Siri Hökfelt and Patricija Stalidzane make history in NXT Gen Cup at Sachsenring
- MACIEJ JACKIEWICZ
- Aug 27
- 9 min read
Updated: Aug 28
The last weekend of the season saw historic moments happen for the female drivers, and for women in motorsport as a whole: Siri Hökfelt drove very well in the tricky race two to finish on the top step of the podium, becoming the series' first female winner, just as Patricija Stalidzane secured two pole positions in dominant fashion and also claimed her first-ever win, while Linda Frey achieved her best result to date.
Patricija Stalidzane celebrated her first-ever NXT Gen Cup victory at the Sachsenring, while Siri Hökfelt also made history by claiming her maiden series win. Linda Frey achieved her best result to date with eleventh place in race three, as Bente Boer marked her return to the championship with consistent midfield finishes. Rookie Vera Jurland gained valuable experience in her debut season, while Viviann Ehrl added further race mileage despite a challenging year.
Patricija Stalidzane scored her first podium of the season in the first round at Oschersleben and had an impressive weekend at the Norisring, where she finished third twice. In her third season in the NXT Gen Cup Siri Hökfelt had consistently finished in the top 10, with eighth being her best finishing position before the season finale. Another Swede—Vera Jurland—debuted in NXT Gen Cup in 2025 as the youngest driver on the grid. Her best race was the third race in Nuremberg, where she was classified in twelfth.
The start of the season was not easy for Linda Frey of Liechtenstein, but with every round, she improved her pace and racecraft, which resulted in her finishing twelfth in Nürburgring. Viviann Ehrl’s season proved to be a challenging one, as she scored points on only three occasions. The last round of the season also saw Bente Boer take part. The Dutchwoman came back to the championship after two years, when she had previously competed in NXT Gen Cup at the famous track in Nürburg.
The championship finale was held on the hilly Sachsenring circuit, known for being the home of the MotoGP German GP. For NXT Gen Cup drivers it began on Friday, when two free practice sessions were held. From the beginning Stalidzane was one of the fastest drivers on the grid, as she topped the first practice session. Siri Hökfelt also showed promising pace by finishing both sessions in P8. Unfortunately, Viviann Ehrl crashed in practice, but she was able to compete in the rest of the weekend. All of the female drivers completed as many laps as they could, as the practice sessions in NXT Gen Cup lasted only 15 minutes.
After two brief track sessions drivers headed out for the first qualifying on Saturday morning. Just after the first laps were completed, Patricija Stalidzane was in provisional pole position, with a 1:42.647. She was briefly joined on the front row by Hökfelt, but as the times improved both of them dropped to P3 and P7 respectively. Linda Frey’s qualifying started with her time being enough for P13, but unfortunately, with around nine minutes to go she had an incident in turn 10. Despite that, she was able to continue the session. A similar thing happened to Bente Boer, but just like the Liechtenstein driver, she was quickly back up to pace.
With four minutes to go, Patricija Stalidzane set a 1:40.838 lap time, which put her again in provisional pole position, by a whopping seven tenths over Philipp Dietrich in P2. Near the end of qualifying one both Jurland and Ehrl improved their times, but they stayed in the bottom part of the timing sheets. As the chequered flag fell, Stalidzane scored her first-ever pole position in NXT Gen Cup, which was also the first-ever female P1 in the series’ history. Siri Hökfelt finished the session in P7, with Frey in P14, Boer in P15, Jurland in P16 and Ehrl at the back of the grid in P18.
“Finally a pole position! Seven tenths is crazy – there’s really not much to complain about. The conditions suited me perfectly today, and I think that shows”, the Latvian driver said after dominating the first qualifying session at the Sachsenring, which was also the largest margin for a pole-sitter in NXT Gen Cup history.
The first race of the weekend started in dry conditions. As the green flag was shown and the competition began, Stalidzane got a great start from pole, but she wouldn’t have to worry about defending the place as safety car appeared on lap 1 due to the bonnet in Vera Jurland’s car coming loose and forcing her to stop the car in turn 1. Hökfelt had a very good start and managed to go up into P6, while Frey and Ehrl moved up one place, with Boer remaining in P15.
During the safety car period rain arrived on the circuit, making this race the first wet event of the season. The action resumed on lap 3, and Stalidzane kept her lead, with a big battle for P2 commenced behind her. Hökfelt lost one place on the restart but still remained high in seventh position. Similarly, Linda Frey dropped to to sixteenth, while Boer made up a place.
On lap 5 Stalidzane was overtaken by Maxim Dacher for the lead after having to defend from him for two laps. The chance to overtake him again never came, as after a fierce battle on the start-finish straight Stalidzane dropped to P3.
The leading two engaged in a fight which resulted in Dacher going off the track with damage and Stiefelhagen, the championship leader, coming up to P1 on the track. With all that Hökfelt was able to climb up to P6 and Boer to P10. Hökfelt’s race, unfortunately, ended a lap after, with a contact between her and Finn Mache, who lost control of his car. This triggered a red flag which ended the race.
The final results of the race were taken from lap 5, which meant that Stalidzane took P2 and Hökfelt got her best results of the season up-to-date of P7. Boer finished in P14, Frey in P16 and Viviann Ehrl in P17.
Grid for race two was decided by the finishing order of race one. The top eight of the first competition was reversed, which led to Siri Hökfelt starting on the front row in second. This time it was raining from the beginning. The wet start for Hökfelt was good as she initially lost P2, but was able to regain it.
Stalidzane meanwhile lost her starting P7 and was running in eighth. The leading car of Finn Mache went off into the gravel on lap 2, which allowed Hökfelt to lead the race. Just after that, the safety car was deployed due to Viviann Ehrl’s car being stuck in the gravel.
