Autosport – 25 July 2019

Kimilainen put Hockenheim

woes behind her with Assen

triumph from pole

38 AUTOSPORT.COM 25 JULY 2019

W SERIES

ASSEN (NLD)

20 JULY

ROUND 5/6

As the conclusion of the inaugural W Series

season draws closer, the penultimate round

at Assen last weekend ensured that the

title battle between Williams Formula 1

development driver Jamie Chadwick and

Beitske Visser will go down to the wire

at the final at Brands Hatch next month.

Just 13 points separate the pair from the

$500,000 available to the champion.

Chadwick, who began her march

on the W Series crown in dominant style

at the season opener at Hockenheim

in May, denied Visser a home podium on

Saturday after a race-long battle for third

place. Visser ultimately ran out of time to

make a move stick on Chadwick in the

30-minute sprint.

But the stand-out performances of the

Assen weekend came from two other drivers

who had commanded attention in the first

race at Hockenheim. This time, though, it

was for all the right reasons.

When Emma Kimilainen and Megan

Gilkes collided on the opening lap of

the series’ first race, the neck injury that

Kimilainen sustained meant that she

missed both Zolder and Misano.

Having returned at the Norisring last

time out and claimed fifth place, Kimilainen

continued to prove how, had things played

out differently, she could have been in

contention for the title this year with an

emphatic maiden W Series win from pole.

Second place starter Alice Powell had

initially got the lead from Kimilainen as

Chadwick fights off Visser in title duel

the lights went out. But the race was

immediately interrupted by a safety car

when Tasmin Pepper spun across the

track and was struck by Miki Koyama.

Powell maintained the lead at the restart,

and both her and a chasing Kimilainen

pulled away from the rest by a margin of just

over four seconds. As Kimilainen continued

to apply pressure to Powell, she eventually

caught her out on the run into the first

corner, as Powell ran wide.

“If you want to win, hire a Finn,”

grinned Kimilainen in the post-race press

conference. Since only the top 12 are

guaranteed to advance to the second season

of the all-female championship, this result

has all but secured a spot on the 2020 grid.

As W Series looks to confirm its full

plans for its second season, a one-off

non-championship race was also run on

Sunday, with a reversed grid decided by

the current championship standings.

That gave last-placed Gilkes pole and a

chance to prove herself in what has so far

been a difficult season for the youngest

driver on the grid. It also meant Chadwick

had to start from last place.

Gilkes just took victory – and with it

her very first taste of champagne – from

Powell, who was second again (from 17th

on the grid) in a photo finish.

Gilkes controlled the race from the start,

but by the end of the 30-minute sprint was

under intense pressure from Powell, who

had battled past third-placed Sabre Cook

and Jessica Hawkins to form what was

an eight-car battle for the lead on the

final lap of the race.

LUCY MORSON

Battle for final

podium place keeps

$500k W Series title

race wide open

TRIENITZ

WORLD OF SPORT

TRIENITZ