Fabienne Wohlwend
Fabienne Wohlwend (born 7 November 1997 in Vaduz) is a female racing driver from Liechtenstein who competes in the W Series. Biography. Formula 4. Wohlwend entered car racing in 2016, having been successful in junior karting in Liechtenstein and Switzerland. She debuted in the Italian F4 Championship with Aragón Racing, before a mid-season switch to DR Formula. She failed to qualify for the final at the first round in Misano (the series ran a unique format for said round after 41 cars entered a circuit with a capacity of 36) and, after the qualifying race system was  abandoned, did not score any points during the course of the season - her best finish being an 11th place in the final race of the season at Monza. Being the only woman competing in that championship, she won the Women's Trophy class uncontested. Audi Sport TT Cup. She moved into sportscars for 2017, successfully applying for the Audi Sport TT Cup. Her best result of 8th came in her first race in the category at the Hockenheimring, and the Liechtensteiner finished the season 11th in the standings. Ferrari Challenge. Wohlwend twinned her application to the Audi Sport TT Cup  with a partial campaign in the Ferrari Challenge European Championship. Competing in the amateur-level Coppa Shell class, this campaign yielded more success; from her six races she would score two pole positions, four podiums and a race win at Imola – in the process becoming the first woman to win a race outright for the Ferrari marque. Wohlwend also competed in the Ferrari Challenge season-ending "Finali Mondiali" at Mugello, finishing 3rd in the Coppa Shell class having benefitted from a controversial pass on Manuela Gostner. With the demise of the Audi TT Cup, Wohlwend remained in the Ferrari Challenge  – however made the step up to the Pro-Am class of the Trofeo Pirelli division. In a season plagued with inconsistency, she won three of the fourteen races – one at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and both races at the Misano World Circuit – and finished second in the championship to Briton Chris Froggatt. She returned to the Finali Mondiali event for 2018, and won the Pro-Am class of the Trofeo Pirelli race – becoming, on a technicality, the first female World Champion on four wheels. For 2019, Wohlwend again competed in the Trofeo Pirelli division of Ferrari Challenge, this time  as a Pro driver. This campaign consisted of the Valencia, Imola and Mugello events – with a best result of 4th in the World Final. She returned in 2020 for a planned full campaign, scoring pole position in the first race at Imola before suffering a fuel pump failure on the final lap. In a reduced field due to the coronavirus, she maintained consistent appearances on the podium but race wins proved elusive – and eventually missed three races in two events due to mechanical problems. She finally cracked the elusive win in the penultimate race of the season at Misano before  following it up with a 2nd place in the Finali Mondiali – her third Finali podium in four attempts. W Series. In 2019 she returned to open-wheel racing, having qualified for the W Series – a Formula 3 championship solely for women. Competing against mostly professional drivers for the first time, she finished 6th and 7th in the opening rounds at Hockenheim and Zolder, having qualified on the front row in the former. At the third round at Misano, she claimed the second-ever pole position for a Liechtensteiner in FIA-sanctioned open-wheel racing, a result which she converted into  a podium finish. She finished fourth ahead of a hard-charging Emma Kimiläinen at the Norisring, but ended the Assen race down in 15th after breaking her front wing whilst trying to pass Gosia Rdest. The final race at Brands Hatch resulted in a 5th-place finish on the tail of series champion Jamie Chadwick, but second place for Kimiläinen meant Wohlwend dropped to 6th in the standings. She was scheduled to return to the championship in 2020 before it was cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She continued to compete in the W Series on its return in  2021 as a Formula One support series. In the opening race of the season in Austria, she finished third after starting from 9th position. In the third race of the season at Silverstone, she started on the front row and achieved her second podium finish of the season by crossing the line in second place, her highest race finish in the W Series so far, even though she was leading until a braking error allowed Alice Powell to overtake her. She scored no further podium finishes in the remaining five races and finished the season 6th in the standings. Endurance  racing. Wohlwend made her endurance racing debut in the VLN Series in 2019, contesting VLN5 in the V4 class. She did not finish the race after an incident at "Schwedenkreuz". She returned to the championship in 2021 in the VT2 category, with her first race cancelled due to snowfall and her second resulting in a 4th in class, followed up by a podium in NLS3. She was picked up by WS Racing to contest the 2021 Nürburgring 24 Hours Qualifying Race in their Audi R8 GT4 alongside Carrie Schreiner, Célia Martin and Laura Kraihammer – a last-minute replacement for Pippa  Mann and Christina Nielsen who had failed to obtain the correct licences in time. A class win followed, impressing the outfit – and they retained the Liechtensteiner but moved her to their VT2-class BMW 328i for the 24 Hour race after Mann and Nielsen met their licence requirements, where she finished 9th in class after less than half of the race was run under green flags due to torrential rain and fog. Personal life. Statistically, Wohlwend is Liechtenstein's most successful racing driver in history. As well as being one of only three professional racing drivers ever to come from  Liechtenstein – alongside Frederick von Opel and Manfred Schurti – she also has the most race starts, pole positions and race wins of any Liechtensteiner. The Schellenberg-based driver has also been nominated for Liechtenstein Sportswoman of the Year three times; in 2018, 2019 and 2021. During her early career, Wohlwend worked for the Vaduz branch of VP Bank in order to fund her racing. Racing record. Career summary. <nowiki>*</nowiki> Season still in progress. Complete W Series results. <nowiki>*</nowiki> Season still in progress.