Wood climbs standings after big night in Texas

Friday 19 June, 2020

Caitlin Wood has picked up a good haul of points during the W Series Esports League’s second round at Circuit of the Americas in Texas, with three top-10 finishes.

Heading into the round in eighth place after a tough start last week, Wood once again showed her pace on the simulator, qualifying on the front row next to series leader Beitske Visser.

However both drivers had a slow start to the race and lost ground early, and while Visser managed to climb back up to the top and beat Marta Garcia, Wood eventually finished the race in fourth place – despite putting up a late fight up against Alice Powell.

In the reverse grid race, Wood started in 16th place and was able to make up six positions amongst the chaotic race, with the New South Wales born driver crossing the chequered flag in 10th place.

The final race of the round saw Wood put in her best performance for the season so far– finishing second behind Visser after an intense showdown with Irina Sidorkova.

Although the duo were quite far off Visser in first place, less than one second separated them for much of their battle, as the 23-year-old kept her cool and fended off late challenges from the Russian teenager.

Following the round, a happy Wood credited her good result to her consistency across the three races.

“The fear factor is taken away on the sim because you’re not in the moment, so people make more moves than they would on-track,” Wood said.

“We’d all prefer to be racing real cars, but the W Series Esports League is a great initiative to show more women in the sim-racing environment. I’m enjoying it and happy that I’m up at the front so far. I just need to stay out of trouble in the races and I managed that today.

“I’d like to think I could win a race at Brands Hatch. Qualifying well helps you stay out of the carnage and the goal is to beat Beitske [Visser].”

Wood’s 36-point haul sees her end the round in fifth outright and within two points of Powell in third, while Visser’s two wins saw her extend her lead at top of standings to 14 points over Sidorkova.

The next round of the W Series Esports League will be at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit in the UK next week.