The Girls-Only team by WS Racing has announced its upcoming NLS and LMP3 programs: Célia Martin, Carrie Schreiner, Christina Nielsen and Fabienne Wohlwend will compete in the new BMW M4 GT4, with Martin and Wohlwend also expected to make appearances in the LMP3 Norma. Alesia & Jacqueline Kreutzpointner round up an outstanding line-up.
The "Girls Only" team - a project launched in 2018 by WS Racing - made headlines for becoming the first-fully female team, including racing drivers, engineers, mechanics and team management. The outfit has been supported by tire manufacturer Giti Tire since its inception, and has extended its programmes in 2020 and 2021, switching from TCR to GT4 machinery.
In 2021, the Girls Only Team won the mighty 24h Nürburgring at the Nordschleife, bringing Pippa Mann, Célia Martin, Carrie Schreiner and Christina Nielsen to class glory after an incredibly challenging race in extreme weather conditions.
The team will now switch to BMW machinery, as they will campaign a BMW M4 GT4 for the 2022 season in the SP8T class of the Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie (NLS), formerly known as VLN. Together with the iconic Giti Tire colors, the new livery features a new partner: Sachs has in fact joined the team in a premium partner role.
The Girls Only operation, run by WS Racing, has thus announced its lineup for the 2022 season which includes some really exciting names in motorsport: French racer Célia Martin returns to the team and will partner Carrie Schreiner - also a returnee - Christina Nielsen and Fabienne Wohlwend.
Martin is a Nürburgring specialist: from an unconventional start in motor racing to the Nürburgring 24H victory, Célia's passion for the sport has been the main driving force behind the Frenchwoman, who abandoned her work to start racing and has since become a Race-Taxi driver at the Nordschleife, as well as F1 Paddock Club expert host.
"Excited to share with you my race program with Girls Only Racing this year!" - said Martin. "Alongside my teammates we’ll be doing the NLS and Nürburgring 24H race in our new BMW M4 GT4", she continued.
Carrie Schreiner is one of the most popular German racers in GT cars: after karting, Carrie moved into single seaters and raced in both the German and British F4 championships. She would quickly find her path in GT cars and started to gain experience in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo, as well as in the DMV GT championship. In 2019, Schreiner raced at the 24H of Nürburgring for the first time and also made her debut in ADAC GT Masters, Germany's premier GT3 series. She would score one podium at Hockenheim.
In 2020, Schreiner combined a GT Masters program with her presence in NLS - and her motorsport commitments expanded even more in 2021, as she raced in Italian GT for AF Corse, in GTC Series and in the BMW M2 Cup, in support of DTM.
Christina Nielsen is another hugely successful name: the Dane had raced in the German Porsche Carrera Cup and ADAC GT Masters before crossing the Atlantic, where she raced in IMSA Sportscar Championship and became the first female champion. She took back to back titles in the GTD class in 2016 and 2017, while also taking the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Nielsen has been racing Stateside in the past couple of years and has been recently rated bronze in the FIA Drivers Categorization ranking, which could give her more chances in a full time return in endurance.
Despite her experience of GT3 and GT4 race cars, Nielsen was a Nürburgring rookie in 2020 and had to complete the Nordschleife permit before taking the start to her first NLS race. She is now ready to tackle her first full season with the Girls Only Team.
Fabienne Wohlwend is the latest addition to the team: the superstar from Liechtenstein, a W Series podium finisher and pole-sitter, has already had the chance to work with WS Racing in 2021, having run the ADAC 24H qualifying race alongside Martin, Schreiner and Laura Kraihamer. Wohwlend then competed in the #167 BMW in the actual 24 hour race.
Fabienne also moved her first steps in race cars in single-seaters and contested the 2016 Italian F4 championship before moving to GT cars: she first raced in Audi Sport TT Cup and made her debut in the Ferrari Challenge series: it would be in the Italian one-make series that Fabienne made history in 2018, becoming the first woman to win the Ferrari World Finals.
After being selected for the all-female F3 championship W Series, Wohlwend continued to race in Ferrari Challenge and was runner up in 2020. Furthermore, she entered two rounds of the Nürburgring-based NLS.
"Excited to announce that I will be racing in the NLS & 24H of Nürburgring together with WS Racing Girls Only in the BMW M4 GT4", said Wohlwend. "I'm happy to be back racing at the Nürburgring and looking forward to sharing the car with Célia Martin, Carrie Schreiner and Christina Nielsen. Busy season ahead but I'm feeling ready for this challenge."
Additionally, Célia Martin and Fabienne Wohlwend will also participate in guest starts in the P9 Challenge and STT, in the WS Racing's new Norma M30 LMP3 prototype.
But the Girls Only line up wouldn't be complete without two more up-and-coming talents such as Alesia and Jacqueline Kreutzpointner: the fastest racing twins raced in ADAC GT4 in 2020 and returned to the GT4-based series in the last rounds of 2021. For the first time, they also raced in separate entries (not sharing the same car) in the brand-new BMW M2 Cup where they finished eighth and tenth in the drivers standings.
Alesia and Jacqueline will contest the 24H Qualifying race in a Porsche Cayman GTS under the WS Racing banner, and will gain their first testing experience in the LMP3 machine.
The Girls Only Team has laid the foundations for a highly-competitive season, which is set to start in March.