Alice Powell took a home victory and her second win of the year in the W Series Silverstone round after seeing off the challenge from Fabienne Wohlwend in a race-long dogfight.
Powell started the race from pole but Wohlwend got the better start to pull alongside her. After running side by side through Abbey and Farm, Wohlwend managed to get the move complete through Village.
Wohlwend and Powell then spent the opening laps pulling away from third-placed Jamie Chadwick and the rest of the field. As they traded fastest laps, the gap between them stayed around half a second, while Chadwick fell several seconds behind the two leaders.
Wohlwend seemed to have enough to cover off Powell each time she drew closer. But on lap 10 their battle was halted when Miki Koyama broke down at Village and brought out the safety car.
At the restart, Wohlwend then struggled to get her tyres back up to temperature. She went wide through Club on the run to the start line which allowed Powell to draw up, then locked up at Vale at the end of the first green flag lap.
That error was enough for Powell to pull alongside and take the lead down the main straight. Powell then took advantage of Wohlwend’s lack of grip to pull clear by over a second in the final laps.
Powell took the win with Wohlwend in second, and Chadwick made it two British drivers on the Silverstone podium in third. Chadwick ran a fairly quiet race without the pace to keep up with Powell and Wohlwend, but with few challenges from behind either.
Emma Kimilainen came fourth ahead of Nerea Marti. Beitske Visser finished sixth after losing several places at the start from fourth on the grid. Sarah Moore was seventh ahead of W Series debutant Abbi Pulling, and Abbie Eaton and Jess Hawkins rounded out the top ten.
Powell’s victory means she now regains the championship lead from Chadwick by 6 points, while Moore stays in third albeit 18 points adrift of the front.
W Series returns in two weeks’ time at Budapest’s Hungaroring, in support of the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Prema’s Robert Shwartzman dominated the opening Formula 2 sprint race at Silverstone for his second win of the season, while championship leader Guanyu Zhou retired on lap 1 and lost the points lead to Oscar Piastri.
Shwartzman started the race from fourth on the grid behind Christian Lundgaard, Juri Vips and Roy Nissany. But a rapid launch saw him pass third-placed Nissany off the line, then beat Vips and Lundgaard into first place down to Turn 1.
As Shwartzman assumed the lead from Vips and Lundgaard, Nissany found trouble at Turn 3 as he was hit from behind and then tagged the rear of Lundgaard too. Lundgaard’s car was undamaged, but Nissany was spun around and out of the race.
Almost simultaneously, Zhou was spun around at the same corner while fighting up into the points. The longtime championship leader retired on the spot, and the safety car was deployed.
At the restart, Shwartzman was able to jump clear of Vips, while Lundgaard locked up and dropped back towards Felipe Drugovich in fourth. Meanwhile, Shwartzman’s Prema teammate Oscar Piastri put the attack on Liam Lawson for sixth while Dan Ticktum behind tried to join the battle.
Oscar Piastri, Prema (Michael Regan, Getty Images / FIA F2)
Piastri’s assault on sixth was briefly halted at the end of lap 4 as Alessio Deledda was spun out of the race and the safety car was redeployed. But at the restart on lap 7, Piastri was able to get up the inside of Lawson and take sixth place away.
A third safety car came out on lap 12 when Guilherme Samaia found himself beached in the gravel. With ten laps to go, Richard Verschoor, Jack Aitken, Bent Viscaal and Matteo Nannini chose to pit from outside the points and take on fresh medium tyres.
At the restart on lap 15, Shwartzman again shot clear of Vips to protect first place, and went on to ease his gap up to over a second. Over the final laps, Vips couldn’t find a way to close the gap to Shwartzman and came home second where he started.
Juri Vips, HItech (Dan Istitene, Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images / FIA F2)
Lundgaard briefly came within half a second of Vips but couldn’t get close enough to make a move for second before the end. Drugovich took fourth behind Lundgaard, while Theo Pourchaire and Piastri were fifth and sixth. Lawson held on to seventh place despite not having the pace to stick with Piastri, and Ticktum finished eighth for the final point.
Verschoor was able to put his fresh mediums to good use in the closing stages. After making his way past Ralph Boschung and David Beckmann early after the restart, he made his way up to the back of Lirim Zendelli by lap 18, and took tenth place from his teammate to start the second sprint race from reverse grid pole.
