Top-5 finish for Solenn Amrouche on formula car debut

Making the switch from GT endurance racing to formula cars, Solenn Amrouche finished fifth in the first round of the Hoosier Formula Cup at Circuit Paul Ricard, where she showed excellent improvement during the three races.

Photo credits: Ethan Germain

Making the switch from GT endurance racing to formula cars, Solenn Amrouche enjoyed finished fifth in the first round of the Hoosier Formula Cup at Circuit Paul Ricard. Amrouche drove a Tatuus T-318 machine for Lamo Racing and showed excellent improvement during the three races. After finishing tenth in race one and 11th in race two, Solenn drove superbly to finish fifth in the third and final race of the weekend.

Competing in formula cars was a significant change for Amrouche who had previously competed in endurance racing for Vortex V8. Amrouche secured multiple podium finishes in the 2024 Spanish GT Championship GT-CET class racing alongside her father Lionel in the new Vortex 2.0. Solenn also has experience in the 24H Series, including a thrilling GTX class victory at the most recent edition of the 24 Hours of Barcelona. Now making the next step in her career, Amrouche has moved into open wheel cars in the Hoosier Formula Cup.

Utilising the successful Tatuus T-318 chassis, the Hoosier Formula Cup saw a change in format and machinery for the 2025 season. Racing as part of the Ultimate Cup Series package, the drivers benefit from two free practice sessions per weekend, followed a pair of separate qualifying sessions. Three, twenty-minute races provide close action throughout the field and allow drivers a good introduction to formula car racing.

In 2025, the Hoosier Formula Cup has attracted a high-quality grid of drivers with diverse racing backgrounds for the season opener at Circuit Paul Ricard. Amrouche was aiming to make progress during the event while continuing to develop her skills for formula car competition.

Amrouche began her race weekend on Friday as the Hoosier Formula Cup drivers participated in a series of short test sessions. Over the course of the day, Solenn gained valuable mileage and in session three, the Lamo Racing driver was fifth fastest overall, a superb effort on her single seater debut.

On Saturday morning, one further practice session allowed the drivers to work on their cars ahead of the first qualifying session. Amrouche set the 15th fastest time and was now targeting a strong qualifying effort at Circuit Paul Ricard.

The two qualifying sessions were held back-to-back and the first session was quickly interrupted by a red flag. When the green flag was displayed, Amrouche continued to improve her times and ended the first session in 13th position with a best time of a 2:07.755.

In session two, Amrouche showed improved performance in the first sector of the lap and briefly moved inside the top-10. A late red flag period disrupted the session late-on, however the Lamo Racing driver clocked a best lap of a 2:07.062 which was three-quarters of a second faster than her earlier qualifying time.

Photo credits: Ultimate Cup

Amrouche’s debut race in the Hoosier Formula Cup took place on Saturday afternoon and she faced the challenge of a standing start for the first time. Despite this added pressure, Solenn made an excellent start and immediately gained positions off the line. Amrouche then made contact with Frederic Boillot which spun around the Race Motorsport machine. Amrouche was able to continue without any significant damage and completed lap one in 12th position.

On lap two, Amrouche was on the move as she passed Laurent Wuthrich, Walter Rykart and Frederic Morihain to move into ninth position. The Lamo Racing driver was then involved in a fantastic battle with Australian racer Craig McClatchy as the duo traded ninth position. On lap four, Amrouche pulled clear of her rival and began to set a series of personal best times.

During the middle portion of the race, Amrouche continued to improve her pace and as a result, she was lapping faster than in qualifying. Gilles Depierre then began to close in on Solenn, however she responded by improving her lap times once again. A strong end to the race saw Amrouche take the checkered flag in ninth position, later demoted to tenth following a ten second penalty for the opening-lap contact. Nonetheless, it was an extremely encouraging debut for Amrouche who was visibly gaining confidence throughout the race.

"This weekend, I participated in my first single-seater race", she recalled. "I was very stressed because I wanted to do well and prove to others, and to myself, what I was capable of. I started my first day of training on Friday with a very good lap time, 2:04, which reassured me, but I was determined to improve as quickly as possible. I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform well, and I became frustrated during qualifying. My negativity took over", Solenn explained.

"After crying it out and releasing all that pressure, I headed into my first race. Unfortunately, I started from P13 when I was aiming for a top 10 finish. My first start was a huge boost for me. I loved the sensations and the excitement I felt once the lights went out. I got into my zone and had an amazing time. I crossed the finish line in P9, but after a collision, I finished P10 with a 10-second penalty."

Photo credits: Solenn Amrouche

The second race of the weekend was held early on Sunday morning and therefore the track temperature was low. Amrouche made another good start and after a clean first lap, the Lamo Racing driver was in 14th position. Solenn was now on the tail of Walter Rykart and after a series of fast sectors, she was running just one tenth of a second behind her rival. On lap three, Rykart made a mistake at the end of the Mistral straight and this moved Amrouche into 13th place.

Now with small amount of clean air ahead, Amrouche began close in on the drivers ahead. On lap five, Amrouche’s first sector time was the fourth fastest on track as she continued to show excellent speed through this part of the circuit. This resulted in a personal best time and Solenn was therefore able to break clear of Gilles Depierre.

The battle for the top-10 was intensifying ahead of Amrouche and on lap six, she overtook Alain Bucher for 12th position. After Craig McClatchy then stopped with a technical issue, Solenn was into 11th and running just half a second behind Frederic Boillot. Amrouche continued to apply the pressure to Boillot and took the checkered flag in 11th position, narrowly missing out on her second top-10 finish of the weekend.

Grid positions for the final race of the weekend were based on the average finish of the first two races. Amrouche lined up from ninth on the grid and made another good start while avoiding an incident at turn five between Dylan Estre and Mateo Valente. With Valente’s car requiring recovery, the safety car was deployed with Solenn running in eighth position.

When the racing resumed, Frederic Boillot was directly behind and the Race Motorsport driver was applying the pressure. Boillot was consistently running just half a second behind Amrouche, however she soaked up the pressure well. A recovering Estre then made his way through on lap five with Solenn doing a nice job to maximise her lap time as the Formula Motorsport machine moved ahead.

Amrouche remained in eighth position as Aubin Robert-Prince received a drive-through penalty and the Lamo Racing driver was now extending the margin to Boillot behind. Just ahead of Solenn, Alain Bucher been assessed a five-second time penalty and therefore cutting the gap to her teammate was the next target.

On lap eight, Amrouche ran her fastest race lap of the weekend as she maintained the gap to Bucher ahead. On the final lap, contact between Laurent Wuthrich and Christophe Hurni sent the latter into a spin with Bucher losing time in avoidance. Amrouche therefore overtook Hurni and took the checkered flag in seventh position and this became sixth once Bucher’s penalty was applied. Wuthrich then received a 30-second post-race penalty for causing a collision and as a result, Amrouche ended the weekend with an exceptional fifth-place result.

"It’s a result that gives me confidence for the future", Amrouche summarized. "I need to understand that there’s a time to learn, even though I’d love to win everything in my first year."

It was an excellent end to the weekend for Amrouche who overcame adversity on her first weekend in the Hoosier Formula Cup. The Lamo Racing driver showed great determination to improve both her speed and racecraft during the event and finish inside the overall top-5.

Amrouche will now be looking to carry this momentum into the next round of the Hoosier Formula Cup which takes place at Mugello on the weekend of 26th/27th April.