John N
Nerea Martí (Quantfury Racing W Series Team, 20, Spain) took her first pole position at W Series Miami presented by Hard Rock and will start both races of the season-opening doubleheader from the front row.
The Spaniard – who drove for the W Series Academy last season when she finished fourth in the championship as a rookie – topped the timing screens with her final flying lap (1:56.915) of a frantic qualifying session at the Miami International Autodrome to pip Jamie Chadwick (Jenner Racing, 23, United Kingdom) by less than one-tenth of a second and secure pole position for race one, which is at 14.30 ET today (Saturday 7 May). Reigning double W Series champion Jamie will start race two from pole position after setting the fastest time in Q1, as determined by drivers’ second-best laps in Q2.
Alice Powell (Keith Group Bristol Street Motors Racing W Series Team, 29, UK) and Emma Kimiläinen (Puma W Series Team, 32, FIN) will start both races from the second row. Fabienne Wohlwend’s (CortDAO Racing W Series Team, 24, LIE) best and second-best times will see her start both races from fifth on the grid. Her team faces a race against time to get her car ready for race one after she hit the wall with 29 seconds of the 30-minute session remaining to bring out the red flags and the session to a premature end.
W series race-winners Alice Powell (Keith Group Bristol Street Motors Racing W Series Team, 29, UK), Jamie Chadwick (Score Racing W Series Team, 25, GBR), Beitske Visser (Sirin Racing W Series Team, 27, NED), and Emma Kimiläinen (Puma W Series Team, 32 Fingolfshi) all traded fastest times in the opening third of the session.
After 11 minutes, Emma topped the timesheets. Alice recorded a lap three ten-thousandths of a second slower, but she had set the best time in Friday’s session, so she was the overall leader. The drivers pitted for fresh tires, and during the pit stops, Chloe Chambers spun on her entry to the chicane at Turn 14. She continued without making any significant mistakes despite spoiling her lap times. She finished 11th, with five other drivers making their W Series debuts this weekend in support of the inaugural Formula 1® Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix, recording faster lap times than she did.
The action was fast and furious when it resumed as the times tumbled. With less than three minutes to go, Jamie improved by more than half a second to set the fastest time of the weekend and became the first driver to go under 1min 57secs on her next flying lap to take the provisional pole. Nerea went fastest by seven one-hundredths of a second, and Alice was on course to beat that benchmark on her final run when she was two tenths up through the first two sectors. But Fabienne hit the wall at Turn 3 to end the session early and hand Nerea her first pole position at her ninth W Series race.
At the end of the race, Nerea Martí (Quantfury Racing W Series Team, 20, ESP) said:
“I’m super happy as this is my first pole position in W Series, and it’s my goal to win. It’s a fast track and difficult, so I was nervous. At the beginning of qualifying, it was a bit difficult as I didn’t find the right feeling, and the track was very different from how it was in the practice session yesterday. After my first run, I finally focused again and did an out lap. I was very calm, to be honest, thinking about the race and where I could improve.”
