WSeries: Koyama ends Misano friday on top

RACERS

Jun 7, 20192 min read

Miki Koyama has topped the second practice session in Misano, Italy, outpacing Jamie Chadwick and Jessica Hawkins in the opening day of the W-Series third round.

The second practice session went underway in Misano after a 55 minutes delay for track repairs at turns 6 and 16 after the DTM practice session had left several drivers with punctured tyres.

Under the Italian heat, the drivers were then instructed to jump out of their cars and after the kerbs were fixed, the track action could finally resume.

Early pace-setter Beitske Visser's laptime was ultimately topped in the latter stages of the session, when Japanese driver Miki Koyama signed a 1:34.663 to lead the standings.

Jamie Chadwick and Jessica Hawkins in impressive form exchanged positions to finish respectively second and third.

Home girl Vicky Piria was fourth, after another convincing session. The former GP3 racer had unquestionably found some speed and a balanced setup on a track that she had stated to love. The 25-year old is looking forward to a potential top 5 finish tomorrow.

Championship contender Beitske Visser's session was hindered by a electrical issue, which forced the Dutch to sit into the pits for most of the second part of practice.

Fabienne Wohlwend rounded up the top six, with Powell (also delayed by technical issues) seventh.

Marta Garcia was last in the timesheets, with her session severely affected by an engine failure, apparently caused by an oil pressure issue.

"With new tyres on I was very competitive but we'll see tomorrow" - said a cautious Koyama. The japanese upcoming superstar had previously raced in the Asian F3 in Buriram, to maximise her tracktime in the Tatuus T-318 car, but she commented that the tyre difference between the championship was significant enough not to represent a real reference point for her W-Series committments.

With once again the top 10 within a one second gap, tomorrow's qualifying is set to be another exciting session for the all-female championship supporting DTM.

In Miki's words:

“Qualifying is always very different from free practice so we don’t know what will happen tomorrow. However, I’m very happy with today and will now work with my engineer and try to be fastest again tomorrow.”