Sarah Moore down to third in W Series standings after seventh at Silverstone

Oxford-born driver Alice Powell won her second race of the year as she was roared over the line on her home circuit by the 100,000-plus fans that flocked to Silverstone on Formula 1’s British Grand Prix weekend.

It was a dramatic victory for Powell who snatched success when she passed Fabienne Wohlwend for the lead just five minutes before the chequered flag to retake the championship lead from Jamie Chadwick.

Moore was second in the overall rankings prior to lights out at Silverstone with her seventh-placed finish enough to prevent Wohlwend from catching up with her.

Powell had started on pole but Wohlwend took the lead off the line and led the way for most of the race while reigning champion Jamie Chadwick finished third.

Moore had started the race in seventh but quickly moved up to sixth place after a fast start from the grid.

She retained that place until the final minutes of the race when she was overtaken by Beitske Visser – the championship runner-up in 2019 – after a lengthy battle over several corners between the two drivers.

Visser was forced into a last minute engine change due to a mechanical issue and did not even have time to take her M Forbes Motorsport on a warm-up lap. She started in fourth but swiftly fell back to seventh, with Moore moving ahead of her into sixth. The Harrogate driver took six championship points from Silverstone, moving her onto 36 for the season. Wohlwend is just behind on 34. Powell leads the W Series with 54 championship points, six ahead of 2019 champion Jamie Chadwick.

Emma Kimilainen crossed the finish in fourth while W Series Academy member Nerea Marti was in fifth.

Hull’s Abbie Eaton, along with debutant Abbi Pulling and Jessica Hawkins finished in the top 10 meaning that all six British drivers scored championship points on their home track.

“It’s an amazing feeling to win on home soil,” said race winner Powell.

“I’ve experienced lots of British Grand Prix weekends but never from this side and I want to thank every single fan out there for the amazing support.

“To race and win in front of this crowd is the stuff that dreams are made of and it was extra special to have my family here to see it. It wasn’t the best of starts for me, I got a bad launch and was behind Fabienne.

“But I knew I had the pace and was faster, and luckily she made an error which let me sneak through and I managed to bring it home from there.”

The W Series heads to Hungaroring, Hungary at the end of July before four more races at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Circuit Zandvoort, Circuit of the Americas before finishing the competition at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico.