Cristiana Oprea
Cristiana Oprea (born 11 March 1992) is a Romanian rally driver. She currently competes in the all-electric rally series Opel Cup 2022 and the FIA Balkan European Rally Trophy. Cristiana is the first Romanian woman driver to ever compete in the World Rally Championship and European Rally Championship. Her career in rallying started in 2015, first as a codriver next to George Grigorescu, then as a driver in DACIA Cup, driving a Dacia Sandero 0.9 TCe.
 Cristiana Oprea, 2022 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Romanian |
| Born | 11 March 1992 București, Romania |
| World Rally Championship record | |
| Co-driver | Andrei Mitrașcă |
| Rallies | 1 |
| First rally | 2022 Croatia Rally |
| Last rally | 2022 Croatia Rally |
| European Rally Championship | |
| Years active | 2019 |
| Co-driver | Diana Hațegan |
| Starts | 1 |
| Wins | Maximum points in ERC Ladies Trophy at Rally di Roma Capitale 2019 |
| Podiums | 1 |
| Cupa Dacia Romanian National Rally Championship | |
| Years active | 2015-2020 |
| Co-driver | Ioana Stan (2017), Diana Hațegan (2018-2020) |
| Starts | 22 |
| Podiums | 1 - P2 Dacia Cup at Argeș Rally 2019 |
| Best finish | P5 overall in Dacia Cup in 2018 |
She previously competed in the Romanian National Rally Championship and in the European Rally Championship.[1] In July 2018 she and codriver Diana Hațegan became the first Romanian female rally crew in the last 50 years to compete in a foreign rally[2] (Rally Sliven, Bulgaria, a FIA European Rally Trophy event).
In July 2019 she and codriver Diana Hațegan became the first ladies crew to ever represent Romania in the FIA ERC European Rally Championship, at Rally di Roma Capitale, where they gained maximum points in the ERC Ladies Trophy standings driving a Peugeot 208 R2.[3]
In April 2022, Cristiana Oprea made her WRC debut at 2022 Croatia Rally and became the first Romanian woman driver to ever compete in the World Rally Championship.[4]
Biography
Studies, career and motorsport debut
Oprea is a double graduate of the "Ion Mincu" University of Architecture and Urbanism in Bucharest. She studied Urban Planning (2010-2014) and Architecture (2011-2017), but she never worked in the field, wanting to follow her passion for cars.[5] In 2015 she was for a short while the PR of the Romanian Motorsport Federation, when she first took contact with the motorsport world. Her career in rallying started in 2015, first as a codriver next to George Grigorescu, Master of Sport and founder of the DACIA Cup series, then as a driver in DACIA Cup, driving a Dacia Sandero 0.9 TCe.
Motorsport Excellence Centre Bucharest
In 2017, Oprea created the concept for a Motorsport Excellence Centre in Bucharest as an architecture graduation project.
Racing career
Cristiana Oprea competed 2 full seasons (2017 - 2018) in DACIA Cup,[6] part of the Romanian National Rally Championship. Her rookie season was 2017, when she completed 7 events driving a Dacia Sandero 0.9 TCe with Ioana Stan as a codriver. They finished on 6th place out of 9 rookie crew and on 12th place out of 18 crews enlisted overall in DACIA Cup. In 2018 she finished on the 5th place overall in DACIA Cup, marking the best result of a woman driver since 2007, when Alina Bunica competed.
Oprea first stepped on a podium at the beginning of 2019 season at Argeș Rally, when together with codriver Diana Hațegan took second place overall[7] in DACIA Cup.
In July 2019 she and codriver Diana Hațegan became the first ladies crew to ever represent Romania in the FIA ERC European Rally Championship, at Rally di Roma Capitale, where they finished P8 in the highly competitive ERC3 class and gained maximum points in the ERC Ladies Trophy standings.
In April 2022, Cristiana Oprea and codriver Andrei Mitrașcă competed in the World Rally Championship at 2022 Croatia Rally.
Romanian Women in Motorsport platform
Oprea is the founder and administrator of "Femei în Motorsport", a platform dedicated to promoting all women involved in Romanian motorsport, following the Women in Motorsport concept as defined by FIA.[8]
References
- "Oprea All Set for Dream Step Up to ERC in Rome". www.fiaerc.com. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
- "Auto: Primul echipaj feminin românesc din ultimii 50 de ani, la un raliu în afara ţării". www.agerpres.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 2019-06-10.
- Oprea, Cristiana. "My ERC Debut". www.fiaerc.com. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
- "Auto: Cristiana Oprea va debuta în WRC la Raliul Croaţiei".
- "Cristiana Oprea: Îmi doresc să reprezint România la Campionatul European de Raliuri". Femeia.ro. 2018-12-13. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
- "Cupa DACIA". Cupa Dacia. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
- "Cristi Sugar/Vlad Colceriu câștigă prima etapă, Cristiana Oprea/Diana Hațegan scriu istorie în Cupa DACIA la Raliul Argeșului". Cupa Dacia. 2019-05-07. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
- Strauti, Dan (2019-03-01). "Femei in motorsport, o pagina dedicata promovării femeilor implicate în automobilismul și motociclismul din România". Autostiri.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 2019-06-10.