With Zhou retiring from the race, Piastri’s sixth place and Shwartzman’s win moves the two Premas to the top of the standings on 83 and 81 points respectively.
After a great start to the season with the double header at the Red Bull Ring, W Series is back competing alongside Formula 1 at the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone – the Home of British motor racing.
The 18 drivers will be racing the full Grand Prix circuit, hoping to one day follow in the footsteps of the Italian driver Lella Lombardi, who was the first female to compete in a Formula 1 World Championship race at Silverstone in 1975. There are 11 different countries represented on the grid, with six British drivers competing at a home race in front of almost sell out crowds.
The current standings after the first two rounds show a very dominant display from the Brits with Jamie Chadwick leading Sarah Moore by three points and Alice Powell in third just one point behind. Abbie Eaton is in 11th, but Jessica Hawkins is looking to score her first points of the season after not having a good start.
Abbi Pulling Debut
Alice Powell and Abbi Eaton (Courtesy of W Series Racing)
The sixth British driver is 18-year-old Abbi Pulling, who will be making her competitive debut in the W Series this weekend. Abbi was listed as a reserve driver after she did the pre-season testing in Anglesey, Wales. She will be racing for PUMA alongside Marta Garcia, and sharing the grid with her career mentor Alice Powell.
Abbi is a currently part of the British Formula 4 championship and is a two-time British Karting champion. Abbi is considered a young rising talent within motorsport, and it will be great to see what she can do in front of her home crowd.
Can Chadwick extend her lead?
Jamie Chadwick will be looking to extend her lead on the series after her dominant performance at the Austrian Grand Prix. With only eight races on the calendar for W Series each race weekend is vital for the championship.
However, she is not the only driver with race experience at Silverstone. Both of Chadwick’s nearest championship rivals have plenty of experience competing at the circuit.
This will be a great challenge for the 2019 champion as this circuit suits the racing style of Moore and Powell better than the Red Bull Ring, so she will need to bring everything in order to stay on top after the weekend is over. Chadwick has shown her ability in the past to perform well under pressure which will be an advantage to her when racing with the largest crowd expected this season.
The W Series race will be Saturday afternoon at 13:25 local time. This is going to be a weekend where all the drivers need to keep a cool head to create some really great racing.
Josef Newgarden dominated from pole position to take both his and Penske’s first win of the 2021 IndyCar season at Mid Ohio to kickstart his championship campaign,
The American who came within reaching distance of wins at both Detroit and Road America was in incredible form and was able to hold off a late-charging Marcus Ericsson, who was able to close the gap to within a second with two laps to go.
The two-time champion made a great start on the alternative sticker red tyres holding off the pack behind: Colton Herta, Marcus Ericsson, and Will Power.
However, the first caution of the day was soon to follow; Ryan Hunter-Reay, who was among those at the back of the field checked up. This led to James Hinchcliffe running into the back of the Andretti driver while Felix Rosenqvist was collected in the accident.
On the restart, Scott Dixon overtook Will Power for fourth at The Keyhole. Power took it back going into Turn Four, then lost it, again. He touched Dixon in Turn Five, spun, and got hit by Ed Jones, promptly bringing out the second caution of the day.
Josef Newgarden led the field to green again on Lap Nine and eventually pitted for the lead on Lap 31 for the primary black compound tyres. There was a bit of a shake-up in the order behind as Colton Herta had a fuel hose problem and dropped from second to seventh, his attempts to try and overcut the leader ending miserably. Newgarden led from Ericsson and Dixon with one more round of pitstops to go.
But after letting two opportunities escape this year, Newgarden was not about to let that happen again. He pitted for the final time on Lap 56 for another set of primary black tyres, and led to the finish line to take his second win at the famous circuit at the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course, 50 years and one day after Team Penske’s first IndyCar victory, scored by Mark Donohue at Pocono in 1971.
It was a trio of Chip Ganassi’s that filled the rest of the Top Four positions. Marcus Ericsson drove an incredibly calm and calculated race to finish as the highest placed driver of the team. After coming off a career-best third in qualifying, all the pressure was on the Swede to deliver.
