2022 FIA GIRLS ON TRACK – RISING STARS: FOUR JUNIOR AND FOUR SENIOR DRIVERS ON THE ROAD TO THE FERRARI DRIVER ACADEMY FINAL

Following the FIA Girls on Track – Rising Stars Shoot-Out and Training Camps at the Winfield Racing School in Le Castellet, four drivers in both the Junior and Senior categories have been selected to attend the decisive stage of the programme at the renowned Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) in Maranello, Italy, the main partners of the initiative.

The FIA Girls on Track – Rising Stars programme aims to identify the best 12-16 year-old female drivers from around the world and help them reach a professional career in motor sport. This third edition saw 14 promising talents from around the world train and compete at the Circuit Paul Ricard for just eight places in the finals at the Ferrari Driver Academy in November. The four Senior finalists will be fully immersed in the world of Ferrari, its values and history. At Maranello they will tackle theory lessons, physical and aptitude tests as well as learning about communications. Before their two days on track at Fiorano, they will also have some sessions on the simulator. 

Showing speed on track was just one element of the FIA Girls on Track – Rising Stars assessment, the drivers also needed to demonstrate their ability to adapt, progress and develop both on and off track throughout the entire process. The Training Camps were also designed to highlight many of the elements vital to becoming a complete racing driver, including physiological welfare, media interaction, personal presentation, safety and the value of team/driver relationships and tyre management.

For the Senior drivers, the programme was firmly focused on the progression to Formula 4 racing, the FIA’s entry-level single-seater motor sport category for youngsters.

All the activities this week in Le Castellet were supervised by the FIA, the FDA and partners: Iron Dames, Winfield Racing School, Circuit Paul Ricard, 321 Perform, Pirelli, OMP and Kart Republic.

The expert jury – including Rahel Frey, Iron Dames driver and 2022 24 Hours of Spa Winner, Cathy Muller, former French racer and FIA Women in Motorsport consultant, Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) members and partners representatives, met Sunday evening to select the lucky winners.

The final four Senior drivers, (born between 01.01.2006 – 31.03.2008) are (photo above):

Alice Buckley, Australia

Chloe Chong, UK

Chloe Grant, UK

Aurelia Nobels, Belgium

The final four Junior drivers, (born between 31.03.2008 – 31.12.2010) are (photo below):

Lisa Billard, France

Zoe Florescu Potolea, Italy

Sara Mastui, Japan

Mathilda Paatz, Germany

These eight young rising stars now have a few months to make further progress ahead of the final in November where the two winners of 2022 will be designated.

The winning Junior driver will participate in an international karting season with the potential financial support of the Ferrari Driver Academy. The selected Senior driver will potentially become the third female to have the chance to join the Ferrari Driver Academy – following in the footsteps of Maya Weug and Laura Camps Torras, the winners of the first two editions– where she will begin development of a professional career in motor sport and will get ready to compete in the Formula 4 Italian Championship with FIA Girls on Track’s partner, the Iron Dames project.

Deborah Mayer, FIA Women in Motorsport Commission President, said: “This selection was carried out in the best possible way. It has been a great pleasure to meet these young women and to witness their passion, their talent and progress throughout the selection process.  I want to pay tribute to each participant who demonstrated their potential and leave the programme with more strengths, determination, and inspiration to continue their development. I congratulate and wish good luck to the eight finalists (four juniors, four seniors) who will face an amazing challenge in November in Maranello. For the FIA and its partners, it is extremely encouraging to see these young women dreaming of a career in sport and giving it their all. We are committed to supporting them further and bringing ever more diversity to our sport.”

Marco Matassa, Head of Ferrari Driver Academy, said: “The third edition of the FIA Girls on Track-Rising Stars programme is about to get underway and we are very proud to be once again hosting the final stage at Maranello and Fiorano at the Scuderia’s headquarters. The Ferrari Driver Academy immediately embraced this project with enthusiasm, working with its main partner, the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission, with support from Iron Dames, to make motorsport ever more accessible to people, irrespective of their gender or financial resources. Maya Weug and Laura Camps are demonstrating the value of this programme which offers youngsters the chance to develop and achieve their goal of a career in motor sport. FIA Girls on Track – Rising Stars and the FDA World Scouting Programme form the basis of our strategy to ensure that Scuderia Ferrari can always count on the most talented youngsters and maybe one day see one of the young women behind the wheel of one of our two Formula 1 cars. We are looking forward to working with the four senior and four junior girls in November.”

Photo Gallery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/fia-official/albums/72177720301384068