Despite a challenging qualifying, Nina Gademan showcased strong racecraft in Valencia, securing two Female Trophy victories, a top-ten finish, and a remarkable recovery drive across all three races of the Formula Winter Series second round.
After dominating the Female Trophy in the first round of the Formula Winter Series at Portimão, Nina Gademan had another highly positive weekend in Valencia, claiming two out of three class victories and securing yet another top-ten overall finish, despite having to recover from a more challenging qualifying.
Gademan, recently announced as the next Alpine F1 Team representative for the 2025 F1 Academy championship, was confirmed as part of Prema Racing’s lineup alongside Doriane Pin and Tina Hausmann.
Now in her second season of single-seater competitions, Gademan is contesting the highly competitive Formula Winter Series as preparation for her F1 Academy campaign, following a learning-oriented season in British F4. At Portimão, she was one of the standouts, securing two top-ten finishes—including a personal best of sixth—among some of Europe’s top F4 competitors.
Racing for Hitech Grand Prix in the Iberian-based series, Gademan returned to action for the second round at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia, where she immediately proved her speed once again by running close to the top ten in pre-event testing.
In a tight qualifying session, lower temperatures and red flag disruptions hampered her chances. She qualified 18th in the first session with a best time of 1:34.970 and was 23rd in Q2 with a 1:34.783 lap.
After a closely fought start in the front of the field—but with little change in position—Gademan was able to gain several spots in the midfield: by the end of the first lap, she had already climbed to 14th place. However, her progress was briefly halted on lap two when David Walther went off track, triggering the first safety car.
Following the restart with 21 minutes remaining, Gademan resumed her charge forward. While attempting to overtake Artem Severiukhin on the inside of the infield section, there was slight contact between her right front wheel and Severiukhin’s left rear wheel, though neither car sustained damage. However, the duel slowed her enough for Oliver Bearman to catch up and sneak past her on the same lap.
Although Gademan initially seemed stuck in 15th, more incidents unfolded toward the rear of the field. Most were managed under local yellow flags, but with nine minutes to go, Alba Hurup Larsen became stranded in the gravel, bringing out another safety car.
After the second restart, the midfield battle intensified. Andrija Kostić was forced off track during a duel and struggled to regain his rhythm, which caused a bottleneck up to 17th place. Amid the chaos, Gademan briefly dropped to 16th but held onto her position.
A third safety car was deployed when Ricardo Baptista stopped on track, once again bunching up the field. With only 10 seconds plus one final lap remaining, the race restarted for a dramatic finish: Gademan managed to reclaim 15th place, making her the second-highest-placed female driver in the field.
On the last lap, a collision between Bearman, Severiukhin, and Chloe Chambers at turn 1 allowed Gademan to inherit three positions. She crossed the finish line in 12th overall - then promoted to eleventh - and secured victory in the Female Trophy, extending her winning streak from the first race weekend.
In the second race, Gademan once again had to start from the middle of the field, with her qualifying time of 1:35.018 placing her 16th on the grid.
As in the first race, she got off to a strong start, making up positions on the opening lap to reach 11th place, where she engaged in a battle with Andrija Kostić for a spot in the top ten. This duel lasted several laps until a stranded car in the gravel triggered the first safety car period.
Following the restart with 19 minutes remaining, the fight for the top ten continued. By the end of the lap, both Kostić and Gademan overtook Harrison, who had been running ahead of them.
As the race progressed, Robinson was forced into the gravel in a duel at the front of the field, losing momentum and positions. When Gademan attempted to capitalize on the situation, Robinson managed to recover his pace and defend his position, leaving Gademan stuck behind him.
In the closing laps, another collision occurred at the back of the field involving Hurup Larsen and Olkucka. However, both cars were able to continue, and the incident was resolved under local yellow flags without deploying the safety car.
This had no impact on Gademan’s race, and she held on to tenth place overall, securing another victory in the Female Trophy and completing another impressive recovery drive.
In the third race, the Dutchwoman started from 23rd position, requiring another determined charge through the field. As in the previous races, she made a strong start, gaining three places on the first lap, and later picking up another position when Robinson had to start from the pit lane.
During the chaotic opening laps, Chambers and Dupe made contact ahead of her, with Dupe spinning but all drivers managing to continue. Gademan took advantage of the situation to gain another position and soon found herself locked in a battle with Chambers and Palmowski for the Female Trophy lead—a contest that would last for most of the race.
Twenty minutes into the race, Trapper, running just ahead of the battling female trio, attempted an overtake on Bach. The two made contact, sending Bach into the gravel. The ensuing traffic shuffle created a flurry of duels and overtaking maneuvers.
Gademan capitalized on the chaos, passing both Trapper and Palmowski to move into second place in the Female Trophy. Instead of launching an attack on Chambers ahead, she focused on defending against Trapper—until another safety car halted the duels.
The next restart occurred with five minutes remaining, but only lasted one lap: shortly after, Andrea Dupe suffered suspension damage in a collision and was left stranded on track, triggering a final safety car period. The race resumed for the last time just 10 seconds before the clock ran out, but Gademan was unable to improve her position further.
She finished 14th overall and second in the Female Trophy, bringing an end to her winning streak.
Although Gademan faced more challenges in Valencia compared to the first race weekend—mainly due to a trickier qualifying—she still built on her early-season success with a top-ten finish and two Female Trophy victories, once again proving her racecraft.
"Unfortunately didn’t put it together in qualifying, starting at the back for the races", she summarized. "The races however were really strong! Starting from the back, we worked our way up the field finishing P11 and P10 in race 1 and 2."
"Again winning the female trophy twice was a nice touch to the weekend. Race 3 I had to start from very far behind and just missed it by one spot. Overall really happy with the progression with the racecraft! Definitely feeling more ready for coming season, one more round to go at Aragon in 2 weeks."
The next race will take place in early March at MotorLand Aragón, where the Dutchwoman will aim for more success.
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