Securing a top-15 result in a wet race two, Mathilda Paatz fought off strong competition and enjoyed her most successful Formula Winter Series event to date, closing out her campaign by claiming female trophy honours at Circuit de Catalunya.
Mathilda Paatz closed out her Formula Winter Series campaign by claiming female trophy honours in race two at Circuit de Barcelona. The AS Motorsport driver secured a top-15 result in a wet race two as Paatz fought off strong competition from her four female rivals. Paatz also finished race one inside the top-20 as she adapted well to changeable conditions on her debut at the circuit.
Paatz arrived at Circuit de Barcelona looking to end her Formula Winter Series campaign on a high. The AS Motorsport driver had finished inside the top-20 on five occasions prior to the season finale, including a 17th place result last time out at Motorland Aragon. Paatz’s steady improvements have seen her regularly gain positions during the races, with the young German driver therefore targeting her first female trophy award as she entered the weekend.
Circuit de Barcelona was another new track for Paatz to learn and conditions were dry during Thursday’s three test sessions. Paatz finished each session inside the top-25 and she completed 46 laps over the course of the day. Her fastest time came in session one with a 1:44.837 placing her in 25th position.
Three further test sessions were held on Friday prior to qualifying on Saturday morning. After completing 14 laps in session one, Paatz clocked the tenth fastest time in session two which was interrupted by a series of incidents. Weather conditions then changed for the remainder of the day and therefore running was limited. However, Paatz was able to gather some experience and learn from the damp running which took place at Motorland Aragon.
Conditions were challenging for the two qualifying sessions which were held back-to-back on Saturday morning. A wet track led to multiple red flag periods in the first session with Paatz doing a superb job to set the 20th fastest overall time, while her second fastest lap placed her in 19th.
The second session ran uninterrupted and therefore drivers could build temperature in their tyres and confidence in the car. Paatz set her quickest time on the final lap of qualifying which saw her just miss out on the top-20 in 21st position.
Conditions had improved for race one as the track was dry and all drivers fitted the slick tyres. Paatz lined up from 23rd on the grid for race one following a three-place grid penalty. The start was also delayed after Simon Schranz was beached in the gravel during the warm-up lap as he attempted to build temperature in his tyres.
As the race got underway, Paatz did well to negotiate the stalled US Racing machine of Gabriel Gomez while holding her position on lap one. A close fight with Elia Weiss than saw the Cram Motorsport driver move ahead in the early stages. Paatz’s confidence in the dry conditions continued to build and after running side-by-side with Weiss to start lap five, she pulled clear of her rival. On the same lap, issues for both Thomas Bearman and Maksimilian Popov dropped both drivers down the order.
Paatz was now running in 21st position and she was showing speed which challenged those battling for positions around the top-15. A clean move on Payton Westcott then elevated the AS Motorsport driver inside the top-20, with Mathilda now the second-highest running female driver. After Bart Harrison retired with a technical issue, Paatz was now into 19th and running directly behind the Maffi Racing machine of Teo Borenstein.
On lap ten, Borenstein overtook Javier Herrera into turn one and an opportunistic move from Paatz saw her follow Borenstein through. The pair quickly caught the battling duo of Kiril Kutskov and Emily Cotty and Paatz was making significant inroads on the female trophy race leader. Cotty overtook Kutskov in the closing stages and Paatz just ran out of time to pass Borenstein to gain a further position. Nonetheless, it was an excellent drive from Mathilda who gained five positions in race one at Circuit de Barcelona to finish in 18th.
Conditions were wet for race two on Saturday morning with the AS Motorsport driver lining up from 21st on the grid. It was a clean start for Paatz who held her position on the opening lap as the safety car was then deployed to retrieve the car of Ginevra Panzeri. The race restart was then delayed as the US Racing machine of Kabir Anarug encountered a technical issue.
Paatz therefore took the green flag from inside the top-20 and she was quickly on the move after passing Aleksander Ruta. Despite the treacherous conditions, Mathilda was showing excellent pace as she opened up a margin to the drivers behind. Female trophy leader Emily Cotty was then handed a five-second time penalty for a safety car infringement and with the Hitech TGR machine running just three places ahead, Paatz was eager to close the deficit.
On lap 10, the safety car was deployed for a second time after a spin for Maximilian Popov and this allowed Paatz to close in on Cotty. The race resumed with two minutes remaining and Paatz moved from 18th to 16th on the final lap after issues for both Davide Larini and Javier Herrera.
Mathilda also remained close to Cotty which enabled the AS Motorsport driver to claim her first ever female trophy award after Cotty’s penalty was applied. Kiril Kutskov also received a penalty and therefore Paatz finished race two in an excellent 14th position, matching her best overall result from Portimao.
For the final race of the weekend, which was held in dry conditions, Paatz lined up from 21st on the grid and made a fast start to gain two positions on lap one. Unfortunately, the AS Motorsport machine had picked up front wing damage and this began to limit Mathilda’s progress. At first, she remained on track and initially defended from both Elia Weiss and Jan Koller.
On lap five, Weiss and Koller moved ahead while three further rivals found their way through on lap six. As the damage continued to slow her down, Paatz pitted for a new front wing on lap seven and was now hoping for a safety car to bring herself back into contention.
With the race reaching the midway point, Paatz’s lap times were consistent as she gained further experience in dry conditions. Mathilda was running in 27th position and although there were a number of small incidents throughout the field, none of which resulted in a safety car deployment. Teo Borenstein retired in the closing stages and therefore Paatz took the checkered flag in 26th position to close out her weekend.
Despite a challenging race three, Paatz enjoyed her most successful Formula Winter Series event to date. The young German driver achieved her first ever female trophy award in race two as the AS Motorsport driver showed excellent speed in wet conditions. With two top-15 finishes to her name across the four weekends, Paatz will be aiming to carry this momentum forward into a second full season program of formula car racing.