Champion Chadwick wins W Series opener in Miami

Motorsports – W Series – Brands Hatch – Brands Hatch, West Kingsdown, Britain – August 11, 2019 Jamie Chadwick of Great Britain celebrates winning the W Series championship REUTERS/Matthew Childs

MIAMI, May 7 (Reuters) – Britain’s Jamie Chadwick made a perfect start to her bid for a third W Series title by winning the season-opening race of the all-female championship with a last lap overtake at the Miami Grand Prix on Saturday.

The 23-year-old defending champion, representing Caitlyn Jenner’s Jenner Racing team, took the chequered flag after seizing back the lead from Finland’s Emma Kimilainen at the Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium.

Kimilainen, who had passed Chadwick before a second safety car period, then collided with Spaniard Marta Garcia who finished second.

Britain’s Jessica Hawkins, a driver ambassador for the Aston Martin F1 team, took the final podium place.

The half-hour long race came before qualifying for Miami’s inaugural Formula One grand prix, with a second W Series race to be held on Sunday.

Britain’s Alice Powell, overall runner-up to Williams F1 development driver Chadwick last season, stalled on the front row and then crashed into the wall at turn seven, bringing out the safety car and then red flags.

Spaniard Nerea Marti made a poor start from pole, with Chadwick seizing the lead, and finished eighth.

Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Pritha Sarkar

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