A magnificent final stint saw the Swede close the gap to just 0.6s with two laps in what was an incredible crescendo to the race. Ericsson had more ‘Push-to-Pass’ than Newgarden and used it all to his advantage with only a few corners to go, but would come home to take his second podium of the year.
Alex Palou drove an incredibly impressive race utilising a magnificent overcut to jump both Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi to round out the podium positions, and importantly ahead of his closest championship competitor. The Spaniard leaves Mid Ohio with both the championship lead and his sixth podium of the season.
Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi rounded out the Top Five, with the American driver attempting the only alternative strategy out of anyone in the Top Nine starting on the alternative sticker reds. Dixon’s battle with Will Power was the most notable moment of his race
Graham Rahal was in his ever strong and consistent form, to take an impressive sixth place for his Rahal Letterman Lanigan team’s home race. He benefitted from the misfortune ahead of the likes of Will Power and Colton Herta, as well as an incredible (5.7s) pit stop.
Romain Grosjean finished in an impressive seventh, the ex-Formula 1 driver was able to manage a difficult start to the race, in which he tagged Felix Rosenqvist.
Grosjean was able to fight his way back up, despite a wide moment on the second restart into The Keyhole after being blocked by Sebastien Bourdais.
Pato O’Ward was passed by Herta and Grosjean late on and was forced to settle with eighth, having been chased to the finish line by Rahal Letterman Lanigan part-timer Santino Ferrucci. The Mexican made up twelve positions on race day, and still leaves this weekend second in the championship.
Ferrucci’s teammate Takuma Sato completed the Top 10 after Colton Herta’s late stop, a second ahead of Bourdais.
The IndyCar paddock now goes on a small hiatus before we are graced by the first-ever running of the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix in Nashville
Mercedes junior Frederik Vesti took his first win of the 2021 Formula 3 season in the Red Bull Ring feature race, beating polesitter Dennis Hauger in a race-long fight.
Starting from second on the grid, Vesti launched an immediate challenge on Hauger on the opening lap. Hauger had to go defensive as early as the first corner, and on the run down to Turn 4 he was forced to cover off the inside as Vesti pulled alongside him under slipstream.
Dennis Hauger, Prema (Bryn Lennon, Getty Images / FIA F3)
Hauger set an early fastest lap but was unable to pull away from Vesti over the first phase of the race. Vesti started lap four just a few tenths behind the Prema and again attacked Hauger around the outside of Turns 3 and 4, but was again rebuffed.
But on the following lap Vesti was close enough to pull alongside Hauger under DRS down to Turn 4 and take the lead. The move then left Hauger vulnerable to Vesti’s ART teammate Alex Smolyar, who followed Hauger closely before taking second place on lap 7.
Over the short lap Vesti faced the same difficulty in pulling away as Hauger did, and he found himself having to defend from Smolyar as well. After an unsuccessful move at Turn 3 on lap 10, Smolyar came back at Vesti under DRS on the following lap to take the lead. But the Russian’s time at the front only last one corner, as Vesti fought back up the inside of Turn 4, with Hauger following him through to retake second place as well.
Vesti wasn’t able to drop Hauger over the remaining laps, despite moving eight tenths clear at one point, but neither was Hauger able to make any serious attempts at retaking the lead. Meanwhile, Smolyar dropped back after losing the lead and came under attack from the #3 Prema of Olli Caldwell.
Alex Smolyar, ART (Clive Mason, Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images / Courtesy of FIA F3)
Smolyar managed to hold off Caldwell for a while, including multiple moves at the Turn 3 overtaking spot. But with four laps to go, Caldwell finally managed to get past Smolyar at Turn 4 to take his third podium of the year and second of the weekend.
Behind the podium fight, there was another fierce battle throughout the top ten as a DRS train covered the points positions. Clement Novalak was at the head of that group in fourth for much of the race, defending from the likes of Jak Crawford, Jack Doohan and Victor Martins, while Caldwell and the #2 Prema of Arthur Leclerc came up the order behind them.
On lap 9 Caldwell and Leclerc had finally made their way to the front of the train, and Caldwell slipped past Novalak at Turn 3 to take fourth place. Leclerc tried several times to pass Novalak for fifth but was fended off, which left him in turn defending from Martins in sixth.
