About María de Villota
María Isabel de Villota Comba (13 January 1979 – 11 October 2013) was a Spanish racing driver who competed in Superleague Formula and Euroseries 3000. She had an accident in straight-line testing as the Marussia Formula One team test driver, where she suffered serious head and facial injuries, and died one year later. De Villota was the daughter of former Formula One driver Emilio de Villota, and sister of Emilio de Villota Jr., who similarly competed in Formula Palmer Audi. == Early career == De Villota was born in Madrid. She competed in numerous racing series, including the World Touring Car Championship and the ADAC Procar Series in 2007. In August 2009, she signed with Atlético Madrid to race for the remainder of the season in the Superleague Formula open wheel racing series. She remained with the Atlético Madrid team until the series folded in 2011. She also competed in the 2005 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race. == Formula One == On 18 August 2011, the Lotus Renault GP team confirmed reports that de Villota had made her Formula One test debut in a Renault R29 at the Paul Ricard Circuit, and that her management was in talks to secure her a test driver seat in the future. In December, she reiterated her desire to work with the team in 2012, adding that she was in advanced talks over a third driver role.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.