BarcelonaThe W Series is bringing down the curtain earlier than planned. The organization of what is known as the women’s Formula 1 has issued a statement saying that “due to recent unforeseen circumstances outside the W Series” it has not received “the contracted funds that were due”. That’s why the competition is suspended. The last three races are canceled and the drivers will have to wait to see how the situation is resolved for next season. Jamie Chadwick, who had already won the previous two W Series World Cups, was the outstanding leader of the third edition, with a 50-point advantage over Beitke Visser of the Netherlands, who finished runner-up.
“One of the investors who had to pay for the end of the season has not paid and the championship has run out of budget. In Singapore, a few weeks ago, we were already told about the situation. They were looking for another investor, but these things need their time. They are optimistic about the coming campaign, but for the next races it was too fair,” explains Belén García, the only Catalan participating in the championship. “The drivers have been informed all these weeks. We have met several times with the management and the truth is that they have always been very honest with us. They have made us feel that we were participating in what was happening and they have always informed us of the problems” , emphasizes the Ametlla del Vallès runner. A version corroborated by Marta García, Valencian pilot.
“It’s a shame because this year I was having a very good season, with a great evolution compared to last. I’m improving a lot. There were three races left and it’s a shame because we couldn’t finish the championship. It wasn’t possible to see the whole what we could give and where we could have reached,” emphasizes Marta. “It’s sad and hard, but we knew it could happen,” adds Belén. “We spend our lives as drivers looking for funding to have a budget to be able to race. We understand the organization, it’s not easy to manage a competition like this. We don’t think about what we lose by not running these three races, but about the opportunity to be able to compete and to be, in my case for two seasons, in the W Series. Thanks to this championship I started racing and it’s true that it’s a shame that these races don’t take place, but what they’ve done for us is much more,” he reflects.
We deserve the same conditions as Formula 1”
Martha Garcia Pilot W Series
“As a young company in only our third season of racing, we are working hard to ensure regular funding as we continue to grow the business,” W Series chief executive Catherine Bond Muir said in a statement. “We have been forced to make the decision, unfortunately, not to complete the planned schedule for this season. We have worked hard to secure the necessary funding to allow us to finish the season. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to do so quickly enough , after the contracted funds have stopped arriving and in the midst of a global economic recession,” he adds in the letter.
“I hope that next year we will be able to run and that this problem will be solved. Hopefully someone will see the news and some investor will be encouraged to put money into it. We must continue to bet on women’s sport. We deserve the same conditions as Formula 1”, says Marta, who will take these months “to relax” looking for sponsors to be able to do tests at the Valencia circuit.
Now the unknown is what will happen next season. At the moment, it does not seem that the competition can take flight again, despite the fact that the feelings are good regarding the ongoing negotiations. “They wanted to prioritize the coming campaign and the continuity of the championship, and that’s why we’re not going to Austin or Mexico, since a long-term solution is being sought,” says Belén García.
A new philosophy that stops short
The W Series have changed the way we understand racing and the woman in the motor. There are more and more girls, more and more are starting and more and more are continuing. This championship was made big thanks to free entry, which offers equal opportunities for women and removes the financial barriers that have historically prevented them from progressing to the higher echelons of motorsport. “[Els organitzadors] they finance everything for us. The season, the trips… and there are prizes at the end of the year. They want us to be professional pilots and to be able to dedicate all our efforts to the world of motoring”, explains Marta García in this regard, who has now seen how in no time everything has been done bit by bit.
