Season recap - the journeys of Bruna Tomaselli and Kaká Magno in the 2024 Stock Series

We reviewed the trajectories and results of the two female drivers on the grid of the Brazilian touring car championship Stock Series throughout the five rounds of the 2024 season that have been held so far.

Bruna Tomaselli; Kaká Magno; Stock Series. — Photo courtesy: Bruna Tomasell / Kaká Magno - Edited by: Igor Laerte

With five of the six rounds scheduled for the 2024 season already completed, the Stock Series is in the longest interval between races - which will run from September to December, when the new champion will be crowned at the Super Race, in Interlagos.

We recapped the performances of Bruna Tomaselli and Kaká Magno, the two female drivers on the grid of the Stock Car Pro main feeder series throughout the season so far.

Just like in 2023, Magno remains at the wheel of the #25 car of the RTR Sport Team and Tomaselli in the #97 car of Garra Racing. The former W Series driver also continues to be part of the KTF Sports driver development program. This year, both drivers have the opportunity to continue their personal development work and fight for the dream of reaching Brazil's main championship - the Stock Car Pro Series.

Round 1

The 2024 season kicked off in April at the traditional Interlagos Circuit, in a treacherous round for both women on the grid. The results of the 3 races over the weekend were as if Bruna Tomaselli had gone from “hell to heaven”: starting with a DNF in the opening race, in race 2 - where she was looking to recover, a 20-second penalty took her out of the top 6 - dropping her to 10th.

Her redemption came in the last race - where despite the confusion caused by a failure in the official timing system, Tomaselli managed to reach P6. The result also ensured that she climbed onto the podium for the first time this year, as second-placed among the 'rookies'.

Kaká Magno; Stock Series — Photo courtesy: Kaká Magno

Kaká Magno also had problems with penalties, but she showed promising performance for the remainder of the season, symbolized by the ninth place achieved in race 2:

"It was a weekend of a lot of learning and evolution, both for me and for the team. We had everything we needed to get a podium here in Interlagos, our car was very quick, but unfortunately the penalty took away our chance to fight and get on the podium." - she said.

Round 2

Just under a month later, the drivers returned to action at the Zilmar Beaux Circuit, in Cascavel, in a round that was marked by the 3 podiums achieved by Bruna Tomaselli. Her lowest result that weekend was P6 in race 2. In races 1 and 3 she crossed the finish line in 4th and 3rd respectively - results that took her to the rookie drivers' podium with a double P2 - in addition to, of course, her first appearance on the overall podium.

"I know we could have gone a little further, because on the restart [in race 3], when I went to accelerate, I lost the rear of the car a little and had to defend more than attack, but I'm very happy with the result!" - said Tomaselli.

Bruna Tomaselli; Stock Series — Photo credits: Duda Bairros

The weekend also brought important results for Kaká Magno, who greatly valued the improvement made in working on the car and with the team. She climbed the rankings in the leaderboard throughout the races, adding important points - and with a stand out performance of P8 in race 3.

Round 3

The Stock Series concluded its first half of the season in June at the Velocittà Circuit, where Bruna Tomaselli added two more podiums to her series' tally. Having struggled in the qualifying session, she managed to recover and reach P6 in race 1 - again second place among the rookies. The following races presented new challenges and brought different results. P8 in race 2 and her best result of the weekend came in race 3, with a fourth place - which was again a P2 among the rookie drivers.

Coming from good results in the previous round, Kaká Magno had a good chance of achieving a personal best result in 2024 - with a possible P7 in race 3. But contact with one of the competitors caused damage to her car, and hampered her performance. And although it was the most complicated round for her so far, every available time behind the wheel was important to improve and continue her evolution.

At this point in the championship, Arthur Gama was the leader of the drivers' standings - with 208 points. Bruna Tomaselli was in 7th place, with 125 points - and 6 podium appearances. Kaká Magno was in 11th place, with 89 points collected so far.

Having competed mainly in open-wheel car series before joining the Stock Series, Bruna Tomaselli assessed her progress since her debut in 2023:

“Last year was a year of great learning. As I came from single-seaters, so I faced a very different reality in touring cars. Both in terms of steering, braking, the weight of the car is different, and even the dynamics of the race are different."

"In the Stock Series, for example, we see a race with some contact, which is not very common in formula cars. Therefore, I had to adapt to that as well. In my second year in the category I already feel much better adapted and more confident with the car." - she concluded.

Round 4

The Ayrton Senna Circuit, in Goiânia, was the stage for the fourth round of the season and although it was a challenging weekend for both, this time Kaká Magno recorded a new personal best in 2024, having crossed the finish line in 7th place in race 3. And Bruna Tomaselli, in turn, achieved another podium as the second placed among the rookie drivers, with P7 recorded in race 1.

Kaká Magno shared her impressions about the results obtained and was optimistic: "The fourth round was a mix of feelings. We fought until the end, the team is to be congratulated for the work done this weekend. We achieved our best result so far in the championship P7 - P4 among the rookies. This just showed us that we have the potential to get to where we belong!"

Round 5

The weekend held at the Velopark Circuit, in Santa Cruz do Sul, was certainly the most complicated for Tomaselli, but it also brought a new good result for Magno - who, despite suffering a broken steering bar in the final laps, fought until the end to secure P9 in race 1.

Mechanical problems also hampered Bruna, who achieved a double P7 as her best results:

"It wasn't the weekend we wanted at Velopark, especially on a circuit that I consider to be 'in my backyard'. Some problems with the car took away our chance to fight for more at the front. We'll keep working to get stronger. We know where and how we want to get there!"

With the second part of the championship bringing a few more difficulties compared to the first 3 races, Bruna Tomaselli ended up losing a position in the drivers' standings. She now sits in eighth place - however, tied with Mathias de Valle, who also has 203 points collected.

Tomaselli is still in a position to finish the year in the top 5, but she will need to close a 15-point gap with Guto Rotta, currently in 5th place.

Kaká Magno has secured 154 points and is approaching the top 10, 45 points behind Alfredo Ibiapina. With just one round remaining, Arthur Gama remains in the lead, now with 352 points, and is battling Enzo Bedani for the Stock Series title.

FIA Motorsport Games

The last round of the 2024 season - the Super Race - will only take place on December 15th, at the Interlagos Circuit, in São Paulo. But before that, Kaká Magno will have another adventure ahead of her. She will participate for the second time in her career in the FIA Motorsport Games - which will take place between October 23 - 27, at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia, Spain.

This experience led the Brazilian Automobile Confederation (CBA) to choose Magno to represent Brazil in the Auto Slalom class, which uses electric vehicles. And she did not hide her enthusiasm for the competition: "In addition to being ecologically sustainable, thanks to the charging infrastructure, the Opel Corsa-e Rally offers an incredible experience. I always dreamed of competing with electric cars, like in Formula E!"