All-female junior racing championship W Series will move to an entirely team-based format in 2022.
Ahead of its new season, which begins this weekend, six teams will each brand a pair of the series’ 18 cars. The remaining six cars will continue to be branded by the championship.The owners of the entries have been selected from a diverse range of applicants including motorsport teams, businesses, brands and wealthy individuals. W Series describes its upcoming season as a transition year, and intends to appoint owners for the three remaining team slots ahead of next year.
“It is pretty incredible that we’ve got six deals over the line,” W Series CEO Catherine Bond Muir told RaceFans. “It gives us financial security going forward. We’ve got growth and finally we can climb with confidence for the future.”
To ensure a level playing field, all 18 cars will remain mechanically identical and all will continue to be prepared and run by the championship. While the new teams will each brand their own cars, they will also retain the branding of W Series sponsors Acronis, Hankook, Puma and Rokit.
Among the takers of the six slots are Veloce, whose Extreme E line-up includes reigning W Series champion Jamie Chadwick, who will also drive for them in the single-seater series. Her team mate is Bruna Tomaselli, a newcomer to the championship.
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Chadwick’s 2019 title rival Beitske Visser will drive for a team owners by American entrepreneur Miguel Forbes, alongside Ayla Agren.
Sportswear brand Puma, which has created bespoke racing suits for the competitors, will brand another team. Its cars will be driven by Marta Garcia and Gosia Rdest.
In addition to the the drivers’ championship new, unofficial teams standings will be introduced this year, which the series hopes to retain for future seasons.
2021 W Series teams and driver numbers
Team | Driver | Driver |
---|---|---|
Bunker Racing | Fabienne Wohlwend (5) | Sabre Cook (37) |
M. Forbes Motorsport | Beitske Visser (95) | Ayla Agren (17) |
Puma W Series Team | Marta Garcia (19) | Gosia Rdest (3) |
Racing X | Alice Powell (27) | Jess Hawkins (21) |
Sirin Racing | Miki Koyama (54) | Vicky Piria (11) |
Veloce Racing | Jamie Chadwick (55) | Bruna Tomaselli (97) |
Ecurie W | Emma Kimiläinen (7) | Abbie Eaton (44) |
Scuderia W | Sarah Moore (26) | Belen Garcia (22) |
W Series Academy | Irina Sidorkova (51) | Nerea Marti (32) |
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Tommy C (@tommy-c)
24th June 2021, 3:51
I’m super excited for this season to start. My daughter’s starting to show interest in motorsport but I can really only show her men racing. She recognises Clark, Lauda, Hunt, Michael, Max and Lewis so it’ll be great to add some women to the list as role models.
BasCB (@bascb)
24th June 2021, 9:06
It really looks like this series is making steps. Good to see them racing :-)
Jeanrien (@jeanrien)
24th June 2021, 12:15
This comment is highlighting exactly why the serie was needed and that there is a gap to fill. Extrem E being another one, @tommy-c your daughter might want to have a look at it. Some really impressive drives from some women there, Katie with the puncture during first qualy in Saudi was something to watch, no backing off there.
Nice to have series offering some visibilities and inspiration and hopefully they won’t be needed in the future. First season of w series still offered competitive racing and was enjoyable to watch whatever the context.
Drew Storms (@badstorms)
24th June 2021, 7:58
Love that this series seems to be gaining some traction, though I really wish there were better options for catching race coverage in the US.
Aapje (@aapje)
24th June 2021, 8:36
Does this mean that there is no more (individual) driver’s championship? Because otherwise this statement is misleading, IMO.
RandomMallard (@)
24th June 2021, 9:03
@aapje No there will still be a driver’s championship. That statement is to distinguish the new format from the 2019 season’s format where the championship ran and managed every car and driver, doing things like swapping chassis and mechanics between drivers after every round to try and keep it as fair/equal as possible.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
24th June 2021, 9:44
I’ve revised a line in there to address the potential for confusion around that.
ian dearing
24th June 2021, 8:49
The documentary W Series: Driven is available on C4. Six half hour programs. Has it been reviewed on here?