Clement Novalak, Trident (Alexander Scheuber, Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images / courtesy of FIA F3)
On lap 14 Martins got a run on Leclerc through Turn 1 to take sixth, but Leclerc came back at him on the straight down to Turn 4. As they fought, Leclerc lost his front wing as he tagged the back of Martins then ran onto the grass and lost control.
After first clouting the wall and breaking his front right suspension, Leclerc shot across the braking zone of Turn 4 and collected Novalak. Both retired in the gravel trap, while Martins dropped to the back with a puncture and the safety car was deployed.
Crawford inherited fifth place ahead of Doohan, but they also came together on lap 22 and promoted Matteo Nannini to fifth ahead of Ayumu Iwasa and Caio Collet. Logan Sargeant, Calan Williams and Jonny Edgar rounded out the top ten by the chequered flag.
Caio Collet, MP Motorsport (Alexander Scheuber, Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images / Courtesy of FIA F3)
With podiums in each race this weekend, Hauger leaves the Red Bull Ring with 115 points and a substantial championship advantage. As Hauger’s main rivals Doohan and Martins both failed to score in the feature race, Vesti now moves up to second in the standings, albeit 41 points behind Hauger and just two ahead of Doohan.
Formula 3 returns in four weeks’ time in support of the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest.
Trident’s David Schumacher claimed his first Formula 3 victory, winning the second Red Bull Ring sprint race from reverse pole position.
Schumacher got away well from reverse grid pole, while Roman Stanek filed into second and Jak Crawford jumped Kaylen Frederick and Juan Manuel Correa for third. But as the drivers continued to establish their positions, the race was brought to an early halt as Logan Sargeant and Tijmen Van Der Helm crashed at the start of lap 2 and brought out the safety car.
At the restart Schumacher bolted clear to build an early lead, while Stanek and Crawford battled for second place. As Stanek dropped out of DRS range of Schumacher, Crawford tried a move on lap 8 around the outside of Turn 3 but found himself run out of road.
Jak Crawford, Hitech (Clive Mason, Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images / Courtesy of FIA F3)
After trying another pass at Turn 4, Crawford eventually got past Stanek on lap 9 and set off after Schumacher. But just one lap later, Crawford pulled off the track with a loss of drive, promoting Correa to the podium.
Correa’s time in the top three didn’t last much longer, however. On lap 11 he found himself the innocent victim as Frederick in fourth missed his braking point while defending from Frederik Vesti, and ended up spinning himself and Correa around at Turn 3. As Vesti avoided the incident, Victor Martins benefited to move up to third ahead of Jonny Edgar in fourth.
The incidents behind Stanek didn’t relieve the pressure on the Czech driver, as he found himself having to defend second from Martins almost immediately. Martins tried three moves around the outside of Stanek at Turn 4, but after being rebuffed he dummied to the inside of the corner on lap 15 and finally demoted the Hitech to third.
Once behind Martins, Stanek then came up attack from Vesti, who tried to repeat Martins’ Turn 4 overtake on lap 16. Stanek held off the ART on that occasion, but Vesti came back on lap 18 to take the position under DRS on the run down to Turn 4.
Frederik Vesti, ART (Bryn Lennon, Getty Images / Courtesy of FIA F3)
Martins and Vesti then began closing in on the leading Schumacher, eating into his four-second lead as the Trident’s tyres started to fall away. But on lap 23, Martins also fell out of contention as he lost power in the same manner as Crawford, promoting Vesti to second with two laps remaining.
With a virtual safety car deployed to recover Martins’ car, Schumacher was able to drive through his tyre struggles and keep the lead from Vesti.
Stanek wasn’t able to benefit from Martins’ retirement to get back on the podium as he was passed by Dennis Hauger on lap 21. The championship leader had driven a recovery race after falling to 14th place at the start, but a series of early overtakes as well as the retirements ahead of him allowed Hauger to complete the podium in third.
Stanek finished fourth ahead of Edgar, and Arthur Leclerc took sixth place and the fastest lap. Jack Doohan was seventh, and Enzo Fittipaldi, Olli Caldwell and Jonathan Hoggard completed the points.
Reigning W Series champion Jamie Chadwick kickstarted her title defence with a dominant win from pole position in the second Red Bull Ring round.
