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Car Chat · Jul 15, 2025 · 1 hr 6 min

How Racing Pre-War Bentleys Changed My Life w. Katarina Kyvalova

Katarina Kyvalova races everything from pre-war Bentleys to Jaguar E-Types at places like Le Mans, Spa, and Monaco. We talk about her mad first race in a 1928 Bentley, how she handles gearboxes with no synchro, and what it’s really like driving five weeks across the world in the Beijing to Paris rally. Enjoy. https://www.instagram.com/kkyvalova/ Chapters: 00:00 – Why Racing Is Addictive 03:01 – From Classic Rally Co-Driver to Vintage Race Addict 05:57 – Baptism by Fire: Her First Race Was a 24-Hour in a 1928 Bentley 09:05 – Endurance Racing in Pre-War Machinery (No Seatbelts, No Syncros) 11:59 – Mastering Crash-Box Gearboxes and Central Throttle Pedals 15:12 – Jumping Between Pre-War Bentleys and GT4 Cars 18:02 – Adjusting Driving Style for Every Car – E-Type vs. Healey vs. LMP 21:02 – Beijing to Paris: A Five-Week Endurance Rally With No Team Support 24:09 – What Makes Historic Racing Totally Different From GT Racing 26:57 – Learning Teamwork at 100kph: Rallying With No Backup 30:07 – Brake Fade, Sticking Throttles & Other Historic Race Surprises 33:10 – Dream Garage, Future Races & the One That Got Away Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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transcript

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show notes

Katarina Kyvalova races everything from pre-war Bentleys to Jaguar E-Types at places like Le Mans, Spa, and Monaco. We talk about her mad first race in a 1928 Bentley, how she handles gearboxes with no synchro, and what it’s really like driving five weeks across the world in the Beijing to Paris rally.


Enjoy.


https://www.instagram.com/kkyvalova/


Chapters:

00:00 – Why Racing Is Addictive

03:01 – From Classic Rally Co-Driver to Vintage Race Addict

05:57 – Baptism by Fire: Her First Race Was a 24-Hour in a 1928 Bentley

09:05 – Endurance Racing in Pre-War Machinery (No Seatbelts, No Syncros)

11:59 – Mastering Crash-Box Gearboxes and Central Throttle Pedals

15:12 – Jumping Between Pre-War Bentleys and GT4 Cars

18:02 – Adjusting Driving Style for Every Car – E-Type vs. Healey vs. LMP

21:02 – Beijing to Paris: A Five-Week Endurance Rally With No Team Support

24:09 – What Makes Historic Racing Totally Different From GT Racing

26:57 – Learning Teamwork at 100kph: Rallying With No Backup

30:07 – Brake Fade, Sticking Throttles & Other Historic Race Surprises

33:10 – Dream Garage, Future Races & the One That Got Away

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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