Solenn Amrouche continues progress in Hoosier Formula Cup with Mugello recovery drives
- RACERS
- 13 minutes ago
- 6 min read
"I feel like I’ve made huge progress between Le Castellet and Mugello" - Single seater rookie Solenn Amrouche was the protagonist of strong comebacks at Mugello, overcoming setbacks to score a P6 as best of the weekend, continuing her progression in the Hoosier Formula Cup.
Solenn Amrouche continued her learning-oriented rookie season in single-seaters with another positive outing in the Hoosier Formula Cup, constantly battling close to the top five and securing a sixth place in Race 2 as her best result of the weekend at Mugello—on her first visit to the notoriously demanding Italian track.
Despite being caught in some unlucky circumstances at the start of the races, the young Frenchwoman delivered remarkable comeback drives, charging through the field to secure finishes of P7, P6 and P8 after recovering from the back of the pack.
Solenn made the transition from GT endurance racing to single-seaters this year, debuting in the Hoosier Formula Cup at Circuit Paul Ricard with Lamo Racing. Driving the Tatuus T-318, she steadily improved across the three races—finishing tenth and 11th in the first two outings before delivering an impressive drive to secure fifth in the final race of the weekend, marking a strong conclusion to her first experience in formula cars at the season opener in the South of France.
Previously, Amrouche had competed in endurance racing with Vortex V8, achieving multiple podiums in the 2024 Spanish GT Championship's GT-CET class alongside her father, Lionel, in the Vortex 2.0. She also triumphed in the GTX class at the 24 Hours of Barcelona in the 24H Series.
With her debut in the Hoosier Formula Cup, Amrouche has embarked on an exciting new chapter in her career. At the extremely demanding Mugello circuit, she again demonstrated her adaptability and determination through a weekend of adversity and improvement.
On a circuit known for its undulating, high-speed corners—especially challenging in single-seaters like the Tatuus Regional car—Amrouche made steady progress during pre-event testing and free practice, consistently finding time in each session leading up to qualifying.
"I started the weekend with the desire to learn and improve; I was very motivated", Solenn told us. "I didn’t know the circuit at all—I had studied it through videos, but I didn’t get a chance to use the simulator. Since I’m the fastest in my team, it’s difficult for me to work because I don’t have any data or videos of someone I can use as a reference."
"That forces me to test a lot of things and analyze myself to see what’s most effective. It’s not the easiest or quickest way, but it really allows me to focus on everything I do and analyze my driving each time."
Qualifying 1 took place on Saturday evening, starting at 7pm as the sun began to set. Solenn's first representative lap clocked in at 1:50.5, placing her seventh overall and just a few tenths behind Laurent Wuthrich. She later dipped under the 1:50 mark with a 1:49.380—moving up to sixth—before a red flag halted the session, which would not be resumed.
In Q2, held just a few minutes later, Amrouche was quick out of the gate, setting a purple first sector and an early benchmark of 1:50.183 to lead the session. Though Ferrazzano and Barter improved to take the top spots, Solenn responded with a personal best of 1:49.056 and repeated a similar lap shortly after. A red flag interrupted the session with six minutes to go, just as dusk was falling. After the restart, more drivers found time, and while Solenn remained in the 1:49s, she couldn’t improve further—ending the session in a strong fifth position.
"For my first qualifying session, I managed to get the sixth-fastest time, even though I was still improving when the red flag came out", she explained. "In the second qualifying, I got fifth place, and once again, I was improving on my final lap. But my teammate in car number 33 spun out in front of me and lost a wheel, which forced me to lift off just before the main straight."
Sunday morning’s Race 1 was held under sunny skies. Starting from P6, Solenn lost one position to Wuthrich off the line but held seventh overall. She was soon quicker and began hunting down the Swiss driver, posting strong lap times in the 1:49.5 range. Both drivers matched each other’s pace through lap 5, but Solenn continued improving and searching for a way past—although the nature of the Regional car made overtaking particularly difficult.
