W Series organisers have released full details regarding the prize money allocation for the 2019 season, and has revealed how the 2020 selection process will take place.
All 18 racers, including reserve drivers Vivien Keszthelyi and Sarah Bovy, are in line to receive a share of the $1.5m prize money at the end of the season.
The champion of the six-race series will receive $500,000, the runner-up will get $250,000 and third place is in line for $125,000.
Fourth overall will receive $100,000 and this will drop by $10,000 per position through 11th place, after which it will drop by increments of $5,000 until 14th spot. 15th to 18th will net $7,500 each.
The top 12 finishers in this year’s championship will be invited back to compete in the 2020 series.
The other classified finishers will be permitted to take part in the driver selection process for next year.
The 2020 championship will also be eligible for FIA Super Licence points – which was not the case in 2019 – with the governing body still determining the exact structure.
"The inaugural season of W Series is proving to be a roaring success,” said W Series CEO Catherine Bond Muir.
"The racing is close and competitive, and three drivers have won races so far. With two points-scoring races still to go, at Assen [Netherlands] and Brands Hatch [UK], four drivers can still become W Series champion.
"There will be prize money for all our drivers, all the way down to last place, but those four will be pulling out all the stops at Assen and Brands Hatch in their efforts to scoop the US$500,000 top prize.
"Building on the ongoing success of W Series this year, next year’s W Series will be open to the top 12 points-scoring drivers in the final 2019 W Series points table, and we’re already receiving plenty of expressions of interest from other drivers who haven’t taken part in W Series so far.
"The competition for the opportunity to race in 2020 W Series alongside the 2019 top 12 will be fierce but that’s what W Series is all about: a highly competitive race series in which the best female racing drivers in the world race one another in state-of-the-art Tatuus T-318 Formula 3 cars, on iconic racetracks, and thereby gain crucial on-track experience which will enable them to progress their careers on and up to more senior single-seater formulae, where they can race – and beat – their male rivals.
"And from 2020 onwards they’ll be earning Super Licence points as they do so."
Discussion about this post