Alicja Olesinska scores personal best finish, Daria Kuchnia makes progress in Trofeo di serie at Pannónia-Ring
- MACIEJ JACKIEWICZ
- Jul 16
- 4 min read
Alicja Olesińska secured her best result of the year to date, finishing P4 in Trofeo di serie race at Pannónia-Ring. Daria Kuchnia made good progress with great overtakes during the weekend - as both the female drivers of the series gained valuable experience around the tricky Hungarian circuit.
Alicja Olesińska secured her best result of the year to date, finishing P4 in Trofeo di serie race at Pannónia-Ring. Daria Kuchnia made good progress with great overtakes during the weekend - as both the female drivers of the series gained valuable experience around the tricky Hungarian circuit.
Alicja Olesińska and Daria Kuchnia are both stepping up to car racing this year after a successful karting career at race tracks around Poland. They chose Trofeo di serie, a Polish entry-level racing series open to Fiat 500 cars. The first two rounds of the series were quite successful for both of them, as they were able to complete races in the top 10.
The weekend at the Hungarian Pannónia-Ring started with extensive testing on Friday, before the drivers headed out for qualifying on Saturday morning. The session was a chaotic one, as just three minutes after it began a red flag was displayed. This was caused by Alex Kalinowski’s car ending up in the gravel trap.
As qualifying restarted, both Kuchnia and Olesińska headed out - but as they started their flying laps another red flag was shown, this time due to issues with transponders. The session resumed again, and this time it remained green to the end. Olesińska set a 2:34.389, which put her in P6, while Kuchnia completed a 2:34.951 lap, which for the time being was enough for P8. Alicja did not improve her lap time and remained in P6 and Kuchnia, despite improving by one tenth, dropped to P10 in the timing sheets.
The first race of the weekend began at 5 pm local time. The start was quite smooth for both female competitors, as Olesińska kept her sixth place, while Kuchnia dropped to P11. From the very beginning, Olesińska was engaged in a battle with Piotr Ławski, which later evolved into a three way battle that also included Fabian Kiwak.
The three drivers remained very close, and on lap 6 this battle resulted in Ławski’s car landing on its side and safety car being deployed. Olesińska was able to gain one more place and before the neutralization she was classified in P4, while Kuchnia, thanks to Ławski’s issues, advanced to tenth place.
The yellow flag period ended on lap 7, and on lap 8 drivers were again racing full speed around the Hungarian venue. Kuchnia briefly lost her P10 to Alex Kalinowski, but was able to regain it on the final lap. Olesińska meanwhile had to defend from Fabian Kiwak, as the Polish driver was very close to the back of her car, but in the end she was able to finish the race in fourth position, with Kuchnia following her in P10.
“Fourth is currently my best result in Trofeo, and I am very happy with it, as I feel that I really fought for it. After the unpleasant race in Poznań, yesterday showed me a lot. It certainly showed me that a lot is in the head and that just training the muscles of the body is not enough, but you also need to train your mind.” Olesińska said after race one.
“I started the first race from tenth on the grid. My starting reaction was very good, and things looked promising. Unfortunately, it wasn't my day. Furthermore, during the restart after the safety car, I struggled to shift into third gear three times, significantly increasing the gap to the drivers ahead of me.” Kuchnia commented after finishing in tenth in the first race of the weekend.
As a result of race one, Olesińska started race two from P3, while Kuchnia lined up in P10. This race, however, was less successful for Alicja. At the end of lap 1, she collided with Xawery Ossoliński-Nierodka, which resulted in both of them dropping down the field. The female driver was handed a 10-second penalty for this incident. Following the crash, Olesińska fell to P9, while Kuchnia made a positive start and climbed to P8.
After the first incident, and a second one involving Alan Pytlak, the situation in the field settled down. On lap 5 the female competitors switched places, with Olesińska advancing to P8, and Kuchnia dropping to ninth. For the rest of the race Alicja remained safely in her provisional eighth position, while Kuchnia was under pressure from Piotr Ławski, who was very close to her car.
On the final lap the difference was only two tenths, but in the end Kuchnia was able to hold ninth position. After the penalty for Olesińska was applied, Kuchnia finished the race in P8, while the penalized driver concluded her weekend in tenth position.
“The second race was much better. Despite starting from P10, I managed to gain two positions and finish in P8. The race was packed with action, including overtaking manoeuvres, wheel-to-wheel driving, and a long and effective defense. Driving in the second race was pure pleasure for me, and I hope for more starts like this in the future.” Kuchnia said after the second race.
The next challenge for these two rising talents comes on 8–10 August at the magnificent Salzburgring in Austria, where they’ll continue their promising rookie season in the Trofeo di Serie.
