Sophia_Flörsch

Sophia Flörsch

Sophia Flörsch

German racing driver (born 2000)

Sophia Flörsch (German pronunciation: [zoˈfiːa flœʁʃ]; born 1 December 2000) is a German racing driver who currently competes in FIA Formula 3 with Van Amersfoort Racing. She has previously raced in the DTM, the FIA World Endurance Championship and is a podium finisher in ADAC Formula 4 and the ELMS, as well as the youngest race winner of the Ginetta Junior Championship.[1][2] In February 2023, she joined the Alpine Academy.[3]

Quick Facts Nationality, Born ...

Personal life

Flörsch was born in Grünwald, Bavaria, and has spent most of her life around Munich: she attended Oberhaching Grammar School and is now based in Pullach.[4] Her interests include karting, skiing and wind surfing.[5] She has cited Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher as her racing idols.[6][7]

Views and ambassadorship

Flörsch was an outspoken critic of the now-defunct W Series women's Formula Regional championship; labelling it a "step back on a sporting level" and "not the way to help women in motorsport" upon launch in 2019, and "gender bashing" in 2022.[8][9] She further criticised the existence of a series-affiliated esports championship held during the coronavirus pandemic, claiming it would create "segregation behind a computer".[10]

Flörsch is a brand ambassador for the Schaeffler Group,[11] as well as non-profit organisations Dare to be Different and Wings for Life.[12][13] She has twice been a guest at the International Motor Show Germany,[14][7] and in February 2020 she won the award for World Comeback of the Year at the 2020 Laureus World Sports Awards.[15][16]

Racing career

Karting

Flörsch began karting in 2005. From 2008 to 2014, Flörsch competed in various karting events across Europe through Kart Sport. She became the first female driver and also youngest driver of three series she competed in, the 2008 SAKC Championship, 2009 ADAC German Championship and 2010 European Championship Easykart.[5] She was also scouted by Red Bull.[17]

Ginetta Junior

In 2015, Flörsch took part in the 2015 Ginetta Junior Championship season driving for HHC Motorsport. During the season, Flörsch collected two wins and a further two podiums. She made double Ginetta history at Thruxton by becoming the youngest driver to win a Ginetta Junior race, and also the first rookie to win two out of two races in one weekend.[18] Her season was cut short due to financial issues and she finished at the mid-season point, at that time running in third in the championship, also leading the Rookie championship. Her car for the season was Car 14, which she named Paul.

Formula 4

Sophia Flörsch racing at Sachsenring in ADAC Formula 4 in 2016.

In 2016, Flörsch signed with Motopark to drive in the ADAC Formula 4 championship.[19] Her car for the season was Car #99, which she called Hugo.[20] In her debut race, she became the first female to score points in an ADAC Formula 4 race. She almost achieved her first single-seater podium in only her third race; after being hit by another car in the closing laps of the race she recovered to fifth. Her first fastest lap of the season came at race 3 in Zandvoort, in a race halted by poor weather conditions.

The following year she raced for ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg in a pink BWT-sponsored car. She got her first podium finish at the Sachsenring, a feat she repeated at Hockenheim, where she also took two fastest laps.

FIA Formula 3 European Championship

2018

On 13 March 2018, Flörsch participated in her first FIA Formula 3 European Championship test, driving a Van Amersfoort Racing car. On 6 July 2018, it was announced that she would join Van Amersfoort Racing beginning with the round at Circuit Zandvoort a week later.[21] She finished 22nd in the standings, her sole point coming at the Red Bull Ring.

2018 Macau Grand Prix

From 15 to 18 November 2018, Flörsch participated in the Formula 3 World Cup at the 2018 Macau Grand Prix. During the main race, on Lap 4, she made contact with fellow driver Jehan Daruvala, who was reportedly slowing for erroneously-displayed yellow flags on the straight between Mandarin Corner (Turn 2) and Lisboa Bend (Turn 3). This caused a front left suspension failure, catapulting her car into Lisboa Bend sideways at high speed, launching off Sho Tsuboi's car, through the catch-fencing and smashing into a photographers' bunker, before landing back onto the wheels.[22][23] Flörsch was reported as conscious post-crash and was hospitalised along with Tsuboi, two photographers and a marshal.[24] She was later diagnosed with a spinal fracture, for which she underwent a surgery lasting almost 10 hours the following day, subsequently reported as successful with “no fear of paralysis”, by her race team leader, Frits van Amersfoort.[25][26]

Formula Regional

Sophia Flörsch at the 2019 Macau Grand Prix.

On 14 December 2018, Van Amersfoort Racing confirmed that Flörsch would race for the team in the European F3 replacement series, Formula European Masters, in 2019.[27] After this series folded before a round was contested, Flörsch and VAR switched to the Formula Regional European Championship for updated Formula 3 machinery.[28] Having joined the championship just one week before the opening race, the team struggled throughout the season, but Flörsch managed 7th place in the standings with points in all 24 races and a fastest lap at the Red Bull Ring.

