Judy’s timing charts were used by other teams and drivers to compare their times against those of the race organizers.  With her reputation as a timer growing, Judy embarked on a long career providing administrative support to major racing teams.  These included (Chris) Amon Engines Ltd; LeMans with Matra (1972); BRM F1, Williams F1, Gulf in the Sports Car World Championships; Gelo Racing at Nurburgring 1000km, LeMans and Interseries; Verb Schuppan’s CanAm Team at Laguna Seca and Riverside (1980).
Along the way Judy became involved with race car engineering and between 1984 and 1987 she assisted various Group C teams with technical advice along with timing and lap charting.  She returned to LeMans several more times in the 1980’s performing her flawless timing duties for several teams and co-managed one of the Schuppan Porsche 1962s in 1990.  Besides her on-track advice, Judy gained considerable experience in aerodynamics and was involved in several wind-tunnel programs.

In 1971, Judy (previously divorced from SFR racer Serguey Kondratieff in 1969) met and eventually married Formula One, Formula 5000, LeMans and CanAm racer, Howden Ganley.  While still an active driver, Howden co-founded well known racecar manufacturer, TIGA, in 1976.  Judy became reacquainted with the SCCA and the SFR working with Howden as the two made several trips to the U.S. from their base in England to promote the sales of the very successful TIGA Sports 2000 and Camel Lights racers.   In 1990 and after living solely in England since the 1970’s, Howden and Judy bought a home in the San Francisco Bay Area with a plan to eventually settle here full time.  Splitting time between the U.S. and England, the Ganley’s remained involved in various racing activites for the next several years.  Unfortunately, Judy developed cancer in 1998 and after a courageous fight, she passed away April 27, 2007 at her Bay Area home, surrounded by her family.

A bit more info about my Mom's memorial service: fittingly for an American, the service was held on the 4th of July, her favorite holiday, at St James the Less Church at Stubbings, near Maidenhead, England. Sir Jackie Stewart delivered a beautiful eulogy, including humorous remarks about the CanAm era “readings” that mom was famous for.

The ancient stone church was absolutely packed with people from all walks of life, including a large number of ex-Formula One and Sports Car drivers, team managers, journalists, Doghouse and Cabaret ladies, and of course, golfers.

After the church service, the crowd moved on to the Maidenhead Golf Club where we had a "Celebration of the Life of Judy”. A buffet luncheon was served, further spoken tributes were given, and hundreds of pictures from mom’s life were displayed around the room. Many of the pictures, set to some of mom’s favorite music, as well as clips from Mom's "famous" race movie "Judy & Jay" (which was filmed with the support of the SCCA), were included on the “Life of Judy” DVD that was shown. We were very touched and comforted by the outpouring of love and support from all the dear friends and associates from all over the world who attended that day.

Best regards,
Erin Kondratieff Pritchett

Sadly I must advise you of the passing of a well known and very popular former Director and competition driver of the region. In those days she was known as Judy Kondratieff but later married Formula 1 driver and constructor Howden Ganley. Judy moved to England with Howden in the '70s and was active in the racing fraternity until very recently when
sadly, she passed away.  I believe the cause of her death was cancer.

By an extraordinary coincidence Judy became a member, and Ladies Captain, of a golf club in southern England to which my sister's husband also belongs.  My sister advised me of Judy's passing and sent me a copy of the memorial service program.
You, and others in SCCA, particularly those who knew her well, may be surprised to see that Sir Jackie Stewart OBE, former F1 World Champion, gave a tribute to Judy at the memorial service. Also present were Sir Stirling Moss, Paddy Hopkirk (World Champion Rallyeist) and Paddy McClaren plus other notable motor racing people.

Submitted by Bob Tomlin, September 2007.  Bob served on the SCCA San Francisco Region Board of Directors in many positions through the '60s. He was Regional Executive in 1967 and 1969 before joining the National Staff as Director of Club Racing. He also sent his regards to anyone who still remembers him.