Formula Woman quartet enjoy success on Finecut Radical Cup UK Championship debut
- LIAM REDFORD
- Apr 1
- 6 min read
Formula Woman celebrated a historic weekend as four of their drivers made their Finecut Radical Cup UK Championship debuts at Donington Park, with Flame Airikkala securing the best result of sixth place in her sprint race, while all four competitors gained valuable experience ahead of the upcoming Formula Woman Nations Cup in May.
It was a historic weekend for the Formula Woman organisation as four of their drivers made their debuts in the Finecut Radical Cup UK Championship at Donington Park. The best result of the weekend was achieved by Flame Airikkala as she finished sixth in her solo sprint race.
British racer Alicia Barrett finished eighth in her sprint race, while Nathalie Neumann and Karla Villaneuva finished ninth and tenth respectively. In the endurance contest, Airikkala and Neumann teamed up to finish eighth, while Barnett and Villaneuva were classified in ninth after a late-race technical issue.
Formula Woman has established itself as a leading initiative for supporting and developing female drivers from all backgrounds. The project facilitated a test session for over 30 drivers at the Dubai Autodrome at the end of 2024 in preparation for the inaugural Formula Woman Nations Cup in May. The Radical SR3 was the car of choice for Formula Woman with the British manufacture bridging the gap between formula cars and high-downforce prototype machines.
In preparation for the Formula Woman Nations Cup event, the organisation entered a pair of cars in the team class of the opening round of the Finecut Radical Cup UK Championship at Donington Park. The four drivers selected to participate all finished inside the top-10 of the combined testing sessions in Dubai last year and were therefore looking to push each other to reach their potential.
In car #33, British racer Alicia Barrett was partnered up with Mexican driver Karla Villanueva. Barrett is the only driver with competitive experience of Radical machinery after she entered the final round of the 750 Motor Club Radical Bikesports Championship at the end of 2024. Barrett enjoyed a positive weekend in mixed conditions at Donington Park and was looking to use her experience to lead the team.
In the Formula Woman test session at Dubai Autodrome, Barrett finished with the fifth fastest time, while her teammate Karla Villaneuva set the ninth fastest time. Hailing from Mexico, Villanueva has limited motorsport experience but has impressed in her testing opportunities and has shown superb adaptability to Radical machinery.
In car #51, Finnish racer Flame Airikkala was joined by Luxembourgish driver Nathalie Neumann. Airikkala set the tenth fastest time in the Dubai test session and although being the youngest of the four drivers, she has the most experience in British motorsport. In 2023, Airikkala competed in the BRSCC Fiesta Junior Championship and impressed in her rookie campaign. Alongside her Formula Woman commitments, Airikkala is scheduled to compete in the all-female Kyojo Cup in 2025 which is held at Fuji Speedway in Japan.
Airikkala’s teammate, Nathalie Neumann was the eighth fastest driver in Dubai and the twenty-eight-year-old has shown exceptional promise in her testing opportunities behind the wheel of the Radical SR3. Neumann was looking to use the knowledge she had gained to firmly place herself as a leading driver in the Formula Woman squad.
Since both crews entered in the team class, this meant that each driver would contest one of the two sprint races, before each duo would race together in the fifty-minute endurance contest. Therefore, teamwork was of paramount importance to ensure each crew could maximise their potential over the course of the weekend.
After a productive day of testing leading into the event, the quartet was keen to shown their speed in Saturday’s qualifying session. Both the #33 and #51 machines were lapping consistently in the first half of the session and trading fastest sectors in the team class.
At the halfway point of the session, both crews pitted for a driver change to ensure all four drivers gained experience in qualifying. Into the closing stages of the session, car #51 brought out a red flag after being beached in the gravel. The session resumed and both crews were able to rejoin the circuit, before a further red flag ended qualifying. In their inaugural Finecut Radical Cup UK Championship event, Airikkala and Neumann qualified ninth overall, while Barrett and Villanueva had set the tenth fastest time.
Lining up for their Finecut Radical Cup UK Championship debuts, Flame Airikkala was behind the wheel of car #51 and she started from eighth position, while Alicia Barrett started car #33 from ninth after the development car of James Pinkerton began the race from the pitlane. Barrett passed Airikkala on lap one, before the safety car was deployed as Hamish Forrest was beached in the gravel. The Formula Woman machines were now running in eighth and ninth place respectively, with both drivers looking to make up positions on the restart.
