Rising Star: Nicole Havrda.
January 08 2022, Mercedes-Benz Vancouver
In partnership with Dilawri Group of Companies, Mercedes-Benz Vancouver is proud to sponsor Nicole Havrda.
At just fifteen years old, Nicole has her sights set on becoming the fastest race car driver in the world. Having quickly made a name for herself on the kart racing circuit at domestic and international events, she’s currently training to compete this year in Formula 4, the open-wheel racing car category for junior drivers on their way to international renown as Formula 1 drivers.
Born and raised on Vancouver Island, the young Comox Valley-based athlete sought the thrill of speed early on, spending several years on the Mount Washington ski racing team and swimming competitively for six years prior to discovering motorsports. Inspired by attending her first Formula 1 race in Austria in 2018, she dove into karting and won her first podium finish in 2019, where she was also crowned Rookie of the Year at the West Coast Kart Club. She went on to take first place at the Calgary Shootout in Strathmore, Alberta in 2020, among a half dozen podium finishes in other events. The same year, Havrda traveled to Mont Tremblant, Quebec for the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals, where she took 6th place, and competed in her first international event, Challenge of the Americas in Tucson, Arizona, also placing 6th. 2021 saw her winning several races at the West Coast Kart Club, 2nd at the Rotax West Final, and 8th place at the Canadian Nationals.
Most exciting, in October 2021, Nicole took the leap from karts to Formula 4 car racing when she successfully completed her first test of an open-wheel single-seater race car at Southern California’s Buttonwillow Raceway with US F4 team Kiwi Motorsport. During the three-day test of a Ligier JS F4 car, the entire first day of the experience was dedicated to seat fitting, an hours-long process involving sitting in a seat resembling a bean bag in consistency, all while suited up in racing gear. Once the right seating position is achieved, the driver sits in place for about an hour until the air is completely emptied from the bag. The seat is then created over approximately four hours and finally tested once again to ensure a correct fit. Seat fitting is a key step in professional race car driving for creating maximum safety, control, and – most importantly – speed.
Once custom fitted to the Ligier, Nicole worked her way up to speeds that were within two seconds of the circuit’s fastest F4 times. It was her first chance to drive one of the lightweight F4 vehicles, which are equipped with a 6-speed paddle shift gearbox and are able to reach speeds of over 150 miles per hour (240 km per hour). It was quite an upgrade from kart racing, as Nicole described on her blog:
“...[As] I left the pits, I literally lost my breath. The car was vibrating so much that I had to really think about my breathing and breathe slower, but once I got into 2nd gear, I was good to go.”
With 2021’s ever-changing pandemic restrictions and travel complications, Nicole and her team were initially uncertain of whether the F4 test would go ahead as anticipated. Plans were kept under wraps until the eleventh hour, which made it all the more electrifying when this young driver was cleared to take the next step in her motorsports career. 2022 is looking bright for this rising young star and we look forward to seeing Nicole shining on the podium in the very near future.
