fter the immense success of the inaugural season of the all-female racing series, W Series has revealed its grid for 2020.18 drivers have been named, including the top-12 performing drivers from this year. In addition, there are six new names. The series has confirmed that a further two drivers will be added to the line-up in due course.
Ayla Agren, Norway
Ayla is a Scandinavian racing driver who has been driving since just seven years of age. After racing go karts on the international stage, Ayla made the transition to open-wheel racing in 2012.
Her first outing was in the Skip Barber summer series, where she made four trips to the rostrum. For the next two seasons, she competed in the F1600 championship, where she was crowned champion in 2014 with three wins among other podiums and fastest laps. From there, Ayla transitioned into the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda where she continued to score points.
Ayla is a graduate, having studied at the Norwegian Business School. During her time at university, she combined her love for racing alongside her studies.
Abbie Eaton, UK
Abbie is a driver with an impressive profile. Being a feature on the hit TV show ‘The Grand Tour’, Abbie has become a household name for petrolheads.
Hailing from Yorkshire in the north of England, Abbie established her race craft in karts before transitioning to the Production Touring Car Championship. Winning Class B in the touring car series, Abbie notched up a staggering 15 out of 18 wins. Abbie went on to become the 2014 Mazda MX-5 Supercup champion. A highlight was qualifying on pole at Anglesey Circuit in Wales 0.8 seconds ahead of second place.
Her impressive record in sports car racing continued as she went on to shine in British GT, finishing second in the Pro/Am category alongside team-mate Marcus Hoggarth.
In 2017, Abbie made history when she became the first female driver to win in class at a Blancpain GT event.
Belen Garcia, Spain
Despite only making the jump to single-seaters this year, Belen took her maiden victory in the Spanish F4 championship in her first race weekend in the series. 2019 continued to prove successful, and the Spanish drive scored points at all but one round of the season.
“The truth is that it was very rewarding,” Belen said after her victory. “You think about the work we have done in recent months, the work I did in karting, in all past races, in everything you have fought to be there…” Belen Garcia
Nerea Marti, Spain
At 17-years-old, Nerea is one of the youngest drivers to be confirmed for the 2020 season. Like Belen, she made her switch to single-seaters this year.
Prior to this, she was a stand-out karter, finishing seventh in the 2017 Junior Spanish Championship. 2018 saw her progress further, scoring a top-12 in the IAME Winter Cup senior category.
This year, Nerea raced in Spanish Formula 4, securing one podium en route to finishing 17th in the championship.
Irina Sidorkova, Russia
Irina is a 16-year-old junior touring car champion who races under the Russian flag She got her first taste of single-seaters when she participated in three F4 NEZ Championship Certified by FIA races. She built on this knowledge in 2019, taking to the SMP F4 Championship series. Irina scored two podiums, finishing sixth overall in the standings.
In addition, Irina raced in Spain in the Formula 4 championship.
Bruna Tomaselli, Brazil
Bruna has a vast amount of experience on her CV. 2013 was her first year of single-seaters and she was victorious in her maiden campaign, winning a Fórmula Junior Brazil race. She went on to finish seventh in the championship. In 2014, she bettered this and finished fourth overall with 12 podiums to her name.
With outings in F4 South America, Bruna went on to finish in the top-five in the standings. Since then, she has been developing as a driver in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda series.