Podium Finish on Her Formula 4 Debut in Denmark
Monday 27 April 2026 Tags: News
Seventeen year old Rosanne den Drijver made an impressive debut in the Nordic Formula 4 Championship. During her very first Formula 4 race weekend, the Captain Cruise driver from the Westland region immediately showed that she fully deserves her place in the category. With strong overtaking moves, confident defending and, as the highlight, a second place finish in the final, Rosanne can look back on a highly successful weekend.
Rosanne set the tone straight away in qualifying. Despite heavy traffic and limited opportunities to find a clear lap, she recorded the fifth fastest time.
“It was difficult to find enough space, and I noticed that I was lacking some grip in the high speed corners, but P5 in my first Formula 4 qualifying session is an amazing result,” Rosanne said.
Strong races and a rapid learning curve
Rosanne made a strong start in the opening race on Saturday and immediately joined the leading group. In the early stages, she narrowly avoided a crash in the first corner and moved up to fourth position. When another driver later retired on the straight, Rosanne even ran in third place for several laps. She eventually finished fourth overall and as the second highest rookie.
“A very strong result, especially as we still did not have the ideal level of grip. It later turned out that a minor technical issue was causing an imbalance at the rear of the car. My team, STEP Motorsport, made some adjustments and the car felt much better again on Sunday.”
Race 2 featured a reversed grid for the top eight, meaning Rosanne started from fifth position. She had a difficult start and dropped back to ninth place on the opening lap. She then recovered with several overtaking moves and fought her way back to fifth, while also enjoying some close battles with her direct rivals.
Thrilling final rewarded with a podium
The starting grid for the final was determined by the results of the previous two races, allowing Rosanne to start from third position. What followed was a thrilling race. After an excellent start, she immediately moved into second place. The leader received a penalty for a jump start, briefly putting Rosanne in the lead.
Halfway through the race, the session was stopped following a heavy crash involving two cars. Fortunately, everyone escaped unharmed. After the restart, Rosanne managed to open a small gap on the long straight, but the margins remained extremely close. After brief contact during an attack from the driver behind, she lost the lead and dropped back to second place, where she eventually finished.
“Of course you always want to win, but this feels like a victory. To finish second during my very first Formula 4 weekend makes me incredibly happy.”
Confidence for the rest of the season
With her performances, Rosanne made a strong impression in the Nordic Formula 4 Championship. She will miss the next race weekend because of her final exams, but will return for the following rounds.
“This weekend has given me a great deal of confidence. Together with Biersteker, Rainbow Growers and ProTech Westland, we have shown that we can compete at this level, and I am looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Rosanne’s journey can be followed on Instagram at RoosRacing1 and at www.roosracing.com.