Ava Hanssen

Ava Hanssen is a Wisconsin-bred open-wheel racing driver who started karting at four and hasn’t lifted off the throttle since. Born July 15, 2010, she’s making her mark in a sport where being young, female, and fast means you’ve got to prove yourself every single lap.

EARLY YEARS

Racing runs in the Hanssen family like engine oil through a V8. Her father, Tim, originally raced motorcycles, but when he hung up his leathers, Ava’s older brother Daven switched gears to snowmobiles. When Daven stopped racing, four-year-old Ava from Elkhorn, Wisconsin, decided it was her turn—and she picked go-karts. Her parents, Tim and Sarah, were suddenly in the racing game again, but this time with a daughter who had zero interest in sitting still.

By the time she was in fifth grade at Jackson Elementary, standing 4’11” and weighing 98 pounds, Ava was already a veteran of karting circuits across the country. She wasn’t just racing—she was winning.

OTHER INTERESTS

When she’s not strapped into a race car, Ava somehow finds time to be an actual teenager. She’s involved in choir and art club at Elkhorn Area High School, where she’s also a sophomore member of DECA. She plays piano and saxophone, paints, draws, plays video games, and hangs out with her family. Oh, and she works out twice a week at GTS Performance and Fitness—because apparently racing at 100+ mph requires a bit of conditioning.

She’s also passionate about giving back. Ava created the “Driving Awareness Program” through Ava Hanssen Racing, partnering with charities and nonprofit organizations. She’s featured the Children’s Alopecia Project on her race car, using her platform to shine a light on causes that matter to her.

EARLY SUCCESS

Hanssen’s karting career wasn’t just impressive—it was the kind of early success that makes other drivers’ parents nervous. In 2017, she won the Route 66 Sprint Series Micro Swift Championship. Two years later, she finished second at the SKUSA Supernationals in Las Vegas in the Micro Swift class—a result she called the high point of her racing career at the time. That same year, 2019, she also won the World Karting Association Grand Nationals Micro Swift.

By April 2021, eKartingNews.com named her Driver of the Month after she doubled up wins at the Route 66 Sprint Series opener, racing for Team FMS with a Merlin kart. She was dominating her class and making it look easy.

The pivot to open-wheel racing came in 2022 when she won a three-day Skip Barber Racing School Scholarship at the WKA Daytona Kartweek. It was the kind of prize that changes everything—and for Ava, it did. She made the leap from karts to cars in 2023, and on November 4, 2023, she scored her first open-wheel win in an F1600 car at Circuit of the Americas—yes, the actual Formula One track in Austin, Texas. She was 13 years old.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 2017: Route 66 Sprint Series Micro Swift Champion.
• 2019: 2nd Place, SKUSA Supernationals, Micro Swift class, Las Vegas.
• 2019: World Karting Association Grand Nationals Micro Swift Winner.
• 2021: eKartingNews.com Driver of the Month (April); doubled up at Route 66 Sprint Series opener.
• 2022: Won three-day Skip Barber Racing School Scholarship at WKA Daytona Kartweek.
• 2023: 1st Place, SVRA Circuit of the Americas, F1600 (first open-wheel race win).
• 2024: Competed in F1600 Championship Series with K-Hill Motorsports; finished 4th at Formula Race Promotions Finale.
• 2025: Competing in Ligier Junior Formula Championship; emerged as a leading female driver in the series.

INSPIRATIONS

Ava credits her dad as her biggest racing influence—he’s been helping her on and off the track since day one. The two have always been “the racers in the family,” and that bond has been the foundation of her career. Racing isn’t just what she does; it’s what they do together.

REPUTATION

Hanssen is known as one of the youngest female drivers in Wisconsin and is quickly building a reputation as a serious competitor in the open-wheel ladder system. She’s not just participating—she’s consistently running in the top ten and occasionally cracking the top five. Her first F1600 win at COTA got attention, but it’s her consistency and grit that have kept people watching.

She’s also recognized for using her platform responsibly. Her “Driving Awareness Program” has partnered with multiple charities, and she’s vocal about breaking down barriers for women in motorsports. In a sport where sponsorships are hard to come by—especially for female drivers in a male-dominated industry—Ava is making noise both on and off the track.

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

For the 2026 season, Ava plans to compete in the Junior Formula Four Championship Series (JFC), which is broadcast to millions of viewers on various platforms. It’s the next logical step in the racing ladder, and she’s gunning for it. She’s racing with Ava Hanssen Racing, her own team, and continuing to build momentum in the Ligier Junior Formula Championship through 2025.

Her long-term goal? Keep climbing. Keep winning. Keep proving that a girl from Elkhorn, Wisconsin, belongs at the front of the pack.

REFERENCES

Ava Hanssen Racing – Official Website
eKartingNews.com Driver of the Month: April 2021 – Ava Hanssen
Meet the youngest female race car driver in Wisconsin – YouTube
Elkhorn’s Ava Hanssen is going fast in go karting – TMJ4
Alopecia-Life – radiobruce.com
2025 Ligier Junior Formula Championship – Wikipedia
Leadership Council – Google Sites
Driving Awareness Program – Ava Hanssen Racing
2024 Race Results – Ava Hanssen Racing
2025 Results – Ava Hanssen Racing
Ava Hanssen interview – first F1600 win! – YouTube
Champions Crowned at 2024 Formula Race Promotions Finale
Ava Hanssen | Racing career profile | Driver Database
Driver Bio – Ava Hanssen Racing
SKUSA – Supernationals – Kartcom
Skip Barber awards 2 scholarships at WKA Daytona Kartweek!
Speed Queens – Curb Currents
K-Hill Motorsports Announces Ava Hanssen as Their Latest Driver in the 2024 F1600 Championship Season
2025 JFC Points – Ligier Junior Formula Championship
Series I Run – Ava Hanssen Racing
2025: Women In Motorsport, a year in review
Driver Development – F1600 – K-Hill Motorsports
Event Preview: FR Americas, F4 U.S. and Ligier JFC at Road America – SpeedSport
INSIDE – Performance Racing Industry