Despite losing some time in the battle to the pack ahead—where a few competitors had penalties carried over from Le Castellet—Solenn kept pushing. A late personal best lap had her glued to Wuthrich’s gearbox, and she attempted a last-lap move but unfortunately couldn't get past. She still crossed the line in P7 overall, sixth among rookies, collecting valuable points.
"In Race 1, I missed my start and lost a position. I tried to get it back throughout the race, but I have to admit that I’m not a morning person—I wasn’t fully awake physically or mentally, and I missed more than one opportunity", Amrouche said. "Physically, I was starting to feel tired as well, and to be fair, the driver in front defended very well. So I finished P7."
Race 2 took place in early afternoon under overcast skies. Solenn lined up in fifth after her strong Q2 effort. Chaos unfolded at the start, as Craig McLatchey jumped early and collided with Laurent Wuthrich. The two nearly collected Solenn, who reacted quickly to avoid them—going through the grass, which forced her car sideways and facing the pit wall.
A Safety Car was immediately deployed. Solenn managed to reverse with the help of the marshals and rejoined at the back of the pack. The SC pulled in at the end of Lap 3. On the restart, Amrouche was immediately on the attack—passing Depierre and Malhomme at Turn 1.
She quickly chased down and overtook Bucher, and then Boillot by the end of Lap 4, rising to seventh overall. She soon overtook Rykart—running over two seconds per lap quicker—and closed the gap to Ferrazzano. Though Ferrazzano held a four-second advantage, Solenn consistently posted 1:50s laps to secure sixth overall, building a safe margin to Rykart behind.
"In Race 2, someone from the back of the grid jumped the start and hit a car to my left", Amrouche recalled. "Unfortunately, that car’s wheel broke, and it veered into me. I had to go into the grass, and as I went over a bump, I lost control and ended up facing the pit wall. I tried to reverse several times and finally managed it with the help of the track marshals."
"I had to push hard to catch up with the Safety Car and be ready for the race restart. Once the race resumed, I gave it my all to make up positions and finished P6, even though I had started P5 and would have loved to use all that energy to try to chase the front runners."
The final race of the weekend began with more drama. Malhomme crashed on the formation lap, forcing the procedure to be halted and repeated. Though originally set to start sixth, Solenn faced a setback when her Tatuus T-318 suffered a clutch issue during the second formation lap, and she was pushed into the pit lane.
After finally getting underway, she rejoined with a 15-second gap to the car ahead. Despite no Safety Car being deployed to help her close up, Solenn was immediately on competitive 1:50s pace and began reeling in Alain Bucher, whom she passed on Lap 6 for P10.
She then chased Rykart, posting her first lap in the 1:49s and gaining over two seconds in the first sector of the final lap alone. In a stellar final push, she overtook both Gilles Depierre—who had spun—and Rykart at the finish line to take P8 overall, sixth among the rookies, in a photo finish.
"In the last race, once again, I had no luck. My clutch gave out on the starting line, and I had to wave my arms to stop them from launching the start. They made me start from the pit lane, but I lost a lot of time as I struggled to get going."
"When I finally joined the race, I was already over 30 seconds behind. Thanks to some collisions, a few penalties, and my comeback—especially in the final lap where I overtook two backmarkers—I finished P8, just 0.900 seconds off P7. All of it came down to the slipstream on the final straight—a very close finish."
Overall, it was a tricky weekend at a highly demanding circuit in extremely competitive machinery, but Solenn Amrouche—on only her second ever weekend in single-seaters—made again significant progress. Though not always reflected in the outright results, the foundations she is building are clearly strong and continuing to develop race by race.
"This weekend was a real test of pushing myself, working on my mental strength, and never giving up. I feel like I’ve made huge progress between Le Castellet and Mugello. I’ll keep training hard to keep performing at my best."
The next round of the Hoosier Formula Cup will be held at Portimão, Portugal, from May 30 to June 1—another technical and physically demanding circuit that will offer a new set of challenges.