Fabienne Wohlwend

Fabienne Wohlwend
Wohlwend in 2019
Nationality	Liechtensteiner
Born	7 November 1997 Vaduz, Liechtenstein
W Series
Years active	2019, 2021–2022
Teams	Bunker Racing CortDAO W Series Team
Starts	17
Wins	0
Podiums	3
Poles	1
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	6th in 2019, 2021
Previous series
2016 2017 2017 2018–2020 2019 2021 2022–2023 2022	Formula 4 Italy Audi Sport TT Cup Ferrari Challenge Europe – Coppa Shell Ferrari Challenge Europe – Trofeo Pirelli VLN Series – Class V4 Nürburgring Endurance Series – Class VT2 Nürburgring Endurance Series – Class SP8T Indian Racing League
Championship titles
2018	Ferrari Challenge – Finali Mondiali (Pro-Am)

Fabienne Wohlwend (born 7 November 1997) is a racing driver from Liechtenstein who competed 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 scored a 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.

Wohlwend returned to the championship in 2022 with the CortDAO entry. At the opening round in Miami she qualified 5th for both races despite crashing late in the session – in the first race she crashed into Abbie Eaton and she finished 11th in the second after a grid penalty for the incident with the Briton. After a ninth-place finish in Barcelona she finished 4th at Silverstone after passing Beitske Visser on the penultimate lap. She finished seventh at Circuit Paul Ricard after a spirited fight with team-mate Marta García and followed it up with sixth at the Hungaroring. The Liechtensteiner finished eighth in her first Asian race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit before the season was cut short due to financial issues; her worst W Series campaign ended with 32 points and 10th 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.

Wohlwend returned to the NLS in 2022 with WS Racing's "Girls Only" GT4 squad. After not starting the first race of the season due to a practice crash for co-driver Nielsen, she took part in NLS3 before finishing her first full Nürburgring 24 Hours in 35th overall joined by Schreiner, Martin and Pippa Mann. She returned to the category in 2023 with the same team in an updated model M4, however her entry was disqualified from the first round after breaching the Nürburgring's noise restrictions.

Wohlwend joined her NLS Series co-driver Martin in the ADAC GT4 Germany series for 2023 with Aston Martin team PROsport Racing.

Personal life

Wohlwend has been nominated for Liechtenstein Sportswoman of the Year four times; in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022.

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

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2016	Italian F4 Championship	Aragón Racing	2	0	0	0	0	0	35th
		DR Formula	18	0	0	0	0
2017	Audi Sport TT Cup	N/A	13	0	0	0	0	97	11th
	Ferrari Challenge Europe - Coppa Shell	Octane126	6	1	2	0	4	67.5	6th
2018	Ferrari Challenge Europe - Trofeo Pirelli (Pro-Am)	Octane126	14	3	4	3	10	142	2nd
2019	Ferrari Challenge Europe - Trofeo Pirelli (Pro)	Octane126	6	0	0	0	0	40	7th
	W Series	Hitech Grand Prix	6	0	1	0	1	51	6th
	VLN Series - Class V4	Jaco's Paddock Motorsport	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2020–21	Ferrari Challenge Europe - Trofeo Pirelli (Pro)	Octane126	11	1	3	0	10	132	2nd
2021	Nürburgring Endurance Series - Class VT2	Adrenalin Motorsport	2	0	0	0	1	16.74	39th
	W Series	Bunker Racing	8	0	0	0	2	42	6th
	24 Hours of Nürburgring - VT2	Giti Tire Motorsport By WS Racing	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	9th
2022	Nürburgring Endurance Series - Class SP8T	WS Racing	1	0	0	0	1	5	4th
	W Series	CortDAO W Series Team	7	0	0	0	0	32	10th
	Indian Racing League	Godspeed Kochi	6	0	0	0	2	92	6th
	24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP8T	Giti Tire Motorsport By WS Racing	1	0	0	0	1	N/A	3rd
2023	Nürburgring Endurance Series - SP8T	WS Racing	1	0	0	0	0	0*	NC*
	ADAC GT4 Germany	PROsport Racing	12	0	0	0	0	4	34th
	Indian Racing League	Godspeed Kochi	3	0	0	0	0	28‡	9th‡
	24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP8T	Giti Tire Motorsport By WS Racing	1	0	1	1	1	N/A	2nd

* Season still in progress.

‡ Team standings.

Ferrari Challenge Finali Mondiali results

Year	Class	Team	Car	Circuit	Pos.
2017	Coppa Shell Am	Octane126	Ferrari 488 Challenge	Mugello Circuit	3rd
2018	Trofeo Pirelli Pro-Am	Octane126	Ferrari 488 Challenge	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza	1st
2019	Trofeo Pirelli Pro	Octane126	Ferrari 488 Challenge	Mugello Circuit	4th
2020	Trofeo Pirelli Pro	Octane126	Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo	Misano World Circuit	2nd

Complete W Series results

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

Year	Team/Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	DC	Points
2019	Hitech Grand Prix	HOC 6	ZOL 7	MIS 3	NOR 4	ASS 15	BRH 5			6th	51
2021	Bunker Racing	RBR1 3	RBR2 10	SIL 2	HUN Ret	SPA 7	ZAN 16	COA1 9	COA2 Ret	6th	42
2022	CortDAO W Series Team	MIA1 Ret	MIA2 11	CAT 9	SIL 4	LEC 7	HUN 6	SIN 8		10th	32

* Season still in progress.

Complete 24 Hours of Nürburgring results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Ovr. Pos.	Class Pos.
2021	WS Racing	Nicolaj Kandborg Niklas Kry Tobias Wolf	BMW 328i (F30)	VT2	43	97th	9th
2022	WS Racing	Pippa Mann Célia Martin Carrie Schreiner	BMW M4 (F82) GT4	SP8T	139	35th	3rd
2023	WS Racing	Pippa Mann Célia Martin Beitske Visser	BMW M4 GT4 (G82)	SP8T	135	81st	2nd