The DirtFish Women in Motorsport driver is taking on the Tour de Forest Rally with Michelle Miller
DirtFish Women in Motorsport driver Michele Abbate will make her rally debut at next month’s Tour de Forest.
Having made history on a racetrack through her stellar career, Michele is excited to make the switch from circuit to stage to drive a DirtFish-liveried, Element Rallysport Subaru BRZ on the Washington-based gravel event (Saturday, October 4).
“I’m definitely getting excited now we’re going to have boots on the ground soon,” said Michele, who was both the youngest ever woman to score a GT-1 podium in the SCCA National Championship Runoff and the first woman to score a TA2 podium in the Trans-Am Series.
“This is something I’ve been looking at doing for a while now. It’s going to be so interesting to see how the switch from racing to rallying works out. I’m very fortunate to have been part of the DirtFish Women in Motorsport program from the start, so I’ve already spent some time driving at DirtFish Rally School and had my fellow DirtFish WiM driver Aoife Raftery give me some instruction.
Michele will drive a Subaru BRZ similar to what she's trained in at DirtFish Rally School
“I’ve talked more with Aoife and she was able to offer some really useful insight – telling me the biggest thing to make sure I get right is the pace notes and to make sure I understand the notes. I’ve been working hard on this and will get in some more practice; I’m also using DiRT Rally on the simulator to help me get used to having a co-driver calling notes to me.”
When it comes to the Tour de Forest, DirtFish senior instructor – and defending ARA National L2WD champion co-driver – Michelle Miller will be the voice in her ear and sharing the Element Rallysport-prepared Subaru.
“Michelle is the person I’ve spent the most time in a car with at the School,” continued the Las Vegas-born racer. “So having her with me as my co-driver is great for me. And she’s really on it – she’s been sharing loads of information with me about the event already.
“Michelle and Josie [Rimmer, DirtFish Women in Motorsport coordinator] will be a really big help for me in this process. Starting this rally is going to take me out in a totally different direction from circuit racing – but I want to be really open and vulnerable in that process; I want to share my story in the hope that a lot of people can relate to it.
“This is definitely outside of what I’m used to, but I’m excited to see what emotions I get and how they compare to taking the green flag. It’s a long time since I started something completely new and I’m really excited to do that.”
Abbate's rallying debut is yet another milestone in the DirtFish Women in Motorsport movement
The driving force behind DirtFish Women in Motorsport, Josie Rimmer, is delighted to see Michele getting behind the wheel.
“To see Michele and Aoife working together is something really special,” said Josie. “When Aoife came to the Olympus Rally and made a podium on her first ever ARA National Championship round, Michele was right there cheering louder and longer than anybody else.
“While Aoife can’t make the Tour de Forest next month, she’s been giving Michele exactly the same support. This is a big deal for Michele, but she’s ready for it. She’s a badass on track and I’ve no doubt she’ll be the same on stage. But, like she said, the big thing is that she’s doing it, she’s getting out there and competing and showing likeminded women around the world that this is our space too.
“I’m so proud of Michele, what a fantastic ambassador for DirtFish Women in Motorsport.”
Tags: ARA, ARA 2025, DirtFish Women in Motorsport, Michele Abbate
Publish Date September 3, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/09/gj14bgF1-GenevieveDavis_Velocity24-215.RemoveBK-780x520.jpg September 3, 2025
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