(For a more detailed discussion of Speedqueens’ stance on W Series and a review of the TV show, click here.)
The inaugural W Series championship ran in the summer of 2019. It was billed as the first-ever all-female single-seater championship. (The Esso All-Ladies Formula Ford race in 1985 was actually the first.)
Eighteen drivers were chosen to race Formula 3 Regional cars, with two “reserve” drivers who were intended to deputise for injured colleagues and only took part in a few actual races.
There were six championship races of roughly half an hour each, plus one non-championship race which ran using a reverse-grid format. The series acted as one of the supports for the DTM in Europe.
W Series was launched with a huge media drive, with former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard acting as one of its public figureheads. He was also one of the judges for the initial driver selection events. Lyn St. James, who had previously been pivotal in the similar Women’s Global GT Series, was another. 60 racers from all round the world were assessed; through a combination of elimination and voluntary dropping-out, this was whittled down to 20. All 20 selected drivers would have all of their expenses paid for the summer racing season and would receive a share of the $2m prize pot.
There is nothing especially innovative about an all-female racing series but W Series did introduce some relatively novel concepts, including the no-cost nature of entry. Drivers were made to swap cars after every race and worked with a different team of mechanics every day. This was ostensibly to prevent the more mechanically-minded among them from gaining an advantage. Prohibitions were also placed on testing and competing in F3 cars during the W season. No driver was permitted to take part in an F3 race on any of the six circuits the series visited, unless she was fully signed up for that championship. Testing was not allowed. Drivers were allowed limited sessions on a simulator to prepare prior to a race weekend. There were no competing teams; all cars were run centrally by Hitech Grand Prix on behalf of W Series itself.
Many were critical of the whole idea, chiefly Indycar driver Pippa Mann and European F3 racer Sophia Floersch. Both drivers, along with others, considered it a step towards sex segregation in motorsport and believed that the money involved would have been better spent supporting female racers in existing championships. Some of this criticism died down but a few concerns arose during the season about safety and standards of car preparation. Jamie Chadwick, Alice Powell and others experienced difficulty downshifting under full steering lock in some of the Tatuus FRegional cars, for example.
Early indications were that W Series was intended as a reality TV-style competition. The first set of driver assessments took place in the unlikely setting of a frozen track and used road cars, not a situation likely to arise in an F3 championship. Announcements of who had made the cut and who would have to “fight for their place” had a distinctly X Factor flavour. However, the races themselves proved popular with spectators as a sporting contest and W became more of a serious competition than when it started. The organisers attempted to mix things up a little by dropping a struggling Megan Gilkes to reserve status after a free practice session where she had been relatively quick, but this proved highly unpopular and was not repeated.
Jamie Chadwick was the first champion, winning two of the six races. This was not unexpected as she was the entrant with the most notable and recent successes on her CV. BMW junior driver Beitske Visser was second. Alice Powell, winner of the final round at Brands Hatch, was third although she could have finished higher had she not encountered a series of car problems. The other races were won by Marta Garcia and Emma Kimilainen. Megan Gilkes won the reverse-grid non-championship race from pole.
2019 Standings
- Tasmin Pepper
- Sabre Cook
- Vivien Keszthelyi (Reserve)
- Sarah Bovy (Reserve)
The top twelve 2019 drivers were automatically invited back for the 2020 season. Any of the eight additional 2019 intake were permitted to reapply for 2020, alongside 15 new drivers. The season was cancelled due to coronavirus.
The 2021 championship was won again by Jamie Chadwick. Eighteen cars started each race, with a rotating series of reserve drivers sharing one of them. The series was now on the F1 support bill and ran for eighth races.
1. Jamie Chadwick
2. Alice Powell
3. Emma Kimilainen
4. Nerea Marti
5. Sarah Moore
6. Fabienne Wohlwend
7. Abbi Pulling
8. Beitske Visser
9. Irina Sidorkova
10. Belen Garcia
11. Jessica Hawkins
12. Marta Garcia
13. Abbie Eaton
14. Miki Koyama
15. Bruna Tomaselli
16. Caitlin Wood
17. Ayla Agren
18. Gosia Rdest
19. Vicky Piria
20. Sabre Cook
The third W Series season was intended to be a ten-round championship, with double-header rounds at the US and Mexican grands prix. A planned race at Suzuka was substituted for Singapore. In an unusual move, the usual W Formula Regional cars were not transported to Catalunya and the similar cars from the Toyota Racing Series were used instead. This was repeated at Singapore. The Singapore race ended up as the least of the season, as money problems meant that the last three races were cancelled.
A team system of sorts was introduced. All cars were run centrally, but pairs of cars carried branded liveries.
Jamie Chadwick dominated once more, with Alice Powell and Beitske Visser picking up one win apiece.
1. Jamie Chadwick (Jenner Racing)
2. Beitske Visser (Sirin Racing)
3. Alice Powell (Click2Drive Bristol Street Racing)
4. Abbi Pulling (Racing X)
5. Belen Garcia (Quantfury W Series Team)
6. Marta Garcia (CortDAO W Series Team)
7. Nerea Marti (Quantfury W Series Team)
8. Emma Kimilainen (Puma W Series Team)
9. Jessica Hawkins (Click2Drive Bristol Street Racing)
10. Fabienne Wohlwend (CortDAO W Series Team)
11. Sarah Moore (Scuderia W)
12. Bruna Tomaselli (Racing X)
13. Abbie Eaton (Scuderia W)
14. Juju Noda (W Series Academy)
15. Bianca Bustamante (W Series Academy)
16. Chloe Chambers (Jenner Racing)
17. Emely de Heus (Sirin Racing)
18. Tereza Babickova (Puma W Series Team)
19. Ayla Agren* (Puma W Series Team)
*Ayla Agren stood in for Tereza Babickova at Singapore after she injured her back in a Formula Regional Europe race.
This proved to be the last W Sseries season, as the championship ran into serious financial difficulties and went into administration.
(Image copyright Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
No comments:
Post a Comment