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Jamie Chadwick has been racing’s most evident success story relating to ladies in motorsport, and after securing each single W Sequence Championship within the sport’s existence, she’s shifting on to a brand new problem. She’ll be the primary lady to compete in Indy NXT — previously generally known as Indy Lights, the junior open-wheel class just under IndyCar — in a whopping 13 years when she hits the grid with Andretti Autosport in 2023.
It’s a wise transfer for Chadwick. The free-to-enter W Sequence offered her with a spot to frequently compete, however sadly, she wasn’t in a position to amass sufficient funding to progress into an F1 ladder sequence like Formulation 2 or Formulation 3. Indy NXT is one other nice possibility, for the reason that obstacles to entry are rather less complicated than you’ll discover in European classes.
Andretti Autosport, too, is a wonderful workforce. It received the Indy Lights workforce Championship in 2022, and it performs a aggressive position in IndyCar correct. Whereas she’ll nonetheless retain her ties with Williams Racing in Formulation 1, it has grown increasingly more unlikely that Chadwick will truly find yourself within the highest degree of European open-wheel racing for a number of causes, together with expertise, sponsorship, and age.
Chadwick becoming a member of the sequence is thrilling — however it additionally highlights simply how uncommon it’s to see a lady in energetic motorsport. Andretti Autosport’s e-mail launch proudly notes that Chadwick is the primary lady to race full time in Indy NXT in 13 years. That final full-time driver was Pippa Mann, who contested with Panther Racing in 2009 and completed 14th total within the championship. The next 12 months, a handful of appearances from Carmen Jorda and Mann marked the final time a lady competed within the sequence in any capability. Chadwick’s presence will likely be a lot anticipated.
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