BEITSKE VISSER STRIKES FIRST IN W SERIES ESPORTS LEAGUE

June 11th, 2020 by W Series

Beitske Visser holds the early advantage in the W Series Esports League after winning two of the three races in the opening round at Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Italy, to top the League table.

The 25-year-old Dutch driver – who finished runner-up to Jamie Chadwick in W Series’ maiden on-track season last year – won the first and third races from second on the grid and recorded the fastest lap on her way to both victories. In between her two wins, Beitske came from last to ninth in the reverse-grid race, won by Finland’s Emma Kimiläinen, to earn a total of 49 points. Points for each W Series Esports League race are awarded as follows:

20-17-15-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (1st – 15th) & 1 point for fastest lap

Beitske has a three-point lead over Irina Sidorkova in the League table, the 16-year-old shining on her W Series debut. The young Russian recorded finishes of second, fourth and third, and set the fastest lap in the reverse-grid race, to go 10 points clear of Gosia Rdest. The 27-year-old Pole took the chequered flag in fifth, third and sixth places to score a total of 36 points, one point more than W Series rookie Nerea Martí. The Spaniard, 18, lies in fourth spot in the League table by finishing third, 13th and second.

The W Series Esports League table after round one is as follows:

Pos.

No.

Driver

Points
1 95 Beitske Visser 49
2 51 Irina Sidorkova 46
3 3 Gosia Rdest 36
4 32 Nerea Marti 35
5 31 Tasmin Pepper 30
6 19 Marta Garcia 23
7 7 Emma Kimilainen 23
8 20 Caitlin Wood 20
9 17 Ayla Agren 20
10 27 Alice Powell 19
11 26 Sarah Moore 19
12 5 Fabienne Wohlwend 18
13 55 Jamie Chadwick 18
14 44 Abbie Eaton 14
15 21 Jessica Hawkins 9
16 22 Belen Garcia 6
17 97 Bruna Tomaselli 4
18 37 Sabre Cook 4
19 99 Naomi Schiff 2
20 11 Vicky Piria 1
21 85 Miki Koyama 0

 

Race 1: Caitlin Wood edged out Beitske by one-thousandth of a second to take pole position, but Beitske made the better start and led the Australian into Turn One. Irina also made early progress from fifth on the grid, overtaking Nerea for third at the second chicane. Irina passed Caitlin for second with nine of the 15 minutes remaining, and Caitlin’s mistake at Ascari let Nerea through into third. As the battle raged behind her, Beitske eased clear of Irina and Nerea, with Caitlin finishing sixth behind Tasmin Pepper and Gosia. Jessica Hawkins made up more places than any other driver, coming from 15th on the grid to finish seventh – two places ahead of fellow Briton and reigning W Series champion Jamie.

RACE 1

Pos

No

Driver

Time/Retired

Grid

Points

FL
1 95 Beitske Visser 15:08.188 2 20 1
2 51 Irina Sidorkova -4.933 5 17
3 32 Nerea Marti -6.186 3 15
4 31 Tasmin Pepper -7.032 7 13
5 3 Gosia Rdest -13.866 9 11
6 20 Caitlin Wood -13.930 1 10
7 21 Jessica Hawkins -17.267 15 9
8 19 Marta Garcia -18.179 6 8
9 55 Jamie Chadwick -24.712 11 7
10 22 Belen Garcia -32.457 14 6
11 17 Ayla Agren -34.525 4 5
12 37 Sabre Cook -1:02.034 19 4
13 44 Abbie Eaton -1:03.117 16 3
14 27 Alice Powell -1:07.923 13 2
15 26 Sarah Moore -1:34.914 12 1
16 11 Vicky Piria -1:48.448 20 0
17 99 Naomi Schiff -1:52.701 8 0
18 97 Bruna Tomaselli -2:00.872 18 0
19 5 Fabienne Wohlwend -1 LAP 19 0
20 7 Emma Kimilainen -1 LAP 17 0
DNS 85 Miki Koyama x 0 0
Race 2: The reverse-grid race got off to a chaotic start when several cars collided at the first corner. However, polesitter Emma avoided the trouble to retain the lead from fellow front-row starter Fabienne Wohlwend. Bruna Tomaselli and Naomi Schiff started on the second row, but were at the rear of the field after the early accident, which allowed those at the back of the grid to make significant progress after one lap – Gosia going from 16th to third, Irina from 19th to sixth and Beitske from last to 10th. A mistake from Sarah Moore promoted Irina to fifth with 11 minutes remaining and, five minutes later, the Russian took fourth place from Marta Garcia. Emma’s lead over Fabienne was never much more than a second, but she held on to take the win and Fabienne saw off a final-corner challenge from Gosia.

