At the WSK Final Cup in Lonato, Italy, Mathilda Paatz made a strong statement at the end of the season: In qualifying, the KR Motorsport works driver achieved sixth place out of 79 participants. In addition, Paatz celebrated a third place in the heats. Although the season has now come to an end, the 14-year-old is satisfied with her performance. Her international competitiveness gives her hope for the challenges ahead.
The ADAC Nordrhein protégé, who once again competed for the Kart Republic works team at the WSK Final Cup in Lonato, started the last race weekend of the year with a first-class performance. In the important qualifying, Mathilda Paatz did not allow herself any mistakes, so that she led her group for a long time and was only pushed into second position shortly before the end of the session. Nevertheless, the good lap time meant a sixth position in the overall ranking of all 79 participants and the third starting position for the competitive heats.
This showed that the ambassador of "Women in Motorsport" can now also hold her own on the international stage. In the heats, which decided the starting order for the Pre-Final and the coveted entry into the important final race, Paatz put another exclamation mark. In the fourth heat, the 14-year-old showed a strong and flawless performance, which was rewarded with third place. In the other three heats, Paatz was ranked twelfth, 22nd and 26th.
Paatz satisfied with top performance
The combination of all the heats resulted in 36th overall, so that Paatz was able to tackle the pre-final from 18th on the grid. With this overall result, the pilot from KR Motorsport would have reached the coveted final race, but a small mistake in the starting phase threw the promotional pilot from the German Sport Driver's Association back several positions. "The starting field in the WSK is so close together that every mistake is punished directly," Paatz was annoyed. "I was able to fight my way back to the front in the course of the race, but in the end I failed to make the final by two positions!"
Nevertheless, Mathilda Paatz showed a top performance at the WSK Final Cup in Lonato, proving that the 14-year-old is now also competitive on the international stage. "Of course I was very annoyed, because I really wanted to reach the final," Paatz sums up. "However, I am very satisfied with my performance. That gives me a tailwind. I'm now concentrating on the final of 'FIA Girls on Track - Rising Stars' in Italy."
From 21 to 24 November, Mathilda Paatz will be competing in Maranello, Italy, for the coveted promotion in the Ferrari Driver Academy for the 2023 season. Afterwards, the "speed girl" from Cologne will be a guest at the Essen Motorshow on 3 December 2022, where she will be available at the stand of the German Sports Drivers' Circle for interviews, photos and to meet the fans.
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