Six new drivers have been selected to race alongside the 12 drivers who automatically qualified for the 2020 W Series championship.
W Series was publicly launched on 10 October 2018 in response to the lack of female drivers progressing to the highest levels of motorsport, particularly Formula 1.
It features mechanically identical cars based on the recently launched Tatuus T-318, homologated by the FIA for use in Formula 3 in Formula Regional European Championship, powered by Autotecnica Motori-tuned Alfa Romeo 1.8-litre turbocharged engines, and equipped with a halo cockpit safety device.
The new drivers were selected after three days of track testing at Almeria in southern Spain, with a rigorous lap-time assessment and data-analysis program.
Racing director Dave Ryan said he was generally impressed by the 14 drivers whom we tested and appraised at Almeria last month.
“Making our selection was correspondingly difficult. But we’ve crunched all the data to the best of our ability, and I’m therefore confident that the 18 drivers whom we’ve selected so far represent an excellent line-up,” he said.
“But we’ve left two spaces available, to allow us a little more time to select the final two drivers who, together with the 18 drivers we’ve already selected, will make up the 20 drivers who’ll contest the 2020 W Series championship.
All the stars of the 2019 season will race again, including Jamie [Chadwick], who’ll be defending her crown, as well as Beitske [Visser], Alice [Powell], Marta [Garcia] and Emma [Kimilainen], who all won races with us last year.
“But some of the new drivers on our 2020 entry list are clearly very good too. I’m consequently hoping our 2020 season will be even better than our 2019 season,” he said.
Here’s a list of the 18 drivers who have been confirmed for the 2020 W Series championship.
| Name | Country | Age | Record |
| Jamie Chadwick | GBR | 21 | 1st in 2019 Series |
| Beitske Visser | NLD | 24 | 2nd in 2019 Series |
| Alice Powell | GBR | 26 | 3rd in 2019 Series |
| Marta Garcia | ESP | 19 | 4th in 2019 Series |
| Emma Kimilainen | FIN | 30 | 5th in 2019 Series |
| Fabienne Wohlwend | LIE | 21 | 6th in 2019 Series |
| Miki Koyama | JPN | 21 | 7th in 2019 Series |
| Sarah Moore | GBR | 25 | 8th in 2019 Series |
| Vicky Piria | ITA | 25 | 9th in 2019 Series |
| Tasmin Pepper | RSA | 29 | 10th in 2019 Series |
| Jessica Hawkins | GBR | 24 | 11th in 2019 Series |
| Sabre Cook | USA | 24 | 12th in 2019 Series |
| Ayla Agren | NOR | 25 | new entrant |
| Abbie Eaton | GBR | 27 | new entrant |
| Belen Garcia | ESP | 20 | new entrant |
| Nerea Marti | ESP | 17 | new entrant |
| Irina Sidorkova | RUS | 16 | new entrant |
| Bruna Tomaselli | BRA | 21 | new entrant |
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