Kimilainen unstoppable at Spa to beat Chadwick to W Series win

Emma Kimilainen performed supreme in the wet conditions to win the W Series race at Spa.

The 32-year old from Finland began the race from fourth position to lead home Jamie Chadwick, who was second at the flag.

The first 13 minutes were completed under the Safety Car due to the track conditions. When the track went green, Chadwick headed the field in front of her title rival Alice Powell, Caitlin Wood and Kimilainen.

The first lap under normal racing saw Kimilainen overtake Wood for third at Rivage, whilst Wood’s team-mate Marta Garcia followed suit at Les Fagnes on the same tour to go up to fourth.

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Kimilainen’s charge continued as she closed in on Powell for second with under nine minutes remaining. At Blanchemont, she pulled alongside the Brit on the inside and completed a brilliant move.

The top ten with eight minutes to go were Chadwick leading Kimilainen, Powell, Garcia, Powell, Wood, Jessica Hawkins, Narea Marti, Miki Koyama, Sabre Cook and Fabienne Wohlwend.

Kimilainen closed down a gap of less than five seconds before she closed right up on the gearbox of Chadwick and passed her around the outside into Les Fagnes to move into the lead with less than five minutes remaining.

Further behind, Wohlwend was another who was excelling in the wet. She ovetook Cook for ninth at La Source before moves on Koyama and Marti in the final few laps saw the 23-year old from Liechtenstein up the order to seventh.

In contrast, Powell struggled to find grip on the Spa circuit. Garcia moved ahead of her into Stavelot to go up into the podium places.

At the end of the race, Kimilainen won by a margin of seven seconds with Chadwick in P2 and Garcia on the podium for the first time in 2021.

Powell was fourth ahead of Wood, Hawkins, Wohlwend, Marti, Koyama and Abbie Eaton, who got by Cook on the last lap to claim the final point.

Chadwick’s second position in Belgium increases her lead in the championship to seven points over rival Powell. Kimilainen’s win elevates her to third overall and 31 points off the top with three races to go.

The next round for the W Series is next weekend at Zandvoort, supporting the Dutch Grand Prix.