Spanish F4: Zoe Florescu wins Female Trophies in Portimao in chaotic round, misfortunes for Fluxa
- MIKA BÖCKER
- Jun 10
- 5 min read
Across three incident-filled races at Portimão, the female drivers in the Spanish Formula 4 Championship repeatedly found themselves in promising positions but were ultimately unable to convert their pace into the results they deserved; nevertheless Zoe Florescu enjoyed a competitive weekend with two Female Trophy wins.
Across three incident-filled races at Portimão, the female drivers in the Spanish Formula 4 Championship repeatedly found themselves in promising positions but were ultimately unable to convert their pace into the results they deserved.
Mercedes Junior Team driver Luna Fluxá showed strong one-lap speed throughout qualifying, regularly challenging for positions inside the top ten, while Zoe Florescu Potolea enjoyed one of her most competitive weekends of the season and consistently fought in the midfield battles, securing two female trophy wins. Maria Germano Neto, meanwhile, continued to gain valuable experience in a challenging event marked by multiple safety cars, red flags and constant interruptions. Despite flashes of strong pace from all three drivers, a chaotic weekend ultimately limited their final results.
The first qualifying session immediately highlighted the potential of the female entries. Fluxá led the timesheets in the opening minutes with a 1:48.0 lap that featured purple sectors throughout. She continued to improve, lowering the benchmark to 1:47.2 while remaining at the top as lap times rapidly fell across the field.
Florescu then produced an excellent improvement of her own, jumping into the top twenty with a 1:46.7 before finding even more pace with a 1:46.3. Fluxá responded by becoming one of the first drivers to break the 1:46 barrier, setting a 1:45.9 lap to move back near the top five with six minutes remaining.
In the closing stages, Fluxá improved once more to a 1:45.6, briefly reclaiming tenth place with three minutes left.
Florescu also continued to find speed, recording a 1:45.8 that elevated her to 17th position. Fluxá's final improvement to a 1:45.5 was not enough to move further forward as the session reached its conclusion, leaving her 15th on the grid. Florescu secured a positive 19th place. Germano Neto had a lap deleted for track limits before eventually posting a representative 1:46.5 lap that placed her 31st.
Luna Fluxá started the first race as the highest-placed woman in 15th, followed by Zoe Florescu Potolea in 19th and Maria Germano Neto in 31st. Trouble struck as early as the formation lap, with two cars stalling independently of one another. However, the race start itself went according to plan, and Fluxá gained a position on the opening lap. In the second lap, however, she collided with Jorden Moodley; the damage to the other car was severe enough to force its retirement. Fluxá was able to continue but had to pit for repairs.
The safety car was deployed to recover the second stranded vehicle. During this initial phase, Florescu had slipped back to 22nd place. After a brief recovery effort, it became clear that clearing the track would take longer than expected, and the race was ultimately red-flagged. Racing resumed after two safety car laps, with 20 minutes remaining on the clock.
On that same lap, another collision occurred in the tight pack at the exit of Turn 5, leaving cars stranded on the kerbs. This brought the safety car out for a second time. During the brief restart period, Florescu had fought her way up to 18th place, while Neto had reached 23rd.
After the second restart, however, Neto quickly fell back. Florescu, meanwhile, managed to reach 17th place with 12 minutes remaining and continued to battle. Just four minutes later, she had moved up to 16th. However, the racing was so close that a single minor error caused her to slip back to 19th. She did not stay there long, however, and managed to reclaim 18th place.
With less than two minutes remaining, another safety car period is triggered when Lowette came to a halt in Turn 5 following a collision. The marshals work quickly, and the race actually restarts for the final lap. However, the time pressure leads to trouble: a collision occurred at the battle for the podium on one of the crests, sending a car sliding sideways into the gravel, where it rolled over. Florescu secured 25th place, winning the Female Trophy in Race 1, Neto finished 28th, and Fluxá took 31st.
Race two got off to a similar start as the first: once again, there was a first-lap accident - this time in Turn 5. By the time the resulting safety car was deployed, Fluxá has climbed to 11th place, while Florescu was running in 20th and Neto was outside the top 25.
After the restart, Fluxá briefly broke into the top ten but then slowly but steadily dropped to the back of the field with an issue. Florescu capitalized on this and gained a few positions on her own. However, she too fell back just minutes later; after a minor error, she found herself down in 22nd place. She managed to regain two positions over the following laps.
Shortly after the halfway point, car Lowette crashed again, triggering another safety car. A peculiar aspect of this phase is that two other cars, unrelated to the initial accident, came to a halt and become interlocked at the pit exit. Recovering them took significantly longer than clearing the original accident. The race restarts with two laps remaining, and this time, the sprint to the finish went smoothly.
Zoe Florescu secured once again the Female Trophy win with P21 overall, ahead of Maria Germano Neto in P25, and Luna Fluxá an unfortunate P29, following another issue for the Spaniard.
The third race followed the pattern of the first two, beginning with a safety car after a first-lap accident. To fully clear the gravel, the red flag was shown after two laps under the safety car. Since there were no support series, there was no time pressure, allowing the drivers to take their time with even minor details.
As in the first race, the field completed a lap behind the safety car before returning to racing mode. Florescu had secured 12th place, while Fluxá was running in 25th. Neto was once again further down the pack. After the restart, Florescu briefly dropped to 13th place but managed to reclaim 12th with 12 minutes remaining; subsequently, however, she fell further back. During this same period, Fluxá managed to climb up the field, finishing in 23rd place.
With 7 minutes left, another collision occurred, again in Turn 5, triggering another safety car period.
The recovery was swift, and the green flag waved after just 2 minutes.
Florescu managed to work her way up to 18th place, followed by Fluxá in 21st and Neto in 25th. With 2 minutes remaining, the Karras went off into the gravel at Turn 1 in a solo incident, causing the race to finish behind the safety car. While Florescu was about to secure a third consecutive Female Trophy win, she was unfortunately hit in the final lap and was out of the race.
Luna Fluxá ultimately completed a superb charge through the pack to take 22nd and her Female Trophy win, finishing just ahead of Maria Germano Neto in 23rd and Zoe Florescu in 27th.
