Alice Powell back to winning ways but Chadwick inches closer to title

Jamie Chadwick’s remarkable winning streak of seven consecutive W Series victories stretching back to New York 2021 finally came to an end as British compatriot Alice Powell took victory at the Hungaroring from Chadwick and Beitske Visser.

“It’s so good to be back on the top step,” said Powell following her pole to flag win. “It’s taken longer this season than I would have liked, but to get Bristol Street Motors there with their first win in the championship is amazing. Every single person on my car has done an incredible job so a big thank you to the team.”

Having secured her first pole position of the season on Friday, Powell was starting from the best possible position to ram home her advantage on race day, especially with Chadwick starting an uncharacteristic fifth on the grid.

Yet with a damp circuit providing tricky driving conditions, the race began behind the Safety Car, Nerea Martí still managing to spin at Turn 10 before rejoining the track. When the Safety Car pulled off and racing began in earnest, it was Powell who maintained her advantage from Beitske Visser and Marta Garcia, but it was Chadwick who was on the charge both her and Abbi Pulling passing Spaniard Marti.

Now Chadwick had another Spaniard in her sights in the form of Garcia, and when she made the move stick with a third remaining, she set about the leaders. Braking later than Visser with a gutsy move into Turn 1, Chadwick closed to within half a second of leader Powell following a late Safety Car.

But with the clock against her in a bid for consecutive win number eight, Chadwick pushed too hard and ran wide at Turn 11, allowing Powell enough breathing room to bring her car home for a fifth W Series win and first since September 2021.

Nevertheless, Chadwick’s second-place finish extends her run of W Series podium finishes to 13, and stretches her seemingly unassailable lead at the top of the championship to 75 points before racing resumes at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore, on 30 September-2 October.

“It’s roles reversed from here last year when I beat Alice [Powell],” said Chadwick. “If anyone was going to break that winning streak, I feel like Alice is a deserving person. I did what I could today.

“The wet conditions helped early on because it’s a really tricky circuit to overtake on, but at the end I didn’t have enough to challenge Alice. I’m still happy with second place, happy with the race and I go into the summer break really pleased with how the season has gone so far.”

TEAM UP WITH ACRONIS

Acronis is proud to be the official Cyber Protection Partner of the W Series.

During the 2021 season, Acronis opened up an exciting #TeamUp Program, giving new and existing service providers the opportunity to support sports partnerships, join the sports ecosystem, attend races and enjoy amazing sports marketing benefits. To find out more, please visit https://www.acronis.com/en-us/lp/msp-sports/

READ ALSO: Jamie Chadwick season preview exclusive

Fraser Masefield

Sports news and features writer, web editor and author.