2019 W Series

The 2019 W Series was the inaugural season of the W Series, an all-female Formula 3-level racing series.[1]

2019 W Series
Champion: Jamie Chadwick
Previous:	none	Next:	2020
Parent series: Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters

Jamie Chadwick, the 2019 drivers' champion.

Driver selection

55 drivers were initially entered in a qualifying longlist for the 2019 season, with a further six added later on.[2][3][4] An evaluation was held at the Wachauring in Melk, Austria over 26–28 January, with series judges—including David Coulthard, Alexander Wurz and Lyn St. James—[5] selecting a shortlist of drivers that would get to test the Tatuus–Alfa Romeo T-318. Drivers completed 10 'modules' that tested their skills in racecraft, fitness, media training and sponsorship pitches, before a final knockout series of races that would decide the 28 drivers that advanced to the next stage at the Circuito de Almería.[6] The final stage held over 22–27 March, which saw additional fitness testing and data analysis alongside traditional testing, would decide the 18-driver line-up as well as four additional substitute drivers - who will be on standby in the event of a regular driver's absence.

The evaluation format drew mixed opinions from the competitors. Eliminated driver Charlotte Poynting labelled the process "confusing" and that the judges "obviously weren't looking for the fastest drivers", whereas compatriot Caitlin Wood claimed the evaluation was "as fair as they could make it".[7][8]

Eliminated drivers

Withdrew before evaluation

• Amna Al Qubaisi
• Michelle Gatting
• Angelique Germann
• Michelle Halder
• Carmen Jordá
• Sheena Monk
• Carrie Schreiner

Eliminated after evaluation

• Ayla Ågren
• Chelsea Angelo
• Carmen Boix
• Toni Breidinger
• Alessandra Brena
• Ivana Cetinich
• Veronika Cichá
• Courtney Crone
• Mira Erda
• Carlotta Fedeli
• Cassie Gannis
• Samin Gómez
• Fabienne Lanz
• Milla Mäkelä
• Alexandra Marinescu
• Marylin Niederhauser
• Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya
• Taegen Poles
• Charlotte Poynting
• Sharon Scolari
• Doreen Seidel
• Siti Shahkirah
• Sneha Sharma
• Inès Taittinger
• Bruna Tomaselli
• Hanna Zellers

Eliminated after testing

• Natalie Decker
• Grace Gui
• Natalia Kowalska
• Stéphane Kox
• Francesca Linossi
• Milou Mets
• Shirley van der Lof
• Alexandra Whitley

Qualified drivers

All cars are operated by Hitech GP.[9]

No. Drivers Class Rounds 2 Esmee Hawkey All 3 Gosia Rdest All 5 Fabienne Wohlwend All 7 Emma Kimiläinen 1, 4–6 11 Vicky Piria All 19 Marta García All 20 Caitlin Wood All 21 Jessica Hawkins All 26 Sarah Moore All 27 Alice Powell All 31 Tasmin Pepper All 37 Sabré Cook All 49 Megan Gilkes R^1 1–3, 5–6 55 Jamie Chadwick All 58 Sarah Bovy R 2–3, 6 67 Shea Holbrook All 77 Vivien Keszthelyi R^1 2–4, 6 85 Miki Koyama All 95 Beitske Visser All 99 Naomi Schiff All Source:[10][11]

Icon Class R Reserve driver

^1 – Megan Gilkes, normally a regular driver, was demoted to reserve driver duties at Round 4. Vivien Keszthelyi, normally a reserve driver, was promoted to regular driver duties at Round 4.[12]

Calendar and results

A single championship race was held at six rounds of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters,[13] with an additional non-championship race at TT Circuit Assen to test different event formats.[14]

Round	Circuit	Dates	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Race Winner	Report
1	Hockenheimring	4 May	Jamie Chadwick	Miki Koyama	Jamie Chadwick	Report
2	Circuit Zolder	18 May	Jamie Chadwick	Beitske Visser	Beitske Visser	Report
3	Misano World Circuit	8 June	Fabienne Wohlwend	Beitske Visser	Jamie Chadwick	Report
4	Norisring	6 July	Marta García	Emma Kimiläinen	Marta García	Report
5	TT Circuit Assen	20 July	Emma Kimiläinen	Emma Kimiläinen	Emma Kimiläinen	Report
NC		21 July		Sabré Cook	Megan Gilkes
6	Brands Hatch	11 August	Jamie Chadwick	Emma Kimiläinen	Alice Powell	Report

Championship standings

Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers as follows:

Race Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
Points	25	18	15	12	10	8	6	4	2	1

Pos. Driver HOC ZOL MIS NOR ASS BRH Points 1 Jamie Chadwick 1 2 1 3 3 4 110 2 Beitske Visser 4 1 2 2 4 3 100 3 Alice Powell 2 3 Ret Ret 2 1 76 4 Marta García 3 4 6 1 9 8 66 5 Emma Kimiläinen Ret WD 5 1 2 53 6 Fabienne Wohlwend 6 7 3 4 15 5 51 7 Miki Koyama 7 8 4 6 Ret 20 30 8 Sarah Moore 5 5 9 Ret 10 10 24 9 Vicky Piria 15 9 5 12 8 6 24 10 Tasmin Pepper 8 6 7 8 Ret 12 22 11 Jessica Hawkins 11 13 15 Ret 7 7 12 12 Sabré Cook 13 15 8 7 13 9 12 13 Caitlin Wood 10 11 14 11 5 11 11 14 Gosia Rdest 9 Ret 13 14 6 13 10 15 Esmee Hawkey 12 Ret 11 9 11 16 2 16 Naomi Schiff 14 10 18 10 12 15 2 17 Vivien Keszthelyi Ret 10 13 14 1 18 Shea Holbrook 16 12 16 15 16 17 0 19 Sarah Bovy DNS 12 19 0 20 Megan Gilkes Ret 14 17 14 18 0 Pos. Driver HOC ZOL MIS NOR ASS BRH Points

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

References

1. "All-female motor racing series offers potential F1 pathway". CNN. Retrieved 2018-10-24.
2. "W Series names long-list of drivers". W Series. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
3. "55 women make the first cut for 2019 W Series". Autoweek. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
4. "Six new drivers enter W Series selection". W Series. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
5. "W Series a day away from historic announcement". W Series. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
6. "W Series name 28 drivers through to the next stage". W Series. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
7. "Poynting 'confused' by 'vague' W Series selection process". Speedcafe. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
8. "CAFE CHAT: Caitlin Wood". Speedcafe. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
9. Khorounzhiy, Valentin (18 May 2019). "Top F3 team to run all W Series cars". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
10. "W Series announces its driver line-up". W Series. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
11. "Race numbers revealed". W Series. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
12. "@WSeriesRacing on Twitter". Twitter. 6 July 2019.
13. "DTM announces 2019 calendar and W Series on support bill". www.autosport.com. Autosport. 12 October 2018.
14. "Additional non-championship race to be held at Assen". W Series. 28 June 2019.

External links

• Official website