From ballet to the racetrack, Latvian driver Patricija Stalidzane defied expectations to pursue her passion for speed. After a sponsor’s mid-season withdrawal forced her out of the ADAC GT4 series, Patricija faced years on the sidelines and believed her career was over. However, now she’s been competing in a double-campaign for the past two years and truly rivived her career. We had the chance to catch up with Patricija, here’s her story.
All photos © Patrīcija Stalidzāne
Patricija came from a motorsport family, though her own entry into the sport was not a given. It took considerable persuasion from her side to convince her parents to put her in a go-kart. “My dad used to be a rally driver. When he stopped racing, he went back to karting as a coach. My brother had a go-kart, but he was too scared to do it. I was doing professional ballet at the time, because in my parents’ ‘conservative thinking’, they agreed not to let the girl get involved in motorsport. But my brother’s go-kart was just lying around there, and I started nagging my parents about wanting to try. I was always pulled to the thrilling and exciting stuff. Finally, it was between getting the best birthday party that I have ever wished for or getting to drive that go-kart. And I said I wanted to drive that go-kart. That’s how it all started. Then, from a hobby, it became a profession very quickly.”
Although Patricija describes her career as having swiftly transitioned from hobby to profession, she never truly planned it that way. It was always about the race or the championship at hand. “When I was karting, I had never thought about a career. It was never my intention to get a career out of this. I was focusing on whatever I was doing at that time. When I was doing the ADAC championship, I wanted to win that. And when I was doing WSK, I wanted to win that. I rarely thought about the future. I didn’t have a specific goal; I just enjoy doing motorsport. When people asked me whether I wanted to do touring cars or single-seaters, I never could answer because I had never driven either then. I still don’t have an ultimate goal in racing. But I have a lot of things that I like, that I want to have on my resume.”
I just like the idea of motorsport. I like competing against guys, because it’s more of a thrill and more fun to beat the gender that is stereotypically tougher.
After graduating from karting, Patricija made it into touring cars as a teenager. It was at this stage that she confronted the harsh reality of motorsport – the significant financial investment it requires. Then, during the pandemic, this aspect struck her more severely than ever. “When I went into touring cars, that was the breaking point of me realizing, if I wanna do this, it has to be financed. By that time, the money comes in a much bigger part than it does in karting. I realized that either I make it a career, or I cannot do it. When the coronavirus hit, my sponsor jumped off mid-season, and I had to cancel my second season in ADAC GT4 prematurely. Subsequently, the economic situation was very bad, and I couldn’t find the financing for the next year either.”
People don’t realize how little track time I have. There were seasons where I did no test days or only did half a season. The races I actually did were quite successful. For example, my first podium during my first season of ADAC GT4 in 2019 was against a field of 30 very experienced drivers. It was definitely an accomplishment I cherish.
Following a mid-season dropout in 2020, Patricija found herself without a permanent racing seat until the end of 2023, competing only part-time in 2022 and 2023. It appeared her racing career might end before it could truly take off. Yet, in the darkest moment, things began to turn around. “When I knew I had to cancel the season midway, I knew it wasn’t looking bright for the future, as nobody sees dropping out mid-season as a good thing. For the next season, I didn’t want to do half-hearted things here and there, so I didn’t even start the season. I thought it was over. But there were still people believing in my potential, and I’m very thankful for that. When I was getting my Nordschleife permit, I did it with WS Racing, the team behind Girls Only. They saw my pace, and they invited me to the team. For NXT Gen Cup, the people at ADAC knew me from my karting and GT4 days, and they asked me to join.”
Starting in the 2024 season, Patricija embarked on a dual campaign – competing in both the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) and the NXT Gen Cup. This year, as she becomes increasingly competitive in both championships – particularly in her pursuit of the NXT Gen Cup title (eventually Patricija finished fourth in the championship and secured her maiden win in the last round) – juggling the two series has grown even more demanding. “Last year, the switch between the two was not that hard. I just needed to remember the last time I was in that environment, and naturally get into the right flow. This year, I’m fighting for the championship in NXT Gen Cup, and at Girls Only, we keep pushing our own level, pushing our pace, pushing for the win. It’s much harder to let go of the previous weekend. For example, after the 24h race, to get back into my Mini was very weird, because my body was way more tuned in with one particular thing, so it was still kind of in that other feeling. It’s especially difficult when it’s a back-to-back race weekend, switching between the two. I have to put in a lot more effort and prepare a lot more. Braking is always the big difference between the two cars, I’ll need to remember how to brake for each one and get the feeling in my foot. Instinctively, I would do something else because I’m used to one or the other from the previous weekend.”
I am an environmentally friendly person. I was never prejudiced like many other drivers are to the electric idea. I always had a positive feeling about it. From the moment I drove the first race in NXT Gen Cup, I was quite convinced that it’s a nice thing to have. We get so much cool racing out of NXT Gen Cap due to it being electric.
As always, we asked Patricija to share advice for young girls aspiring to enter motorsport. Speaking from her own experience through some of the toughest challenges, here are Patricija’s wise words. “There is no right or wrong way at the end of the day. Everyone has to do it how they like, whether you want to earn money with it or you just enjoy the sport. My only advice is, stick to your beliefs. Whatever you think is right. Do that.”
With NLS9 and NLS10 to go, we wish Patricija all the best of luck in the rest of the season and beyond!
Paddock Sorority 
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