Juju Noda takes historic win at Paul Ricard

22.07.2023

Juju Noda made history today at Circuit Paul Ricard by winning Race 1 and becoming the first girl who takes a win in the Euroformula Open. Unlucky a few weeks ago at the Hungaroring, the Japanese took advantage of the events in France to sign a well-deserved first success which confirms her constant progression.

There were emotional moments at the end of the race, as Juju was reunited with her parents, who run the small and enthusiastic Noda Racing, and her mechanics and all took the unanimous applause of those around.

Juju herself had difficulties expressing her emotions: “I am speechless… It has been a difficult weekend so far but this comes as a nice reward for all the work and efforts done this season. I don’t know what to say…”

Motopark’s Jakob Bergmeister and Bryce Aron were second and third after some lively battles, in a race that was marked by the contact of the two front-runners, Francesco Simonazzi (BVM Racing) and Noel León (Motopark).

THE RACE - At the start, Simonazzi takes a better kick-off and narrowly manages to take the lead from poleman León in the outside of turn 1, while Aron stalls. Ryabov is third ahead of Noda, Shields, Bergmeister and Pénzes.

The fight for the lead remains intense in the initial laps, but Simonazzi remains ahead. In lap 4, Shields passes Ryabov for third with a beautiful move, but shortly after is the contact between Simonazzi and Leone, who was trying to pass, that steals all the attention. The Mexican hits the barriers while the Italian has a broken suspension. The race finished for both and the safety car deployed. The incident also caused confusion behind, with Juju Noda taking what becomes the lead ahead of Ryabov, Bergmeister, Aron, Shields and Pénzes.

At the restart, in lap 8, there is a big battle in the reduced group, with Noda keeping the advantage despite being challenged by Bergmeister. Shields is two seconds back, dueling with Aron and Ryabov, but it’s the American taking P3 after a last-lap move and joining Noda and Bergmeister on the podium.