Ayrton Simmons beat a frustrated Kiern Jewiss to Race Three victory to complete a fine Sunday performance.
The Chris Dittmann Racing man was fourth in Race Two after charging through the field in wet conditions, and passed Jewiss off the line in Race Three where he was never more than mildly uncomfortable in the face of a fierce Jewiss challenge.
Neil Verhagen recovered from a tough run of form to take third place and underline his top-five championship credentials, while in a potentially key move regarding the destiny of the British F3 championship, series’ leader Clement Novalak took fourth ahead of second-placed Johnathan Hoggard.
Hoggard had started third on the grid but lost out in a battle with Ulysse De Pauw to lose ground early on lap one, and the man from Lincolnshire failed to recover from there.
Hampus Ericsson climbed to sixth to put a difficult weekend behind him ahead of Belgium’s De Pauw, with Lucas Petersson’s eighth place cemented this weekend as the Swede’s strongest of 2019 for Carlin Motorsport.
Another man who will be pleased with his pace this weekend is Josh Mason.
The Lanan Racing driver took ninth place in Race Three at the circuit where he won last year after showing solid midfield pace all weekend, while Kaylen Frederick will best remember this weekend for an overtake around the outside of Race Two winner Manuel Maldonado to finish tenth.
Nazim Azman was twelfth behind Maldonado, with Nico Varrone 13th and Pavan Ravishankar a disappointing 14th place. Kris Wright and Ben Pedersen were 15th and 16th after receiving penalties, and Sassakorn Chaimongkol was 17th after a collision with Pedersen on the opening lap.
Fortec Motorsport’s Manuel Maldonado took a lights to flag victory from pole position on Sunday’s Race Two reverse grid race.
The Venezuelan recovered from a difficult Saturday where he took damage and finished 16th in Race One to take an easy victory in changeable Silverstone conditions.
Maldonado led home Nico Varrone, second on his return to the to series, with Clement Novalak climbing up to third after starting ninth as championship rival Johnathan Hoggard toiled to finish in 14th.
Kris Wright put in his best performance of the year so far to finish fifth behind a hard-charging Ayrton Simmons, who was at times 2s per lap faster than anyone else.
Ulysse De Pauw was a strong sixth for Douglas Motorsport ahead of a somewhat resurgent Pavan Ravishankar in seventh.
Kiern Jewiss was eighth after starting fifteenth following a second-placed finish on Saturday afternoon ahead of Race One winner Sasakorn Chaimongkol.
Benjamin Pedersen completed the top ten ahead of Lucas Petersson and Nazim Azman, with Kaylen Frederick dropping to thirteenth from eighth after a starting infringement dropped him back 10s.
It has only been a few days since 21-year-old Jamie Chadwick claimed the first ever W Series title, but the notion of being champion is still very surreal for her.
Jamie started karting at 11 years old before competing in the Ginetta Junior Championship in 2013. She then moved into the British GT Championship in 2015 and won the GT4 class, before moving to single-seaters in 2017 racing in BRDC British Formula 3.
2019 has been an incredibly successful year for the young Brit who has won the MRF Challenge, the 24h Nurburgring race and now the W Series title. It seems that nothing can stop her.
After finishing fourth at Brands Hatch and securing enough points to win the championship title, we talked to Jamie about her W Series journey and how much she has achieved this season.
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Kirsty Campbell: We’ve reached the finale in the first season of W Series. It’s been thoroughly enjoyable watching you drive this year. How are you feeling about becoming champion? Jamie Chadwick: Honestly, it’s all a bit overwhelming at the moment. Not sunk in at all. I’m sure it will do soon! But at the moment, I’m just elated, really, really happy. A lot of hard work has gone into this year, so to have it all come together and be crowned as champion is an awesome feeling.
KC: You’ve managed to score three pole positions, five podiums and two wins. You must be proud of what you’ve managed to achieve this season. How has your team and family’s support helped you through the highs and the lows? JC: It’s been awesome. As the year goes, it’s been a fantastic year. Obviously the championship is the highlight, but the whole build up and the actual season has been incredible. I’ve been really lucky, I’ve had a lot of support this year, a lot of people around me working very hard to help me progress and make the dream a reality. It’s been an incredible year. As the year’s gone on I’ve been lucky to have the introduction of support from Williams, which has made a big difference, and also Aston Martin. I’ve been very, very lucky, so it’s nice to have that rewarded and share it all with them.
