W Series Hockenheim Report

​Qualifying looked to be interesting and generally followed practice with a wet session.
Jamie Chadwick topped the sessions all weekend and produced a clear pole with a 1:58.894 and nearly 2 seconds faster than second place Fabienne Wohlwend.

The race was shown live on Channel 4 and although didn’t run smoothly, proved to be entertaining. There were lots of complaints on social media about poor sound quality and lack of coverage in the USA. The lack of live or recorded qualifying is also disappointing as this can be some of the more interesting highlights of a driver’s ability and the reason behind this competition.
The start was very fast, with lights on, lights out speed. Most did get a good start and Jamie was quite a distance ahead after the first corner. The race had turned out to be a dry race, although damp areas were present off the racing line.
The first lap brought a deal of excitement to the event, with Jamie locking up and running wide, allowing Sarah Moore to take the lead from 3rd place.  A crash on turn 6 between Megan Gilkes (CAN) and Emma Kimilainam (FIN), brought out the safety car. Megan miss-judged her braking on a damp line and T-Boned Emma.
Following the race re-start, Alice Powell (GBR) came through from 6th place to a P2 position and pushed Jamie to the end. Jamie looked in control all the way except for her mistake on lap one.
The 18 year old Spanish contestant, Marta Garcia looked exceptionally strong and managed P3 for her first podium.
The mid-field had some good, close racing, with several drivers making up good positions from a poor qualifying.
Overall, the race was exciting and close and produced a good display of the drivers' talents.
The next race is Zolder in Belgium, and each driver gets a different car and engineer so it’s all down to the driver. A few cars did have issues, both before and during the race, and it is hoped these are ironed out before the next race.
A lot of social media comments related to the car identity, and I agree it is very difficult to tell which car is which. It would be better for the drivers to have different colours and just keep the car body as their own for each race to help with identification. I do hope the people that make the decisions are looking at the followers' comments. Big race numbers are not enough.