Jamie Chadwick has her eyes set on an eighth consecutive win as the second half of the W Series season kicks off. The sixth of 10 races – and the fourth and final one to be staged in Europe – takes place on Saturday at the Hungaroring, where Jamie Chadwick regained the championship lead exactly a year ago. The reigning double champion has been on top spot in the W Series standings ever since then.
It was at the Hungaroring last season that Jamie took her fourth W Series race victory on her 10th start. The nine races since then have seen her take two second-place finishes and seven straight wins aftwewards. The latest of those came at Circuit Paul Ricard in France last weekend, when the Briton pulled off two stunning overtakes on Sirin Racing W Series Team’s Beitske Visser on her way to victory.
That fifth win from five races gives Jamie a perfect 125 points so far this season and a 70-point lead over nearest challenger Abbi Pulling in the championship standings. At the halfway stage, the battle for second place is heating up, as just 15 points separate Abbi and Emma Kimiläinen in seventh.
This weekend at the Hungaroring – which is approximately 24km (15 miles) north-east of the country’s capital city, Budapest – all 18 W Series drivers will be eager to start the second half of the season strong and go into the summer break in August on the back of a good result.
Apart from this season’s five rookies and Abbi – who was a reserve driver and did not take part in last year’s edition of the race – the other 12 drivers on the W Series grid all competed at the Hungaroring in 2021. Jamie Chadwick claimed a lights-to-flag victory and was atop the podium beside Alice Powell in second and Nerea Martí in third. Last year’s third place was the Martí’s maiden top-three W Series finish and two more have come since then, most recently in Le Castellet last weekend.
The Hungaroring hosted its first F1 Grand Prix in 1986 and has been the home of the Hungarian race every year since, making this the 37th World Championship race to be held there. It is 4.381 km (2.722 miles) long and notoriously difficult for overtaking, so a good qualifying position is essential. The W Series drivers experienced searing heat in south-eastern France last weekend and are set for more of the same here, with temperatures forecasted to be over 30 degrees Celsius.
W Series’ schedule for this weekend starts on today – the 29th of July – with a 30-minute practice session at 11.50 local time (CEST), followed by qualifying from 19.25 to 19.55 on the same day. The race starts at 14.40 on Saturday 30 July and will run for 30 minutes plus one lap.
British fans can watch the sixth race of the 2022 W Series season live from the Hungaroring on Sky Sports F1, Sky Showcase, and Sky Sports Mix from 13.15 BST on Saturday 30 July, with qualifying live on Sky Sports F1 at 18.10 BST on Friday 29 July. Highlights of the race will be on Channel 4 at 14.00 BST on Sunday 31 July.
Emma Kimiläinen (Puma W Series Team, 33, FIN) said:
“There is no home race for Finns in F1 so I guess this is as close as I get! Lots of Finnish fans have adopted the Hungarian Grand Prix as their own because it’s easy to fly direct from Finland, the track is close to the city, and there’s lots to enjoy in Budapest. The atmosphere at the Hungaroring is always great, hopefully there will be lots of Finnish flags around, and all of the W Series drivers will get good support.”