Jamie (right), Ross Gunn and the Beechdean Aston Martin
Jamie
Chadwick graduated to senior motorsport in 2015. She is a product of the
Ginetta sportscar racing development ladder, one of a few female racers to
utilise this route into the sport.
Jamie
began karting at the age of twelve. Taking advantage of the opportunities in
the UK for juniors to race on full circuits, she switched to cars after only
two years.
She was
the winner of the Ginetta Junior Scholarship in 2012, at fourteen, beating around
sixty other young drivers to the prize of a fully-funded season in the Ginetta
Junior Championship in 2013.
She
took up her prize-drive in Ginetta Juniors in 2013. Between her scholarship win
and the start of the season proper, she took part in the three-round Winter
Series at Rockingham, finishing seventh. She was the highest-scoring
first-timer.
During
her 2013 season, her best result was fifth, at Knockhill. She was usually inside the top ten, averaging
seventh place, but she also had some disappointments; she racked up three DNFs
that year. She was tenth overall. Her brother, Ollie, also raced in the series
against her.
She had
a second full season of Ginetta Juniors in 2014. Her year started well, with a
podium: a third place at Brands Hatch. She racked up four more podium finishes,
all thirds, and was eighth in the championship.
Following
her seventeenth birthday in 2015, it was time to move on. Jamie jumped straight
into the British GT Championship, in the GT4 class. Her car was no less than an
Aston Martin Vantage, run by the Beechdean-AMR team. With her partner, Ross
Gunn, she got off to another good start, with two second places at Oulton Park,
followed by two wins, at Rockingham and Silverstone, a second place at Spa and
a third at Brands Hatch. The only real disappointment of the season was a
disqualification at Oulton, following their second place on the track. The
exclusion was for causing an accident, although it was not deliberate. At the
end of the season, this did not count for much; Jamie and Ross were British GT4
champions. Jamie is the youngest ever winner of the title.
2015
had one more adventure for Jamie. The Beechdean team entered the Vantage in the
Britcar 24 Hours at Silverstone, driven by Jamie, plus Jonny Adam, Harry Whale
and Andrew Howard. They won the race from pole. This was the first win for a
female driver in this event.
In
recognition of her achievements, the BRDC nominated Jamie as one of their
Rising Stars in 2015, along with the support that the award entails. The BWRDC
has put her forward for their Gold Star award, for outstanding female drivers. She
is also part of the Evolution Academy for young drivers, run by Aston Martin
and Prodrive.
She remained a Team AMR driver for 2016, and raced the Aston Martin again in the British GT Championship. Her best finish was fourth, at Brands Hatch. As she missed a couple of races mid-season, she was thirteenth in the championship. Among her team-mates was Great British Bake Off's Paul Hollywood.
Her career changed direction in 2017 when she entered the BRDC Formula 3 Championship. This was her first time in a single-seater. Her first meeting in the Double R-run car was at Oulton, and did not quite go to plan. She was eleventh in her first race, then got disqualified from the second and did not finish the third. The second round at Rockingham went better; she was eighth in the first race, which translated to pole position in the reverse-grid second race. She was third, her best finish of the year. At the end of the season, she was ninth, after being a regular top-ten finisher, but not quite on the winning pace yet.
After the season ended, she took part in her first Formula Ford races at the Walter Hayes Trophy. She was third in her heat at the Silverstone event, following a battle with Michael Mallock, but car trouble intervened and she had to fight for a twelfth place in the final.
Her second season in BRDC F3 was somewhat of a mixed bag of results, but in August she became the first woman to win a British F3 race, following her victory at Brands Hatch.
Earlier in the year, she returned to her Aston Martin roots with a run in the Nurburgring 24 Hours. She was fifth in the SP8 class, driving a Vantage with Jonny Adam, Alex Lynn and Peter Cate. They were classified 63rd overall after a difficult race.
The winter season was an opportunity to rack up more single-seater wins; she dominated the Bahrain round of the MRF Challenge in the Formula 2000 category, winning twice.
At the start of 2019, she was awarded the Wakefield Trophy for the most meritorious performance by a woman in motorsport. At around the same time, she was announced as one of the first 20 drivers for the all-female W Series. Jamie won the first W Series title in the summer, with two race wins.
Mixed-sex Formula 3 was on the cards too. She did a couple of rounds of the Asian F3 series for Seven GP at Sepang, picking up a best finish of fifth. She signed up for the 2019-20 winter series with Absolute Racing and earned a two second and two third places at Sepang and Chang. Her results improved towards the end of her campaign when team-mate Devlin DeFrancesco went home due to health concerns, leaving Jamie as number one driver. She was fourth in the championship.
Away from single-seaters, she remained part of the Aston Martin Academy. Her activities with the team centred on the VLN: one championship race and the Nurburgring 24 Hours, where she won her class with Alex Brundle and Peter Cate.
She also did some historic racing, finishing fourth in class in a Jaguar E-Type at the Spa Six Hours. At the end of the year, she raced a Formula Ford in the Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone. She qualified for the grand final but was taken out by another driver.
