"It’s the finish line that counts" - Michella Rasmussen clinched her best finish in Danish F4 to date with her first overall top-five in a hectic Race 1 at Ring Djursland, finishing first among the F4 entries.
The fourth round of the 2022 Danish Formula 4 championship turned out to be a remarkable one for Michella Rasmussen, who scored her first top five in the series and took first place among the Formula 4 entries in a chaotic race 1.
After rounds at Padborg Park, Sturup Raceway and Jyllandsringen, the series made its annual trip to Ring Djursland, in an extended event with four races rather than the usual three.
A series that has featured several female entries in the last few years, Danish F4 had two women on the grid last weekend, with Michella Rasmussen (Henriksen Racing) being joined by Mille Hoe (Mads Hoe Motorsport), in a F5 entry. Regulars Line Sønderskov and Alyx Coby both missed the fourth round.
Reigning champion Mads Hoe (Mads Hoe Motorsport) took pole position from Sebastian Gravlund (Team Formula Sport) by little over a tenth of a second - but there was early drama when Gravlund overtook the Safety Car on the line-up lap, followed by five more drivers, resulting in disqualification from the race for all six cars of Nielsen, Gravlund, Abrahams, Dinesen, Jensen and Pedersen.
Mads Hoe won unchallenged from first, crossing the line 26 seconds clear of Niels Einar Rytter and Oliver Kratsch - in an overall podium dominated by F5 cars. Fourth overall and first in the F4 category was Michella Rasmussen, who had her strongest race to date in F4, having started from last on the grid.
At the wheel of the #15 Renault-liveried Mygale M14 F4 car, Rasmussen first joined the Danish-based F4 championship mid-way through the 2021 season, when she scored a best result of P11 in three occasions. She would then clinch her first championship points at Sturup Raceway, second round of the 2022 season, with a ninth and tenth place finishes.
Despite the lucky circumstances, Rasmussen had a strong race and held on to third overall for several laps and continued to show good progress from the practice session through the races.
"It’s the finish line that counts" - Michella told us after the weekend. "I was pretty lucky that the fastest drivers got confused by the safety car", she summed up.
Mille Hoe retired on the opening lap but started from pole position in the reverse grid of Race 2 - which would see a draw in order to determine the starting order of the disqualified drivers. From sixth, Mads Hoe managed to navigate through the field on the first lap to take the lead and claimed another win on Sunday morning, followed by Victor Nielsen and Mika Abrahams.
Rasmussen couldn't convert her third place at the start with another point scoring finish after being hit by another competitor and ended P11.
"Unfortunately I was hit by some of the other drivers in race 2 - so I went off track and couldn’t keep my position", she said.
Mille Hoe dropped down the order and finished eighth - and would again line up on reverse grid pole in Race 3. Unfortunately, a jump start resulted in a penalty. Her brother Mads Hoe also hit trouble and was disqualified for "driving outside the lane limit".
With the weekend dominator out of contention, Sebastian Gravlung passed Pedersen and bagged his fourth race win of the season, followed by Mika Abrhams and Julius Dinesen - who also had received a penalty for a jump start.
With a sixth place overall, Mille Hoe took victory among the F5 entries. It was Mille's best result of the season.
Having crossed the line in P10, Michella Rasmussen was once again in the top-ten in Race 3 - her fourth of the season so far.
In the final race of the weekend, Mads Hoe was once again on pole position and stormed to his 13th win in the series, preceding Gravlund by 1.3 seconds, as the latter battled for second with Abrahams through the closing stages. Mille Hoe and Michella Rasmussen were 9th and 12th respectively.
With now her first top five overall and a class win under her belt, Michella Rasmussen will now head to Padborg Park in three weeks' time for the fifth round of the championship with a newly-found confidence:
"I will remember this feeling and transfer it to power my next race at Padborg Park."
