As Danish Formula 4 and Formula Nordic joined forces in a big field at Anderstorp, Emma Wigroth had a strong weekend with two fourth place finishes; Carita Otterstrøm followed closely with a top five and the two women of Danish F4 - Mille Hoe and Michella Rasmussen - had very competitive rounds always in the top ten. On the other hand it was a weekend to forget for Lilo Fyrileiv, marred by technical issues.
As announced last year, Danish F4 and Formula Nordic teamed up and shared the grid for the first time at Anderstorp, Sweden, for the second round of the championships after they held their first meeting separately - at Padborg Park and Mantorp Park respectively.
Both series have historically featured several young female drivers, with the Danish series often being the national F4 championship with the highest percentage of female participation in Europe. Formula Nordic - one of Sweden's most interesting feeder series for drivers making their way up the ranks in single seaters - has also seen high level female entries - including race winner Emma Wigroth, who returns to the series for a second campaign.
Three young women have in fact entered the opening weekend of Formula Nordic just one week before: Wigroth - a former FIA WIM Rising Stars participant - and rookies Carita Otterstrøm and Lilo Fyrileiv. Otterstrøm is making her step up from Formula Ford, while her RPC-Motorsport teammate Fyrileiv is at her first season in race cars after karting.
In Danish F4, as usually divided in the F4 and F5 entries, three more women were on the grid of the Padborg Park round: Mille Hoe - in a Mygale F4 car - Michella Rasmussen and Line Sønderskov, returning to her Sønderskov Motorsport's F5 entry after missing the final rounds of the 2022 season. Hoe had a strong start of the season, securing a sixth and fifth place finish - but she would return to F5 machinery in the following round at Anderstorp Raceway.
In a significantly larger grid, the first weekend of the combined grid got underway in Sweden with Danish F4 driver Magnus Pedersen (MP Racing) taking pole position ahead of Victor T. Nielsen (STEP Motorsport) and Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen (BAR). Christer Otterstrøm, fifth overall, was the pole sitter among the Formula Nordic entries.
Emma Wigroth qualified in P5 (P10 overall) and preceded Carita Otterstrøm in 8th place and Lilo Fyrileiv in 12th. Among the Danish F4 grid, Michella Rasmussen had a very strong weekend with a seventh place on the grid P7, ahead of Mille Hoe in ninth (and 19th overall).
Race 1 got underway with a contact between Nielsen and Mathias Bjerre Jakobsen (Team Formula Sport), who briefly went off in the gravel before they rejoined the race.
Magnus Pedersen led the pack from the beginning and pulled away to score a comfortable win ahead of Mikkel Pedersen and Victor Hoe - who capitalized on Theodor Jensen's bad luck.
Jensen, in fact, couldn't set any qualifying lap due to some engine issues but managed to join the race with a new car. He moved up the order from last to third - but a gearbox failure shattered his hopes with just one lap to go.
Mille Hoe finished sixth among the Danish F4 entries and P13 overall, as Michella Rasmussen was seventh - in her best result of the season so far and her first top ten finish of the year.
In Formula Nordic, Linus Granfors finished 5th overall and first in class, ahead of Jonathan Engström and Christer Otterstrøm - as the classes mingled.
Emma Wigroth had a very strong race and gained a position to come home with fourth in F.Nordic, close to her first podium of the season but still in a personal best after a fifth place at the previous round.
Carita Otterstrøm was seventh after an impressive recovery drive following an off track moment: "I drove out in the second turn as there was little space there", she explained. "I managed to get back on track, but unfortunately I started from the back of the grid. I passed around seven cars and managed to get 12th place overall and 7th place in our class", she summed up.
Lilo Fyrileiv couldn't finish the race due engine problems that had marred all her weekend at Anderstorp.
The Race 2 grid was set with the fastest laps of race 1: Mikkel Pedersen therefore took pole position ahead of Jensen and Magnus Pedersen. Fifth, Granfors was the top Formula Nordic entry on the grid.
Mikkel Pedersen led the field from the get go and checked out early, as Magnus Pedersen and Jakobsen battled for position behind him. Jakobsen eventually dropped down after his tires lost performance.
At that point, Magnus Pedersen chased down Mikkel Pedersen and the two battled out for the victory - but Mikkel Pedersen held on and took the chequered flag ahead of Magnus Pedersen and Nielsen in third.
Mille Hoe had another very positive race and came home with another sixth place (12th overall). Michella Rasmussen completed a highly promising weekend with another top ten in class, crossing the line in eighth place in F4.
"Scandinavian Raceway was a completely new circuit to me, so I took it with no expectations", Rasmussen told us after the weekend. "I think my weekend went well, I could have done better with a bit more tests, but after all I’m happy about my improvements during the weekend."
Rasmussen, who notably won in class at Ring Djursland last year, is improving her racecraft after each weekend, having little to no experience of either car racing or karting before making her Danish F4 debut towards the end of 2021.
"I’m very happy to make big improvements every time I drive, and happy to be able to complete a race weekend without troubles", she continued, also mentioning how she loved racing on a bigger grid. After two rounds, Rasmussen has now secured 10 championship points.
Linus Granfors was once again unbeaten in Formula Nordic, scoring a 5th place overall ahead of Engström (P7 overal) and Daniel Varverud (8th overall).
Emma Wigroth proved once again that she will be one to watch and repeated her result from race 1 with another fourth place finish (9th overall), which certainly makes for a solid points tally at Anderstorp: "Satisfied with the race weekend here at Anderstorp Raceway", Emma commented. "Qualified P5 and then managed to bring home two P4 during the races. Had some good racing on track and brought home some good points."
After a very promising debut weekend, Carita Otterstrøm kept momentum and was back in the top five - showing big potential as she progressively masters the machinery. She completed race two in fifth place - and tenth overall.
"These were two chaotic races", Otterstrøm told us. "I got a refresh on overtaking again which was nice at least. A weekend to forget but the development was there and I will take that with me to the next race at Gelleråsen."
Lilo Fyrileiv did not take the start of race two due to recurring mechanical issues.
"This weekend was a disaster", the young Norwegian commented. "The engine was not running properly at all. In qualifying I got 3 or 4 laps in and my engine broke down, we tried fixing it for the first race, and got to drive 3 laps."
She unfortunately couldn't make the start of the final race of the weekend, but will look to bounce back at the next round - which is scheduled to take place for both Danish F4 and Formula Nordic from the 3rd to 4th June at Karlskoga Motorstadion/Gelleråsen Arena.