Motorsport TechnologyJamie Chadwick is within touching distance of a third successive W Series title after yet another dominant victory, this time at the Paul Ricard Circuit in France.
Coming into the fifth round of the 2022 W Series, partnered by Acronis, Chadwick was already riding the crest of a wave having notched her fourth successive victory and her first at Silverstone. Yet having secured yet another pole position, a track infringement meant she started third on the grid after a time penalty and with work to do starting behind Beitske Visser and Nerea Marti.
Chadwick fans really needn’t have worried too much, the Brit powering past the slow starting Marti before nailing a supreme pass on Visser into Turn 3 around the outside.
What a move from @JamieChadwick, round the outside of @beitskevisser, and it's up to P1 for Chadwick. 💪#WSeriesFrance 🇫🇷 #WSeries #F1 pic.twitter.com/sOLTGh3skN
— W Series (@WSeriesRacing) July 23, 2022
Contact between Abbie Eaton and Marti and then Chloe Chambers and Emely De Heus meant the deployment of Safety Cars in quick succession. And when racing did resume in earnest, Visser was momentarily able to retake the lead into Turn 1 before Chadwick returned the favour at the next corner.
It was great racing, cheered on by those in the grandstands. But for Visser, it would be the closest she would get, compounded by losing a further place to Belen Garcia and Marti by the finish.
An eventful race at #WSeriesFrance, with plenty to talk about. 🤯
Hear from the top three following the battles on track. 🗣
Read the full race report on the link below. ⬇️#WSeries #FrenchGP
— W Series (@WSeriesRacing) July 23, 2022
“I enjoyed that one and it makes up for yesterday,” commented Chadwick after her seventh successive W Series victory, stretching back to 2021. “Getting pole position and having that taken away, I felt like I needed to make amends today. I’m really happy.
“Beitske [Visser] kept me honest initially and I moved back after the safety car, so I’m happy that I got my head down after that and it feels great to get another win.”
It all means that Chadwick now holds an already almost insurmountable 70-point advantage over nearest challenger Abbi Pulling with half the season gone, her compatriot only netting two points in finishing ninth.
Another mega race in the bag for @JamieChadwick 💪
5/5 races won this season, will she take the chequered flag in P1 next week at @HungaroringF1? 👀#WSeriesFrance 🇫🇷 #WSeries #F1 pic.twitter.com/qPMDuKvsnp
— W Series (@WSeriesRacing) July 24, 2022
“It finished up a good race. It had all the ingredients,” added Dave Ryan, Racing Director, W Series. “It was a shame about the incident with Abbie [Eaton] at the start which kind of disrupted things, and I’m not sure what happened to Beitske [Visser] as she had lots of opportunities but ended up in fourth place.
“There was a lot of aggressive driving out there and I know lots of the drivers are unhappy, but it just looked like hard racing and I didn’t see any problem with it. Congratulations to Jamie [Chadwick]. She just kept her nose clean and did what she had to d It was also a great job by Belen [Garcia]. I was very pleased to see her up there, and Nerea [Martí] held on for a strong third place as well.”
Five races down and @JamieChadwick is storming out in front. 💪
We're back racing next week at @HungaroringF1, who will be in the top 10 and gain those all important championship points? 🤔#WSeriesFrance 🇫🇷 #WSeries pic.twitter.com/OePZV4Vy3Z
— W Series (@WSeriesRacing) July 23, 2022
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