German star Sophia Floersch is set to return to ELMS for the final round of the season at Portimao, as she joins Ferdinand Habsburg and Richard Bradley at the wheel of the Algarve Pro #24 Oreca.
A few days after completing her first DTM season at Norisring, Sophia Floersch was already back on track - this time under the Portuguese sun at Estoril, where she joined Algarve Pro Racing for a two-day test in preparation of the final European Le Mans Series race of the season. The German lady has in fact announced that she will join Ferdinand Habsburg and Richard Bradley at the wheel of the #24 ‘Drive Fast, Act Faster’ Oreca LMP2 prototype at the upcoming 4H of Portimao.
Floersch is currently evaluating her options for 2022 and she feels that it's important to take any opportunities to be in a race car.
After making her Formula 3 debut in 2018 in the FIA Euro F3, the 20-year-old moved to Formula Regional European Championship where she was seventh in the 2019 standings.
2020 turned out to be a crucial year for Floersch, who managed to combine a season in the prestigious FIA Formula 3 championship with her first season in sports car racing, as she joined the newly-founded Richard Mille Racing team in ELMS.
The Signatech-run project entered the first all-female crew in a prototype in the series and brought Floersch, Tatiana Calderon and Beitske Visser to the 24 Hours of Le Mans - which they finished in ninth place in class as rookies.
In 2021, Sophia further extended her experience to yet another elite racing series and joined Audi ABT Sportsline for the first DTM season of the new GT3 era. Floersch got up to speed with the R8 LMS GT3 and scored her first points at Assen, becoming the first woman to finish in the points since 2012. She would equal her best result of ninth place at Norisring, finishing the season with 6 points.
Furthermore, she continued her adventure with Richard Mille Racing as the team stepped up to World Endurance Championship, in her second season in LMP2.
Floersch, who again entered the legendary 24 hour race at La Sarthe in 2021, showed confidence and good speed at the wheel of the Oreca 07 machine, which she is now set to drive again in ELMS at Algarve Pro's home race.
“My time with Algarve Pro Racing in the Portuguese sun has been fun, as everybody has been really open and positive from the very beginning." - Sophia said. "I have definitely improved and I’m now really looking forward to working with the team in Portimao."
Adapting to a new team shouldn't be too much of a problem for Floersch, after combining multiple forms of racing in the past couple of years.
"All year I’ve been jumping from GT3 machinery in the DTM to LMP2 in the FIA World Endurance Championship, so transitioning to a new team isn’t daunting." - she explains.
"I’m currently in the process of working out what the best option is for me in 2022 and it’s important to cover as many kilometres as possible, and racing with Algarve Pro in the European Le Mans Series 4 Hours of Portimao is the right choice. I’ve been in endurance racing for a couple of seasons now and it will be interesting to see where I am in relation to Ferdinand [Habsburg] and Richard [Bradley], in among a very competitive field.”
Floersch will step in the #24 'Drive Fast, Act Faster' Oreca, a carbon negative project by Algarve Racing. She steps in for Diego Menchaca.
Sophia and her Richard Mille Racing's teammate finished P11 in last year's edition of the 4H of Algarve, while she completed the WEC 8-hour race on the same venue in sixth position in class. “I know the Portimao circuit well and I raced there earlier this year, although the high downforce LMP2 setup is new to me because we were only able to run the Le Mans kit in the WEC." - she added. "That will be the biggest change, but I’ll get used to it and gain performance throughout the race weekend.”
The race is set to get underway on 24th October, while one week later, Sophia Floersch will return to WEC for the Bahrain double-header at Sakhir.
