A Thrilling Start to the Season: MINI NXT Gen Cup Opens at Oschersleben

The new season of the all-electric MINI Touring Car Championship NXT Gen Cup started this past weekend at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, Germany, in support of the DTM. This exciting opener saw a return for many familiar faces, like Patricija Salidzane, Philip Bartoš, Siri Hökfelt and Sophie Hofmann, alongside a wave of new talent — some of which had never raced before. Among those are racing newcomers Viviann Ehrl, and professional sim racer, now turned real life racer, Sean Terre.

This year’s grid is particularly noteworthy for its diversity, marking the highest level of female participation the championship has seen to date, with 6 out of the 18 drivers being women and girls.

One of the standout newcomers is former Paralympian Andreas Kapfinger. The Austrian, a once competitive snowboarder, turned monoskier after a life-changing accident left him wheelchair-bound. Now, Kapfinger is chasing speed on four wheels, piloting a specially adapted MINI fitted with hand controls.

Rookie Triumphs and Memorable Battles

The weekend's action was nothing short of spectacular — especially for the rookies. The two  races on Saturday, April 26, were both claimed by first-time winners, with Austria’s Philipp Dietrich taking victory in the opening race, and Germany’s Maxim Dacher securing a superb win in the second.

Sunday continued to deliver with another remarkable rookie performance. German driver Julian Würtele dominated Race 4, leading from start to finish and pulling out an unusually large gap over the rest of the field — a rare sight in the typically very close-fought NXT Gen Cup. Speaking to the NXT Gen Cup media team about his commanding performance, Würtele described it as “a lonely race, but pretty amazing.”

While Würtele controlled the front, fierce battles raged throughout the midfield, ensuring fans were kept on the edge of their seats until the chequered flag waved.

The third race was won by returning driver Lukas Stiefelhagen.

Fighting Spirit: Patricija Stalidzane’s Comeback

A particularly notable storyline unfolded around Patricija Stalidzane.

After a technical issue with her car’s battery forced her to not start for Race 3 — a major disappointment after once again an excellent qualifying session that saw her leading most of the time in qualifying but ultimately securing third on the grid — she was left to start from the very back in position 18 in Race 4. Showing tremendous skill and determination, the Latvian-born driver stormed through the pack, breaking into the top ten within the first lap and ultimately finishing in strong ninth position. 

Stalidzane started into the season with a lot of hunger to improve on her performance, having finished the championship in 5th position last season. After pre-season testing Stalidzane said: "From last year I am taking with me how important it is to use the push to pass and use it wisely.[...] I really hope that I'm gonna be able to use what I learned last year this season and have an advantage by that." And it certainly seems like she has, even if luck was not on her side on Sunday.

If this first race weekend of the NXT Gen Cup is anything to go by, then we are certainly in for another thrilling year of racing with lots of twists and turns.

If you want to catch up on the racing, you can do so here:

The next race: Norisring, Germany, July 4-6