2019 Assen Race

The 2019 Assen Race, otherwise known as the 2019 W Series Assen Race and the #WRace5, was the fifth round of the 2019 BRSCC W Series Championship, staged at the TT Circuit Assen in Assen, Drenthe, Netherlands, on 20 July 2019. The race, held in support of the DTM Assen 2019 Round, would see Emma Kimiläinen claim pole, victory and fastest lap, as the Championship fight came down to two.

Indeed, Kimiläinen would be the driver to beat across the weekend, sweeping to pole position ahead of Alice Powell by a tenth of a second. Jamie Chadwick, Championship lead, would start from third with the potential to win the title in Assen, although her main rival Beitske Visser would start from fourth.

Kimiläinen was, however, unable to convert pole position into a lead at the start, with Powell instead powering past to secure the lead, while Chadwick lunged at them both in the first corner. That move was rebuffed and so Chadwick had to settle for third ahead of Caitlin Wood and Visser, as behind Tasmin Pepper spun and was collected by Miki Koyama.

Koyama was out on the spot having been unable to avoid Pepper's car, while Pepper herself would limp back to retire as the Safety Car was scrambled onto the circuit. The SC stayed out for a couple of laps before the race was resumed, with Powell taking the lead ahead of Kimiläinen and Chadwick.

The top three soon escaped from Wood in fourth, who lacked the pace to match the leaders and instead had a queue form behind her. Fabienne Wohlwend tried to make a move on Gosia Rdest in the midst of the queue and broke her nose of a kerb, Shea Holbrook lost ground by bouncing across the gravel, while Sabré Cook was slapped with a drive through.

With ten minutes to go Kimiläinen would finally make a bid for the lead, forcing Powell into a mistake at the first corner to seize the initiative. With that the Finn was away, leaving Powell to fend off the attentions of Chadwick, while Visser caught the pair of them having jumped Wood.

Kimiläinen duly eased away to secure an impressive victory, lapping a second a lap quicker to claim fastest lap as she did so. Powell claimed second as Chadwick found herself having to fend off Visser for third, with the title pretenders finishing nose-to-tail with Chadwick ahead. Wood was next ahead of Rdest, Jessica Hawkins claimed seventh ahead of Vicky Piria, while Marta García and Sarah Moore completed the scorers.

Chadwick would head into the Season Finale with a thirteen point lead over Visser as a result of the battle of Assen, with those two the only drivers capable of taking the inaugural W Series crown.

Background
Jamie Chadwick had held onto her Championship lead after her fourth straight podium finish, although her advantage had been cut to ten points with two races to go. Beitske Visser was her closest challenger in second as the main pretender to the duo, while race winner Marta García had secured third, but was still 23 points behind. Completing the top five would be Fabienne Wohlwend and Alice Powell, the latter already out of the fight for the Championship with two rounds to go, with sixteen drivers having scored points.

Entry List
The full entry list for the is displayed below:

Results
The final qualifying result for the are outlined below:
 * * Moore received a five place grid penalty for causing a collision in 2019 Norisring Race.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.

Milestones

 * Maiden pole position for Emma Kimiläinen.
 * Maiden victory for Kimiläinen.
 * Also Kimiläinen first podium finish and first fastest lap.
 * Jamie Chadwick claimed her fifth podium finish.
 * Jessica Hawkins secure her first points finish.

Standings
Jamie Chadwick had seen her Championship lead extend once again after her fifth straight podium finish, making her the favourite to claim the title ahead of the finale at Brands Hatch. The Brit would hold a thirteen point lead for the finale, and would hence win the title with a third place finish, regardless of what her closest challenger could do. Beitske Visser was now the only woman who could deny Chadwick the title, but would have to outscore the Brit by fourteen at the finale to do so. Only point scoring drivers are shown.