Chadwick makes history with dominant W Series victory in Spain

Jamie Chadwick has made W Series history after resisting pressure from Abbi Pulling to take another victory at the third round of the 2022 season in Spain.

The Briton's latest win marks her fifth in a row, making her the first driver to achieve five back-to-back P1s in the all-female category.

Chadwick's weekend in Barcelona got off to a promising start when she secured pole position on Friday, on what also happened to be her birthday.

She didn't have it easy, though, with several drivers claiming the top spot at various points in the frantic session, before the Jenner Racing driver set the fastest lap of the hour with just under three minutes remaining.

Alice Powell joined her on the front row by qualifying in second, whilst Pulling completed the top three to line up third on the grid.

Chadwick resists pressure from Pulling in Barcelona

In Saturday's race, Chadwick made a solid getaway from pole, while Pulling overtook Powell – who acts as the 19-year-old driver's mentor – to go up into P2.

Behind them, Emma Kimilainen made a similar move to get ahead of Beitske Visser for fourth.

One driver to make strong gains on the opening lap was Nerea Marti, who climbed from 11th to eighth, taking more places on Lap 1 than any other driver.

Chadwick soon built up a good lead but, with 10 minutes gone, Pulling started to cut into her advantage, just as Powell did behind the Racing X driver. However, Chadwick responded by setting the fastest lap of the race.

The order largely settled for much of the proceeding laps, though there was a battle further back between Sarah Moore and Jessica Hawkins, with Moore making her way up into the top 10.

With temperatures reaching above 45 degrees Celsius, tyre management became crucial as the race wore on. Chadwick had increased her lead again to one second, yet Pulling refused to give up, and had halved the gap by the start of the final lap.

The youngster continued to apply pressure to Chadwick in the closing stages, but the two-time champion maintained her focus and took another dominant win.

Pulling and Powell completed the podium, and Chadwick's victory has given her a 37-point lead over closest rival Pulling in the standings.