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W Series Esports League: Marta Garcia has the Final Say at Watkins Glen

July 17, 2020admin0 Comments

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Marta Garcia won the final race at a dramatic round six of the W Series Esports League to be the top scorer at Watkins Glen, where the League’s top three each tasted victory and disappointment.

Beitske Visser won race one and came from last to fourth in the reverse-grid race, but the League leader crashed when in front in race three. The 25-year-old recorded the fastest lap in every race for a total of 41 points, two more than her closest W Series Esports League challenger Irina Sidorkova who now trails the Dutch driver by 51 points with four rounds remaining.

The 17-year-old Russian won the reverse-grid race and was runner-up in race three, but Irina and Marta collided on the first lap of the opening race. Marta, 19, recovered well and improved her result in every race, finishing on the podium in the reverse-grid and winning the last race for a total of 42 points.

The Spaniard trails Irina by 17 points but has a 41-point lead over Caitlin Wood. The Australian regained fourth place in the W Series Esports League from Tasmin Pepper thanks to podium finishes in the first and third races.

The W Series Esports League table after round six is as follows:

PositionNoDriverPoints
195Beitske Visser291
251Irina Sidorkova240
319Marta Garcia223
420Caitlin Wood182
531Tasmin Pepper171
632Nerea Marti166
727Alice Powell130
821Jessica Hawkins106
926Sarah Moore102
1022Belen Garcia100
1117Ayla Agren97
1244Abbie Eaton92
135Fabienne Wohlwend90
147Emma Kimilainen81
1599Naomi Schiff75
163Gosia Rdest68
1737Sabre Cook47
1897Bruna Tomaselli46
1985Miki Koyama32
2055Jamie Chadwick18
2111Vicky Piria15
Race 1: Beitske beat Irina to pole position by two tenths of a second and made a great start to retain her lead after the long run to Turn One. Irina ran wide on the exit of the first corner, allowing the chasing pack to bunch up behind her. The fast-starting Marta was her chief pursuer and the pair collided at the first chicane before plummeting down the order. That forced those behind to take evasive action, allowing Beitske to build an unassailable lead of more than three seconds over Caitlin at the end of lap one. The midfield provided plenty of drama throughout the 15-minute race. Naomi Schiff spun following a scrap with Abbie Eaton and Nerea Marti over fourth place, while Ayla Agren pulled off a fine move on Sarah Moore in the closing stages to pinch sixth.
RACE 1
PosNoDriverTime/RetiredGridPointsFL
195Beitske Visser15:58.3201201
220Caitlin Wood-6.888317
331Tasmin Pepper-11.119615
432Nerea Marti-16.295413
544Abbie Eaton-17.558711
617Ayla Agren-24.456810
726Sarah Moore-25.40899
897Bruna Tomaselli-27.484148
919Marta Garcia-27.76457
105Fabienne Wohlwend-29.088116
1121Jessica Hawkins-44.777105
1211Vicky Piria-57.280164
1385Miki Koyama-1:28.542153
1451Ira Sidorkova-1:38.97222
1522Belen Garcia-1 L131
1699Naomi Schiff-5 L120
Race 2: Naomi started the reverse-grid race from pole position but was quickly overtaken by Belen Garcia and Irina. Belen led the Russian by just under a second at the end of lap one, by which time Marta had progressed from eighth to fourth and Beitske from last on the grid to eighth. As the race approached the halfway stage, Irina passed Belen for the lead at the end of the back straight and a few corners later Marta took third from Naomi. Moves on Sarah and Bruna Tomaselli put Beitske up to sixth place, and that soon became fifth when an incident between Marta and Naomi relegated the latter and promoted Fabienne Wohlwend to third. Marta regained the final podium place along the back straight with four minutes left and Beitske quickly followed her past Fabienne to take fourth. Marta was under severe pressure from Beitske on the final lap culminating in a drag race to the chequered flag, but the Spaniard held on by one tenth of a second.
RACE 2
PosNoDriverTime/RetiredGridPointsFL
151Ira Sidorkova16:07.545320
222Belen Garcia-4.466217
319Marta Garcia-8.519815
495Beitske Visser-8.63416131
55Fabienne Wohlwend-11.969711
697Bruna Tomaselli-16.853910
799Naomi Schiff-24.59919
832Nerea Marti-37.943138
926Sarah Moore-39.225107
1017Ayla Agren-40.069116
1144Abbie Eaton-1:00.304125
1285Miki Koyama-1:22.93644
1320Caitlin Wood-1:36.638153
1431Tasmin Pepper-1 L142
1521Jessica Hawkins-1 L61
1611Vicky Piria-1 L50
Race 3: Beitske dominated qualifying, taking pole position by four tenths of a second from Caitlin who made a slow start and dropped to fourth behind Marta and Irina. Beitske got away well but was caught by Marta at the end of the back straight and lost the lead through the chicane. Four minutes later Beitske returned the favour by edging ahead at the end of the same straight, but she failed to make a move on Marta stick through the chicane where she went straight on and hit the wall. That left Marta a clear track to take a comfortable victory from Irina, who managed to keep the charging Caitlin behind her in the closing stages.
RACE 3
PosNoDriverTime/RetiredGridPointsFL
119Marta Garcia21:16.958320
251Ira Sidorkova-4.034417
320Caitlin Wood-4.844215
432Nerea Marti-9.417613
521Jessica Hawkins-19.4581111
622Belen Garcia-24.6951210
797Bruna Tomaselli-32.915149
826Sarah Moore-37.422138
931Tasmin Pepper-59.81657
105Fabienne Wohlwend-1:15.79896
1195Beitske Visser-1:16.432151
1217Ayla Agren-1:28.11274
1385Miki Koyama-1:49.933153
1499Naomi Schiff-1 L102
1511Vicky Piria-1 L161
1644Abbie Eaton-2 L80
Round seven is at Suzuka International Racing Course, Japan, next Thursday, 23 July at 19:00 BST. Watch all three races on BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, BBC Sport website and W Series’ Twitch, YouTube and Facebook channels.
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