The new stars emerging from W Series

Just two months on from the opening round at Hockenheim, the inaugural W Series championship has already reached the midway point of its first season - with Jamie Chadwick leading the standings by a margin of 13 points over Beitske Visser.

That it's Chadwick and Visser leading the way at the sharp end of the field is not particularly surprising - both are established names in single-seater racing and it's certainly more than likely that Chadwick would have been able to continue her steady career trajectory as the next great female Formula 1 driver hope with or without W Series.

But, as has been said so many times before, the role of W Series isn't merely to find the next female F1 hope that exists right here, right now and be done with it - but rather to catalyse a wider change within motorsport to inspire a generation of younger hopefuls, who mean the wait for the next female racing icon isn't as long as the last one.

There has only been a little over 90 minutes of actual W Series racing action in 2019 so far. The three outings at Hockenheim, Zolder and Misano will be followed by the three remaining rounds at the Norisring - this coming weekend - Assen and Brands Hatch.

But in its short life so far, the championship has also shone a spotlight on a handful of drivers, who without the series would not have had the same chance as Chadwick to make their mark on the international stage.

In technical terms there is no real 'midfield' in W Series given that each Formula 3-spec car is exactly the same and they all are run by Hitech GP - thereby placing all emphasis solely on driver ability.

But varying experience levels on this diverse grid mean that outside the title battle there are drivers proving that they will be able to keep the excitement and the ethos of the series going long after Chadwick has moved onto pastures new and as it expands further.

One such driver is Marta Garcia, for whom W Series represents - as it does for so many other names on the grid - a second shot at a career. She was dropped from the Renault F1 development programme in 2017 and spent last season without a drive.

"I had exams so racing was a second focus and it's not the same" Marta Garcia

Garcia is one of the youngest drivers on the grid at the age of 18, and her podium after a gutsy battle at Hockenheim means she currently lies third in the championship points standings.

That Hockenheim drive - and the Channel 4 television coverage focus that came with it, given that race was largely dominated by Chadwick in wet conditions - earned Garcia more than a few fans and attracted the attention even of those in the F1 paddock at the Spanish Grand Prix when she attended a week later.

"Of course I get a lot more media attention now than before," says Garcia. "Like after my podium in Hockenheim, people like what they see and your name is out there.

"For finding sponsors, it's useful. But I still have to show more. It's not been a bad championship, there's still races to go and now I can just focus on the races.

"I had exams so racing was a second focus and it's not the same, you just need to be really racing and that's what I want now.

"I want to finish this with W Series of course and then maybe try to do some Formula Renault [Eurocup] races in September/October/November."

Another of the youngest stand-out performers so far this season is 21-year-old Miki Koyama, who has admitted to finding her experience racing in W Series a steep learning curve.

Koyama speaks little English and had predominantly raced in Japan at Formula 4 level up to now.

At Zolder, she impressed by battling to eighth in the race after a disappointing qualifying left her 13th. Koyama explained that weekend that she had a particular challenge in communication with her Hitech engineer, as the language barrier meant she had struggled to find the optimum set-up for a single fast lap in qualifying.

But Koyama went fastest of all in practice at Misano, and at that point became the only driver other than Chadwick or Visser to have topped a session, which proved that she was making progress with her personal targets.

Misano, which was the first totally dry W Series weekend of the year, also brought another different face to the front, with Fabienne Wohlwend taking a surprise pole.

Ultimately she would lose the lead to Chadwick at the start, but nonetheless did enough to hold on for a podium, which brought her up to fifth in the championship standings.

"I'm really happy and the pace has been amazing since Hockenheim," said the 21-year-old, who began her career in F4 but has spent recent seasons in single-make sportscar racing - and building prospects outside motorsport.

"It's such a shame to know that we are already halfway through. The time here in W Series is just so nice, you feel a lot of pressure as well, but coming to W Series is a bit like a holiday and you see all of the girls and you have such a good time.

"I'm not looking too far ahead, I just want to enjoy this right now.

"It's overwhelming. I still have a job at home so it's quite busy! I'm a banker and I still work there 80% of the time - full-time in the winter - so I can take the days off when I'm racing."

Tasmin Pepper is a driver in the W Series 'midfield' who has perhaps flown under the radar so far this season, but she has consistently finished within the points and is currently eighth in the championship.

"At the beginning, I very nearly didn't make it in so the steps I've made have been massive" Tasmin Pepper

Pepper is already an established driver domestically in her native South Africa, but is racing properly in Europe for the first time with W Series.

"It's definitely made me stand out as a driver, especially at home," she says.

"It's quite difficult for South Africans to race internationally - we have a few racers like my brother [Bentley GT racer Jordan Pepper] and the van der Lindes who are doing well - so any opportunity for another South African to step out is a big thing for us.

"I've got quite a lot of attention from it, which is really cool, but just being a part of this at all is really amazing."

W Series has always put a huge focus on the personal development opportunities it aims to give its drivers, and Pepper sees a huge difference in herself already, which she hopes would make her a 2020 frontrunner if she is selected again.

"We get to drive on such amazing tracks with this amazing atmosphere around and I'm just getting more confident as time goes by," she says. "If the opportunity arises and I'm allowed to continue, I would definitely be here because it's only going to get better.

"I think my championship [performance] would be all the better for it because this has kind of been a learning year and next year would be the year to try and go for it - aiming to be in that top three instead of the top six.

"I'm happy with my progress. At the beginning, I very nearly didn't make it in so the steps I've made from Almeria [final selection testing] to now have been massive.

"I've been fortunate enough to be in this kind of paddock before for my brother, so I've been at these circuits and I sort of know what goes on in the paddock. But having the attention on me does make it that much better because I'm the driver this time.

"It's so cool when someone pulls you aside and asks you for your autograph, [or] they bring out pictures, it's so nice to know there are supporters around the world."

And with W Series quietly eyeing a more global move in seasons to come, support for and attention on those drivers will only intensify.

To prove that there is a steady crop of more than capable female racing drivers to permanently close motorsport's overall gender gap - not just have one singular leading hope - is the real point of W Series.