Italian F4: Emma Felbermayr claims double Female Trophy wins in Misano, continues perfect streak of starts in final race
Emma Felbermayr secured two Women’s Trophy victories at Misano, including the Final after recovering from a pit stop, continuing her perfect streak of qualifications to the final of the weekend at every Italian F4 round she entered.
The latest round of the Italian F4 Championship at Misano featured three female drivers, with Emma Felbermayr, Payton Westcott and Rafaela Ferreira all facing a challenging weekend that began in heavy rain before developing into much warmer and sunnier conditions.
Felbermayr, competing for PHM Racing alongside her F1 Academy campaign where she currently sits second in the standings, produced two Female Trophy victories and reached the final race after another strong weekend of recovery drives.
Westcott, racing for R-Ace GP as part of her dual program with F1 Academy, where she represents Mercedes, also claimed a Female Trophy win, while Ferreira, competing for Cram Motorsport and simultaneously racing for Campos in F1 Academy as the VCARB representative, endured a more difficult event that was repeatedly affected by incidents.
Friday began with extremely wet conditions at Misano. Felbermayr immediately demonstrated competitive pace, finishing 11th in the first group and only six tenths away from the overall benchmark. Ferreira placed 21st in the same group, while Westcott was 20th in the second group. The second practice session remained difficult, although the track conditions were beginning to improve, particularly for the second group. Felbermayr and Westcott both ended FP2 15th fastest in their respective groups, with Westcott's session taking place on a progressively drier circuit.
Qualifying also took place in wet conditions, with Felbermayr and Ferreira assigned to the first group. Ferreira recorded a 1:58.816 to qualify 23rd in her group, while Felbermayr was 20th with a 1:56.612. Westcott was in the second group; with five minutes remaining, she produced a 1:55.519 to climb as high as fifth, but the continuing improvement in track conditions subsequently shuffled the order. Westcott eventually ended the session 13th, nevertheless producing a solid qualifying performance with her 1:55.519.
The first race of the weekend split into groups was Race 1 featuring Groups B and C and therefore none of the three female drivers. All three would instead begin their Misano weekend in Race 2, with Westcott starting 16th, Felbermayr 26th and Ferreira 31st.
By Saturday afternoon, the weather had changed completely, with the second race taking place in full sunshine. Several cars stalled at the start, but all three female drivers negotiated the opening phase. Westcott held 16th, Felbermayr gained one position before climbing to 24th by the end of the opening lap, while Ferreira initially remained 31st after making a good start from the back of the field.
Westcott quickly found herself fighting just outside the points-paying positions, with Cortes only a few tenths behind. Her position became increasingly difficult, however, as Zasov, Cosma-Cristofor and Zheng all moved past on the second lap, with Al Sulaiti also finding a way through shortly afterwards. Westcott subsequently fought for pace and dropped as far as 25th, with Felbermayr now directly behind her and the two beginning an increasingly important battle for the Female Trophy.
Ferreira was meanwhile running ahead of Pasquinetti and Rubino in 30th, while Felbermayr and Westcott continued to run closely together. By lap six, the Austrian had begun to gain ground, reducing the gap to Westcott by approximately a tenth per lap. Two laps later, Felbermayr completed the move and took the lead in the Female Trophy.
Ferreira continued to make progress to 29th, with Pagola behind her, but the Argentine driver fought back several laps later. Ferreira's difficult race then took another turn when she was forced to pit on lap 12 with damage, rejoining almost a lap down.
At the front of the female battle, Westcott remained close enough to Felbermayr to apply pressure, but the PHM Racing driver managed to open a small gap with five minutes remaining. The advantage reached approximately one second before falling back to 0.8 seconds by lap 14 as Westcott attempted to mount a final attack. Further incidents involving Lima and Ruykov, who both entered the pits with damage, promoted Felbermayr to 22nd and Westcott to 23rd.
The final lap produced chaos at the sharp end of the race, with three cars fighting for the overall victory making contact. Felbermayr benefited from the reshuffle, climbing to 19th and overtaking Zasov in the process, which also placed another car between herself and Westcott. She took the chequered flag in 19th and secured the Female Trophy victory, subsequently being promoted to 16th in the final classification. Westcott finished 19th, while Ferreira came home 29th after her difficult race.
The third race took place on Sunday morning under sunny and clear skies, with Westcott starting 16th, Felbermayr 26th and Ferreira 30th. A stalled car was avoided by the field at the start, with Westcott dropping two positions but emerging cleanly in 18th. Felbermayr, meanwhile, made an excellent launch and gained three places before settling into 24th, while Ferreira also gained three positions, moving past Kuklane, Bernoldi and Rubino.
