With a late call to take the wheel of the KTF Sports cars on the eve of the Super Final in Interlagos, Bruna Tomaselli made a surprise debut in the Stock Car Pro Series, collecting points - and also breaking a 5-year hiatus without a female presence in Brazil's premier series.
While preparing to compete in the final round of the Stock Series 2024 season - the access category for Stock Car Pro - Bruna Tomaselli received an unprecedented opportunity in her professional motorsport career. Having been part of the KTF Academy driver development program since last year, she was called to replace Marcos Gomes in the Super Final of the main series.
Gomes had been vetoed by the medical team due to health concerns after FP1 on Friday, and Tomaselli had just a few hours to prepare to take the wheel of the KTF #97 Chevrolet Cruze in FP2. Before that, she had already taken part in the first two Stock Series practice sessions in the morning, which gave her important extra minutes on track before heading out on the new mission.
Bruna Tomaselli commented on the announcement: “It has always been a dream to race in Stock Car, it's the biggest class in Brazil! I'm very happy to have the opportunity to race this weekend and I will do my best to represent Marcos well while he recovers. I thank the team for the opportunity and wish him a good recovery, I will take good care of the car!”
Tomaselli only had one practice session available in the new car before qualifying, and she shared her impressions: "My first experience in the car was really cool, I think it exceeded all my expectations."
"The whole team helped me a lot. We've been working together all year and as a KTF Academy driver I follow them, so I see how everything works. The engineers, the mechanics, everyone on the team gave me a lot of support, we went to the track and managed to improve throughout the laps."
Sprint Race
Sharing the iconic Interlagos track with important names on the national scene - among them Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa - Bruna Tomaselli became the first woman to compete in a Stock Car Pro Series race, after a 5-year gap, since Bia Figueiredo's last participation in the 2019 season. Starting at the back of the grid and on a wet track, the circumstances brought extra challenges, which made Tomaselli's debut even more special.
Due to the slippery track, the first lap was done with the safety car leading the pack, but when the green flag was waved, some drivers made their first pit stops of the race. Shortly after, the first incident occurred, involving two teammates - Daniel Serra and Ricardo Maurício, bringing out the safety car again.
Bruna Tomaselli maintained a good pace during the green flag periods, had no problems with incidents and gained positions on the track by overtaking. In addition, the strategy of postponing the mandatory pit stop as much as possible allowed her to reach 6th place in her best moment of the race. After the stop in the final minutes, she lost positions, but saw the checkered flag in 19th - thus adding her first ever 12 points to her Stock Car Pro tally.
"I'm still getting used to the car, I did what I had to do", Bruna commented. "I started and took advantage of our good pace to gain mileage and move up the field. In the end, we crossed the finish line in P19, earning my first points. Today was a dream come true and it couldn't have been better," - said Tomaselli about her debut.
Main Race
On Sunday, the last race of the year was held and would decide the title of champion - although an action pending in the Sports Court could still interfere with the official result in the future. Starting in 28th position, Bruna Tomaselli had another chance to be on the grid and learn more aboard the KTF Sport car.
In a longer race, which was quite eventful, at her best moment, Tomaselli was up to P19. However, with more difficult conditions to advance in the midfield, she lost a few positions after the pit stop and crossed the finish line in 24th, securing 9 more points. With P3 at the end of the race, Gabriel Casagrande is the provisional champion of the 2024 Stock Car Pro Series season.
"I was very happy with the opportunity to be here, to be able to represent women and learn from the team."
"It's a completely different universe", Tomaselli stated. "It served as a great learning experience, especially coming from formula racing. By competing in the Stock Series, I was able to arrive here a little more adapted, but it's still very a different universe." - said Tomaselli about her experience over the weekend.
In addition to the unique experience of debuting in the biggest national series and spending precious moments aboard the most powerful machine, Bruna Tomaselli also collected 29 points over the two races in which she participated.
Despite her absence in the final round of the Stock Series, she still remained in the top 10 of the championship - where she collected 203 points, with 1 overall podium and another 5 among rookie drivers. Now, we will wait until an official announcement to find out where Tomaselli will compete in the 2025 season and continue building her experience in motorsport.
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