2021 Zandvoort W Series round

2021 W Series Zandvoort round
Event 6 of 7 of the 2021 W Series
Race details
Date	4 September 2021 (2021-09-04)
Official name	2021 W Series Zandvoort round
Location	Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort, North Holland, the Netherlands
Course	Permanent circuit
Course length	4.259 km (2.646 miles)
Distance	20 laps, 85.180 km (52.907 miles)
Pole position
Driver	Emma Kimiläinen	Écurie W
Time	1:34.326
Fastest lap
Driver	Alice Powell	Racing X
Time	1:34.719
Podium
First	Alice Powell	Racing X
Second	Jamie Chadwick	Veloce Racing
Third	Emma Kimiläinen	Écurie W

The 2021 W Series Zandvoort round was the sixth and penultimate round of the 2021 W Series, and took place at Circuit Zandvoort in the Netherlands on 4 September 2021.^[1] The event was an undercard to the 2021 Formula One World Championship round at the same circuit.^[2]

Report

Background

Irina Sidorkova's coronavirus test result at the previous round turned out to be a false positive, and the Russian was let back into the field in time for Zandvoort. Abbi Pulling replaced Caitlin Wood at the Puma W Series Team.^[3]

Jamie Chadwick led the championship on 91 points, 7 points ahead of Alice Powell.

Race

There was drama before the start as Bruna Tomaselli spun at Tarzan on the warm-up lap. Because she fell behind Fabienne Wohlwend, who was due to start last following a crash in qualifying, the Brazilian was sent to the back of the grid.

The start of the race was fairly tame, with the only movement towards the front coming from Jessica Hawkins and Abbie Eaton; the pair passing the slow-starting Abbi Pulling through the opening sequence of corners. Pulling also fell victim to Belén García at Tarzan on lap 2, falling from fifth to eighth – however the other García was overambitious heading into the Hugenholzbocht on Vittoria Piria, attempting to cut under the Italian and nearly losing her wing in the process.

Having initially pulled away from Powell and Chadwick on the opening lap, polesitter and Spa winner Emma Kimiläinen was slowly reeled in by the pair of Brits – and Powell made an unconventional yet successful move for the lead at turn 10, with Chadwick following her compatriot through for second half a lap later at Tarzan. Hawkins however had failed to keep in contact with Nerea Martí ahead and began to form a train behind.

The Tatuus–Alfa Romeo F3 T-318 chassis used in the W Series had gained notoriety amongst the other championships it was deployed in for being difficult to race closely, and the nature of the Zandvoort circuit meant that overtaking proved extraordinarily difficult unless drivers made unforced errors. Marta García proved this point by running wide at the Kumhobocht and the Spaniard dropped to the back of the field almost immediately, after which she failed to make up any ground on the field and remained stubbornly stuck behind Tomaselli in 17th.

Alice Powell claimed her third win of the season ahead of Jamie Chadwick in second – the result placing the two drivers level on 109 points at the top of the standings. Kimiläinen was the only other driver still in championship contention with two races left; she had fallen back into the clutches of Martí but the academy driver did not manage to take third away from the Finn. The only other movement in the field towards the end of the race was a last lap pass from Pulling on Belén García; the Spaniard locking up and running slightly wide of the high line at the Hugenholzbocht which allowed Pulling to pull past on the run up to Scheivlak.

Classification

Practice

Session	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Source
Practice 1	55	Jamie Chadwick	Veloce Racing	1:35.004	[4]

Qualifying

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time/Gap
1	7	Emma Kimiläinen	Écurie W	1:34.326
2	27	Alice Powell	Racing X	+0.074
3	55	Jamie Chadwick	Veloce Racing	+0.257
4	32	Nerea Martí	W Series Academy	+0.732
5	49	Abbi Pulling	Puma W Series Team	+0.852
6	21	Jessica Hawkins	Racing X	+0.869
7	44	Abbie Eaton	Écurie W	+0.996
8	26	Sarah Moore	Scuderia W	+1.212
9	22	Belén García	Scuderia W	+1.225
10	54	Miki Koyama	Sirin Racing	+1.246
11	11	Vittoria Piria	Sirin Racing	+1.276
12	95	Beitske Visser	M. Forbes Motorsport	+1.324
13	19	Marta García	Puma W Series Team	+1.461
14	97	Bruna Tomaselli	Veloce Racing	+1.555
15	51	Irina Sidorkova	W Series Academy	+1.829
16	17	Ayla Ågren	M. Forbes Motorsport	+2.316
17	37	Sabré Cook	Bunker Racing	+2.655
18	5	Fabienne Wohlwend[a]	Bunker Racing	+3.310
Source:[7]

Race

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	27	Alice Powell	Racing X	20	31:53.483	2	25
2	55	Jamie Chadwick	Veloce Racing	20	+2.871	3	18
3	7	Emma Kimiläinen	Écurie W	20	+9.913	1	15
4	32	Nerea Martí	W Series Academy	20	+12.157	4	12
5	21	Jessica Hawkins	Racing X	20	+13.944	6	10
6	44	Abbie Eaton	Écurie W	20	+14.996	7	8
7	49	Abbi Pulling	Puma W Series Team	20	+15.889	5	6
8	22	Belén García	Scuderia W	20	+16.637	9	4
9	26	Sarah Moore	Scuderia W	20	+17.357	8	2
10	54	Miki Koyama	Sirin Racing	20	+20.943	10	1
11	11	Vittoria Piria	Sirin Racing	20	+21.937	11
12	95	Beitske Visser	M. Forbes Motorsport	20	+22.126	12
13	51	Irina Sidorkova	W Series Academy	20	+22.714	15
14	37	Sabré Cook	Bunker Racing	20	+31.479	17
15	17	Ayla Ågren	M. Forbes Motorsport	20	+31.664	16
16	5	Fabienne Wohlwend	Bunker Racing	20	+41.428	18
17	97	Bruna Tomaselli	Veloce Racing	20	+48.240	14
18	19	Marta García	Puma W Series Team	20	+49.462	13
Fastest lap set by Alice Powell: 1:34.719
Source:[8]

Championship standings

Pos.	Driver	Pts	Gap
1	Alice Powell	109
	Jamie Chadwick
3	Emma Kimiläinen	75	-34
4	Nerea Martí	53	-56
5	Fabienne Wohlwend	40	-69

• Drivers in bold had a mathematical possibility of winning the title.

See also

• 2021 Dutch Grand Prix

Notes

References

External links

• Official website Archived 2022-04-14 at the Wayback Machine
• Race replay