Visser wins in Singapore as Chadwick crashes out

Jamie Chadwick’s title celebrations are on hold for now after the Englishwoman crashed out of contention in the W Series Singapore race, Beitske Visser taking the chequered flag ahead of Alice Powell and pole sitter Marta Garcia.

Chadwick has been the dominant force in W Series, partnered by Acronis, for the past three seasons and stood on the brink of yet another title heading into Sunday’s race at Marina Bay.

But having only qualified an uncharacteristic 8th on the grid, Chadwick crashed out whilst running sixth with only minutes remaining, locking up into Turn 7 whilst challenging compatriot Jessica Hawkins.

Amazingly, Chadwick’s retirement is her first in three seasons of W Series racing, the result meaning that Visser leapfrogs Powell to second in the championship standings, albeit still a massive 50 points behind Chadwick with three races of the season remaining.

“I was very happy with that one. It is such a relief to get the win and I’ve been waiting for it for a long time,” commented Visser after securing the second win of her W Series career. “I think it’s been coming for the last few races as we’ve always been there. I got a good start and in the first few laps I was very strong.

“Alice was a bit quicker after that, but I managed to hold her off and at the end I was strong again. I had to defend from her once, but after that I knew at which points I had to push to make sure she couldn’t try a move and then it was fine. I was a bit worried about the start of the race as they changed my clutch a bit from yesterday for the biting point and it was a bit of a guess, but thankfully we guessed right!”

Despite pressing Visser hard for the race win, Powell was magnanimous in defeat after what was one of the most exciting races of the season to date.

“Fair play to Beitske, she drove fantastically, kept her cool and it was up to me to make her make a small mistake or for her car to really go off. Then, my car went off and the front tyres totally gave up as we were following her so closely for so long.

“A big shout out to Daz, Tom and Cameron – they have done an amazing job for the Bristol Street Motors Team all weekend,” commented Powell. “Obviously, we have dropped down a little bit in the championship, but there are still three races left and this is W Series where anything can happen. I’m looking forward to it.”

The 2022 W Series season next moves on to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on 22-23 October when Chadwick again looks to seal her third world title.

“I really feel sorry for Jamie, that is the first time in three seasons she has made a mistake and she is beating herself up about it, but she shouldn’t be – she should be proud about her part in the season so far,” added Dave Ryan Racing Director, W Series. “But it keeps the championship fight alive and that’s great.”

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