Betty Taube and Aliya Eichele make BMW M2 Cup debuts at Hockenheim
Betty Taube and Aliya Eichele made their BMW M2 Cup debuts at Hockenheim, bringing two new female drivers to the grid for the 2026 season finale, with both drivers making substantial improvements in lap time throughout the weekend despite the wet conditions.
Betty Taube and Aliya Eichele made their BMW M2 Cup debuts at Hockenheim, bringing two new female drivers to the grid for the 2026 season finale.
Competing in a series that has traditionally provided a platform for emerging female talent in touring cars and GT racing, both drivers made encouraging progress across the weekend despite challenging wet conditions. Taube finished eighth in Saturday's opening race before taking ninth in Sunday's rain-affected contest, while karting graduate Eichele showed promising improvements in her first-ever car racing weekend, finishing seventh in Race 1 before recovering to tenth after an early spin in Race 2.
The BMW M2 Cup returned to the Hockenheimring for the final round of the 2026 season, supporting the DTM and offering an opportunity for two newcomers to experience competitive racing. Taube joined the field as a VIP guest entry, while Eichele made her first appearance in a race car with H&R Das Juniorteam! by ME Motorsport.
Taube, also a model and influencer with a longstanding passion for motorsport, had been preparing for her racing debut for some time. She signed with WS Racing in 2024 and began gaining competitive experience in the Spezial Tourenwagen Trophy, while also preparing for an appearance on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Her BMW M2 Cup outing represented another major step in her racing career, placing her directly into a competitive field.
For Eichele, Hockenheim marked a more immediate leap from karting into car racing. The young driver joined ME Motorsport's junior programme for her first-ever race weekend in a car, facing the challenge of learning unfamiliar machinery. The focus for both drivers was therefore on building confidence, understanding the car and steadily reducing the gap to their more experienced rivals.
Rain made the learning process more demanding from the outset, with both free practice sessions taking place in wet conditions, as the pair began to familiarise themselves with the BMW M2 Cup machinery. Taube made significant improvements in the second session, gaining confidence as the weekend progressed.
Qualifying remained challenging, with wet conditions continuing to affect their progress. Eichele set a 2:06.142 to secure ninth on the grid, while Taube qualified tenth with a 2:08.855. Their second-fastest laps produced the same order, placing both newcomers together on the fifth row of the grid.
Saturday's opening race began with a clean start across the field, allowing Eichele and Taube to retain ninth and tenth respectively through the opening corners. Eichele soon moved forward, passing Zsebo for eighth as her rival dropped down the order. Taube followed into ninth, remaining close enough to the fellow rookie's pace to keep the pair together in the early stages.
Both drivers began settling into a consistent rhythm, lapping in the 2:00s as they gained experience. Eichele gradually opened a small gap and continued to improve, eventually breaking the two-minute barrier with a 1:59.5. The lap time marked an encouraging step for the rookie, who was beginning to find more speed.
Taube concentrated on building her own rhythm and gaining confidence over the race distance. She continued to work on consistency while keeping Eichele within reach. Their progress was rewarded late in the race when Michael Schrey went off on lap 14 following contact with Holst, allowing both Eichele and Taube to gain another position.
Eichele moved up to seventh, while Taube also benefited from the incident and crossed the finish line eighth. Both had made clear progress since practice, with Taube completing a clean race as she continued to build her experience and making significant gains from her practice pace.
Sunday's second race presented another challenge, with heavy rain forcing a delay to the start and leaving the field to contend with difficult conditions. Eichele lined up ninth and Taube tenth, with both drivers facing the task of negotiating the opening corners in limited grip.
The field made its way through the first turns, although several cars ran off the circuit before rejoining. Eichele and Taube immediately became involved in a close battle for ninth, running side by side into the hairpin before Eichele emerged ahead.
Her advantage was short-lived, however. Eichele put a wheel on the kerb on the approach to the Motodrom and spun onto the grass. She avoided contact with the barriers but lost significant time, allowing Taube to move up to ninth and establish a gap of around ten seconds.
Taube initially circulated in the 2:12s as she adjusted to the changing conditions, but she steadily gained confidence. Her first sector on lap six was particularly encouraging, contributing to a 2:10.0 as she began to close the gap to the cars ahead. She continued to improve throughout the race, eventually breaking into the 2:09s with a 2:09.7 on lap 12.
The changing conditions continued to catch out drivers further up the order, including Noah Eichele, who spun from fourth place at Turn 1 before rejoining ahead of Taube.
Taube ultimately crossed the line ninth, completing a second solid finish on her debut weekend. Eichele recovered from her early spin to take the chequered flag in tenth, bringing her first car racing weekend to a close.
The Hockenheim finale provided both drivers with valuable experience in a highly competitive environment. Despite having to learn the BMW M2 Cup car in wet conditions, Taube and Eichele made substantial improvements in lap time throughout the weekend and increasingly closed the gap to more established competitors.
With both drivers having taken encouraging first steps, the weekend provided a promising foundation on which to build.