W Series was cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus crisis, so she could not defend her title. A move up to FIA F3 was rumoured, but she chose the Formula Regional European Championship, signing with the elite Prema Powerteam. Her season started well with a third place at Misano, but she was not quite able to reach those heights again and struggled with the car. She was ninth in the championship.
She remained a Team AMR driver for 2016, and raced the Aston Martin again in the British GT Championship. Her best finish was fourth, at Brands Hatch. As she missed a couple of races mid-season, she was thirteenth in the championship. Among her team-mates was Great British Bake Off's Paul Hollywood.
Her career changed direction in 2017 when she entered the BRDC Formula 3 Championship. This was her first time in a single-seater. Her first meeting in the Double R-run car was at Oulton, and did not quite go to plan. She was eleventh in her first race, then got disqualified from the second and did not finish the third. The second round at Rockingham went better; she was eighth in the first race, which translated to pole position in the reverse-grid second race. She was third, her best finish of the year. At the end of the season, she was ninth, after being a regular top-ten finisher, but not quite on the winning pace yet.
After the season ended, she took part in her first Formula Ford races at the Walter Hayes Trophy. She was third in her heat at the Silverstone event, following a battle with Michael Mallock, but car trouble intervened and she had to fight for a twelfth place in the final.
Her second season in BRDC F3 was somewhat of a mixed bag of results, but in August she became the first woman to win a British F3 race, following her victory at Brands Hatch.
Earlier in the year, she returned to her Aston Martin roots with a run in the Nurburgring 24 Hours. She was fifth in the SP8 class, driving a Vantage with Jonny Adam, Alex Lynn and Peter Cate. They were classified 63rd overall after a difficult race.
The winter season was an opportunity to rack up more single-seater wins; she dominated the Bahrain round of the MRF Challenge in the Formula 2000 category, winning twice.
At the start of 2019, she was awarded the Wakefield Trophy for the most meritorious performance by a woman in motorsport. At around the same time, she was announced as one of the first 20 drivers for the all-female W Series. Jamie won the first W Series title in the summer, with two race wins.
Mixed-sex Formula 3 was on the cards too. She did a couple of rounds of the Asian F3 series for Seven GP at Sepang, picking up a best finish of fifth. She signed up for the 2019-20 winter series with Absolute Racing and earned a two second and two third places at Sepang and Chang. Her results improved towards the end of her campaign when team-mate Devlin DeFrancesco went home due to health concerns, leaving Jamie as number one driver. She was fourth in the championship.
Away from single-seaters, she remained part of the Aston Martin Academy. Her activities with the team centred on the VLN: one championship race and the Nurburgring 24 Hours, where she won her class with Alex Brundle and Peter Cate.
She also did some historic racing, finishing fourth in class in a Jaguar E-Type at the Spa Six Hours. At the end of the year, she raced a Formula Ford in the Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone. She qualified for the grand final but was taken out by another driver.
W Series was cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus crisis, so she could not defend her title. A move up to FIA F3 was rumoured, but she chose the Formula Regional European Championship, signing with the elite Prema Powerteam. Her season started well with a third place at Misano, but she was not quite able to reach those heights again and struggled with the car. She was ninth in the championship.
In 2021, she signed up to contest the first Extreme E championship, racing an electric SUV on tracks in remote locations for the Veloce team. Her team-mate was Stephane Sarrazin, although he was replaced by Lance Woolridge for the final round in Dorset, England. Her own season startly inauspiciously as her car died in qualifying, but she did fight back with a second place in the Ocean ePrix, held in Senegal.
She missed two of the Extreme E events due to W Series commitments. Her second W title was only assured late in the season, as she was challenged strongly by her fellow Brit, Alice Powell. Her win tally was four to Alice's three, giving her the edge.
Her plans at the start of 2022 were unclear. She was replaced in the Veloce Extreme E team by Christine Giampaoli Zonca and was considered unlikely to be racing in W Series again. Apparently, an FIA F3 seat was discussed, but she declined to take it was it was not with a really competitive team.
It was back to W Series instead, although her return started raising questions about W's mission and its inability to move drivers on to higher levels of racing. Jamie won the championship again fairly easily, driving for Jenner Racing, winning five of the seven races in the series' shortened season.
In order to save her professional career, it was obvious that she had to move on. At the end of 2022, she was announced as a driver for the Andretti Autosport team in the IndyNXT championship (formerly Indy Lights) for 2023. The option of another W title defence was also off the table because the championship folded at the beginning of 2023.
Her IndyNXT season began the hard way with spins, contact and thirteenth place at the St Petersburg street circuit. By the time the Mid-Ohio round came around in July, she broke into the top ten for the first time. Her best finish of the season was a sixth place at Portland and she was twelfth in the championship. Her relatively high profile meant that she came in for considerable criticism, but she was retained by Andretti for 2024.
(Image
from http://www.prodrive.com/)
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