The first major interruption came at the end of lap one when Oscar Repetto spun, bringing out the Safety Car. Racing resumed at the end of lap two, with Westcott losing another position to James Anagnostiadis and dropping to 19th, while Felbermayr was 25th and Ferreira 27th.
Westcott quickly responded, passing Anagnostiadis again to move into 15th and back into the points-paying positions. She then found herself involved in a large group of cars fighting closely together, with Cosma-Cristofor and Luka Sammalisto among those behind her.
Felbermayr was also making progress, gaining two positions while running in the slipstream of a large group and moving into 22nd. She began battling Andre Rodriguez with the points positions within reach, although Pedro Lima subsequently found a way past to reclaim 22nd. The Austrian remained involved in the fight, however, continuing to demonstrate strong pace despite repeatedly becoming caught up in close midfield battles.
Westcott's defence became increasingly intense as Sammalisto attacked, with the two running side-by-side through the fast Curvone and neither driver willing to give up the position. Sammalisto eventually completed the pass, while Andy Consani also attempted to find a way through, dropping Westcott to 17th. Kraling subsequently moved ahead as well, leaving Westcott 18th.
Further back, Ferreira was fighting with Kuklane and had moved to 27th, while Felbermayr continued to gain ground as Rodriguez dropped back, putting the PHM driver into 21st. Ferreira produced some strong laps in the closing stages, running in the 1:37s, but an issue on lap 12 saw her drop back to 28th.
Felbermayr continued to show strong pace but was repeatedly caught in battles, limiting her ability to make further progress. Westcott ultimately took the chequered flag in 18th and secured her first Female Trophy victory of the weekend, while Felbermayr finished 21st and Ferreira 28th.
The race also crowned Luka Sammalisto as the 2026 Italian F4 champion, with the Finnish driver crossing the line 12th and securing the championship before the final event of the season.
The fourth and final race at Misano brought together the top 36 drivers after the first three heats, with 49 competitors having entered the round. Both Felbermayr and Westcott qualified for the final, continuing a particularly consistent record for Felbermayr, who has reached the final at every round she has entered. The PHM Racing driver started 32nd, with Westcott lining up 34th.
Felbermayr made an excellent start from the final corner of the grid, while Westcott also gained one position away from the line. Over the opening lap, however, Westcott moved back ahead of Felbermayr, with the two eventually settling into 32nd and 33rd respectively after the first lap before Felbermayr fought back and regained the position a few corners later.
The race was soon neutralised after newly crowned champion Sammalisto crashed with Dean Pedersen, putting both cars out of the race. While the field circulated behind the Safety Car, Westcott had already made significant progress, moving ahead of Nielsen, Polak, Pasquinetti and Orsini to climb as high as 27th.
Felbermayr, meanwhile, encountered a problem and was forced to pit with a puncture, dropping her to the back of the field before she was able to rejoin. The race returned to green at the end of lap four, but Westcott's strong recovery was soon interrupted when she became involved in a collision with Alexander Chartier. A wheel detached from her car after the contact in the middle of the circuit, with both drivers forced to retire from the race. Both were uninjured, and the Safety Car was deployed again.
With Westcott out of the race, Felbermayr moved into the lead of the Female Trophy and began another recovery drive. With ten minutes remaining after the restart, she overtook Knud Nielsen to move into 31st and immediately demonstrated strong pace, setting a 1:39.1 before also clearing Lucas Pasquinetti.
She then began hunting down Teo Borenstein, while the latter was able to pass Igor Polak. Felbermayr subsequently attacked the Polish driver herself, making the move on lap 12, although the positions were exchanged again as the two continued their close fight, with Nielsen also returning to the battle.
An incident involving Zasov and Savinkov promoted Felbermayr another two places to 28th, before she finally cleared Polak once again to move into 27th. Once ahead, the Austrian immediately produced a 1:37.1 and began closing back in on Borenstein, while further positions became available as Simek and Arn dropped down the order.
Felbermayr climbed to 25th and continued to pressure Borenstein through the final lap, eventually taking the chequered flag in 25th and securing another Female Trophy victory. Having recovered from her pit stop and started the final race 32nd, her final result represented another solid recovery drive and wrapped up a weekend in which she twice secured the Female Trophy.
The Italian F4 season will now conclude at Mugello from September 29 to October 1.
