Gosberton ace Abbi to make her W Series debut at Silverstone

Abbi Pulling will make her competitive W Series debut at the third round of the 2021 season at Silverstone on Saturday.

The 18-year-old Gosberton racer will compete for the PUMA team alongside Spain’s Marta Garcia when W Series races alongside Formula 1 at the British Grand Prix weekend.

Pulling will line up on the same grid as her mentor and compatriot Alice Powell (Racing X), who won the opening round of the W Series season in Austria and is third in the championship standings ahead of her home race at Silverstone.

The South Holland teenager is a former British karting champion who is currently impressing while competing in the British Formula 4 championship.

She was named as a W Series reserve driver for the 2021 season after being invited to take part in the pre-season test at the Anglesey Circuit, Wales, in May.

Pulling said: “I’m over the moon to be making my W Series debut at Silverstone and I want to show people what I can do.

“I’ve never been to the British Grand Prix weekend before and I can’t even begin to imagine what the atmosphere will be like racing in front of a full home crowd.

“It will be a very special occasion and, whatever the result, something that will stay with me forever.

“My only experience of Silverstone’s Grand Prix circuit was in the Ginetta GT5 Challenge in 2019 when I got my first top ten finish in car racing after starting outside the top 20, so I’ll be trying to draw on those good memories.

“I’ll prepare as well as I can, watch lots of videos, work hard on the simulator and ask Alice (Powell) lots of questions.

“I wouldn’t be where I am now without Alice. My whole perspective changed when I started working with her last year.

“She is constantly training or doing something to benefit her racing – the amount of work she puts in is crazy and of a very high standard.

“She opened my eyes and made me realise how hard I need to work to achieve my goal of reaching F1, which feels like a realistic one thanks to her. Alice has helped me technically, mentally and physically and my results have improved so much.

“The W Series’ pre-season test at Anglesey couldn’t have gone much better for me and I’ll head to Silverstone feeling competitive.

“It will be strange racing against Alice and I hope it goes better than the only previous time it happened when we collided during a go-kart race!

“We won’t be easy on each other, but I know that Alice and lots of the other girls are trying to win the championship and I’m a reserve driver, so I’ll be respectful of that.

“Alice is a great driver who has already won a race this season, so if I’m battling her it’s likely to be at the front of the field and I’ll take that.”

The W Series is an all-female single-seater racing championship which was launched back in 2019.

It was created in response to the lack of female drivers progressing to the highest levels of motorsport, particularly Formula 1.