KC: What has been the most challenging aspect of your W Series experience, and in contrast, what as been your favourite moment this season? JC: I’d say the most challenging race was definitely that last Brands Hatch race. The most challenging aspect overall is probably the fact that it’s not like a normal racing environment where you have your own team, your own independence—you’re sharing everything, you’re travelling together, you’re swapping cars each weekend, nothing’s off limits to anyone else. You’re teammates but racing against each other effectively, so I would say that’s definitely made it quite tough. I’d say the highlight was either the Hockenheim pole or the Brands Hatch pole, and I say that because both situations I felt like that was when the pressure was really on, so to deliver pole position both of those times was a big highlight.
KC: You’ve been neck and neck with Beitske Visser all season. Would you say that this rivalry has helped push your driving skills to the limit? JC: Yeah, 100%. For sure, when you’re working in that close proximity you find yourself pushing each other along quite a lot and definitely she’s pushed me this year to make sure I’m maximising every race, every result. I think the other drivers as well, some of them that came on strong at the end of the year, also kept us honest. But Beitske for the whole year has been the one that’s been pushing me hard, so it’s been a tough year to maintain the lead over her, and fortunately I managed to do it.
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KC: Do you feel that W Series is the way forward for female racers in this industry? Do you think it is the right stepping stone for women who want to progress into the more established classes? JC: Yeah, definitely. What W Series is doing is offering a platform for drivers to progress, a platform that a lot of us wouldn’t have otherwise had. So I think that now we’re seeing 20 female racing drivers, racing in Formula 3 cars at a high level, it’s giving them a much greater opportunity to feed into the higher levels of motorsport later on. For me this provided the perfect platform, the perfect stepping stone, so it hopefully do the same for others.
KC: 2019 has been quite a year for you with winning the MRF Challenge and the 24h Nürburgring win, and of course, winning the W Series title. The dream for you, as stated in a Guardian article earlier this month, is to race in Formula One. How did you feel when you got the call about becoming the developmental driver for Williams? Do you see yourself racing in Formula One in the near future? JC: Absolutely. It was a huge moment getting that call. I think every driver wants to be into Formula One, so to get that first step on the ladder and the first association as a development driver really is a dream come true. You just have to look at some of the drivers that have come through their young driver programme to know it’s a great place to be for any young driver, and for me I feel very much the same. It’s the first step into what will hopefully be a much bigger step in the future.
KC: Which drivers in Formula One (past or present) have influenced you the most in your racing career? JC: Good question. I’d say maybe from the past—although not so long ago—Alonso’s definitely influenced me. More because I like the way he wants to go and race in a lot of different things. You know, last year he was racing in Le Mans, Daytona, quite a lot of different championships. The fact that he’s open to doing all sorts of different racing is something that inspires me. And present, I’m not too sure. Definitely Hamilton, the way that he’s driving is incredible at the moment.
KC: What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into motor racing? JC: I would say, just get involved. Don’t let anything stop you. It’s a great sport, I’ve loved every minute of it even though I fell into it by accident. It’s a fantastic sport. I’d say work hard, learn from everyone and anything that you can, go get involved!
KC. Do you think you will be returning to the series next year or do you have other plans? JC: I’m not 100% too sure yet in terms of next year. But I think it’s a great series, it’s a great opportunity. For sure if I can do another season with them, potentially collect some superlicence points next year and get another season of experience, hopefully that will set me on on my way and in good stead for a few years to come.
All eyes were on the two championship leaders at Brands Hatch today as the first ever W Series season came to a close.
The British crowd were certainly in good spirits, waving flags and cheering on the five British drivers in the field, including the championship leader, Jamie Chadwick.
21-year-old Chadwick sat at the top of the scoreboard going into the last race, having scored two pole positions, five podiums and two victories, amounting to 98 points. Beitske Visser, Chadwick’s closest rival in the championship standings, had achieved three podiums and one victory.
Both Chadwick and Visser have fought neck and neck throughout the year which has fuelled a vast amount of anticipation and excitement going into the season finale, with their fight for the W Series crown going right down to the wire.
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Qualifying took place on Sunday morning which ended in a close battle between Chadwick and Alice Powell in the fight for pole position, with Powell initially setting the pace. Chadwick responded and set a blistering lap in the final seconds of the session, setting a laptime of 1:22.425, which placed her on pole.
