W Series has completed three days of comprehensive testing and announced the names of the 28 drivers who have progressed through to the next qualifying stage.
The new all-female single-seater series initially took 54 potential drivers to put through their paces in Melk, Austria.
Judges included ex-Formula 1 drivers David Coulthard and Alexander Wurz, former IndyCar driver Lyn St.James and former McLaren sporting director, Dave Ryan.
Some of those who have made the cut include British F3 race winner Jamie Chadwick, BMW-backed Bietske Visser and Porsche Carrera Cup GB driver Esmee Hawkey.
Those who have made the next step will be tested further in Almeria, Spain across four days in March. They will be driving the W series Tatuus-F318 Formula 3 car.
The drivers who didn't make the cut this time around do have the opportunity to apply again for the 2020 championship according to W Series CEO, Catherine Bond Muir.
"All W Series’ qualifier-drivers here at the Wachauring [Melk, Austria] are superstars, every single one of them," she said.
"But the sad fact is that not all of them will continue to the next stage of our driver selection programme. That’s competition. That’s sport. That’s racing.
"So to all of them who’ve made it through to the next stage, I say: congratulations and good luck in Almeria [Spain] in March, the final stage of our driver selection programme.
"And to those of them who haven’t made it through to the next stage, I say: obviously, today is a sad day. But one thing I’ve seen over the past three days, and that I’ve been massively impressed by, is that each and every one of our qualifier-drivers is tough, brave and strong.
"And of course we’ll, therefore, encourage them to work hard on their driving for the next few months and then consider re-applying for the 2020 W Series season when the time comes."
The full list of the 28 drivers is as follows:
Sarah Bovy, Belgium
Jamie Chadwick, UK
Sabre Cook, USA
Natalie Decker, USA
Marta Garcia, Spain
Megan Gilkes, Canada
Grace Gui, China
Esmee Hawkey, UK
Jessica Hawkins, UK
Shea Holbrook, USA
Francesca Linossi, Italy
Vivien Keszthelyi, Hungary
Emma Kimilainen, Finland
Natalia Kowalska, Poland
Stephane Kox, The Netherlands
Miki Koyama, Japan
Milou Mets, The Netherlands
Sarah Moore, UK
Tasmin Pepper, South Africa
Vicky Piria, Italy
Alice Powell, UK
Gosia Rdest, Poland
Naomi Schiff, Belgium
Shirley Van Der Lof, The Netherlands
Beitske Visser, The Netherlands
Alexandra Whitley, Australia
Fabienne Wohlwend, Liechtenstein
Caitlin Wood, Australian
Discussion about this post