From reservation
to vindication
“My gut was really
unsure, but my head
told me to go for it.
It’s the best decision
I’ve ever made”When W Series was announced last autumn, it faced a
lot of criticism for “segregating” women in one of the few
international sports where they can compete equally
alongside men. Almost a year on from its launch, with
one successful season under its belt, W Series can largely
put those criticisms behind it.
Jamie Chadwick may have won the inaugural title, but
even she had her doubts about the series to begin with.
“I had reservations all the way until the first selection test
in Melk,” she says. “It was a bit of an unknown, just because
I had always gone about my racing career in a particular way
and had always liked the way that I’d done it. Maybe I’m a bit
conservative and I don’t really like change, so this was always
going to be a bit diff erent. Usually I follow my gut more than
my head, and my gut
was really unsure about
W Series, but my head
told me to go for it and
I think it’s the best decision
I’ve ever made.”
One feature unique
to W Series is that the
cars are swapped between
the field of 20 drivers during the season, removing
the potential for any arguments over an advantage in
performance. The engineers are also rotated, and all of the
data gathered is completely out in the open – presenting
a particular challenge in a two-way championship fight
such as the one between Chadwick and Beitske Visser
this year – but Chadwick says this is something that
has helped develop her driving further.
“I would say that the biggest challenge of the W Series
is the way you have to share everything and how you’re
constantly swapping cars, and how nothing is kept to
yourself and sharing all of your data and onboards,” she
says. “That’s the hardest thing. It’s really pushed me on
this year to make sure that I’m at the top of my game
and that I’m ahead where I can be.”S^ BLOXHAMChadwick won twice
in W Series campaign- this is at Misano
Sharing data added
extra challenge to title
fight with Visser (left )
22 AUGUST 2019 AUTOSPORT.COM 17JAMIE CHADWICK