Fabienne Wohlwend is ready to seal her first W Series wins with team CortDAO – the first internet community owned team.
She was secured a pole position in 2019, was close to her first win in 2021 and will go even bigger in 2022: Fabienne Wohlwend, 24, is ready for her new challenge in the all-female single seater championship and joins CortDAO – Community Owned Racing Team DAO, an innovative concept that is aiming to take the fan experience to a new level. The internet-based team will in fact allow community members to own shares of the racing team through a Decentralised Autonomous Organization, controlled by its members.
The project was born from motorsport fans and cryptocurrencies pioneers and will sustain itself via crowdfunding on a blockchain.
CortDAO will offer community members the opportunity to purchase tokens that will be converted into a share of the team – and will grant voting rights for certain team’s decisions. The higher the numbers of tokens owned, the more shares – and thus greater percentage of voting rights – the members will receive.
“The team is born out of an understanding that modern fans want a more immersive experience, and we want to deliver on this”, said Michael Livingston, founder of CordDAO. “We want fans to send us ideas, spread the word and join our Discord page. Sport has the power to unite communities online or offline around the world, so if you want to get involved, we hope you reach out to us!"
The partnership with Fabienne Wohlwend, one of the stars of the championship and potential title contender in 2022, is also particularly fitting given Fabienne’s background in finance in the small but banking-heavyweight Lichtenstein.
“Cryptocurrency is at the cutting edge and, with my financial background, I find it really interesting and CortDAO feels like a natural fit for me”, she commented. “I’m really proud to be racing for the CortDAO community and excited for what we can achieve together in this new collaborative format.”
Fabienne and her soon-to-be-announced teammate will sport a striking pink livery.
Wohlwend came into the inaugural season of W Series with a title under her belt: she was in fact the first ever woman to win the Ferrari Challenge World Finals in 2018, claiming the title at the iconic Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.
A Ferrari Challenge regular, she is also racing in the Nurburgring-based NLS with fully-female team ‘Girls Only’.
"I've finished sixth in 2019 and 2021, and this season I'm aiming for the top three” – Fabienne added. “Last year, I had a great start to the season and then some bad luck in the second half of the year. I've been training hard over the winter and, as I haven't been in the car since the final round of last season, this week's test in Barcelona has helped me get back up to speed quickly, and I'm aiming to be on the podium at the first round in Miami.”
“I feel more prepared for this season than any other, I'm really confident and excited to get started."
As drivers just completed a three-day collective test at Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, teams are being announced and decisions about the line ups and new entries will be made in the coming weeks.
The third on-track W Series season is set to start in May, for the first ever edition of the Miami Grand Prix, USA, alongside F1’s first visit to a newly-built street circuit.
