Norisring W Series: Garcia scores maiden victory

Garcia got a rapid start from pole and ran the remainder of the 36 laps around the Norisring entirely untroubled, leading Visser and Chadwick over the finish line by a margin of just over three and a half seconds.

Chadwick had lined up in second on the grid but a slow getaway meant Visser got ahead, ultimately remaining there for the remainder of the race. 

The Williams Formula 1 team development driver did mount a challenge on Visser over the course of the final two laps, but could not make a move stick, allowing Visser to claim a second successive second place and move within 10 points of Chadwick in the championship standings. 

Fabienne Wohlwend was fourth, just holding on to finish ahead of Emma Kimilainen by a little over 0.4s. Kimilainen – who returned to action after missing Zolder and Misano as a result of an injury sustained in the opening round at Hockenheim – impressed to finish in fifth after starting eighth.

Miki Koyama once again enjoyed a strong race and another consistent points haul with a sixth place finish from ninth on the grid, ahead of Sabre Cook and Tasmin Pepper.

Esmee Hawkey scored her best finish of the season so far with ninth place, despite having lost track time in the first free practice session due to her clash with Alice Powell. Naomi Schiff equalled her best finish in her home race by completing the top 10.

Powell’s disappointing weekend went from bad to worse as she recorded a second retirement in a row. After the Friday morning accident with Hawkey left her with an injured wrist, Powell was forced to start from the back of the grid for the race as a result of a gearbox problem in qualifying.

Powell had managed to battle through the field and was running as highly as eighth at one stage, but pulled into the pits with three laps remaining and failed to finish. 

Jessica Hawkins had continued her strong form over the course of the Norisring weekend and enjoyed a battle for position with Kimilainen, but pulled into the pits to retire at the same time at Powell.

Friday pacesetter and fourth-place starter Gosia Rdest had a similarly disappointing race having damaged her front wing on the opening lap in the skirmish at the first hairpin, before being called into the pits to change it by race control.

A slow pitstop, coupled with a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane, meant she dropped back through the field and crossed the line in 14th.

Race results:

Cla	#	Drivers	Laps	Time
1	19	Marta Garcia	36	-
2	95	Beitske Visser	36	3.619
3	55	Jamie Chadwick	36	4.041
4	5	Fabienne Wohlwend	36	6.176
5	7	Emma Kimilainen	36	6.592
6	85	Miki Koyama	36	18.300
7	37	Sabre Cook	36	20.029
8	31	Tasmin Pepper	36	25.735
9	2	Esmee Hawkey	36	38.281
10	99	Naomi Schiff	36	41.466
11	20	Caitlin Wood	36	42.443
12	11	Vicky Piria	36	44.538
13	77	Vivien Keszthelyi	35	1 Lap
14	3	Gosia Rdest	35	1 Lap
15	67	Shea Holbrook	33	3 Laps
16	21	Jessica Hawkins	31	5 Laps
17	27	Alice Powell	31	5 Laps
18	26	Sarah Moore	4	27 Laps
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