W Series Zolder: Visser dominates disrupted race ahead of Chadwick
Beitske Visser took victory in the second W Series race with a commanding lead of almost eight and a half seconds over polesitter Jamie Chadwick at Zolder
Visser narrowly missed out on pole to Chadwick in Saturday's earlier qualifying session, but capitalised on confusion over the waving of the green flag at the start to take the lead off the line.
The initial confusion was caused by a car failure for Sarah Bovy at the end of the formation lap, which subsequently bought out a safety car after the first few turns had been completed.
Despite an attempt from Chadwick to get by at the restart, Visser held onto the lead before another safety car period was triggered as a result of an incident involving Esmee Hawkey, Gosia Rdest and Vivien Kesztheyli - the latter making her W Series race debut in place of Emma Kimilainen, who was taken ill on Friday.
Visser retained the lead once again on the second restart and began to pull a dominant advantage over championship leader Chadwick, ultimately crossing the line to take her first victory in the series with a big margin of 8.451s.
Chadwick successfully defended from a challenge for second from Alice Powell in the closing stages of the race.
Powell made a late-move on Chadwick to take second, with the pair duelling wheel-to-wheel for a further lap before Chadwick finally retook the position on the inside of the second corner on the penultimate lap.
Marta Garcia, who finished third last time out at Hockenheim, just missed out on another podium and ended up fourth, having fended off pressure from Sarah Moore in the early part of the race.
Moore was then forced to turn her attention to defending from Tasmin Pepper and Fabienne Wohlwend in a race-long battle over fifth, sixth and seventh.
Miki Koyama also joined that duel in the second half of the race, in another impressive showing as she had risen from 13th on the grid and finished in eighth place.
Vicky Piria was ninth, maintaining her advantage over a chasing Naomi Schiff, who completed the top 10.
Result
Pos | Driver | Gap |
---|---|---|
1 | Beitske Visser | 32m28.495s |
2 | Jamie Chadwick | 8.451s |
3 | Alice Powell | 9.084s |
4 | Marta Garcia | 12.279s |
5 | Sarah Moore | 12.739s |
6 | Tasmin Pepper | 13.185s |
7 | Fabienne Wohlwend | 13.973s |
8 | Miki Koyama | 17.654s |
9 | Vicky Piria | 25.871s |
10 | Naomi Schiff | 26.937s |
11 | Caitlin Wood | 29.596s |
12 | Shea Holbrook | 30.859s |
13 | Jessica Hawkins | 39.274s |
14 | Megan Gilkes | 47.413s |
15 | Sabre Cook | 58.053s |
- | Gosia Rdest | Retirement |
- | Esmee Hawkey | Retirement |
- | Vivien Keszthelyi | Retirement |
- | Sarah Bovy | Not started |
Drivers' standings
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Jamie Chadwick | 43 |
2 | Beitske Visser | 37 |
3 | Alice Powell | 33 |
4 | Marta Garcia | 27 |
5 | Sarah Moore | 20 |
6 | Fabienne Wohlwend | 14 |
7 | Tasmin Pepper | 12 |
8 | Miki Koyama | 10 |
9 | Vicky Piria | 2 |
10 | Gosia Rdest | 2 |
11 | Caitlin Wood | 1 |
12 | Naomi Schiff | 1 |
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