At the second round of the Champions of the Future Euro Series (CotF) in Trinec, Czech Republic, Mathilda Paatz impressed with a strong recovery: After an unsuccessful qualifying in which the DPK-Racing driver was thwarted by an opponent, she managed much better in the heats and gradually fought her way to the front. In the pre-final on Saturday, Paatz was able to prove her talent when she made up 13 positions. Nevertheless, the 14-year-old missed out on the final she had hoped for, but the steep learning curve gives her confidence.
After the unsuccessful qualifying, which decided the starting positions for the heats, the disappointment was initially great. "I had high hopes for a good starting position," Paatz admits frankly. "I had a good strategy and drove together with my teammate Nacho [Tuñon]. Unfortunately, I ran into a competitor on my fastest lap and had to overtake." As a result, the Cologne native did not end up in the midfield she had hoped for, but in 61st place on the grid out of 73 starters.
On the narrow course in Trinec, Czech Republic, which offers few overtaking opportunities, Paatz faced a difficult challenge. Nevertheless, the ADAC Sports Foundation protégé once again showed her fighting spirit, so that the first heats were characterised by tough duels at the back of the field. The 14-year-old was able to make up a few positions, but was not able to move up decisively to keep her chances of reaching the final alive.
Strong Prefinal on Saturday
In the penultimate heat on Friday, Paatz was in a promising position when suddenly the engine broke down and the 14-year-old had to park her racing kart early. In the last heat, the German Sport Driver's Association protégé fought her way to the front and had her sights set on a top ten result, but a five-second spoiler penalty threw the Cologne-based driver back again. Hopes for a conciliatory finish therefore rested on Saturday's pre-final, which Paatz had to tackle from 32nd place on the grid.
With a mixture of frustration, anger and the familiar ambition, the DPK-Racing driver fought her way to the front. Already at the start of the race, Paatz chose the right line, so that she had already overtaken the first six competitors after two laps. The 14-year-old made up another seven places so that she was finally classified in 19th place. "This result is a small redemption for the difficult weekend in the Czech Republic," Paatz was relieved. Hopes are now high for the second round of the FIA European Kart Championship, which will take place at the same venue in a fortnight' time (18-21 May).
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