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Visser, Kimilainen share spoils in W Series Esports opener

Beitske Visser won two of the three races in the first round of the W Series Esports League at a virtual Monza circuit

Following the cancellation of its real-life 2020 season, the 10-round sim racing series will be the only W Series racing to take place this year.

Experienced sim racer Visser, who finished runner-up to Jamie Chadwick in the inaugural W Series season last year, won the first race after dispatching polesitter Caitlin Wood early in the race.

Visser picked up damage at the start of the second race, which featured a full reversed grid, but recovered to finish in ninth place.

Visser, who is also a BMW Motorsport junior driver, dominated the third and final race to lead the championship after the opening round.

"I've always been quite good on simulators," Visser said.

"When I look at the past, when I was driving in open-wheel cars, we were always on the simulator before every race.

"It's very competitive like in the real world. But we're helping each other to be quick too."

The reversed-grid race was won by Emma Kimilainen, who finished fifth in the 2019 W Series season despite missing two rounds due to an injury sustained in a collision during the opening round at Hockenheim.

The 30-year-old Finnish racer was anticipating the cancellation of the 2020 W Series season prior to its announcement, and she praised the 'courage' of the decision.

"For everyone, it's disappointing, all of us would have loved to drive," she told Autosport.

"But then, on the other hand, it's just another year [to wait].

"I wasn't too disappointed, and it didn't affect my feelings in a negative way.

"It was a good decision and takes a lot of courage to do such a decision, so I really appreciate what W Series has done for us in order for us to still drive in a way safely.

"I would have been surprised if we would have been racing in real-life. For me, it was obvious that we were not going to be driving this year.

"Esports is a nice opportunity to learn something new. Next year, I will hopefully be there to win it [in real-life]."

Among the other stars of the maiden W Series sim racing event was 16-year-old Irina Sidorkova, who was set to make her W Series debut in 2020 prior to its cancellation.

She sits second in the drivers' standings, three points adrift of Visser after finishing second to Visser in the opening race, charging to fourth place in the reversed-grid race and completing the podium positions in third place in the final race.

Reigning W Series champion Chadwick sits 13th in the championship, with a best finish of fifth place in the reversed-grid race.

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