Race Week– F1 Academy Round 6, Sandra Gomez and Kirsten Landman face tough Red Bull Romaniacs, and heads up for WMX Round 5 in 3 weeks time. All women have raised their game both on and off the track, with conditions for racing as challenging as ever, and competition testing endurance and tenacity of those wanting to sustain pointy end results.
First up, F1 Academy Round 6 at Le Castellet, France this weekend ramps up the pressure for all 15 women to secure as many points as possible heading into the final 2 Rounds of the season. Prema Racing driver Marta Garcia leads the Championship on 190 points, followed by MP Motorsport’s Hamda Al Qubaisi on 154, and ART Grand Prix’s driver Lena Buhler on 147.
Garcia has proved her capabilities of staving off competition taking 4 race wins this season – at the Opening Round in Spielberg in R1, and R3, at Round 2 in Valencia in R3, and Round 5 at Monza, in R1. Hamda has shown equal determination while recovering from injury earlier this season, taking 3 race wins, with her sister and team-driver Amna, claiming 2 race wins.
Strong contenders to mix up the standings, will come from Buhler whose race wins in Barcelona R3, and Monza R2 prove there are layers of talent within the Swiss driver waiting to be unleashed on the track, along with British driver Abbi Pulling, who stands P4 overall in table standings.
With the recent announcement of F1 Academy aligning with F1 for 2024 season, expectations for the all-female formula Series has reached unprecedented heights. 10 F1 Teams will nominate a driver with corresponding livery on the car to race within the current structure of the 5 Teams running in F1 Academy 2023.
The remaining 5 driver’s, making up the line-up of 5 Teams with 3 driver’s each, will run with supported partners, to be announced in due course. Most significantly, F1 Academy will run as support class within the Junior Championships at selected F1 Rounds, with races televised live, as opposed to highlights posted this season.
Such a concise move by F1 Academy and F1 sends clear message that fluidity of thought on how to gain additional leverage and traction for women to continue progression in formula racing has to be applauded. For 10 women, nomination by an established F1 Team to race with Brand representation on track and across Media platforms not only forms alliance between female driver and manufacturer, but also opens the door to future development of their racing careers.
The running of 2023 Red Bull Romaniacs held major challenges for Gold competitor Sandra Gomez, and Silver rider, and race Legend Kirsten Landman. From Prologue through to Days 1 and 2, the unpredictable nature of competing in the most extreme race, went from planned to out of control, with severe thunderstorm affecting both rider’s results.
For Sandra, track penalties, and time incursions meant the previous Gold class finisher was unable to reach check-points in required time. And for Kirsten, having spent amount of time sheltering from the battering rain on Day 1, to encountering a shoulder injury meant retirement from racing, and early departure to check out extent of injury. All hail to these 2 extremely, successful women, whose careers racing Hard/Extreme Enduro involves facing and rising above all challenges along the way.
Still 3 weeks to go before Women Motocross World Championship heads into the Final 2 Rounds, yet momentum has started to build again after long 13 week gap between Rounds 4 and 5. Championship leader Courtney Duncan has returned back to the UK, having based her training at home in NZ, while Dutch rider Lotte van Drunen has sustained race performance over past weeks, currently standing P3 overall.
All women will be on point at Round 5 in Arnhem, Netherlands, on August 20, followed by Final Round in Turkey on September 3. Plenty to look forward to, starting this weekend with F1 Academy at Le Castellet, in France.
Header photo: Lena Buhler, F1 Academy Image: F1 Acdemy.
Words: Sharon Cox.
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