Chadwick got a dream start from pole as Beitske Visser stalled off the line from second position. She was then given another advantage as her Veloce teammate Bruna Tomaselli and Academy’s Irina Sidorkova tussled for second, allowing Chadwick to arrive at Turn 1 with a healthy lead already.
Sidorkova came out on top in the battle with Tomaselli and pulled clear of the Brazilian over the opening lap. That left Tomaselli under pressure from Emma Kimilainen, who had jumped up from sixth on the grid to join the podium fight.
Kimilainen passed Tomaselli for second on lap 2 and stuck close to the back of Sidorkova. As Chadwick pulled clear of the pair, Kimilainen kept her car consistently within a second of Sidorkova and tried to find a way past the Russian.
But despite the pressure from Kimilainen throughout the race, Sidorkova managed to close off any opportunity and finish second behind Chadwick for her first W Series podium. Kimilainen ran out of laps to make a move happen, but finished half a second behind Sidorkova in third.
As the podium trio bolted down the road, Tomaselli led a tight battle for fourth place. The Veloce driver soon had a train behind her with Sarah Moore, Nerea Marti and Abbie Eaton. Moore in particular had great pace, and had already got herself up to fifth from eighth on the grid.
Moore initially got past Tomaselli on lap 7, but was repassed and had to fend off Marti on the following lap. Moore then regrouped in the closing laps to try around the outside of Tomaselli at Turn 3 on lap 18, before finally making a move stick at Turn 4 on lap 22.
Moore and Tomaselli finished fourth and fifth, with Eaton getting ahead of Marti for sixth and her first W Series points. Alice Powell finished a disappointed eighth between Marti and Belen Garcia, after saying on the radio that she had no straight line speed.
Chadwick’s win moves her to the top of the standings by three points from Moore, with Round 1 winner Powell another point behind in third. W Series returns in two weeks’ time at Silverstone, in support of the British Grand Prix.
Prema’s Dennis Hauger won the opening sprint race at the Red Bull Ring from 12th on the grid, taking the lead late on after Clement Novalak and Matteo Nannini collided at the front.
Nannini snatched first place at the start of the race, beating reverse polesitter Logan Sargeant into Turn 1, while Novalak jumped from seventh to third off the line. Behind them, Hauger got himself up into the points in seventh between Jack Doohan and Arthur Leclerc.
The race was stable through the opening laps as most of the cars were running in a DRS train and unable to close up any of the gaps. But on lap 9 things kicked off as Sargeant came back at Nannini to retake the lead through Turn 4.
Logan Sargeant, Charouz Racing System (Dan Istitene, Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images / FIA F3)
That triggered a frantic couple of laps as Sargeant, Nannini and Novalak traded the lead between themselves multiple times. Nannini looked to come out on top at last as he took first on lap 13 and fended off Sargeant for the following laps.
But on lap 16 the battle sparked off again as Sargeant came back and retook the lead. Nannini repassed him on the following lap, but both were passed by Novalak on lap 19.
After Novalak took the lead, Sargeant started to drop back from the battle at the front and was dropped to fifth by Hauger and Olli Caldwell. That put the Premas in the perfect position to benefit when Novalak and Nannini made contact through Turn 3, which sent Novalak into the gravel with suspension damage and dropped Nannini down to eighth.
Hauger took the lead with just over three laps remaining, from Caldwell in second and Sargeant who had been restored to the podium. When Hauger crossed the line he also had the fastest lap to his name, to take the maximum 17 points away from the opening race.
Olli Caldwell, Prema (Clive Rose, Getty Images / FIA F3)
Hauger’s closest championship challenger Victor Martins initially finished fourth, leading home Jak Crawford, Caio Collet, Doohan and Nannini. But after the race a raft of drivers were penalised, most of them for consistently abusing track limits, which drastically altered the top ten.
Sargeant was the biggest casualty as he was handed a five-second penalty for four track limits abuses, which dropped him off the podium. But in total, eleven drivers were penalised including a disqualification for Ayumu Iwasa for failing to comply with a black and white flag.
