Week three: Sidorkova grabs double winpublished at 14:41 British Summer Time 2 July 2020
Image source, Getty ImagesThe Sidorkova-Visser scrap in race three was arguably the best of the season so far
Russia’s Irina Sidorkova made good on her early promise and with two race wins in week three at a virtual Brands Hatch as W Series leader Beitske Visser made a rare mistake and won only a single race, yet still almost doubled her lead at the top of the standings.
Sidorkova took an early spin in the opening race and failed to score as Visser went from second on the grid to win her fifth race in seven starts with Britain’s Alice Powell in second place and Marta Garcia in third.
Sidorkova’s misfortune in the opener set her up for an easy win in the reverse-grid second race, although Visser tried to rewrite the script, taking advantage of an early pile-up to go from 20th to seventh within the first two minutes. The Dutch ace finished in second place as Sabre Cook took her first podium finish of the series.
“It was really close because a car was flying through the air and I had to go across the grass to avoid it,” said Visser of the start. “I had no damage and could slowly work myself up to second, but Ira [Sidorkova] was too far away at that point.”
Visser had pole for the third race but her poor start meant she had to sit behind Marta Garcia and fight off a determined Sidorkova, who passed her for second in in some of the best wheel-to-wheel action of the series so far.
Both of them overtook Garcia but Visser spun with less than two minutes remaining and had to settle for fourth as Sidorkova took a second chequered flag in a row. Although the Russian won twice on the night, Visser’s first, second and fourth-placed finishes meant she almost doubled her series lead to 27 points over Sidorkova.
“In the first few laps I didn’t try to overtake Beitske or Marta because I just wanted to put in some good laps,” said Sidorkova. “After that we had a great battle and I was delighted to win two races.”