Powell finished the session in P2 with Esmee Hawkey giving a stunning performance in P3, giving the home crowd something to cheer about. Chadwick’s closest rival Visser finished the session in P5 behind Emma Kimiläinen.
Chadwick had a good start as the lights went out, but Hawkey stalled in her grid box, and as a result ended up at the back of the field. Powell kept second place as Kimiläinen moved up to third, with Visser in fourth place. Fabienne Wohlwend lined up in fifth followed by Vicky Piria, Jess Hawkins, Sarah Moore, Sabre Cook and Marta Garcia rounding out the top ten.
Japanese driver Miki Koyama received a drive through penalty after parking her car over her pit box line after the formation lap, and as a result, ended up in last place. Hawkey also received a drive through penalty for stalling at the start.
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Meanwhile at the front of the pack, Powell and Kimiläinen were closing up to championship leader, the trio within half a second of each other.
Chadwick suddenly came under pressure from Powell and Kimiläinen, and in an exciting three-way scrap, Chadwick lost the lead to Powell and went down to third place ahead of Visser.
With 14 minutes remaining, Powell and Kimiläinen were running five seconds ahead of Chadwick, who was battling hard with Visser to keep her podium position.
Kimiläinen drew within 0.3 seconds of race leader Powell as yellow flags were waved when Koyama spun and stalled her car at Sterling Bend. As a result, the safety car came out and bunched up the pack, making for a thrilling restart with six minutes to go.
Powell pulled away as the safety car went back into the pits, Kimiläinen following on close behind with Chadwick and Visser scrapping for the final podium spot. Visser took third with less than three minutes remaining, and Chadwick then fell into the clutches of Fabienne Wohlwend as she seemed to lose some significant pace.
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Powell finished an absolutely flawless race to take her maiden W Series victory with Kimiläinen taking second place. Visser took the final podium spot, but all eyes were on Chadwick who crossed the line in fourth to be crowned the first ever W Series Champion. Chadwick will also receive $500,000 in prize money, with the remaining fund of $1m to be split between the other drivers.
The 2019 season has been extremely exciting and very refreshing to watch. The series sparked much controversy when it was initially announced in October last year, with many criticising it for ‘female segregation’. However, the series has triumphed beyond expectations and has promoted a new and exciting era of racing.
Women in motorsport are taking a firm step forward, and the W Series is helping female drivers’ ambitions to progress into more established series possible. In turn, it is also helping to inspire the next generation of young female racers. W Series is just the beginning of bigger and better things for women in motorsport.
I’m all here for Formula One facts and stats. The more obscure they are, the better. So when Max Verstappen carved his name onto the walls of the sport’s history with his first career pole position – the 100th driver ever to achieve the feat – last Saturday at the Hungaroring, the cogs began to twirl in my brain and Literally Some Wikipedia pages were opened.
One thing led to another, and before long on a dreary Thursday evening I pondered this (get ready, this is an obscure one with a capital O): who in F1 history has ever taken one World Championship pole position, and one win under similar rules, but without both being at the same Grand Prix weekend? As it turns out, only five drivers have done it. Here’s who they are.
1. Robert Kubica – 2008 Bahrain GP pole, 2008 Canadian GP victory
I’ll start the list with the only driver currently on the F1 grid, and the only one still currently able to escape it. Serial comeback king, serial public denouncements at the hands of a controversial Canadian, it’s a shock to the system to think back on the titan Robert Kubica once was and realise those ‘serials’ don’t extend to his win tally – just a fateful encounter with that same Canadian’s homeland event in June 2008 prevents him from being in the winless zone.
And it’s a crying tragedy. It’s so easy to forget for most when George Russell is batting him around the park most weekends (oddly though, not in the actual Drivers’ standings – 1 point to 0 there), but Robert’s 2008 season with BMW Sauber was chilling to the bone; one of the best individual seasons there’s been in the 21st century. Keeping the title alive until the penultimate race in an F1.08 chassis that had its development cut short for that dismal ‘09 season, it could’ve been so much more than a single pole in Bahrain and that victory.
A career kicked into life by dislodging, of course, Jacques Villeneuve in the summer of 2006 looked set to hit new heights after a season spent racing at an even higher level than ‘08 with Renault, and a pre-contract with Ferrari agreed for 2012. But, in distressing circumstances, it was all cut short. A participation in the Ronda di Andora rally ended in a severe crash, with the barrier entering the cockpit of his Skoda Fabia. After many years spent regaining his fitness in the rallying scene, 2017 saw Robert finally grace the world of F1 again with a mid-season test under his old team, Renault. Then after a 2018 season spent testing with Williams, he capped off a remarkable comeback with a 2019 race seat.
