Jamie Chadwick takes P10 in Indy NXT Round 7 – a first top 10 place overcoming the challenges of competing on level playing field in America’s primary support Series to IndyCar. Not only does the result defy expectations that Chadwick has the potential to match her 16-male-grid drivers on the track, but also endorses her prospects of gaining upward trajectory on the points table with 5 Rounds to go.
Qualifying P12 and within 1 second off pole, Jamie put best learnt skills to the test in Sunday’s 35 lap race. Pushing and fighting for position on track, Jamie displayed all necessary aggression to wrestle the Andretti Autosport car at average speed of 99.180km/h through-out total of 47:48.593 mins at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
For certain, the progressive steps forward from racing Indy NXT Opening Round in March finishing 1 lap down, to qualifying P9 in Round 6 Road America, to finishing top 10 this weekend, have tested Jamie’s strength of character, ten-fold. As Jamie admits, the differences from racing WSeries and winning the all-female Championship 3x are real, yet able to mould Chadwick into a more experienced driver.
Take car specs for example: the heavier Dallara IL-15 takes greater physical excursion than driving WSeries Tatuus F3 T-318, along with variances of track circuits and race duration. Indy NXT competes on circuit and road with race time 20 mins more than WSeries 6-8 races of 30 minutes plus one lap.
As Jamie explains in an interview with The Race in March, 2023, on track challenges have pushed her ability to adapt to car, circuit, and race format, yet these challenges have simultaneously enabled the Brit to put her skill base to perfect use, having competed in British GT4 and F3 Championship, 24H of Nurburgring, F3 Asian Championship and opening season of Extreme E.
Jamie: ”Ultimately for a lap time, I think you need to hustle the hell out of it. It is more like a rally car. The way you hustle it, the way you work it, I’ll do a lap that I think is quite nice. And then I do a lap where I feel like I’ve made a lot of mistakes and it’s quicker. But it’s a challenge that I actually really enjoy. It’s physical, it’s tough, but it’s a little bit more pure than some of the other racing with tyre degradation and stuff like that”‘.
Such matters of focus speaks volumes on the progression Jamie has made from initial testing with Andretti Autosport at the end of 2022 season. Completing 120 laps, Jamie was surprised at the enjoyment factor of racing a different car with the added benefits of making car set-up improvements from one-race-weekend to the next.
As Jamie states: I was surprised by how quick they were when I first tested. But that said, they’re really enjoyable to drive. It’s a different driving style required. It is a car you have to push to and beyond the limit to get the most out of, which in comparison to what I’m used to, particularly with the tyre, you’re generally just a bit under it.
You don’t want to slide on the tyre [in Regional], you don’t want to overwork it, whereas this you kind of go to it and beyond it, which was something a bit new to me. I felt like I was leaning more on my off-road experience more than anything else. And there’s a big difference from W Series – the amount of adjustability within set-ups and from the engineering aspect. So the ability to work with the engineer and go through many different test items in the day as opposed to being quite restricted on those options, I found really interesting and something I’m looking forward to learning more about.” Reference: Formula Scott December 2022.
If the road to Formula racing for Jamie Chadwick is more about the journey than the destination, then the likeable Brit has won it hands down. So to, would be experiencing success through learning how results are achieved through courage to reach fullest potential – even if that means putting oneself well outside known comfort zone.
Let’s note, Jamie has plenty more to give racing 2023 Indy NXT Rounds 8 – 13 and beyond.
Header photo: Jamie Chadwick racing 2023 Indy NXT Round 7 at Mid-Ohio Image: Andretti Autosport.
Words: Sharon Cox.
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