Successful weekend of progress for Tina Hausmann at Mugello

LIAM REDFORD

Jul 11, 20233 min read

Achieving a best result of 17th coming in race three of the first ever Euro 4 Championship event, Tina Hausmann made a significant steps forward during the final race of the meeting, claimed the Female Trophy and will look to take this improvement into her upcoming races in Italian F4.

Tina Hausmann enjoyed a promising debut weekend in the Euro 4 Championship at Mugello. Achieving a best result of 17th coming in race three, Tina made a significant step forward during the final race of the meeting and will look to take this improvement into her upcoming races. Racing at a new circuit and dealing with high track temperatures posed challenges for the AKM Motorsport driver, but she battled hard to end the weekend on a high.

In addition to her full-season programme in the Italian F4 Championship, Tina and AKM Motorsport have teamed up to compete in the new Euro 4 Championship. Run to the same regulations as the Italian F4 Championship, Euro 4 also features the same weekend format with two qualifying sessions and three races. After Mugello, the drivers will compete at Monza before a double points finale at Barcelona to conclude the season.

The weekend began with two free practice sessions on Friday with Tina completing 35 laps across the two sessions. Finishing the first forty-minute session in 20th, it was a solid start for Hausmann who was lapping consistently with the midfield runners. The second session brought another 20th place result, with Tina’s best lap time less than one second away from the top-10.

Qualifying took place on Friday evening with the AKM Motorsport driver setting the 21st fastest time in the first session which was disrupted by a late red flag. Significant improvements were to come in the second session as Tina gained one second from her earlier benchmark and this time improvement translated into a tenth row start as she ended the session in 19th.

Race one of the weekend began on Saturday afternoon with Tina maintaining her 21st position in the opening stages. It was vital for Hausmann to make a clean start and ensure she could gain useful track time to continue her development with AKM Motorsport. As the race approached halfway, she was involved in a close battle with Aurelia Nobels before falling behind on lap eight.

The second half of the race was challenging for Tina as she lost out to Davide Larini and Ismail Akhmedkhodjaev with the high track temperatures causing significant tyre wear. As the tarmac reached a scorching 55C, maintaining position was difficult and Hausmann slipped to 23rd in the closing stages. Holding that position to the line, it was a race full of learning opportunities with Tina able to take these experiences into the two following races at Mugello.

Lining up 19th for the second race of the weekend, Tina immediately moved forward and sat in 17th after the opening lap as the safety car was deployed. Holding her position at the restart, Hausmann’s pace was looking good until contact on lap five dropped her to 22nd with some damage to the steering subsequently affecting her performance. Nonetheless, the AKM Motorsport driver battled hard in the second half of the race to run consistent lap times and capitalise on issues ahead of her, crossing the line in 21st to improve on her race one result.

Aiming for further improvements in the final race of the weekend from 21st, Tina enjoyed a close battle with Jack Beeton in the opening exchanges before closing in on Griffin Peebles for a position inside the top-20. A three-way battle then emerged between Tina, Peebles and Larini with Hausmann moving into 20th behind Larini on lap eight as she ran her fastest lap of the race to date.

After passing Aurelia Nobels, Tina was up to 18th by lap 11 and continued to gain on the drivers ahead. Her race pace was the strongest of the entire weekend and was comparable with the drivers running inside the top-10 as she learnt more about tyre management and the characteristics of the car. Passing Raphael Narac on lap 17, Hausmann was on the move again before crossing the line in 17th, also claiming the ladies trophy, while her final lap of the race was faster than that of race winner James Wharton.

Tina’s improvements across the weekend were hugely impressive, with her speed in the final race indicative of her significant potential. In her debut season in a highly competitive field of drivers, there will always be challenges to overcome and the way Hausmann and the AKM Motorsport team overcame adversity this weekend will stand them in good stead heading into the second half of the season.

Tina will be aiming to carry this progress forward to the next round of the Italian F4 Championship which takes place at Paul Ricard in France on the weekend of 22nd/23rd July.