If you know what the problem is, you can usually find a way of fixing it. However when you’re struggling to find the problem, it’s virtually impossible to find a solution and that about sums up my weekend at Spa-Francorchamps! (more…)
Monza was a tough race weekend for me – I can’t say I’m not pleased to have scored a point, because I’m thrilled. However I know we could have done better, and that’s what makes it so difficult. In racing you can sometimes pick up points where you least expect them, and that’s a great feeling! Other times, you really feel like you earned them, and for whatever reason you walk away with nothing, or much less than you feel you deserved. For me, Monza was one of those weekends… (more…)
Anyone who has ever met or encountered a racing driver at any time of their life has probably heard of the “racing driver’s book of excuses”. Popular men and women have a “little black book” which they leaf through to find dates. Engineers have books with set-up sheets and important data. Authors have books which they have written themselves and poured blood and sweat into. Racing drivers, rather like school children who haven’t done their homework on time, have a book of excuses. (more…)
As a female racing driver people might think of me as one of life’s warriors. Fighting the good fight and all that, but when I get out on track that’s never an issue. When I’m off the track I’m actually much more one of life’s worriers… (more…)
There is one big problem being a female racing driver, as with being a minority in anything… Standards are set by the majorities – in this situation, manufacturers make racing cars for men, not women. (more…)
If I was the kind of girl whom believed in omens I would have given this job up a long time ago…
I didn’t exactly have the best of starts to the relationship with my new World Series by Renault car. Certainly not love at first sight, but more along the lines of turning up to meet someone who had obviously posted a rather modified photograph of themselves on the internet… Nevertheless, I just focused on my first outing onto the track because race cars, like most things in life, are more about what’s on the inside than what they look like. (more…)
It can be difficult being any sportsperson because we’re competitive, and we hate it when things don’t go our way. At the end of last season, after I’d had a pretty miserable end to the year at Barcelona, I decided it was essential to find a way to unwind and get rid of all that pent-up aggression. So I took up boxing! (more…)
Everyone thinks that racing drivers have little to do in the winter off-season. Unfortunately, this is somewhat true, but not completely. We obviously spend a large amount of time in the gym – working on our strength, conditioning muscles, making the heart and lungs work better. But the thing we generally spend the most time doing is waiting for the phone to ring… (more…)
Tests, Friday
I was the second fastest driver on Friday at the Eurocup tests in Barcelona. In the forenoon I was the fastest one. Top three of the tests: Ricciardo, Bottas, Caldarelli…
Qualifications and Superpole, Saturday forenoon
I was the fastest driver of my own group
at the qualifications.
In the Superpole, we didn’t quite manage to make
the car suitable for half-dry conditions,
and so my starting positions for the races were 11th and 6th.
Race 1, Saturday afternoon
My starting position to the race 1 was 11.
My start went well and I succeeded to
rise up quickly – lap by lap – near the leading battle.
The car functioned well on half-dry, and I won the race
before Hegewald and Caldarelli.
Race 2, Sunday
I started from the 6th place and the start went OK.
I managed to keep my position during the first laps.
I also rose up a couple of positions during the race,
and at the finish line I was 4th.
That was enough for me to win the European Championship 2008!
The team did an amazing job during the whole weekend
and together we wanted to win the European Championship.
Thank You to the Motopark Academy staff members and especially to
the team manager Timo Rumpfkeil – what an amazing team!
Best regards,
Valtteri