Strong season start for female racers in Formula Nordic and Nordic 4 at Anderstorp
- MIKA BÖCKER
- 3 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Four female drivers—Mille Hoe, Cecilie Nør-Jensen, Louise Larsson, and Olivia Ernstson—delivered strong performances across all three races at the Formula Nordic and Nordic 4 season opener in Anderstorp, with Larsson and Ernstson scoring top-five and top-eight finishes in class, Hoe consistently in the Nordic 4 top ten, and Nør-Jensen achieving her best results to date.
Four women showed promising performances on the grid of Formula Nordic and Nordic 4 at the season opener in Anderstorp. Louise Larsson, Cecilie Nør-Jensen, and Olivia Ernstson joined experienced Mille Hoe in the spotlight at the Formula Nordic season opener in Anderstorp, which joined the grid of Nordic 4 for a joint event.
Hoe, a veteran of the Danish single-seater scene, has previously driven in Danish F4 in F5 machinery and then competed full-time in Nordic 4 in 2024, securing 10 top-ten finishes to eventually finish eleventh in the championship standings, with a personal best of seventh overall. At Padborg Park in April, Hoe scored three top-10 finishes, with eighth in Race 1.
She is joined on the grid of Nordic 4 by fellow Danish racer Cecilie Nør-Jensen, who made the switch from Danish Super GT to single-seaters this year and is enjoying a learning season. At the Nordic 4 season opener in Padborg Park, Nør-Jensen made good steps forward, and despite a technical issue in qualifying that forced her to start from the back, she collected valuable experience, finishing P12 in both Race 1 and Race 3.
Starting the season at Padborg Park was also Alexia Danielsson, who has since stepped up to the Porsche Sprint Challenge Scandinavia – and took victory on her first outing.
The Nordic 4 field joined forces at Anderstorp, Sweden, with Formula Nordic, hosting its first round of the season. Two more female drivers, Louise Larsson and Olivia Ernstson, joined the field.
Larsson competed in the 2023 all-electric NXT Gen Cup touring car series before moving to Aquila Formula 1000 in 2024. Despite only having a test day’s experience in the Formula Nordic machine, the young Swede made her debut in the championship at the season opener – and soon proved competitive.
Last but not least, Olivia Ernstson made her car racing debut among the Formula Nordic entries, as she stepped up from karting competitions, both at national and international level, with starts in the highly competitive WSK series. Also with limited testing experience in the formula car, she entered the first round in Anderstorp aiming to learn and improve over the event.
Qualifying was a mixed affair for the four women. Mille Hoe was the highest placed overall, with a 1:38.916 that placed her tenth in the Nordic 4 class. Cecilie Nør-Jensen qualified 12th in the Nordic 4 class with a time of 1:47.168. Among the Formula Nordic entries, Louise Larsson finished 6th with a time of 1:40.298, and Olivia Ernstson finished 8th with a time of 1:41.009. The starting grid is set on overall lap times, so classes are mixed on the grid.
The race started smoothly for all participants under heavily overcast skies. From 14th overall, Mille Hoe moved to 12th, retaining tenth in class, before eventually settling in P13. Larsson managed to move up to 15th place in the opening laps. However, she couldn’t hold on to this position for long, losing another position within the first five minutes. Ernstson and Nør-Jensen were further down the road.
While close battles raged at the front, the rear of the field was largely stable. After about five minutes, Leerskov came to a stop on the side of the track with a broken front suspension. Race officials considered the parking to be safe enough and decided not to deploy a safety car.
Another incident occurred about two laps before the end of the race when Molander spun in the final corner. However, he was able to continue after a U-turn. The race was uneventful for the women in the field until Larsson made a mistake, which Ernstson, among others, benefited from. The two finished the race in 7th and 8th place, respectively, in the Formula Nordic class.
Cecilie Nør-Jensen claimed 11th place in Nordic 4, securing her best finish to date. Mille Hoe had meanwhile regained 12th overall and finished tenth in Nordic 4.
For Race 2, Hoe, Ernstson, Larsson and Nør-Jensen would start from P12, P17, P18 and P19 on the overall grid. The start was a bit more chaotic this time: while one car in the midfield stalled, several cars slid into the gravel from Turn 3 onwards, but all were able to continue. Nør-Jensen had a more challenging start and fell back to the back of the pack.
After an initial good start, Mille Hoe fell back and settled in P15 overall. Ernstson and Larsson quickly took 14th and 16th places overall. While Ernstson gained further positions in the following laps, Larsson briefly dropped back again after a mistake. She would be able to make her way back up to 16th overall. At the same time, Nør-Jensen worked her way up to 17th place overall.
Over the first part of the race, Hoe made up positions overall and reached P12 with 9 minutes to go.
At the halfway point of the race, Morsing's car came to a halt on the side of the track, with the race remaining green. This also happened when Magnus Pedersen braked too late in the battle for the lead and got stuck in the gravel.
The four women of the series picked up positions from both incidents. Mille Hoe made her way back up into the top ten, climbed to ninth, and ultimately moved up into eighth among the Nordic 4 cars.
Louise Larsson had a great recovery drive and finished 5th in class, in a strong result just outside the overall top ten, while Olivia Ernstson was 8th in class. Cecilie Nør-Jensen took the chequered flag in 18th place overall and 9th in class, thus securing her first top ten in single-seaters after a clean drive that gave her the first points.
The start of the final race of the weekend again went smoothly, although it drizzled lightly at the beginning. Starting ninth overall, Mille Hoe initially fell to tenth but kept touch with the cars in front.
In the hectic start, Larsson and Ernstson moved up to 13th and 17th, respectively, while Nør-Jensen remained further back. The field was quickly sorted out, and there were no major changes in position.
Marius Kristiansen slid into the gravel but didn’t get stuck and only lost time. Larsson slightly fell back in the overall classification after the first laps, however remained solidly in contention for the top five in Formula Nordic.
With 2:12 minutes remaining, Larsson and Ernstson were locked in a close duel. Larsson defended on the inside of Turn 3 and went slightly deep into the corner, with Ernstson having more momentum around the outside. A misjudgement ended in the latter making contact, with both cars losing wings. Ernstson had to park her car in the gravel trap due to the damage.
However, due to the already completed race distance, she was still ranked in eighth place in her class. Larsson salvaged a solid 15th place overall with a damaged rear wing, securing another fifth place in the Formula Nordic class.
Cecilie Nør-Jensen finished 18th, thus achieving 12th place in her class. Further up the field, Mille Hoe had a clean and composed race, running tenth overall and in the Nordic 4 class to finish all three races in the top ten.
In the overall standings after the first weekend, Kalousdian leads Olson, Hafström, and Varis with 80 points in Formula Nordic. With two top-five finishes on debut, Louise Larsson is fifth in the standings with 24 points. Olivia Ernstson collected a seventh place and two P8 finishes at Anderstorp and sits ninth in the standings.
After two rounds of Nordic 4, Mille Hoe is eleventh with 14 points, with Cecilie Nør-Jensen completing her strongest weekend to date in formulas, securing her first two points.
The next event for Formula Nordic and Nordic 4 will be at Gelleråsloppet at the Gelleråsen Arena in Karlskoga on the last weekend of May.