Linda Frey had a very good start in the rainy conditions, as she advanced from P16 to P13. Jurland also gained three positions, to run in P15. Boer lost some positions at the start, which led to her driving in fifteenth. The safety car went into the pits at the end of lap 4 and the racing resumed. Hökfelt easily remained in first place, and showed great pace, by getting the fastest lap of the race.
Stalidzane regained her seventh position, with Frey and Jurland again making moves and making their way to P12 and P13. Jurland’s race however ended in the gravel as she went out in turn 1, which led again to a safety car deployment.
The race ended under neutralization, which meant that Siri Hökfelt got her first-ever podium and win in NXT Gen Cup. This was also the first ever female win in this electric junior series. Stalidzane finished in P7, while Boer and Frey ended the competition next to each other in thirteenth and fourteenth.
“I just won my first-ever NXT Gen Cup race – and it was also my first podium. I can’t quite believe it yet. I had a really strong pace in both the dry and the wet, with purple sectors. It’s a great win. I need some time to process it, but I’m really, really happy”, the Swedish driver said after getting her first-ever win in the chaotic, but very interesting second race at Sachsenring.
The last day of the NXT Gen Cup season started with the second qualifying session. From the first laps, Patricija Stalidzane was looking the quickest, with Siri Hökfelt also showing promising pace. The Latvian driver appeared in P1 on the timing sheets, while, after others improved, Hökfelt was sitting in P8. With 12 minutes to go Stalidzane boxed, but after a brief visit in the pits she went out on track and with 7 minutes to go she regained her first place, with a 1:41.012, which was three tenths faster than the second driver. Around that time Linda Frey drove her best lap of the session which put her in P13 at the time.
When the chequered flag fell, Stalidzane was once again on pole position, with Siri Hökfelt again in P7. Frey finished P14, with Boer just behind her in fifteenth. Vera Jurland was classified in seventeenth, and next to her it was Viviann Ehrl on P18.
Race three was the first fully dry competition for the NXT Gen Cup competitors. After a great start Stalidzane kept her lead. Meanwhile Siri Hökfelt dropped to P16 due to issues on the opening lap. Thanks to that, all of the other female competitors were able to climb up one position.
Stalidzane’s lead was not easy to maintain, as she was constantly under pressure from Alex Gustafsson in P2. On the second lap he tried to overtake the Latvian driver in the last corner, but the manoeuvre was not successful. Meanwhile Linda Frey overtook another car and was running in twelfth. The battle for P2 on the track was fierce, and that helped Stalidzane to cement her lead in the race. On the other end of the pack Hökfelt started her comeback drive overtaking Vera Jurland for P15.
On lap 5 Gustafsson made a move on Patricija Stalidzane on the outside of turn 1, but the competitor from Latvia was able to regain the place over the course of the lap. On that same lap, Frey managed to gain another position, this time overtaking Philipp Dietrich for P11. The Austrian driver had more issues on the next lap, which allowed Siri Hökfelt to make up another position. On lap 7, Bente Boer made a move for P12.
Alex Gustafsson tried a last lap overtake on Stalidzane, but it did not succeed and with that Stalidzane gained her first win in the NXT Gen Cup series, as well as back-to-back female victories in the championship. Linda Frey got her best finishing position up-to-date in the series with eleventh, while the Dutch Bente Boer finished just behind her in twelfth. After issues Hökfelt finished in P14, while Jurland and Ehrl finished P15 and P18 respectively.
“Finally my first win – from pole to victory. I didn’t even need to use my push-to-pass at the end. I’m really happy. It felt like it was now or never”, the Latvian driver commented after getting her first-ever win in the NXT Gen Cup series.
The championship season concluded with race four on Sunday afternoon. Stalidzane started from P8, as other female competitors started from finishing position of race three. The start was calm, with Stalidzane keeping her eighth position. However, it was not as successful for Bente Boer and Linda Frey, who fell to P13 and P15 respectively. Viviann Ehrl was able to make a move on Andreas Kapfinger and was running in seventeenth.
On lap 3 Stalidzane made a great move in turn three which allowed her to advance two positions into P6. On that same lap Siri Hökfelt overtook Bente Boer in the fight for thirteenth. On the next lap the Latvian made another move in the last corner, which allowed her to make her way to P5. This didn’t last long however, as she was back in P6 after turn 1. As this was happening Bente Boer was engaged in a fierce battle with Bennet Ehrl, and Siri Hökfelt was able to make her way into P11.
The race settled down for a bit, but it all warmed up on the last lap of the season. Stalidzane gained a position in turn 1 and just as it looked that she would finish in P5, in the last corner Lennart Wolf attempted to overtake Julian Würtele. This did not succeed, and resulted in Würtele going off into the gravel and Wolf losing a lot of time.
Stalidzane took advantage of the opportunity and brought her car home in third, gaining the third podium of the weekend. Siri Hökfelt crossed the finish line in P11, but due to a penalty that was applied to Lennart Wolf for the last-lap attack she scored another top 10 finish. Boer ended the race in P12, Frey in P13, Jurland in P15 and Viviann Ehrl after the first lap move brought her LRT NXT1 in seventeenth.
The last weekend of the season saw historic moments happen for the female drivers, and for women in motorsport as a whole. Patricija Stalidzane secured two pole positions in dominant fashion, and scored her first-ever win in the series. Siri Hökfelt drove very well in the tricky race two to finish on the top step of the podium, while other female drivers showed promising pace and overtaking moves.
The season might over, but the NXT Gen Cup is not yet finished for 2025, as the series will stage a standalone 2025 Swedish Junior Championship race on 19–20 September. It will take place at the series’ home soil – at the Mantorp Park in Sweden.