The penalties eventually brought Charouz’s Enzo Fittipaldi up to fourth ahead of a penalised Martins, and Jonny Edgar rose from 12th to fifth. Frederik Vesti was seventh, and Crawford, Kaylen Frederik and Juan Manuel Correa rounded out the points. Trident’s David Schumacher was elevated to reverse grid pole, and Sargeant ended up 15th.
IndyCar returns this weekend for the tenth round of the season at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course just outside of Lexington, Ohio. This is, of course, the Honda Indy 200 Grand Prix.
This iconic 203.22-mile race will host the 44th running of the Grand Prix which has seen iconic winners such as Emerson Fittipaldi, Brian Redman, Al Unser Jr, and Helio Castroneves, to name but a few.
Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon has the most success with six wins to his name, the Kiwi winning in Lexington for the sixth time in 2019 when he held off former teammate Felix Rosenqvist.
That being said, Dixon’s current teammate Alex Palou, enters the weekend with a 28-point-lead over closest rival Patricio O’Ward. Defending champion Dixon, is a further 25 points behind Pato in third.
Furthermore, it is not Dixon who has the momentum going into this race, that privilege firmly sits with Alex Palou who has claimed two wins this season at both Alabama and Road America.
The battle between Palou and O’Ward has been the story of the season, with both drivers trading championship blows every other race. O’Ward also has two wins this season at both Texas, and Detroit and will be looking to deliver a good old-fashioned serving of revenge this weekend.
However, that may be easier said than done with both Chip Ganassi (13 wins) and Honda (15 wins) with a significant history of success at this track. This year, Chevrolet has the edge over Honda in qualifying trim, so we expect Penske and Arrow McLaren to be a factor in the Fast Six Shootout, but do not be surprised if they begin to slip down the order on race day.
PENSKE STUCK IN NEUTRAL?
Will Power sits 11th in the IndyCar championship with two podiums, but no wins. Photo Courtesy of Chris Owens.
On Penske, if they did not have bad luck, they would not have any luck at all. In the past three consecutive occasions, both Will Power and Josef Newgarden have been denied wins on the final few laps of the race.
Power’s race win at Detroit was all but assured with three laps to go, that was until an overheated ECU promptly ended the Australian’s chances. An unfortunate strategy call and a late-gearbox issue caused the demise of Newgarden’s races at both Detroit, and Road America. The latter may well have been going into this race in contention for the championship lead in what will be a bitter blow to the two-time champion.
Their problems were highlighted during the Indianapolis 500 when Power, one of the greatest qualifiers in IndyCar history, failed to seal his spot in the 33-car field on Saturday’s first day of qualifications. He would later, secure his spot on ‘Bump Day’, but it was a close call for a team that should be comfortably competing at the front.
This situation may be given even further context with Penske failing to win either the championship or Indianapolis 500 in 2020. This may not seem like such a big thing given the competitiveness of the IndyCar Series. But when you’ve won over 20 titles and 18 Indy 500s like Team Penske has, and win neither in a season for the first time since 2013, it starts to feel like the walls are caving in.
You get the feeling Josef Newgarden’s 2021 breakthrough is yet to happen. But the question on everyone’s lips is, when?
HOME SWEET HOME FOR RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGANÂ
Graham Rahal, Road America. Photo Courtesy of Joe Skibinski
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will return to what is considered their home track at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The team, based 60 miles from the circuit in Hilliard, Ohio has finished inside the Top Ten every year since 2013.
Graham Rahal has sweet memories of this circuit, himself taking victory in 2015 after an incident-filled race with four cautions. Scott Dixon led from the pole that day.
Is it beyond the realms of possibilities for a similar result? No. Unlikely? Yes.
But Rahal has flown under-the-radar this season finishing in the Top-Five on five occasions, the only drivers to better that are both Alex Palou and Patricio O’Ward.
He even led the Indianapolis 500 only to be denied a brilliant result after pitting on Lap 118, but was released without his rear left tyre properly secured.
Graham Rahal has arguably been one of the most consistent performers in the IndyCar field this year, and I would not be surprised if he was to achieve a great result at the team’s home race.
DEBUT AND DRIVER CHANGES
Ryan Norman makes his IndyCar debut for Dayle Coyne Racing. Photo Courtesy of Chris Owens
Former Indy Lights driver Ryan Norman is to make his IndyCar debut this weekend at the Honda Indy 200 with Dayle Coyne Racing.
