It was a dominate display from W Series Esports League front runner Beitske Visser as the Dutch driver took home wins in race one and race two.
As the W Series Esports League arrived at a virtual Interlagos, Brazil, it was all to play for. A solid performance from Irina Sidorkova in the last round at Brands Hatch meant that championship leader Visser had to respond and boy did she!
Race One
Visser took pole from Marta Garcia in much the same way she has been in these opening rounds, but it was Garcia who had the better start and took the lead going into turn one. It was, however, a different story for Sidorkova who spun coming out of turn one and was relegated to 18t, which is where she spent most of the race. Back out front as the race settled into its pace, Visser and Garcia were fighting hard, Garcia mixing defencing racing with great attacking moves to try and shake Visser. All this allowed Caitlin Wood to settle comfortable into third and wait for a mistake….maybe. As the race moved into the last ten minutes, Visser finally saw her chance and made a move on Garcia at turn three. It was plain sailing from there as Visser eased to her first win of the day followed by Marta Garcia and Wood in P3. A worth mention for Ayla Agren, Godia Rdest and Jessica Hawkins who finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively in what was a very strong race for all three drivers.
Race One Result
Pos | No | Driver | Time/Retired | Grid | Points | FL |
1 | 95 | Beitske Visser | 15:37.102 | 1 | 20 | 1 |
2 | 19 | Marta Garcia | -3.381 | 2 | 17 | |
3 | 20 | Caitlin Wood | -6.408 | 3 | 15 | |
4 | 17 | Ayla Agren | -10.859 | 7 | 13 | |
5 | 3 | Gosia Rdest | -12.485 | 10 | 11 | |
6 | 21 | Jessica Hawkins | -13.652 | 13 | 10 | |
7 | 22 | Belen Garcia | -15.978 | 9 | 9 | |
8 | 5 | Fabienne Wohlwend | -17.382 | 12 | 8 | |
9 | 31 | Tasmin Pepper | -17.607 | 8 | 7 | |
10 | 7 | Emma Kimilainen | -25.485 | 14 | 6 |
Race Two
It was Naomi Schiff on pole for the reverse grid race and the German born driver made a great start going into turn one. A big incident as the drivers snaked into turn two saw Schiff spin and Russian driver Sidorkova took the lead. As we went into lap three Abbie Eaton, Bruna Tomaselli and Vicky Piria were all battling for positions behind Sidorkova. An incident with Piria allowed Abbie Eaton to take P2 while local driver Tomaselli took P3. All this close racing out front allowed Visser to sneak her way from the back row of the grid to the top 10. With 11 minutes left, Tomaselli collided with Eaton as the two fought going into turn two, sending the Brazilian down the order, a crushing blow Tomaselli who would have wanted a good result at Interlagos. This began a late charge from Visser who breezed past a now damaged Eaton. Visser then set her sights on passing Tasmin Pepper who had managed to get herself into an excellent position up the pack. Now in third, Visser set her sights on Nerea Marti and passed her to take P2. Sidorkova had a nine second lead and took the flag to notch up another impressive victory. Visser had to settle for second with Pepper in third after passing Marti late on.
Race Two Result
Pos | No | Driver | Time/Retired | Grid | Points | FL |
1 | 51 | Irina Sidorkova | 15:36.763 | 4 | 20 | |
2 | 95 | Beitske Visser | -6.986 | 20 | 17 | 1 |
3 | 11 | Tasmin Pepper | -14.939 | 12 | 15 | |
4 | 19 | Nerea Marti | -16.303 | 8 | 13 | |
5 | 31 | Marta Garcia | -18.211 | 19 | 11 | |
6 | 44 | Abbie Eaton | -30.591 | 3 | 10 | |
7 | 20 | Caitlin Wood | -40.477 | 18 | 9 | |
8 | 17 | Ayla Agren | -42.575 | 17 | 8 | |
9 | 26 | Sarah Moore | -48.091 | 9 | 7 | |
10 | 3 | Gosia Rdest | -1:15.547 | 16 | 6 |
Race Three
In a repeat of race one, Visser took pole from Garcia in qualifying. This time however Visser made as great start, and lead into turn one. Contact between Sidorkova and Garcia saw the latter settle into P2 but that battle allowed Visser to build a one second lead as the race settled into its pace. It was plain sailing for Visser from then on as the championship leader was untouchable and took her second race win of the round. It was all about the midfield however with plenty of drama as incidents and collisions caught several drivers out as they all battled to make it into the top 10.
Race Three Result
1 | 95 | Beitske Visser | 20:09.156 | 1 | 20 | 1 |
2 | 19 | Marta Garcia | -3.685 | 2 | 17 | |
3 | 51 | Irina Sidorkova | -5.876 | 3 | 15 | |
4 | 31 | Tasmin Pepper | -11.562 | 5 | 13 | |
5 | 20 | Caitlin Wood | -12.980 | 4 | 11 | |
6 | 32 | Nerea Marti | -16.960 | 10 | 10 | |
7 | 17 | Ayla Agren | -18.698 | 7 | 9 | |
8 | 22 | Belen Garcia | -34.136 | 18 | 8 | |
9 | 27 | Alice Powell | -36.176 | 6 | 7 | |
10 | 99 | Naomi Schiff | -42.437 | 15 | 6 |
On her double win Visser said; “This was pretty much the perfect round for me. In the first race I got pole position, had a very nice battle with Marta [Garcia] in the first few laps, where we had some great side-by-sides, and then I managed to pass her. In the reverse-grid race I took the same approach as at Brands Hatch last week – to take it easy at the start and avoid the chaos to prevent damage. That got me up to second which was great but Ira [Sidorkova] was too far away. In the final race I got pole position again and managed to do a good start for once. In the early laps I was really pushing and overheated the tyres a bit, but they were coming back at the end so I could make the gap a bit bigger. Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps hosts the next round – a track that everyone knows and likes. With the long straights it’s going to be cool, but there will be lots of slipstreaming and fighting so it won’t be easy to keep up my winning form but I’ll be trying hard.”
Championship
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Round five is at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, 9 July at 19:00 BST. You can watch all three races on BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, BBC Sport website and W Series’ Twitch, YouTube and Facebook channels.