Last weekend, Mathilda Paatz used the WSK Euro Series event in Franciacorta, Italy, to prepare for the Champions of the Future Euro Series and the FIA World Karting Championship at the same venue. In the process, the DPK-Racing drivers gained important experience, but also had to pay dearly. Two retirements through no fault of their own prevented them from reaching the final, but the performance and progress on the track give hope for the last races of the year.

The key factor that the 15-year-old student has had to deal with more often this year was once again qualifying. Paatz managed a very good lap, but an unclean carburettor setting resulted in performance problems on her kart, so that in the end she only finished 50th overall out of 76 participants. The ADAC Sports Foundation protégé had to use the heats to fight for a place in the final.

In the first heat, Paatz improved by several positions, so that in the end she finished in 14th place. The start of the second race was less successful, as a rival slid into Paatz's side and then flew over the student's kart in spectacular fashion, ending the race prematurely for the DPK-Racing driver. An eleventh place in the third heat and a 21st position in the fourth heat were followed by an annoying retirement: Paatz had saved four fresh tyres for the fifth and final heat in order to launch an attack on the top ten.

But already on the first lap, there was a serious collision with ten pilots in the midfield, which also took Paatz out of the race. "I saw a gap and almost made it through, but a rival caught me on the tail as I was returning to the track," said the German Sport Driver's Federation protégé. "That is particularly annoying because I would have gained numerous positions and at the same time could have used the advantage of the fresh tyres. A result in the top ten would certainly have been possible!"

Good performance in the Pre-Final goes unrewarded

The final was a long way off, so Paatz had to achieve a good individual result in the final Pre-Final. The DPK driver started the race from 29th on the grid and fought her way up to 23rd position. "That's not the result we were hoping for, but I had good speed and was able to start some overtaking manoeuvres," Paatz summed up. "Unfortunately, two mistakes cost me several positions and in the last lap I got a rough push in a fight with an opponent and lost two more places. The result therefore doesn't reflect the performance, which is why I'm confident of finishing even further ahead in the coming races."

Now Mathilda Paatz has an important event coming up: the first elimination competition will take place at the FIA sponsorship project "Girls on Track - Rising Stars", where the schoolgirl was one of the best four participants in last year's final. There, the young up-and-coming driver will fight for an important promotion to Formula 4 before the Champions of the Future Euro Series (16 and 17 September 2023) in Italy.

5 September 2023 WSK Series