Photo: FIA
Alba Hurup Larsen has won the senior final in the fourth edition of the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission’s Ferrari Driver Academy-affiliated Girls on Track Rising Stars programme.
There were four finalists in the ‘Senior’ group, consisting of drivers aged 14 to 16, and they are competing to win a paid-for 2024 Formula 4 seat with Iron Lynx as well as entry into an FDA scouting shootout.
However in the FIA’s announcement of Larsen’s victory, there was no mention of the F4 seat or follow-up shootout, and instead the “FDA will monitor her progress next season on visits to Maranello”.
The FIA GoT RS shootout and training camp took place several months ago, with the senior group focusing on performance in F4 tests while the junior group (consisting of drivers aged 12-14) did more running in karts. The finalists then contested a follow-up shootout at Ferrari’s test track Fiorano this month.
Larsen has karted across Europe this year, coming 64th in IAME Series Italy’s X30 Junior standings, 12th in the Danish Karting League’s X30 Jr series, winning a regional championhip in Zealand and taking victories in Sydsjællands Automobil Klub’s DASU Junior races.
She has also raced in IAME Series Sweden and come 43rd in the Sydsvenskans Kart Champion Cup’s Junior 125 class, while receiving the mentorship of Formula 1 driver Kevin Magnussen.
Drivers in the FIA GoT RS’s Junior group were competing for a campaign in an international karting championship with financial support from the FDA, although there was no mention of that in the announcement of Lithuanian racer Vanesa Silkunaite as the group’s winner.
Marco Mattassa, head of the FDA, confirmed that Larsen at least had won a paid-for F4 race seat as advertised. However he also indicated that Ferrari will no longer be associated with the Rising Stars programme in future editions.
“We congratulate Alba on winning and along with Iron Dames, we will give her the opportunity to show what she can do in a F4 car, while carefully monitoring her progress,” he said. “Congratulations also to Vanesa, whose determination in the kart meant she got the better of some fierce competition.
“This enjoyable project has now come to an end, having helped to start the careers of Maya and Aurelia, who have a challenging and hopefully successful 2024 season ahead of them. We will continue to search for the best young drivers through our scouting programme, which evaluates boy and girls equally, based solely on their talent.”