Being a racing fan, the summer break can feel like an eternity. It seems an age since we saw W Series championship leader Jamie Chadwick take the victory in Hungary, but this weekend the all female single-seater series is back supporting Formula One at Spa.
It has been a close season so far at the top of the championship standings, with Chadwick holding on to the top spot by one point, just ahead of her fellow British rival Alice Powell. The fight for third has heated up too, with Spanish driver Nerea Marti just one point ahead of Scuderia W driver Sarah Moore, after a podium finish at the Hungaroring. There are just three points separating Marti and young rookie and W Series Academy team driver Irina Sidorkova, who sits in 7th place, level on points with Bunker Racing driver Fabienne Wohlwend.
This iconic track is favoured by many of the 18 strong grid at W Series, even though several drivers have never raced at the picturesque Belgian circuit. Celebrating it’s 100th anniversary this year, this track is ruthless and unpredictable and a clear fan favourite as well. The pressure is on to perform.
Veloce Racing driver Chadwick told W Series: “As we enter the second half of the season, I’m feeling really positive. The first four races have gone very quickly and all of us have experienced ups and downs so far. But my confidence is really high after winning the last race in Hungary and that gives me good momentum going into the second half of the year,”
“The victory in Budapest felt like an important one,” she added. “I had lost the championship lead at the previous round at Silverstone and knew that finishing behind Alice [Powell] again would make winning the championship a real challenge and force me to be very attacking in the second half of the year. So, to regain the championship lead and do it in the fashion I did was a real boost.
“I’ve enjoyed some downtime during the four-week summer break. It’s been nice to get away on holiday and do some different training too – I did a triathlon a couple of weeks ago which I’ve been looking forward to for ages – so I’m feeling fresh and hoping that I can hit the ground running at Spa.
“I’ve raced at Spa in British GT and British F3 but haven’t been there for a few years. It’s one of my favourite circuits in the world and I’ll be looking to use that experience to my advantage. The first and last sectors are all about carrying straight-line speed so you can try to run with really low downforce, but in the middle sector you want to have the highest minimum speeds possible in all of the high-speed corners. It’s a lap of contrasts and getting the setup right will be all-important. Spa always promotes good racing and is a real driver’s circuit for that reason, so I’m very much looking forward to it.”
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Her closest championship rival, Alice Powell, finished third in the standings during the 2019 season, but is relishing the chance to take the title this year.
“The first half of the season has flown by and I can’t believe there are only four races left,” said Powell. “I didn’t expect to be in this position – just one point behind Jamie [Chadwick] at the top of the championship standings – because I had been out of the car for a long time before winning race one in Austria whereas Jamie had a full year’s racing last year. It’s going to be extremely close in the second half of the year, but my plan is the same – to take one race at a time and be as consistent as I can. I’m sure that’s the same for Jamie too, so it’s going to go down to the wire and hopefully I’ll come out on top,”
“It’s been nice to have a four-week break after the previous round in Hungary, but I’ve been as busy as ever, only having four days at home in that time before travelling to Spa because I’ve been away coaching the young drivers I work with,” she continued. “So not much has changed for me and I’ve just been training as hard as I can,”
“I’ve not been to Spa since 2012 when I drove there in GP3, but it’s one of the best circuits in the world and I’m buzzing to race there again. It’s such a unique circuit – it’s very long so there is lots of potential for gaining time, but you need to be bold because there are some really fast corners in second half of the lap. It makes for great racing because, as we saw in Hungary, it can be hard to follow in single-seaters, but with the long straights at Spa you’re able to tow up to the back of people. That means that, even if you don’t have a great qualifying session, there’s potential to move forward and that element makes it one of the drivers’ favourite circuits.”
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