Mark McArdle / Wikimedia Commons
2. Vittorio Brambilla – 1975 Swedish GP pole, 1975 Austrian GP win
The Monza Gorilla. That was the nickname Vittorio Brambilla went by, but rather saddeningly neither his pole nor his win was taken at the temple of speed, and his home city. South Africa would be the first event Vittorio would lay claim to being the fastest in – for the Saturday, at least. He’d hold onto the lead of the race until Lap 16, before first Carlos Reutemann sailed by and Vittorio was forced into a Lap 36 retirement when his transmission gave way.
Austria would be his chance, though after qualifying 8th it looked unlikely. Luckily for him, the race was storming – like literally, the weather was torrid. Vittorio blasted his way into 3rd through the spray, and by the time the GPDA called an end to the drenched event on Lap 29, he’d landed himself top spot. The oldest driver on the grid at age 37, his and March’s first win was a reality, and in typical Brambilla fashion he damaged the car after crossing the line. After his retirement from both Alfa Romeo and racing in 1980, he occasionally drove the Safety Car at Italian GP events, before dying of a heart attack at age 63 in 2001.
3. Heikki Kovalainen – 2008 British GP pole, 2008 Hungarian GP win
The poster boy for rapid rises and drastic falls, Heikki Kovalainen was on for a breakthrough season for the top in 2008 after a fine debut season with Renault the year before. That… didn’t happen, although McLaren deemed his input towards a second place in the Constructors’ Championship enough to stay, and he finds himself on this list of mine. Oh what joy that’ll bring to him.
Heikki’s solitary pole was taken on his teammate Lewis Hamilton’s home turf, and who could blame him for anticipating his first time on the top step? Again… didn’t happen. Lewis was in inspired form on Sunday, and took his first home win over a minute ahead of the next car. Heikki? He had a spin and finished 5th. It’d only be two races later until he was on that top step though, with the Hungaroring gifting him fortune at the expense of his teammate’s title rival Felipe Massa, who cruelly retired three laps from the end with an engine failure.
Heikki’s F1 career was in freefall from there on. One more podium at Monza – a race he was widely expected to win – preceded a tough sophomore season at Woking before he was cast to the scrapheap, where Team Lotus (later named Caterham) rescued him. In his three seasons there, not even a point was scored, although his efforts suggested he was still a handy driver on his day. After a two-race cameo in place of Kimi Raikkonen back at Enstone for the other Lotus in 2013, again scoreless, Heikki found success in Japan’s GT500 series – still competing, he won the 2016 title there for Lexus Team SARD.
David Hunt / Wikimedia Commons
4. Jose Carlos Pace – 1975 South African GP pole, 1975 Brazilian GP win
The only driver on this list to have a Grand Prix circuit named after him, and oddly the second to achieve this two GP, one win, one pole feat solely during 1975 – much like Robert and Heikki in 2008 – Jose Carlos Pace instilled pride into the nation of Brazil with his racing exploits, alongside their biggest hope Emerson Fittipaldi. His peak was that fateful day in Interlagos, and he’s the first on this list to achieve his win before his pole.
The Interlagos circuit had only been on the calendar for two years heading into 1975, but both wins were taken by a Brazilian – Fittipaldi taking the chequered flag each time. Not this year, though. That honour was all Carlos’, with his compatriot instead finishing behind him to make it a Brazilian 1-2 on a wonderful day for the nation’s pride. The pole would instead come in the next race in South Africa, where braking problems consigned him to 4th in the race. Nonetheless, a star was born over those two events, and were it not for a fatal airplane accident in 1977 there’s every chance we could’ve been remembering him now as a World Champion.
5. Lorenzo Bandini – 1966 French GP pole, 1964 Austrian GP win
The list ends here, with the only driver to take his one pole and win over two different seasons. Lorenzo Bandini spent the first three years of his F1 career drifting between race seats and events on the sidelines, beginning with Ferrari in 1961 right until his Cooper and BRM adventures led to a full time drive with the Scuderia in 1964. That year was the first in which he’d achieve any great success, with 4th place in the Drivers’ standings secured and his first win taken in Austria, sandwiched between two 3rd place finishes in Germany and his home country.