RACE 2

Pos

No

Driver

Time/Retired

Grid

Points

FL
1 7 Emma Kimilainen 15:17.671 1 20
2 5 Fabienne Wohlwend -1.797 2 17
3 3 Gosia Rdest -2.049 16 15
4 51 Irina Sidorkova -3.109 19 13 1
5 55 Jamie Chadwick -3.963 12 11
6 19 Marta Garcia -7.256 13 10
7 26 Sarah Moore -24.623 6 9
8 17 Ayla Agren -32.225 10 8
9 95 Beitske Visser -33.873 20 7
10 27 Alice Powell -36.552 7 6
11 44 Abbie Eaton -46.289 8 5
12 31 Tasmin Pepper -1:00.053 17 4
13 32 Nerea Marti -1:02.311 18 3
14 20 Caitlin Wood -1:03.229 15 2
15 11 Vicky Piria -1:23.315 5 1
16 37 Sabre Cook -1:27.896 9 0
17 21 Jessica Hawkins -1:40.366 14 0
18 22 Belen Garcia -1:50.359 11 0
19 99 Naomi Schiff -1 LAP 4 0
20 97 Bruna Tomaselli -1 LAP 3 0
DNS 85 Miki Koyama x 0 0
Race 3: Caitlin pinched pole position from Beitske with her final qualifying lap, but the second-row pairing of Nerea and Ayla Agren made the better start and led into Turn One. A spin saw Ayla drop back through the field and promoted Beitske to second, and the winner of the opening race hit the front and never looked back once she passed Nerea at the second chicane with 13 of the 20 minutes remaining. Irina completed the podium and Tasmin went from seventh on the grid to fourth. Alice Powell beat Gosia to fifth place after a prolonged wheel-to-wheel battle.

RACE 3

Pos

No

Driver

Time/Retired

Grid

Points

FL
1 95 Beitske Visser 20:42.993 2 20 1
2 32 Nerea Marti -5.073 4 17
3 51 Irina Sidorkova -7.660 5 15
4 31 Tasmin Pepper -12.186 7 13
5 27 Alice Powell -16.532 6 11
6 3 Gosia Rdest -22.679 9 10
7 26 Sarah Moore -25.764 13 9
8 20 Caitlin Wood -45.565 1 8
9 17 Ayla Agren -49.698 3 7
10 44 Abbie Eaton -57.195 12 6
11 19 Marta Garcia -1:08.647 8 5
12 97 Bruna Tomaselli -1:13.926 19 4
13 7 Emma Kimilainen -1:27.136 16 3
14 99 Naomi Schiff -1:38.853 15 2
15 5 Fabienne Wohlwend -2:04.454 10 1
16 55 Jamie Chadwick -1 LAP 20 0
17 11 Vicky Piria -1 LAP 18 0
18 37 Sabre Cook -1 LAP 17 0
19 21 Jessica Hawkins -1 LAP 11 0
20 22 Belen Garcia -4 LAPS 14 0
DNS 85 Miki Koyama x 0 0
Round two is at Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas, USA, next Thursday, 18 June at 19:00 BST. Watch all three races on BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, BBC Sport website and W Series’ Twitch, YouTube and Facebook channels.
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