Sophia Floersch: A bruising weekend at Lausitz

My dear friends from Motorsport.com,

The third event of the German Formula 4 season with races seven, eight and nine took place in support of the DTM and GT Masters at the Lausitzring.

And after two test days that went very well, I had big goals for that weekend: a podium result for my race car "Hugo", all dressed up with new sponsor stickers and new stripes.

Free practice on Friday started well. I was one of a few drivers who had opted for used tyres and my pace was okay, allowing me to remain in the top five for a long time.

Around mid-session, many drivers opted for a run on a second new set, while we had only put on our first. Unfortunately, I had traffic on my quickest lap and lost two or three tenths. In the end, I finished P10.

With the two-group qualifying due to the 38-car field, the draw decided that I was in Group A. After the free practice, I thought that it would be a relatively simple session.

Unfortunately, it was anything but - I ended up eighth in my group. I was not happy at all.

I was P4 early in the session, but struggling with bad understeer. So I came back to the pits, putting on another new set of tyres. And still bad understeer.

Damn! This was not going well. I was on P6 until the last lap, then two other drivers were faster than I and I was only 16th altogether. Even my second-fastest lap - which decided the grid position for Race 2 - put me only on P16. I was very disappointed!

On Saturday, I went running for 45 minutes before breakfast as I had to clear my head for the race. We had two races that day and I started 16th in both. My goal, a podium result, was no longer realistic.

But I thought a top-10 result and championship points should be possible. And that would put me in the perfect place for the last race on Sunday, which would see a reverse-grid for the top 10.

Pile-up

Sophia Flörsch, Motopark

Photo by: Mario Bartkowiak

In Race 1, I had a good start and made up two positions after the first turn - and another a little later. My brakes were perfect and I could overtake another two cars on the inside.

We went around the turn three-wide, but the driver on the outside obviously accelerated too early and too hard and spun right into me. His front wing was now stuck in my sidepod.

At that very moment, a driver from behind passed me on the left but had no room because I was already on the kerb. Since I was looking to the right (which could later be seen on my onboard video), I could not see the driver on the left and we touched.

He spun and this spin triggered a crash with 10 cars. The race was red-flagged.

On the one hand, the red flag was a shame because I was running ninth at the time, only for the restart order to be formed according to the original grid - P16 then.

On the other hand, I could have not gone on much longer with all the damage to my car. Its right side was not complete anymore: the sidepod, the radiator, and the suspension were all damaged.

The team had 10 minutes for repairs and they did it. These guys are great! Everybody, including our team principal Timo Rumpfkeil, helped!

The restart was behind the safety car and I was able to make up some positions with my taped "Hugo" and crossed the finish line 13th.

Costly spin

Sophia Flörsch, Motopark

Photo by: Alexander Trienitz

Before Race 2, we had an autograph session, which is always a neat occasion - as it's fantastic to see how many people like you and support you and it is always fun.

Besides, I got interviewed by German television after the race. Merle, a 12-year-old child reporter, accompanied me on Saturday. That was fun.

In Race 2, I started 16th again. In turn 3, I was on the outside, lost the car on the marbles, and slid onto the grass. I spun.

Fortunately, I could continue way behind the field. After another crash, the safety car came out again and I was able to catch up to the field. After the safety car, there were a few laps when I made up positions and was running 20th, when the safety car came out again, before the race was red-flagged.

I had ruined my race with that spin. But it was a chapter in the book called "Learning" because the sudden loss of grip on the marbles was new to me.

In the evening, there was another drivers' briefing. The stewards pointed out that they would not tolerate so many accidents in the future, that they will give out more severe penalties and will keep the safety car out for the whole race and end it behind the safety car if it does not get better.

Well, I think it is right to penalise the frequent offenders harder, but I don't think it is right to punish everybody for the mistakes of the few. One lap in a race costs a lot of money and neither my sponsors, nor the fans, want to see safety car races.

Our final race was at 6PM on Sunday and, in the afternoon before that, we had another autograph session. There was a boy, about 12 years old, who had everybody sign his arms. In the end, they were completely full!

I was asked by a German newspaper whether I would be on the grid of the DTM race for an interview. Of course, I agreed and I even watched the first few laps as a co-commentator. Unfortunately, that did not get aired because of technical issues.

Slicks or wets

Sophia Flörsch, Motopark

Photo by: Mario Bartkowiak

At 5PM, there was a bad thunderstorm which stopped after in about 25 minutes, but the paddock was underwater by at least 2 inches. I wrapped trash bags around my shoes so that they would not get wet. That looked very funny and people looked and took pictures, but it helped!

During the installation lap, there was still a lot of water on the track. It was important to look for puddles and rivers of water and to warm up the tires. Our team principal Timo and my race engineer Dennis were discussing on the radio whether to go for rain tires or slicks.

I started 13th, the result of the first race. We saw that some drivers were on slicks and my team expected a few safety car periods, because "wet" means "difficult" and the previous races were dominated by the safety car.

The race started behind the safety ca and, for me, that was one less potential possibility to overtake. Shame. After two laps, the race kicked off for good and It went well.

After roughly 10 laps, I was already in P8 but got stuck. The track dried way too fast and soon the water was only in two spots, which we used to cool our tyres.

"Oh my God," I thought as I lost grip with every turn and started to slide more and more. All of a sudden, it was over and done with. My car felt like on peas. It was more sliding than driving.

I could not really accelerate anymore. Then, I got passed by a car that was on slicks. I wanted to retaliate on the brakes at turn 1, but on my "peas" I miscalculated by an inch and my front wing touched my opponent.

The wing was loose and there were another five laps to go. Of course, I lost even more grip and it was over. I got the black-and-orange flag and had to pit within three laps. And that was the end of the race for me.

Aside from that, I thought my performance in the race was really good. I was very quick in the wet and could overtake very well. But we had miscalculated with the setup. The solution would have been slicks instead of rain tyres and less pressure. We had every reason to expect a safety car but it didn't come. That's racing sometimes.

As a summary, the event at Lausitzring was just not my weekend. It could have hardly been worse. To me, it is motivation to work even harder. My team and I will do everything to bounce back stronger at the next races at Oschersleben. We will hold our ground.

I am looking forward to seeing everybody again in two weeks.

Flat out!

Sophia