He’d have to wait another two years before he ever led a grid away, but that time eventually came around. Leading the standings coming into the third race of 1966, Lorenzo planted his Ferrari on grid slot numero uno at the French GP, and this would be the peak of his F1 career. Forced to retire from the race, only two points would follow in his career before a horrific crash on the 82nd lap of the following year’s Monaco GP led to his death three days after due to the burns he’d suffered. Much like Carlos, Lorenzo had great potential and was robbed of the time to fulfil it with.
Douglas Motorsport’s Kiern Jewiss took his first British F3 win of the season and became the 11th man to win a race this season.
Johnathan Hoggard was second after losing out to Jewiss at the start of the race, which proved decisive as a clearly quicker Hoggard couldn’t land a blow.
Ulysse De Pauw made it a 1-3 with his second podium of the year in third place ahead of championship leader Clement Novalak and Carlin teammate Kaylen Frederick, who held off Chris Dittmann Racing’s Ayrton Simmons in fifth.
Neil Verhagen was seventh ahead of Sassakorn Chaimongkol and Lucas Petersson in the final Carlin in ninth.
Hampus Ericsson rose to tenth from 15th, paying for a difficult Saturday ahead of a solid eleventh place from Josh Mason and Race Two winner Nazim Azman. Kris Wright and Ben Pedersen rounded out the finishers, while PAvan Ravishankar was lapped and Manuel Maldonado retired.
The race was settled at the start as Brands Hatch once again proved to be difficult to overtake at as Jewiss jumped Hoggard and made it stick at Paddock Hill Bend, while De Pauw repeated the trick on Novalak behind.
Jewiss was rarely more than three tenths clear of Hoggard, who at times feigned a move to attempt to set up the leader for a move that never came.
The result means that Hoggard is now just 40 points behind Novalak in the title race, with six races remaining at Silverstone and at Donington Park.
Malaysia’s Nazim Azman claimed his first ever victory in British F3’s reverse grid Race Two at Brands Hatch.
He led home Ayrton Simmons, who was never more than half a second behind his teammate during an intriguing race interrupted by an early Safety Car.
That was brought about on lap one after a slow-starting Kris Wright made contact with Pavan Ravishankar at Paddock Hill bend on the opening lap – Singaporean driver had passed the American from the start-line.
Lanan’s Josh Mason was third to make it three straight Race Two podium positions, with Double R’s Neil Verhagen fourth having started from ninth on the grid.
Hampus Ericsson was fifth to recover from a difficult Saturday and having taken evasive action from the incident at the start, with Benjamin Pedersen sixth.
Ulysse De Pauw and Manuel Maldonado were next after better races on Saturday, with Lucas Petersson another to have lost out early on to finish in ninth place.
Clement Novalak was the first of the usual front runners but could only finish tenth on what has proven to be a difficult track overtake on, but he did manage to usurp Sassakorn Chaimongkol – the Thai driver taking 11th.
Kiern Jewiss and Johnathan Hoggard, yesterday’s top two, were 12th and 13th as both men were happy to take pain in Race Two rather than risk their cars.
Kaylen Frederick ended his race four laps early, in the gravel at Paddock Hill bend.
Johnathan Hoggard took his first win of the weekend at Brands Hatch to reignite his charge for the British F3 Championship.
Kiern Jewiss took second after closing on Hoggard towards the end of the race while Clement Novalak couldn’t land a blow on the Douglas Motorsport man to complete the podium in third.
Sassakorn Chaimongkol backed up his improving mid-season form to take fourth ahead of Kaylen Frederick, with Manuel Maldonado and Ulysse De Pauw next ahead of Double R’s leading driver Neil Verhagen.
Ayrton Simmons failed to climb from 11th as he came home behind Lucas Petersson and Benjamin Pedersen, while Hampus Ericsson’s three overtakes on the first lap to climb to twelfth accounted for three-quarters of the overtaking action during a tense opening race of the weekend.
Ericsson should have started last after an off in qualifying, but Pavan Ravishankar started from the back after ignoring red flags in qualifying.
Hoggard, who earlier took a commanding pole position in Saturday morning qualifying, cleared off early in the race as Jewiss was left to fend off Novalak and the improving Chaimongkol.
Chaimongkol had to keep the fast-starting Frederick behind him at Paddock Hill bend on the opening lap, but once the American was dealt with the Thai driver was seldom troubled as the meat in what was to be a Carlin Motorsport sandwich.
