CHADWICK LANDS W SERIES CROWN
After just three short months of competition, Jamie Chadwick became the inaugural W Series champion at Brands Hatch last weekend, beating title rival Beitske Visser by 10 points – while former GP3 racer Alice Powell took her first victory of the year.
Chadwick, who won the season opener at Hockenheim in dominant style and had not been off the podium in any of the following four races, led Visser – who recorded a single win at Zolder – by a margin of
13 points heading into the finale.
Chadwick had narrowly beaten Powell to pole in qualifying and led the race from the line, ahead of Powell and Assen winner Emma Kimilainen, while Porsche Carrera Cup GB racer Esmee Hawkey stalled on the grid from third spot, her best qualifying performance of the year.
Visser started the race fifth after having her practice sessions blighted with technical problems and, though she managed to overtake Fabienne Wohlwend in the opening laps, started to slip away from the leading trio of Chadwick, Powell and Kimilainen.
Powell endured a miserable midseason as a result of a heavy incident at Misano and a host of technical issues at the Norisring round and so piled the pressure on Chadwick in her final chance at a win in 2019.
As the race approached middistance, Chadwick was forced by Powell to enter an emphatic defence. That defensive driving also allowed Kimilainen to close the gap, with both Powell and Kimilainen ultimately overtaking Chadwick at once through Paddock Hill Bend.
As a duo, Powell and Kimilainen then began to extend a lead of almost nine seconds ahead of Chadwick, while Visser inched ever closer to her title rival.
Proceedings were thrown into turmoil when Miki Koyama suffered a spin at the entry to Sheene Curve, with her car stranded in the middle of the circuit and requiring a safety car so the marshals could recover it.
Ultimately, that meant the gap between the leaders closed and crucially allowed Visser to overtake Chadwick for the final podium position not long after the restart.
But Chadwick’s strong season, with two wins to Visser’s one, means that Chadwick nonetheless claimed the first ever W Series crown, taking a $500,000 share of the overall prize fund.
Meanwhile, Powell’s first win elevates her to third in the standings, while Kimilainen’s silver finish also moves her ahead of Wohlwend in the final standings to fifth.
Wohlwend ended the race in fifth on the road behind Chadwick, ahead of Vicky Piria, who climbed from 10th on the grid, to cement her place on the W Series grid for 2020, offered to the top 12 finishers in the table, and move to ninth place in the championship.
Jessica Hawkins ended the final race of the year in seventh place, which also ensures her safety as she jumps from 14th to 11th in the standings.
Others safely through to next season – while the remaining drivers will need to face a new selection process in order to re-enter – are Tasmin Pepper and Sabre Cook, who had all been close to the bubble of 12th place in the championship heading into Brands Hatch.