Chadwick: The workload in Indy Lights was a pleasant surprise

Jamie Chadwick will win the W Series Women’s title for the third time this year, with five wins in seven races and a second finish once, so she leads by a solid margin.

Although she retired from the Singapore round of the series last Sunday after making a mistake on a difficult city circuit, this is unlikely to have a major impact on her season’s results. In addition, there is a risk that the organizers of the series will not be able to complete the championship due to financial difficulties, but that is another story.

Either way, Jamie has to decide her future plans, and she recently worked on tests in Sebring with the Andretti Autosport team, where she first drove the US Indy Lights series car.

“I am exploring different options – Formula 3, Formula 2 and Indy Lights,” said the British driver. – Obviously the transition to F2 seems like a big step forward, but finding funding for F3 gigs has proved a bit more difficult and it seems that Indy Lights is a better option in this regard.

But I am still weighing all options, negotiations are underway in both Europe and America.

The level of stress behind the wheel of the Indy Lights car pleasantly surprised. I must confess that I was a little afraid of this, because many people told me that the car of this series is quite large and heavy. Of course, in every way this is a more serious technique than anything I’ve flown before – this goes for both power and, probably, weight. But actually the steering wasn’t that tight.

At the same time, the races in Indy Lights are long and when we were working on tests in Florida it was really hot, temperatures above 30 degrees. Of course there was physical activity behind the wheel, but we completed a pretty good program and I am very satisfied in that regard.

I felt that I could achieve a comfortable driving experience and fly the way I wanted, while physical activity was not a big problem, which did me good. Although I have to seriously work on myself to improve my form next year.

But most importantly, I know that the long races and the amount of testing you do in Indy Lights will allow me to prepare well for the next step, which I have to do in a year, because I have extra time. have for this one. In terms of physical activity, Indy Lights is different from Formula 2. Now my goal is to try and work on tests in F2. Even if it won’t be possible to compete in this series next year, at least I want to understand what needs to be worked on and how much strength training can be improved with a view to 2024.”