Woman power at the Nürburgring

25th May 2005

While Philip Geipel managed to increase his championship lead in the second round of the 2005 Toyota Yaris Cup, a woman delivered a convincing performance too: Sandra van der Sloot.

After two exciting races at Oschersleben, last weekend saw the second Toyota Yaris Cup weekend of the year. The championship stopped by at the 2.6 kilometre small Hockenheimring circuit. Once again the spectators were with presented thrilling motorsport action.

Steve Kirsch won the first heat and therefore clinched pole position for the second race. Meanwhile, Sandra van der Sloot from the Netherlands achieved a special success, being the first woman to finish on the podium in a Toyota Yaris Cup event in third place. Championship leader, Philip Geipel, clinched the runner-up position.

However, Geipel raised his game in the second race and won it. Van der Sloot again made it to the podium, this time in second place. Third place went to Swen Landgraf, who had to make his way up all the way from 14th on the starting grid.

Isolde Holderied, who was present at the event, acting as a special consultant to the Yaris Cup series, was particularly impressed by van der Sloot. "She reminds me of myself a little bit," she said. "I too was never happy with just winning the women's championship. My target has always been the overall victory - and Sandra is no different. She drove great races, but the same may be said of the other competitors. There were some tough battles, but they were always fair. That's how motorsport should be."

Just seconds before the start of the second race, Isolde was driving a Toyota Corolla TS Compressor as an inspection car. With a power output of 225 bhp and a top-speed of 235 km/h, Toyota wants to set a new benchmark for the sportive compact class with this model. Isolde will also drive the car over the Nürburgring Formula One weekend on Thursday. Toyota test driver Ricardo Zonta will take to the track in a second Toyota Corolla TS Compressor.

back