Formula 3

2019 Macau Grand Prix

Flörsch was selected by the HWA Team to attend the FIA Formula 3 Championship post-season test on 22 October 2019 in Valencia.[29] In early November, it was confirmed that Flörsch was placed on the team to compete in the 2019 Macau Grand Prix, with support from several Macanese companies and notable people.[30] She failed to finish the race after her car suffered a mechanical failure which left her stranded ahead of the Mandarin Oriental Bend on the eighth lap.[31]

2020

Flörsch signed with Campos Racing for the 2020 season of the FIA F3 Championship to partner Alessio Deledda and Alex Peroni. After a difficult year with several mechanical problems, she finished 29th out of 35 drivers in the standings, with a best finish of 12th. She was the first woman to race in the championship since its formation after the GP3 Series and European F3 categories were merged.[32]

2023

Flörsch driving the Dallara F3 2019 during the 2023 Spielberg Formula 3 round.

Flörsch returned to the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2023, signing with PHM Racing by Charouz.[33] Shortly after, she was announced as a new member of the Alpine Academy, having been selected by the brand's new 'Rac(H)er' programme.[3]

Having focused on collecting data in the first few rounds,[34] Flörsch achieved her and PHM's first points with 9th place at the Red Bull Ring, only to then lose the result to a post-race disqualification.[35][36] She then went on to make 23 and 29 overtakes respectively across both races at the Hungaroring and Spa-Francorchamps, before getting back into the points.[37] With 7th place in a wet feature race at Spa, Flörsch earned 6 points—a milestone for women in motorsport, as she became the first female driver to score points in the series, and for the team, as Charouz had only managed a single point in the entire 2022 season.[38][39]

2023 Macau Grand Prix

At the end of the 2023 season, Flörsch rejoined Van Amersfoort Racing to participate in the 2023 Macau Grand Prix.[40] Unlike her previous two attempts, this time she was able to finish the race, in 11th position ahead of both her teammates.[41]

2024

Flörsch is set to remain with Van Amersfoort Racing for the 2024 season.[42]

Endurance racing

Sophia Flörsch at the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Flörsch combined her 2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship commitments with a debut in prototype racing, skipping the Spa-Francorchamps Formula 3 round to enter the Le Castellet 240 with Beitske Visser for Richard Mille Racing Team in the LMP2 class of the 2020 European Le Mans Series instead.[43] The campaign also included entry into the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans, where she finished in 9th place alongside Visser and Tatiana Calderón.[44]

She continued with Richard Mille in 2021, this time in the FIA World Endurance Championship, where she led the team to five points finishes and qualified a season-best 6th at the 8 Hours of Bahrain, ahead of Formula One race winner Juan Pablo Montoya.[45][46] She also received a call-up from Algarve Pro Racing to replace Diego Menchaca in the 2021 European Le Mans Series season finale at Portimão.[47] She finished third alongside Ferdinand Habsburg and Richard Bradley, achieving the team's first podium and becoming the first woman to ever finish on an overall podium in the series.[48][49] Flörsch later appeared in the post-season FIA World Endurance Championship rookie test in Bahrain, driving for newly-crowned LMP2 champions Team WRT, where she led both sessions.[50][51]

In 2022, Flörsch left the Richard Mille project to join G-Drive Racing and make a full-time return to the European Le Mans Series, driving one of the team's two Oreca 07 LMP2 cars alongside Roman Rusinov.[52] The plan quickly changed following the team's withdrawal due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Algarve Pro Racing, who were set to run G-Drive's cars, took over independently, signing Flörsch and F2 podium finisher Bent Viscaal. Despite both being silver-ranked and lacking experience compared to the rival three-driver lineups, the pair took second place on debut at Paul Ricard.[53][54] That was to be the high point of their season though, as a late puncture at Imola, an untimely full-course yellow at Monza and a pit-lane start at Barcelona limited their next results, before Flörsch vacated her seat for the final two rounds.[55] She also entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside Jack Aitken and bronze-rated John Falb, where bad fortune struck too. As the cars lined up for the start of the race, Flörsch's car came to a stop at the start-finish line with a sensor issue. She managed to restart it and crawl back to the pits, but the trio lost five laps and all podium aspirations while the crew fixed the problem.[56] They ended up charging back up to fifth place in the LMP2 Pro/Am subclass, as Aitken set the 8th fastest LMP2 time and Flörsch was the 3rd quickest silver driver.[57][58]

DTM

Alongside her FIA WEC programme, Flörsch raced in the 2021 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for German team Abt Sportsline with backing from Schaeffler.[59] The first half of the season proved challenging, as she was the only Audi to pioneer Schaeffler's 'Space Drive' steer-by-wire system, but she turned it around by scoring 8 points from the last six races, in what was her rookie season in GT3 cars.[60]

Racing record

Career summary

More information Season, Series ...

† As Flörsch had not competed in the required number of rounds she was ineligible for a championship position.

Complete Ginetta Junior Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

More information Year, Team ...

Complete ADAC Formula 4 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

More information Year, Team ...

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

More information Year, Entrant ...

Complete Macau Grand Prix results

More information Year, Team ...

Complete Formula Regional European Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

More information Year, Entrant ...

* The third race in Vallelunga was cancelled due to bad weather and later run in Imola as a fourth race.

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

More information Year, Entrant ...

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

More information Year, Entrant ...

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

More information Year, Team ...

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

More information Year, Entrant ...

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

More information Year, Team ...

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