Chadwick takes back-to-back wins in eventful W Series Miami weekend

Jamie Chadwick has kicked off her W Series title defence in style by taking back-to-back victories at the first two races of the 2022 season in Miami.

After drama in the opening stages of Saturday’s race, Sunday's event got off to a much calmer start, with a clean getaway for Chadwick from pole ahead of Nerea Marti and Emma Kimilainen.

Chadwick kept a steady gap at the front in the early laps, whilst Kimilainen took second from Marti just over five minutes in.

Following her first-lap exit on Saturday, Alice Powell appeared keen to make up places this time around, and seemed impatient to get past Marti for a podium position.

Further back, Bruna Tomaselli - who had a strong outing in Race 1 - dropped down the order and came into the pits before rejoining at the back of the field.

Kimilainen made a slight mistake 10 minutes in, and lost P2 to Marti, before retaking the position going into Turn 1. This in turn allowed Chadwick to open up her lead at the front to nearly two seconds.

The thrilling battle between the two didn’t end there, though, with Marti striking back at Kimilainen within another lap.

At the halfway point of the race, Sarah Moore was displaying impressive pace in P7, setting the fastest lap as she hunted down Beitske Visser in sixth.

Meanwhile, Kimilainen had to defend from Powell in the battle for the final podium position, whilst Marti worked on closing the gap to Chadwick at the front.

A close wheel-to-wheel fight ensued between Powell and Belen Garcia, but Powell managed to hold on to P4.

At 13 minutes in, Moore finally got past Visser with a pass at Turn 1 to take sixth place.

Marti had got the gap to Chadwick down to just under one second by the 10-minute mark on the clock, but the Jenner Racing car continued to look solid at the front.

In a race mostly free of incidents, Tereza Babickova was shown a black and orange flag due to a damaged front wing, forcing her to pit.

It was an impressive showing from some of the younger drivers in the field. Abbi Pulling was praised by her engineer for her "mega pace" as she climbed the order, while rookie Chloe Chambers managed to break into the top 10.

Pulling eventually worked her way up to sixth at Turn 17 following a fierce battle with Moore.

In an almost identical incident to Saturday's race, Kimilainen again made contact with another car at Turn 17 on the last lap, with the other driver being Powell on this occasion.

The Finn slipped back to fifth, whilst Powell hung on to claim third. The incident was set to be investigated by the stewards after the race.

At the front, Marti's attempts to close in on Chadwick ultimately fell short, and the British driver took her second win of the weekend, with Marti and Powell completing the podium.

Powell was later promoted to second after Marti received a penalty for impeding.

A calmer victory for Chadwick in Race 2

Chadwick's mostly unchallenged drive to victory in Race 2 proved to be quite a contrast from her win in Saturday's race.

Marti had claimed her debut W Series pole in the event, but a poor getaway allowed Chadwick to take the lead from the start.

Powell hit the wall on Lap 1, which brought out a Safety Car before the race was then red-flagged. Racing recommenced with 15 minutes on the clock, but the Safety Car later made a second appearance following an incident for Abbie Eaton and Fabienne Wohlwend.

After this, it all came down to a final lap shootout, with Chadwick managing to stay ahead as Kimilainen went wide behind her.

Kimilainen then made contact with Marta Garcia, dropping the former down the order, whilst Garcia held on for second. This drama allowed Jessica Hawkins to take her first-ever W Series podium by going up to P3.

Garcia was later handed a 10-second time penalty for the collision, putting her back to 11th in the order. Eaton and Chambers also received 30-second time penalties for being out of position at the Safety Car line.

With the first two races of the 10-round calendar now complete, Chadwick has opened up an early lead at the top of the Drivers' standings.