Jamie Chadwick was left celebrating becoming a three-time W Series champion albeit not in the manner she would have liked, after it was announced that the season would end with three races to spare.
𝟯 𝗫 𝗪 𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗜𝗢𝗡 🏆
Four pole positions, five wins, @JamieChadwick has had an awesome season.
Today we celebrate Jamie's epic year, a well-deserved champ. 👏#WSeries pic.twitter.com/Geh7ieNj2x
— W Series (@WSeriesRacing) October 11, 2022
“As confirmed during the most recent W Series race event at Marina Bay Circuit in Singapore on 30 September – 2 October in support of the Formula 1® Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2022, the required funding due to the business from a recent contracted investment was not received, forcing the remaining three races of the 2022 calendar into doubt,” read the W Series statement.
“Since then, the decision has been made to focus on the longer-term fundraising process to enable the longevity and financial health of W Series into 2023 and beyond and enable cost cutting by cancelling the remaining races in Austin and Mexico City.”
Chadwick has been the dominant force in the groundbreaking series for female race drivers only since its inception in 2019, victory in France meaning she had won the opening five races of the 2022 W Series season and seventh on the bounce since the end of 2021.
A second-place finish at the Hungaroring put her within touching distance of the title. And although she suffered a rare DNF in crashing out of the points late on in Singapore, the latest news means she is crowned champion with a commanding 50-point margin.
Catherine Bond Muir, Chief Executive Officer, W Series added: “It’s with both great sadness and frustration that we announce that our much-anticipated final three races of the 2022 season in Austin and Mexico City will not go ahead.
“As a start-up in only our third season of racing, we are always working hard to ensure regularity of funding as we continue to grow our business, but due to recent unforeseen circumstances outside of W Series’ control, we had not been in receipt of contracted funds due to us.
“We have worked hard to raise the required funding to enable us to finish the season. Unfortunately, it was not possible to do this in the short time frame required following the failure of contracted funds to arrive and the global economic downturn.
“However, while we are all incredibly disappointed that this decision has had to be made in the short term, we remain positive about the future of W Series in the long term.
“We will always work hard to provide women racing drivers the opportunities to achieve success and we will not stop fighting to continue the work W Series has started to support women in motorsport.”
Firstly I want to thank @WSeriesRacing for the opportunity they have given me. It’s been life changing and I am so grateful to everyone that has been involved and supported me to this point 🙏🏻 We all wanted to finish this season on track but I am very proud to be a 3x Champion 🏆 pic.twitter.com/YBt2EVt5FJ
— Jamie Chadwick (@JamieChadwick) October 10, 2022
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