The rational brain of W Series' outside title bet

Emma Kimilainen was unable to show her full potential in W Series in 2019, as a neck injury following round one contact with Megan Gilkes forced her to sit out the next two rounds and effectively ended her title hopes before a lap of racing had been completed.

But after charging to victory in the championship's most recent round at Spa last weekend, the Finn is threatening to disrupt the established pecking order and having thrown her hat into the ring, says anything could happen over the remaining three races.

Amid a rainy weekend in Belgium, marred by a huge six-car crash in qualifying, most drivers appeared to approach Saturday’s race with caution as the downpours continued, delaying the race by an hour. But Kimilainen was unperturbed.

Starting fourth, when the race eventually went green after four slow safety car laps, she made short work of Caitlin Wood and set about chasing down the two title protagonists ahead. Alice Powell had no answer for Kimilainen, and nor did points leader Jamie Chadwick.

Setting a fastest lap 0.692 seconds faster than anybody - Marta Garcia's best was the only time within 2.4s of her - Kimilainen pulled 8.489s clear in the four laps that followed her pass on Chadwick in a statement of intent that she believes was a turning point for her season. She now sits third in the drivers' standings on 60 points, 31 points behind Chadwick and 16 behind Powell.

Emma Kimilainen surged forwards in the wet at Spa and pulled away to an eight-second win

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Kimilainen says although the season has been “tricky, it's been sticky overall - not as smooth and easy as I hoped for”, everything fell into place in Spa for the 2019 Assen winner and has given her confidence a timely boost heading into this weekend's race at Zandvoort.

“Anything could happen still, we have three races left,” she tells Autosport. “So if I would be able to win and gather the maximum points, you never know what kind of luck people are going to have.

“It definitely requires the maximum attack from me, and the maximum points, but then at the same time, I've had some [bad] luck, maybe someone else will have that as well, you never know.

“I'm just going to focus on my own job and do it as quick as I can and then gather as many points as possible, and then in the end, we will see where I am in the standings, but definitely aim for the championship win as I've done all the time.”

"It's not like ‘Hey, I'm Emma, I’m a racing driver’ - I don't define myself only by being a racing driver. If I did, I think it would generate quite a lot of pressure on myself" Emma Kimilainen

As Kimilainen acknowledges, her season hasn't been entirely straightforward. She was running fourth in the opening round at the Red Bull Ring when contact following a safety car restart with Beitske Visser at Turn 3 broke her front wing and caused her to drop out of the points over the remaining four laps. An incident that cost her at least 12 points, she concedes, has “already had a big impact and it will have a big impact”.

It was hardly the ideal return to action after the pandemic had caused her to sit out the entirety of 2020 - unlike rivals Chadwick and Visser, who continued racing in other championships - and came after the disrupted 2019 season in which she'd finished fifth on the basis of only three race finishes.

Kimilainen recognises that the same bad luck she has experienced could strike another driver at any time, and she must be ready to pounce if it does - although is quick to say she doesn’t wish it on any of her rivals.

Kimilainen had an injury-disrupted 2019 and then sat out the entirety of 2020 due to the pandemic

Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images

What also sets Kimilainen apart from the other drivers on the grid is her life outside of racing – something she says “doesn’t define who I am as a person – it’s not my identity”.

The only mother racing in the series, Kimilainen sees herself as a wife and an entrepreneur alongside her driving career, and says it helps her maintain perspective and keeps some of the pressure off.

“It's not like, ‘Hey, I'm Emma, I’m a racing driver’ - I don't define myself only by being a racing driver,” she says. “If I did, I think it would generate quite a lot of pressure on myself. Like, if I felt that I was nothing besides the racing, and then my results would define how I see myself as a person, that's something that is really dangerous I think for an athlete.

“And then if your career is ending at some point for a reason, not of your own decision or something like that, it can be a shock for you, as an athlete, as well – if you've only done that, and you think you're only good at that, then in the end, when you leave, there might be a big gap in your heart or existence for life.

“I think it's really positive that athletes and myself have other things in life too, and then you realise that there is a big picture as well. That takes a little bit of pressure away from your results, and then you can enjoy it a lot more. I always aim for a win, I love winning, and I love this job, it's the most amazing thing in the world. But then, at the same time, if I don't win, like, what's the difference in the bigger picture?

“Having that in mind actually makes me a much better driver, because I'm then able to be quite relaxed, and I'm able to just take the best out of it, I'm able to enjoy it all and not over-try everything. If you always try too hard, then you're leading into mistakes and failure, and then when you still want to try from there, you're still over-trying things. Then, it's a difficult path, the mistakes come even bigger and the frustration is pretty bad, so it's hard to bounce back from that kind of a deep mindset.

“I just like to enjoy it, and then that's my way of doing it - by way of thinking that it is not all my identity.”

Kimilainen, with W Series coach Jonny Kane, says a no pressure approach has helped her

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Kimilainen’s fortunes improved at the second round of the Austria double-header, moving from sixth on the grid up to third before finishing fourth at Silverstone. But a sixth place at the Hungaroring, from a season-worst eighth in qualifying, was an unwelcome setback.

Now, with her first win since 2019 under her belt, Kimilainen is hoping to continue her momentum in a bid to wrestle the title from under the noses of Chadwick and Powell, who had until last weekend looked sure to contest the crown between them having shared the honours in the first four races.

"If you want to win the championship, you just need to aim for the win every time, so that's what I'm aiming for and then we'll see how it turns out" Emma Kimilainen

“The goal is to win the last races – all of them,” Kimilainen says. “I think that's everyone's goal, to be honest, win all of the races.

“The goal cannot be any less than that. If you want to win the championship, you just need to aim for the win every time, so that's what I'm aiming for and then we'll see how it turns out.”

And what of the future? Kimilainen hopes to find a W Series seat again, with Academy drivers Nerea Marti and Irina Sidorkova the only two competitors guaranteed to return.

“[I would] love to continue with this, I really like the future where W Series is heading, I've heard the plans and I'd like to be involved,” she says. But Kimilainen also hopes to race in another series alongside it, whether that’s at Le Mans, in Extreme E, or in rallying.

One thing is for sure – whatever Kimilainen does next year, she’ll bring the same steely determination she’s demonstrated to good effect in W Series.

Emma Kimilainen, 1st position, celebrates in Parc Ferme

Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images