FIA "Girls on Track: Rising Stars" finalist Victoria Blokhina will make her single-seater debut in the upcoming F4 UAE championship, as she steps up from karting and joins the ranks of 3Y Technology by R-Ace GP.
Russian 15-year old Victoria Blokhina was announced as one of the 3Y Technology by R-Ace GP drivers for the upcoming F4 UAE Championship, which is set to get underway on 13-14th January supporting the 24H of Dubai.
Alongside Blokhina, the UAE-based team will also line-up Nikhil Bohra and Martinius Stenshorne.
Blokhina has raced in high-level karting competitions in the past three years, mostly in the WSK series. Switching from the OK-Junior to the OK category in late 2020, the young Russian contested the WSK Super Master Series and and Euro Series, as well as entered the Karting European Championship, as part of the Ward Racing stable of drivers – a prestigious name in karting that can count among its alumni other female racers such as Sophia Floersch and Lola Lovinfosse.
In order to prepare herself for the second edition of the "FIA Girls on Track - Rising Stars" programme – which would then promote the second female driver to a Ferrari Driver Academy seat in Formula 4 – Blokhina spent several testing days in Formula 4 machinery in Italy, already planning a move into single-seaters in 2022.
Victoria was selected among the final four finalists in the contest and went to the training camp in Maranello in November.
She is expected also to race in Italian Formula 4 and, like several other colleagues, she will thus enter the highly-competitive Formula 4 UAE Championship in winter. The series features a 5-event calendar at the Dubai and Abu Dhabi racing venues.
F4 UAE was recently under the spotlight at the most recent Abu Dhabi F1 GP when it brought to global debut the second generation Tatuus F4 car, the T-421.
This is particularly relevant as most of the European series will also move to the same chassis, – which is now Halo-equipped – therefore the Emirati championship represents an important training ground for drivers expecting to race in Italy, Germany, Spain and UK.
Blokhina was also present at the pre-season test in Dubai and now officially confirmed her presence at the points-paying rounds.
"I am glad that the team made a good offer, I am happy that I am going to Dubai and Abu Dhabi for the UAE F4 Championship" – commented Blokhina. "This is my debut in Formula 4. My first ever Championship, the first starts! I am ready to work, to learn, and to provide a successful result!"
So far, Blokhina is the only confirmed female driver on the grid. The series has recently seen several women racers making headlines – including the Al Qubaisi sisters Hamda and Amna who both won races on home soil. With 6 victories and 19 podiums over two seasons, Hamda became the most successful woman in the history of Formula 4, globally. Amna took an historic victory at the Trophy Round in 2019. Reema Juffali also contested the full 2020 campaign, while Logan Hannah started in the Trophy Round.