The Williams Racing Driver Academy saw two members racing over the weekend with action in the USA and the Middle East.

There wasn't any single seater racing for Lia Block or Sara Matsui, however, with our two hopefuls taking to off-road machinery and karts

See how Lia handled her second Nitrocross weekend and how Sara's latest Champions of the Future Academy round went by reading on below.

Play Now

Will you be the quickest Williams fan? Play Circuit Breaker to find out...

Climb the leaderboard!

After impressing in her Nitrocross return at Richmond Raceway last month, Lia headed to the Utah Motorsports Campus in Salt Lake City for more off-road action.

Although she didn't make the Finals for Round 3, her Round 4 result went one better than her maiden outing in September.

Collisions and contact continued her Nitrocross education, which is all part of the frantic racing style of the mixed-surface series.

Crossing the line P5 in the electric DRR Dodge netted Lia 32 points to her championship tally after another strong showing.

The karting world headed out of Europe to the renowned Dubai Kartdrome for Round 4 of the Champions of the Future Academy series.

Sara took to the OK-N Senior category for her weekend of racing in the high temperatures of the UAE.

Encouraging results had top-10 finishes during the heats, including a P6 classification in Qualifying Heat 1 and a fourth-fastest lap in Time Qualifying.

Frustratingly for Sara, the speed she showed on the run to the final didn't have a chance to transfer after a Lap 1 collision ended the weekend finale with a DNF.

The UAE will host the final two rounds of action for Sara starting next month while Lia's busy 2024 will have her in the cockpit of a Subaru WRX ARA24 at the Lake Superior Performance Rally this weekend for more off-road racing.

Start now

Pick a helmet and number to display your Williams Racing fandom to the world!

Make it yours

Williams

Lia has grown up in the motorsport world and spent many of her childhood years in the paddock. She began racing karts at 11 years old and entered her first off-road racing series in the same year.

Lia then started drifting cars at 13 years old and assumed drag-racing duties in the famous 1,400HP Mustang ‘Hoonicorn’ the year after.
She continued to build her skills in off-road racing and karting, becoming a front-runner in the Lucas Oil Off-Road Series’ lower classes by 2021 and taking multiple karting wins.

She later took part in the final round of the 2021 American Rally Association Championship in the Oregon Trail Rally as a 15-year-old, for the Hoonigan Racing Division, marking her first national-level rally.

Lia undertook more regular rallying in 2022 as part of the ARA championship, a season which included her best finish at the Southern Ohio Forest Rally where she placed 9th overall and 3rd in the O2WD class.

This proved an even more successful event for her in the 2023 season, achieving a 6th place finish overall and a victory in the O2WD class.

With two rallies to go, Lia secured the 2023 ARA O2WD championship to become the youngest ARA champion in history.

2023 has been a busy year for Lia, competing in Extreme E as part of Carl Cox Motorsport for the second half of the season alongside Timo Scheider. She has also begun her first season in Nitrocross NEXT, the junior category of the championship previously known as Nitro Rallycross.

In November 2023, it was announced that Lia will compete in the 2024 F1 Academy season with ART Grand Prix, as well as coming onboard as a Williams Racing Academy Driver.

Later in the month, Lia competed in the Baja 1000 alongside her mother Lucy Block and the Block House Racing Team. Lia and the team raced to victory following a grueling 34 hours of rally racing in Mexico.

More from Lia Block

Lia Block

Sara Matsui is an exciting talent emerging from the Japanese karting scene who joins the Williams Racing Driver Academy in 2024. At only 13-years-old, Sara has shown her potential across numerous national and international karting series and has already been recognised as a 2022 Girls on Track Rising Stars Finalist.

First taking to the track as a six-year-old, Sara has risen through the ranks in karting including the JAF Kart Championship FP-Jr, the JAF Local Kart Championship FS-125/X30 Division, and the GPR Karting Junior class where she scored two podiums.

Sara made her international debut in 2023, impressing in the OK-N Junior Champions of the Future Academy Program, finishing seventh out of 24 global competitors.


In 2024, Sara will compete in her first full season in Europe, driving in the OKJ class with Kart Republic. She will also race in the 2024 Junior Champions of the Future Academy supported by F1 Academy.

Academy Report: Lia sends it at Salt Lake

Lia Block launched into the sky in Nitrocross while Sara Matsui raced in Dubai

Nitrocross

Karting

Related Tags: