Emma Felbermayr continued to make steady improvement throughout the EuroCup-4 Spanish Winter Championship second weekend at Portimao, securing another top-20 finish and consistently gaining positions in each race.
Emma Felbermayr continued her development in F4 machinery with another positive weekend in the EuroCup-4 Spanish Winter Championship, securing her third top-20 finish in just two weekends.
The second round of the new Spanish Winter Championship saw the field move from Jerez to Portimão, featuring again a massive 36-car grid, with many drivers preparing for their main 2025 campaigns. Among them were four female drivers, three of whom are confirmed for the 2025 F1 Academy all-female series.
One of those drivers was Emma Felbermayr, a rookie stepping up from karting: her first-ever weekend in race cars at Jerez was highly encouraging, culminating in a remarkable 13th-place finish in the final race. The 18-year-old had already secured her first top-20 result in the second race, demonstrating impressive pace and racecraft, managing the chaotic action with the maturity of a far more experienced driver.
Representing Sauber in a Rodin Motorsport entry in the next F1 Academy season, Felbermayr will also compete in Spanish F4 in a dual program, making her participation in the EuroCup-4 Spanish Winter Championship crucial for gaining track time and experience.
She immediately proved that her strong Jerez performance wasn’t a one-off, as she impressed again in Friday practice: In the first session, she was just 1.5 seconds off the leader's pace, finishing 26th. She then found a few more hundredths in the second session, as she aimed to carry momentum in qualifying.
Saturday morning’s qualifying session however presented an extra challenge with a wet track. Just two minutes in, in fact, a red flag halted proceedings before anyone could set a lap. Once the session resumed with 18 minutes remaining, Felbermayr went 15th fastest with her first timed lap in 2:04.8, though times quickly tumbled as drivers adjusted to the improving conditions.
As the track continued to dry, most drivers could find more time on the slick tyres, but Felbermayr remained on wets. She dipped under the 1:59 mark with three minutes to go, posting a 1:57.2 and improving to P31. However she was unable to move further up the order due to the tyre gamble and would have to start from the back for Race 1.
A few hours later, the first race of the weekend got underway on a fully dry track, with Felbermayr lining up in P30. At lights out, it was a Campos 1-2 into Turn 1, with Strauven leading Przyrowski. The opening corners were relatively clean, but chaos erupted at Turn 5, where multiple collisions eliminated several cars and the safety car was deployed.
Felbermayr avoided the incidents and made up positions, climbing to P28 before the caution. On the restart at Lap 5, further contact in the midfield caused debris on track, though the race remained green. Felbermayr capitalized with a spectacular restart, moving up to P24.
However, another major crash followed; Tye and Anagnostiadis pitted with damage, while Schaufler spun and was collected by Baztarrica in a separate incident, bringing out another safety car. Once again, Felbermayr skillfully avoided the chaos and moved up to P22.
With just over six minutes remaining, the race resumed, and Felbermayr gained yet another spot, climbing into P20 after another strong restart. She then set her sights on overtaking Karras and Aurelia Nobels.
However, another collision at Turn 5 between Jean Paul Karras and Kanthan prompted a final safety car with three minutes to go. Felbermayr managed to avoid the incident but was shuffled back to P21.
The race ultimately ended under caution, with only a handful of laps completed under green. Felbermayr crossed the line in P21 but was later promoted to P20 following post-race penalties. Once again, she showcased smart and clean driving, demonstrating racecraft beyond her experience level and securing another valuable top-20 finish.
Later in the afternoon, it was already time for the sprint race, in a quick turnaround from the previous event. After a clean first race, Emma Felbermayr aimed to keep the momentum going, lining up in P30 for Race 2 and targeting another solid result.
At the start, one car stalled, another spun at Turn 1, and Przyrowski also went around in a messy opening lap. More drama followed when race leader Van’t Pad Bosch, battling hard with Fiorentino, made contact and went off, triggering a safety car.
Felbermayr held position through the first lap, skillfully avoiding the chaos and settling into P29 as the race was neutralized. Meanwhile, Tye pitted with damage.
The race resumed on Lap 3 with a fierce three-wide battle for the lead between Fiorentino, Costa, and Strauven. Fiorentino initially fought back to retain P1, but soon after, he spun and dropped to the back of the field.
Felbermayr briefly lost a position but regained P29 as Fiorentino’s incident took him out of contention. Emma then overtook Anagnostiadis and capitalized on more attrition ahead when Lee went off. Skillfully navigating through the incidents, she climbed to P26 by Lap 6, just before another caution was called to recover the #24 Rodin car stranded in the gravel.
At the restart, Felbermayr lined up in P25 and wasted no time, gaining one place immediately and two more by the end of the lap, surging into P23.
On the final lap, the field remained tightly packed with intense battles throughout. Emma held her ground in a fierce scrap, running just behind Jacoby. Both drivers gained one more place, moving up to P21, but Karras managed to sneak past, dropping Felbermayr to P22.
Despite that late position loss, Emma delivered another strong and clean performance in a highly competitive grid, taking the checkered flag in P21—just three-tenths short of another top 20. Once again, she gained nine places from her starting position.
At the front, Thomas Strauven secured back-to-back wins, pulling away in the final laps to take victory by two seconds over Stevenheyden and El Feghali.
On Sunday morning, drivers returned to the track for the second qualifying session, setting the grid for the final race of the weekend. The track was dry but with cooler temperatures.
Felbermayr’s first timed lap, a 1:49.2, placed her inside the top 20, though times quickly dropped. She improved to a 1:46.796, finding over half a second and holding onto 25th place. With two minutes remaining, Emma continued to improve, setting her best lap of the weekend at 1:46.148. She took the checkered flag in P27, closing the gap to the leaders to just 1.6 seconds—in a significant step forward. Impressively, she was also the top female driver in qualifying.
The third and final race of the weekend took place under clear skies and warmer temperatures. Felbermayr lined up in P27, determined to mount another recovery drive.
At the start, Monteiro and Campos stalled on the grid but were fortunately avoided by the rest of the field. Felbermayr gained two places off the line and then passed Dobrzanski on the first lap, moving up to P23.
On Lap 2, she battled Ryba for P22, which she secured when Monarca dropped down the order after pitting for a new front wing.
Felbermayr showed strong pace, overtaking Baztarrica and continuing her charge forward.
Once ahead, she quickly pulled away and resumed her chase of Ryba, both drivers lapping slightly faster than Jacoby in front. By Lap 5, Emma was consistently running in the 1:46.5 range.
However, on Lap 7, there was contact with Ryba, damaging her front wing and dropping down the order. Forced to pit for a nosecone replacement, she rejoined in P33 with limited time left to recover in what had been a relatively clean race.
With 12 minutes remaining, Felbermayr had few opportunities to make up ground. She gained one position when Monteiro encountered an issue, moving up to P32.
Despite being eight seconds behind Monarca, she steadily reduced the gap in the closing laps.
In the final minute, an accident for Spina, who hit the barriers and retired, allowed Emma to gain one more spot. She ultimately took the checkered flag in P31, completing an uninterrupted final race.
While the last race was unfortunate, there were still plenty of positives: Felbermayr had once again been in contention for a top-20 finish before the contact, proving her pace and racecraft. It was another valuable weekend for the Rodin Motorsport driver, with every race providing crucial experience as she now shifts her focus to the upcoming F1 Academy collective tests.
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