Jamie Chadwick has described 2019 as “the best year of her career so far” after she became the first ever W Series champion at the weekend.
The British GT race winner and MRF Challenge champion has been the dominant force in W Series inaugural season, immediately stamping her authority on the series with an opening season race victory at Hockenheim which was followed by second in Zolder and another victory in Misano.
The 21-year-old took podium finishes in five of the six races, only missing out on a sixth podium at the finale race of the season at Brands Hatch, where despite qualifying on pole, Chadwick chose to take a cautious approach in the race and went on to finish fourth – doing enough to win the title from nearest rival Beitske Visser.
“To be the inaugural W Series champion is simply unbelievable. It’ll sink in soon I’m sure, but it hasn’t yet,” she said after the race.
“This year has been a whirlwind, and today’s race was more intense than any other racing day I’ve ever had. Even though I finished only fourth, I was just so happy finally to cross the line and secure the championship.”
Chadwick admitted that she never expected W Series to have such an impact on her and motorsport so soon, but always knew it had potential.
“The whole W Series experience has been incredible. At the beginning of the year I thought it just might be a great season. I suspected that W Series had the potential to be something big, but I never expected it to be this big.
“Obviously, each race has got bigger and better but coming here to Brands Hatch, my home circuit, well, I’ve simply never experienced anything like it. I’ve never felt attention from the spectators as much as I did today, and that really is a credit to W Series.
“It’s been an incredible opportunity for all of us, and the things I’ve been able to go on to do alongside W Series have made it by far the best year of my career so far.”
