Formula Nordic race winner Emma Wigroth is set to make her GT4 debut in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Scandinavia.
Swedish racing driver Emma Wigroth has signed a deal with WestCoast Racing for the upcoming Porsche Sprint Challenge Scandinavia, and will be driving a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS run in collaboration with Porsche Center Örebro and Porsche Center Uppsala.
The 19-year-old from Halmstad will therefore make her debut in GT4 competitions after competing in single seaters in the last few years; she became the first female race winner in Formula Nordic in 2022, after taking a breakthrough victory and a second place at Gelleråsen Arena in Karlskoga, which the driver describes as her best memory so far in her career.
Emma was part of the 2021 Girls On Track - Rising Stars scouting programme, having made a name for herself in karting with notable results in the X30 Challenge and the Sydsvenskan Kart Champion Cup (SKCC). She therefore transitioned to single seaters in the same year in Formula Nordic – where she was twice in the top five with a highly consistent season.
Her progress in 2022 resulted in a fifth place in the drivers' standings, and returned for a third year in 2023 as the grid expanded and the series contested rounds in a joint effort with Danish F4. Wigroth scored 11 top-ten finishes, with fourth places at Skellefteå and Rudskogen, eventually finishing sixth in the championship.
She looks back on her years in Formula Nordic as a great learning platform: "[It was] an educational school and, in my opinion, the ultimate step for young racers. I learned an incredible amount during these seasons, experiences that I now take with me into the Porsche Sprint Challenge."
Wigroth is the eleventh driver making the step up from Formula Nordic to one of the Porsche one-make series in Scandinavia, including 5-time Carrera Cup champion Lukas Sundahl and reigning Porsche Sprint Challenge champion William Siverholm.
"Going from formula to the Porsche Sprint Challenge is a big challenge and a big step both when it comes to budget and purely in terms of driving", Wigroth commented. "This is going to be something completely different from what I'm used to. I will have to adapt to a lot during the season, but I look at it positively and I think it will be very educational for me", she said.
"We looked around at what was available and then Porsche became a fairly obvious choice. A big and strong brand, a good series with good cars and good racing. I think the Porsche Sprint Challenge is a very good championship to compete in as a racing junior. I think there are a lot of lessons to be learned there."
The three-year program was made possible thanks to the collaboration between Porsche Center Örebro and Porsche Center Uppsala.
In 2023, Wigroth had the opportunity to test a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (991 II) car, which persuaded her to make the leap into GT racing.
She will be the third female driver to race in Porsche Sprint Challenge Scandinavia, following fellow Swede Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky and Norway's Isabell Rustad; both have race wins to their names. Wigroth, though, is not letting pressure blind her expectations.
"You have to do the best based on your own circumstances and I think this will be a great learning year for me. I absolutely believe that I, and the team I have behind me, will do a great job and have a lot of fun on this journey."
The 2024 season is scheduled to start at Anderstorp on 3-4 May and will continue with five more rounds at Karlskoga, Jyllandsringen, Rudskogen and Mantorp Park, which will wrap up the championship in September.