INTERVIEW WITH NEFELI KOSMOPOULOS

#PROFIL
Name: Nefeli Kosmopoulos
Birthday: 15.06.2011
Place of residence: Thessaloniki
Nationality: Greek
Hobbies: Sim Racing, Drawing, Music, Climing und Skiing

As previously announced, here is the interview with Nefeli Kosmopoulos. Nefeli is another young and talented driver at Minardi Management. Find out more about her here.

How did you get into motorsport?
I got into motorsport through my father, who was a karting and rally champion and a really strong personality in Greek motorsport. My father founded the Cosmosrally Kart
Academy karting team with the support of my mother. Even though I grew up in this environment, I didn‘t want to go karting at first because I thought it was only for boys.
But that changed one day when I was 4 years old and we traveled to Italy to meet other drivers from our team. I met a young female driver who inspired me a lot.

How long have you been involved in motorsport?
I‘ve been interested in motorsport since I was a child. I grew up in the Cosmosrally team and started driving my own kart at the age of 4. A few years later, at the age of 8, I took part in my first race in Greece. In the same year, I also drove my first World Championship race in Italy. I remember that day very well, because I was super excited before that race.

How satisfied are you with your 2024 season so far?
The 2024 season was my first season in the junior categories. I learned a lot from the races and gained a lot of experience, even if the results weren‘t the best. In the first half of the season I wasn‘t able to do many races because of school, but in general I‘m still very happy with the season as I gained a lot of knowledge and I was able to arrange a lot of things for my school to be able to do more in the future.

What are your best moments in motorsport so far?
In motorsport you can experience many highs and lows, emotions can change from one day to the next. That‘s why I don‘t just have good moments in motorsport, but generally the best moments are when you achieve a good result after hard work and failures and celebrate this with family and friends from the team.

Are there already plans for the 2025 season?
My plans for the 2025 season are to ride more races than in the 2024 season, as I have found a way to solve the problem with school, improve and get better results in the world championships. I feel really ready for the season and I‘m super excited because I‘ve been working a lot. Among other things, I am doing a lot of tests in Italy and in our home country Greece. In Greece, my family and friends of ours have started to build an international karting track.

What are your wishes for your future in motorsport?
My wish is that one day I will manage to get into a program for girls and get into the F1 academy. But if you ask me, my real dream is to be a female F1 driver. I don‘t know how I will try to realize my dream (the valuable support of the Minardi management helps a lot), but I am sure that I will give everything and work hard for it. In any case, all this is taking place in a really colorful, interesting, inspiring and dynamic world and I am here to enjoy it to the fullest; with my eyes on the forest around me and not just on a tree!

What else would you like to tell the readers of our magazine about yourself or motorsport?
I would like to say that I am very grateful to my family and the Cosmosrally Kart Academy for giving me the opportunity to lead this kind of life and that I wouldn‘t trade it for anything in the world. Finally, I applaud the efforts of the FIA programs to give us (girls) more opportunities to be active in motorsport. I feel a responsibility from my own experience to inspire younger girls to get involved in motorsport.

We will continue to follow the further development of Julia and Nefeli and will of course keep you up to date.

#MOTORSPORTCAREER
2019
First race in Greece (at the age of 8)
2021
Rotax Max Challenge in Greece
(Micro Max category first place)
2021
First races in Italy (WSK series category MINI GR3)
2022
WSK series and Italian championship races
2023
Promotion to the junior class and participation in international races
2023
Participation in races in international OKJ categories and races in Italy

Interview: Petra Röhrig
Photo: Sportinphoto