The September 30 – October 2, 2022 race event in Singapore will be the last W Series race this season due to financial challenges. The series announced on Monday, October 10, that the failure to receive a contracted investment will force the cancellation of the final three races of its scheduled 2022 season: Circuit of The Americas, Austin, Texas, USA and a double-header at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City, Mexico.
The all female race series runs parallel to multiple F1 series, with female drivers competing in FIA F3 race cars to even the playing field across financial barriers, opening up competition to the best drivers.
Catherine Bond Muir, W Series CEO, said this as part of the larger statement on the difficult decision, “We have worked hard to raise the required funding to enable us to finish the season. Unfortunately, it was not possible to do this in the short time frame required following the failure of contracted funds to arrive and the global economic downturn. However, while we are all incredibly disappointed that this decision has had to be made in the short term, we remain positive about the future of W Series in the long term. It is well-documented that women’s sports receive far less funding than its male counterparts, and W Series is no exception. We are incredibly thankful for the help and support we have received in recent weeks following the news of the financial difficulties we’ve been facing, which has accelerated our fundraising process and given us great optimism as we look to 2023 and beyond.”
The cancellation leaves driver Jamie Chadwick as the default champion. She has had a strong season, sitting at 50 points clear of the pack, despite Beitske Visser’s win and Chadwick’s retirement from the race in Singapore. It marks her third season as W Series champ.
The series continues to pursue funding for 2023 in the face of the economic challenges of racing, particularly racing as a new series.
Leave a Reply