Barrett defended well from Airikkala on the restart before the teenager racer was able to move ahead and immediately pull out a gap. On lap six, a spin for Alex Fisher promoted both drivers up one position and this elevated Flame to seventh and Alicia to eighth. Airikkala continued her strong race as successive personal best times saw her narrowly match the qualifying benchmark in car #51.
On lap 12, Barrett was passed by a recovering Fisher as she continued a consistent and clean race. Airikkala continued to improve in the closing stages and she took the checkered flag in sixth position, while Barrett was classified in eighth to complete a positive debut race for both drivers.
For the second sprint race at Donington Park, Nathalie Neumann started the #51 Radical SR3 XXR from eighth position, while Karla Villanueva lined up from ninth behind the wheel of car #33. Villanueva made the best start and immediately moved ahead of Neumann, while also overtaking Alex Fisher to end lap one in seventh. Neumann was just behind Villanueva in the opening stages as the Formula Woman racers were building up their confidence.
On lap two, the pair of female drivers swapped positions with Neumann moving ahead of Villaneuva while Fisher overtook them both. Villaneuva then spun at the final turn and after making slight contact with the tyre barrier, she was able to continue after a trip to the pits. Neumann, meanwhile, had just run her fastest lap of the race and after the development car of James Pinkerton moved ahead, she continued with a consistent pace.
Following her brief pitstop, Villaneuva was back on the circuit and improving her sectors as the race progressed. It was a clean second half of the race for both of the Formula Woman competitors who got their first taste of British motorsport. At the end of the twenty-minute race, Neumann took the checkered flag in ninth position with Villanueva in tenth ahead of the two-driver endurance race later that day.
The final race of the weekend was the fifty-minute endurance race featuring a mandatory pitstop. Flame Airikkala started car #51 from seventh position, while Alicia Barrett got behind the wheel of the #33 Radical SR3 XXR from eighth on the grid. Both drivers made a clean start and were showing competitive early pace in sunny conditions at Donington Park.
At the end of the first lap, Airikkala was into sixth place overall, while Barrett was running in eighth. Barrett was quickly lapping faster than she did in her sprint race the previous day and this was allowing her to remain in close contention with the drivers ahead. On lap three, Andy Lowe picked up a puncture and as a result, Airikkala was now inside the top-5, while Barrett had moved up to seventh position.
After the first ten minutes were completed, Airikkala’s lap times were consistently over a second faster than on Saturday and now she was gapping Alex Fisher behind. On lap 11, another personal best time from the Finnish driver saw gain time on both Rachel Robertson and John McLeod as the pair contested the final spot on the overall podium. Similarly, Barrett’s times continued to improve and although she was overtaken by the development car of James Pinkerton, her pace remained strong.
As the pit window opened, Airikkala brought her car to the attention of her crew with Nathalie Neumann getting behind the wheel. Barrett pitted a lap later as Karla Villanueva rejoined the race in car #33. A quick stop for the crew of Barrett/Villanueva saw the Mexican driver rejoin the race just six seconds behind Neumann.
Neumann’s pace in the early stages of her stint was strong and by lap 20, the gap to her Formula Woman teammate was approaching 20 seconds. Three laps later, a recovering Lowe demoted Villaneuva to ninth overall before the Mexican racer had a spin and stopped out on track. Villaneuva was able to rejoin the race, however she soon brought the car into the pits and retired with an unfortunate technical issue.
Neumann continued to set a consistent pace in the final stages of the endurance race and although she also fell behind Lowe, the Luxembourgish driver was banking valuable experience. At the end of the fifty-minute contest, car #51 took the checkered flag in eighth place at Donington Park.
It was a productive debut meeting for the quarter of Formula Woman racers as they adapted to the challenges of competitive action in the Finecut Radical Cup UK Championship. Airikkala was the stand-out driver as the teenager racer contended for top-5 finishes, while Barrett, Neumann and Villanueva gained valuable experience in a competitive grid of drivers.
The Formula Woman drivers will now look ahead to the Nations Cup event which is set to take place at Dubai Autodrome on the weekend of 3rd/4th May.
