Beitske Visser’s emphatic start and bold last-lap defence ensured the Dutch driver her second W Series victory in a nail-biting Singapore Grand Prix.
Jamie Chadwick’s first-ever retirement in W Series thwarted her opportunity to claim a third consecutive title at Marina Bay, resulting in a dramatic one-lap dash to the finish.
Despite Marta Garcia’s start from pole position, earned in yesterday’s rain-curtailed qualifying, it was Visser who made the better launch to claim the lead inside the opening moments.
Championship-hopeful Chadwick was fastest in Friday’s practice session but started in eighth place. Nevertheless, the Briton made a fast start to move up to sixth within a matter of minutes.
Elsewhere, Juju Noda was forced to retire from the contest on the first lap after making contact further down the field.
Visser asserted her early dominance with a lead of over 1.3 seconds inside two laps, however, Alice Powell soon began to hunt down the race leader with a then-fastest lap of 2:14.721.
With Powell and Visser going into the race level at joint-second place in the championship standings, Powell’s efforts to pressurise Garcia paid off when the Spaniard was forced into a mistake passing under the grandstand. As a result, Powell capitalised to overtake on the inside and moved up to second on lap three.
Chadwick’s turn seven error when chasing Jessica Hawkins on lap five foreshadowed the costly mistake to come, as the 24-year-old went on to lock up her front-left tyre attempting a courageous dive down the inside of Hawkins seven laps later. Consequently, the title leader made contact with the outside barrier to instantly retire the car and dash any hopes of celebration for now.
Following a safety car restart as a result of Chadwick’s retirement, it all came down to the last lap for the top three of Visser, Powell and Garcia. Despite Powell’s determination to give it everything and potentially claim a second consecutive victory, a heroic defence from Visser ensured the win in Singapore.
The late drama didn’t just unfold at the top, however, as Abbi Pulling and Jessica Hawkins could only be separated by three-hundredths of a second difference across the finish line to take fifth and sixth.