Hoggard got his lead up to 2.5s midway through the race, before the tide began to turn for Jewiss, who until this point had had a frustrating season for Douglas Motorsport.
Second was to be as good as it got for Jewiss, who still took him his best result of the season.
Meanwhile it was a desperate Saturday for Ayrton Simmons, whose championship aspirations took a major blow. A finish of 11th after a disappointing qualifying has left the Chris Dittman Racing driver with a mountain to climb over the next eight rounds.
Sunday morning’s race ended in a nail-biting final lap showdown which saw reverse grid pole-sitter Megan Gilkes hold off the charging Alice Powell to win by just 0.03s.
The grid was based on a full reversal of the championship points, including all twenty race and reserve drivers. The race, which did not offer points, saw Megan Gilkes and Sarah Bovy start on the front row, while championship contenders Beitske Visser and Jamie Chadwick lined up 19th and 20th.
The race came down to an intense final-lap battle between Gilkes, the youngest driver in the field, and the experienced racer Powell who had overtaken her way through the field from 17th on the grid. Despite Powell’s relentless attempts to take the lead, Gilkes put up a robust defence each and every time, leading to a side-by-side finish, with Gilkes coming out on top by the smallest of margins. Sabre Cook rounded out the podium.
Credit: W Series Media
Gilkes, Bovy, and the American driver Cook, who had a great start to move from 8th to third, held their own out front for the first half of the race. Shea Holbrook, who had started third, struggled for pace and fell down the order, eventually spinning and bringing out the safety car. At the restart, Gilkes came under pressure from Bovy in second, but managed to stay in front.
Alice Powell was among the early movers, jumping from 17th to 9th by the second lap, and refusing to stop there, continuing to climb the order until the very end. Emma Kimilainen also put in a commendable drive, finishing 5th from 15th on the grid and battling for a podium in the process.
Lap 4 saw championship rivals Visser and Chadwick battling over 14th position, with Visser coming out on top, and Chadwick then falling back behind Fabienne Wohlwend. Undeterred, Chadwick was able to battle her way through to finish 8th, while a poor getaway in a safety car restart meant Visser had to settle for 14th.
The race saw two safety car periods, with Gosia Rdest and Shea Holbrook failing to make the finish.
Emma Kimilainen won from pole after a close battle with Alice Powell, who led much of the race, as championship rivals Jamie Chadwick and Beitske Visser fought for third place.
In her second race back after injuries kept her out of action earlier in the season, Kimilainen took pole in Saturday morning’s qualifying session with a time of 1:34.758.
Powell set the second fastest time, despite having the same car that had suffered a number of issues last time out at the Norisring, due to a rule that meant, while normally drivers swap cars at each round, she had to keep the same car going into this weekend.
Championship leader Chadwick put in the third best time, with her closest title rival and local favourite Visser joining her on the second row of the grid.
Further back on the grid, Norisring winner Marta Garcia and Lichtenstein’s Fabienne Wohlwend qualified 7th and 8th. Meanwhile, Vicky Piria lined up 12th after suffering a fiery failure, cutting her qualifying session short.
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As the lights went out for the start of Saturday’s championship race, Kimilainen made a sluggish start, handing Powell the lead, and almost allowing a charging Chadwick through. Meanwhile, Visser dropped to fifth behind Caitlin Wood. Further back, Garcia tapped the rear of Tasmin Pepper, who then spun, making contact with Miki Koyama, bringing out the safety car on the opening lap.
After the safety car period, pole-sitter Kimilainen pressured Powell throughout the race, with Powell eventually making a small mistake and running onto the kerb with 10 minutes remaining, allowing Kimilainen past. Kimilainen then quickly built up a sizeable lead, crossing the line 5.7 seconds ahead of Powell in second.
Chadwick rounded out the podium, despite seemingly lacking in pace to Powell and Kimilainen ahead, but was able to hold off a strong challenge from title rival Visser, who finished in fourth and pulled off the move of the race, making an early decisive move to pass Wood down the inside.
Wohlwend, still in mathematical championship contention at the start of this race, is now out of the title fight after running wide and damaging her front wing, forcing her to pit. Garcia is also now out of contention after finishing in ninth.
Tomorrow’s race, which will not award points, will see an experimental reverse grid based on today’s race results. After today’s penultimate championship race, Chadwick leads with 98 points, with her sole remaining challenger Visser on 85 points going into the final round at Brands Hatch on 11th August.
