Fabienne Wohlwend

Fabienne Wohlwend (born 7 November 1997 in Vaduz) is a female racing driver from Liechtenstein who competes in the W Series.[2]

Fabienne Wohlwend
Nationality	Liechtensteiner
Born	(1997-11-07) 7 November 1997 Vaduz, Liechtenstein[1]
W Series
Years active	2019
Starts	6
Wins	0
Poles	1
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	6th in 2019
Previous series
2016 2017 2017 2018–2019 2019	Formula 4 Italy Audi Sport TT Cup Ferrari Challenge Europe – Coppa Shell Ferrari Challenge Europe – Trofeo Pirelli VLN Series – Class V4
Championship titles
2018 2008	Ferrari Challenge – Finali Mondiali (Pro-Am) Liechtenstein Karting Championship

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.[3][4] 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.[5] Being the only woman competing in that championship, she won the Women's Trophy class uncontested.[6]

Audi Sport TT Cup

She moved into sportscars for 2017, successfully applying for the Audi Sport TT Cup.[1] 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.[7]

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.[8] 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.[9]

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.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12]

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.[13] She returned in 2020 for a full campaign, scoring pole position in the first race at Imola before suffering a fuel pump failure on the final lap.[14]

W Series

Wohlwend (pink) at the 2019 W Series Brands Hatch round.

In 2019 she returned to open-wheel racing, having qualified for the W Series – a Formula 3 championship solely for women.[15] 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.[16] 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.[17] 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.[18] The final race at Brands Hatch resulted in a 5th place finish on the tail of series champion Jamie Chadwick, despite injury concerns pre-race following a high-speed rollover on her VLN Series debut the previous weekend.[19]

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 (76) and most race wins (5) of any Liechtensteiner.[20] The Schellenberg-based driver has also twice been nominated for Liechtenstein Sportswoman of the Year, in 2018 and 2019.[21]

During her early career, Wohlwend worked for the Vaduz branch of VP Bank in order to fund her racing.[22][23][24]

Career results

Season	Series	Team	Car	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2016	Formula 4 Italy	Aragón Racing DR Formula	Tatuus–Abarth F4-T014	20	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2017	Audi Sport TT Cup	N/A	Audi TT Cup	13	0	0	0	0	97	11th
	Ferrari Challenge Europe – Coppa Shell	Octane126	Ferrari 488 Challenge	6	1	2	0	4	67.5	6th
	Ferrari Challenge Finali Mondiali – Coppa Shell	Octane126	Ferrari 488 Challenge	1	0	0	0	1	–	3rd
2018	Ferrari Challenge Europe – Trofeo Pirelli (Pro-Am)	Octane126	Ferrari 488 Challenge	14	3	4	3	10	142	2nd
	Ferrari Challenge Finali Mondiali – Trofeo Pirelli (Pro-Am)	Octane126	Ferrari 488 Challenge	1	1	1	0	1	–	1st
2019	Ferrari Challenge Europe – Trofeo Pirelli (Pro)	Octane126	Ferrari 488 Challenge	6	0	0	0	0	40	7th
	W Series	Hitech Grand Prix	Tatuus–Alfa Romeo F3 T-318	6	0	1	0	1	51	6th
	VLN Series – Class V4	Jaco's Paddock Motorsport	BMW 325i E90 Racing	2	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC
	Ferrari Challenge Finali Mondiali – Trofeo Pirelli (Pro)	Octane126	Ferrari 488 Challenge	1	0	0	0	0	–	4th
2020	Ferrari Challenge Europe – Trofeo Pirelli (Pro)	Octane126	Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo	6	0	1	0	6	70*	2nd*

*Championship in progress

Complete W Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	1	2	3	4	5	6	DC	Points
2019	HOC 6	ZOL 7	MIS 3	NRM 4	ASS 15	BRH 5	6th	51

References

1. "Profile: #5 Fabienne Wohlwend (FL)". Audi AG. 5 March 2017.
2. "Fabienne Wohlwend – W Series". W Series. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
3. "Italian and German F4 series get 40+ cars, qualifying races". Formula Scout. 7 April 2016.
4. "Guzman and DR Racing unstoppableOne victory and one pole at Adria". DR Formula. 9 May 2016.
5. "DR Racing chiude il 2016 in grande stile (in Italian)". DR Formula. 31 October 2016.
6. "Jüri Vips, the Rookie Trophy champion, wins Race 3. Prema Power Team win the Teams Championship". ACI Sport. 30 October 2016.
7. "Fabienne Wohlwend: "Das Interesse in Liechtenstein ist enorm" (in German)". Motorsport.com Switzerland. 5 May 2017.
8. "Ferrari Challenge Europe – Fabienne Wohlwend wins at Imola and makes history". Ferrari B.V. 8 October 2017.
9. "Ferrari Challenge 2017 - Coppa Shell - World final race at Mugello". Motorsport.com Australia. 23 November 2017.
10. "Fabienne Wohlwend – Corse Clienti". Ferrari B.V. 17 April 2019.
11. "Wohlwend gibt in Barcelona wieder Gas (in German)". Volksblatt.li. 14 September 2018.
12. "Ferrari Challenge: Wohlwend ist Weltmeisterin! (in German)". Volksblatt.li. 4 November 2018.
13. "Fabienne Wohlwend verpasst Podest bei den Ferrari World Finals nur knapp (in German)". Motorsport.com Switzerland. 30 October 2019.
14. "Fabienne Wohlwend Imola im pech (in German)". Radio Liechtenstein. 4 July 2020.
15. "W Series announces its driver line-up". W Series. 28 March 2019.
16. "Platz 7 für Wohlwend (in German)". Volksblatt.li. 19 May 2019.
17. "Frederick von Opel". Driver Database. 8 June 2019.
18. "Kaputter Frontflügel bremst Wohlwend aus (in German)". Volksblatt.li. 20 July 2019.
19. "Wohlwend wird beim Saisonfinale Fünfte (in German)". Volksblatt.li. 11 August 2019.
20. "Racing drivers from Liechtenstein". Driver Database. 31 March 2019.
21. "Die Titelverteidiger sind alle am Start (in German)". Liechtensteiner Vaterland. 18 November 2019.
22. "Fabienne Wohlwend: "Neben Mick Schumacher auf dem Podium ist nichts Besonderes" (in German)". Motorsport.com Switzerland. 8 August 2016.
23. "Ferrari: Fabienne meistert die Challenge (in German)". Autosprint Switzerland. 31 October 2019.
24. "Wohlwend setzt voll auf Sport (in German)". Liechtensteiner Vaterland. 17 July 2019.

External links

Profile at Driver Database