Sophia Floersch is set to make her return to 2019 Macau GP, one year after her accident, as Jehan Daruvala is forced out due to injury.
It was a nightmare run for Floersch in 2018 when her Van Amersfoort Racing car crashed heavily onto the barrier, not only injuring herself but also the marshals. The FIA has since taken action to avoid a repeat of the incident by making certain changes.
The detailed alterations is yet to be revealed but Floersch, after having made full recovery and also raced in the Formula Regional European Championship with VAR, where she scored in all her outings to be seventh overall, is set to return to compete in Macau GP.
FormulaRapida.net understands that Floersch will race for HWA Racelab, which has two seats left to be filled up after announcing Jake Hughes as its lone entrant. The German had her intentions clear earlier this month for a return, which seems like a reality.
While Floersch looks ready to compete, co-incidently, the driver she actually ran into during the last year’s incident, Daruvala, is confirmed to miss the event after being announced as one of the Prema drivers alongside Robert Shwartzman and Marcus Armstrong.
The Indian had a solid chance to excel this year after his fruitful F3 campaign, where he missed second by one point after going into the finale as a title contender. He has injured his knee in a training regime, for which he has had to undergo a surgery.
He is certainly to miss this year’s Macau GP but will also have to sit out of the post-season F2 test, which he likely was to feature in after not taking part in the ongoing F3 test. Prema noted that it will announce his replacement in due course of time.
UPDATE: Prema announced the signing of 2019 Formula Regional European Championship winner Frederik Vesti as a replacement for Daruvala for Macau GP.
UPDATE 2: HWA Racelab has confirmed what FormulaRapida.net reported with Floersch to compete in this year’s Macau GP for the German outfit alongside Hughes and Kevyan Andres, who is named as the third driver.
“I’m delighted to be driving in Macau again,” said Floerch. “It was my first race there last year. Until my accident it was the most amazing event I had ever contested. The track is incredible! It is so much fun to drive.
“It’s incredible in a F3 car, I had a smile on my face every lap. After the accident, I knew I definitely wanted to return to racing and to return to Macau! The fact that I achieved that this year already shows that you can make your dreams come true when you believe in yourself and work hard at them.”
Here’s the drivers who have entered so far
Here’s the details regarding the changes made to the circuit for 2019 Macau GP