Four other drivers have already made their IndyCar debuts this year: Romain Grosjean, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Magnussen, and Cody Ware.
Norman is the 2016 Atlantic Championship champion and previously raced for Andretti Autosport in the 2017, 2018, and 2019 Indy Lights championship.
He finished in a career-high fourth place in the championship standings in both the 2018 and 2019 seasons and earned one win each year. He won at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in 2018 before winning at Road America in 2019.
He has also picked up two podiums in Indy Lights at Mid-Ohio, one of which, in 2018, where he split two notable Indy Lights champions, Colton Herta and Patricio O’Ward.
It is still unclear as to whether Rinus VeeKay will make a return for Ed Carpenter Racing, but some early reports in the media suggest his recovery may have gone much faster than previously anticipated. Last week, Oliver Askew stood in for the Dutchman and would be expected to do so again if called upon.
Felix Rosenqvist also missed Road America following his heavy crash at the Detroit Grand Prix. Kevin Magnussen stood in for the Swede, but it is also unclear as to Felix’s recovery. He is understood to be aiming to return to the series as soon as possible.
But it may well be a long wait as we saw with Oliver Askew in 2020, who suffered a concussion during the Indianapolis 500. After hiding his symptoms for two race weekends he eventually missed the penultimate race at the Harvest Grand Prix and only returned for the St Petersburg finale in October, almost two months after the accident.
Cody Ware is expected to relinquish his Dayle Coyne Racing with Rick Ware entry after his solid debut performance last week at Road America.
The Honda Indy 200 Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio will take place across Friday 2nd, Saturday 3rd, and Sunday 4th July. Qualifying will get underway on Saturday at 7:30pm (BST) while the race will take place at approximately 9:00pm (BST).
You can follow the race in the UK on Sky Sports F1, while ThePitCrewOnline will be reporting live on events across Twitter.
Alice Powell took the first victory of the 2021 W Series season in Austria, controlling an otherwise chaotic race from pole position to the chequered flag.
Powell got a quick launch from pole to ensure she held the lead from second-placed Sarah Moore into Turn 1. Meanwhile, series rookie Belen Garcia initially lost third place to Beitske Visser at the start, but got the Dutch driver back later in the opening lap.
Reigning champion Jamie Chadwick had a good first lap as she improved from eighth on the grid to fifth place. But at Turn 1 on the second lap she was rear-ended by Jess Hawkins and spun around, falling to the back of the field.
At the front, Powell started to stretch out a one-second lead over Moore, who was coming under steady pressure from Garcia. But after setting an early fastest lap, Garcia then had a few wide moments as she tried to follow in Moore’s dirty air, and started coming under attack herself from Visser.
On lap 10, Garcia then braked too late for Turn 6 and ran through the gravel, dropping her to ninth and promoting Visser up to third. All the while, Powell was continuing to set fastest laps at the front and increase her gap over Moore to the tune of 2.5 seconds.
That gap was eliminated on lap 14 however, when Marta Garcia retired on the side of the track with a mechanical problem and brought out the safety car.
At the restart, Powell fended off Moore to maintain the lead, but Visser was spun out of third by Emma Kimilainen. Kimilainen moved up to third herself, but with a broken front wing from the collision she rapidly dropped back in the final few laps.
Fabienne Wohlwend was the first to pass, taking away third by the end of the first green flag lap. On the following lap Kimilainen was passed by B. Garcia, Hawkins and Miki Koyama, then dropped out of the points altogether when her damaged front wing detached on the final lap.
As Powell took the flag to win, Moore finished second for her first W Series podium ahead of Wohlwend in third. B. Garcia recovered from her off to take fourth place from Hawkins and Koyama, and Chadwick took advantage of the hectic final laps to climb back up to seventh. Nerea Marti, Ira Sidorkova and Gosia Rdest rounded out the points.
Round 2 of the 2021 W Series championship takes place on 2–3 July, once again at the Red Bull Ring in support of the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix.
UPDATE: Jess Hawkins was given a drive-through penalty, converted to a 30 second time penalty, after the race for her collision with Jamie Chadwick. The penalty drops Hawkins to 16th in the results, promoting Miki Koyama to fifth and Ayla Agren to tenth inside the points.
