Formula Nordic: Vera Jurland takes back-to-back podiums on debut, Louise Larsson twice in top-5

At the opening weekend of the 2026 Formula Nordic season at Scandinavian Raceway, rookie Vera Jurland secured two podium finishes in her very first Formula Nordic event, while Louise Larsson finished twice in the top five.

Photo credits: @kohutheinz

Female drivers played a prominent role during the opening weekend of the 2026 Formula Nordic season at Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp, with four women on the grid among a 12-car field.

The season opener showcased increasingly competitive representation from female racers in the Scandinavian junior single-seater category, with Vera Jurland, Thindra Ramberg, Louise Larsson and Olivia Erntson making up a third of the grid.

Among the most successful female drivers of the weekend was rookie Vera Jurland, who secured two podium finishes in her very first Formula Nordic event. Racing for VJ Racing in collaboration with Vortex Performance, Jurland immediately impressed despite arriving at Anderstorp with no prior experience at the circuit.

Her weekend began with a Thursday evening test session, where she quickly adapted to the challenging Scandinavian Raceway layout, before continuing to improve throughout Friday practice as the team refined the setup of the car.

Qualifying proved competitive, with Jurland posting strong laps early in the session before eventually ending the session ninth on the grid. While the result did not fully reflect her pace, it still placed her in contention for recovery drives in the races ahead.

In Saturday morning’s opening race, Jurland immediately demonstrated excellent racecraft as she made a strong launch and steadily worked her way through the field with consistent pace, ultimately finishing seventh, less than one second away from sixth place after an encouraging first race performance.

Photo credits: Bengt-Åce Gustavsson

Race 2 marked a breakthrough moment in Jurland's young career. In a dramatic contest filled with incidents and safety cars, Jurland fought her way into podium contention and at one point ran second overall. She later settled into third position with a comfortable margin over the chasing pack before another late safety car neutralized the field. Following the restart, Jurland produced an excellent getaway and once again began pulling away from fourth place. However, with tyre temperatures still low after the caution period, she spun on the main straight, bringing out the red flag.

Under Formula Nordic regulations, the final classification reverted to the previous completed lap, meaning Jurland retained third position and secured her maiden Formula Nordic podium on debut.

The rookie repeated the achievement in Race 3. Starting fifth, she again made an excellent launch and quickly inserted herself into battles at the front of the field. After several decisive overtakes, Jurland climbed back into third position and managed the race maturely to secure a second consecutive podium finish.

Her remarkable debut weekend leaves her third in the Formula Nordic championship standings heading into the next round at Gelleråsen.

Photo credits: @kohutheinz

Swedish driver Louise Larsson also enjoyed a positive weekend at Anderstorp. Larsson emerged as the leading female finisher in Race 1 after climbing to sixth position overall, which earned her reverse-grid pole position for the second race.

Race 2 initially appeared to offer Larsson a major opportunity as she lined up on pole position. However, her race quickly became complicated when her new brakes failed to come up to temperature properly into the heavy braking zone at the end of the long straight, sending her into the gravel. Despite the early setback, she recovered well and fought back to finish fifth overall in another chaotic race marked by safety cars and red flags.

In Race 3, Larsson again showed solid pace and race management to secure another top-five result, continuing a highly positive start to her 2026 campaign as she consistently ran among the leading group throughout the weekend.

Another female racer to impress was Thindra Ramberg, who delivered a particularly strong performance in the third and final race of the weekend. Ramberg battled inside the top positions throughout the race and eventually crossed the line in fourth place overall, narrowly missing out on a podium finish after one of her strongest Formula Nordic performances to date.

Following the opening round, Hafström leaves Anderstorp as championship leader ahead of Varis and Jurland, while the next Formula Nordic event will take place at Gelleråsen in Karlskoga on the final weekend of May.