W Series, the international single-seater motor racing championship for female drivers, today announces that the Click2Drive Bristol Street Motors Racing W Series Team will compete in the 2022 season, and Alice Powell will spearhead their bid for glory this year.
Alice has scored four victories and five other podium finishes in 14 W Series race starts, and her move to the Click2Drive Bristol Street Motors Racing W Series Team brings her career full circle. Bristol Street Motors was one of Alice's first sponsors when she competed in the Ginetta Junior Championship in 2008, and the brand’s Gloucester Renault dealership supported her in the Asian Renault Series in 2014.
A female pioneer in motorsport, Alice was the first woman to win a Formula Renault championship in 2010 and, two years later, became the first woman to score points in the GP3 Series. In two seasons with W Series, the 29-year-old Briton has finished third and second in the championship standings. She will now look to go one better again and claim her maiden title in 2022, when W Series will stage support races at eight Formula 1 Grand Prix weekends, starting in Miami, USA, in May. Alice's Click2Drive Bristol Street Motors Racing W Series Team team-mate will be announced in due course.
Bristol Street Motors, part of one of the UK's largest car dealership groups, is building on its rich motorsport heritage with the launch of its own W Series race team. Bristol Street Motors' new team and continued partnership with W Series includes the support of their award-winning buy online technology, Click2Drive – an end-to-end service that allows customers to buy a car completely online.
The launch of their W Series race team coincides with the brand's new #TypicalWomanDriver campaign, which highlights the skills and significance that women drivers play in society, from ambulance drivers and other blue-light first responders, to lorry drivers and air force pilots.
Bristol Street Motors champions inclusivity throughout all aspects of its business and partnerships. Last year, it made several changes to encourage more women into its workforce, including offering enhanced maternity pay and creating more than 100 apprenticeships which are targeted at career switchers, or those who had taken a career break, including mothers returning to work.
Catherine Bond Muir (Chief Executive Officer, W Series) said:
"Our partnership with Click2Drive Bristol Street Motors Racing is incredibly valuable, as they champion W Series and women in motorsport in general. Like the rest of the W Series family, Bristol Street Motors is helping make enormous strides towards changing the face of motoring, creating more opportunities for women.
"By competing in our teams' championship this year, Click2Drive Bristol Street Motors Racing is demonstrating confidence in W Series and our ability to grow interest and participation in motorsport across all sections of society. I am delighted to back the #TypicalWomanDriver campaign, which will reach even more people and challenge old fashioned stereotypes about women behind the wheel. I am very excited to see how this partnership develops."
Alice Powell (Click2Drive Bristol Street Motors Racing W Series Team) said:
"I'm delighted to be back and fully focused on W Series this year. I'm expecting this season to be even harder than last – Jamie Chadwick is back to defend her title, Abbi Pulling is back for a full season after finishing in the top eight and getting a pole position last year despite only doing four races, and there are some really fast young drivers attending the pre-season test in Barcelona this week. But hopefully I'll have the right tools to launch another strong bid for the title and be able to win the championship. I've finished third and second in the two previous seasons, so surely number one is next!
"It would mean a lot to win with Bristol Street Motors. They have supported me since 2008 when they were one of my first big sponsors in Ginetta Juniors, and they have continued to help me throughout my career, so to be back with them is a great feeling. Being with a British team is really nice and they did a fantastic job last year supporting W Series, so it's great that they have a team and I'm proud to be part of it."
Robert Forrester (Chief Executive, Bristol Street Motors) said:
"We're very excited to now reveal both our team, Click2Drive Bristol Street Motors Racing, and our new #TypicalWomanDriver campaign. The campaign looks to flip the derogatory stereotype and bring to light the incredible female figures across a wide range of professions and communities.
"There has been some great work to encourage more women into motorsport and the wider automotive industry in the last couple of years, and we're pleased to have been part of that through our partnerships, including W Series.
"Alice Powell is a brilliant driver for us and a true icon of female motorsport. She is a hero to many young fans of W Series and, with her experience and understanding of racing, will no doubt make a huge contribution to the Click2Drive Bristol Street Motors Racing W Series Team at all levels."
Liz Cope (Chief Marketing Officer, Bristol Street Motors) said:
“We’re delighted to further extend our support of women across the automotive industry with the creation of our own W Series racing team. This additional platform will allow us to reach and inspire many more young women to consider the motor sector for their career. Whether they aspire to be a racing driver, a mechanic or join one of our dealerships as a sales executive, we want to ensure they know that those opportunities are there and open to them.
“Our #TypicalWomanDriver campaign will go a step further to tackle the negative stereotypes that still somehow persist in the 21st Century, by highlighting the role women drivers play in serving our communities and keeping our economy moving. I’d like to see how well the people who still hold these outdated, sexist views would do in a race against our first signing, Alice Powell!”