2014 Women's GT World Championship season

The 2014 Women's GT World Championship Season is the first season of the Women's GT World Championship. Organised and ran by the Women Drivers Association, it is a women-only series in which the world's fastest women compete in sports cars from across the world.

Constructors and drivers

Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	#	Driver	Rounds
Aston Martin Motor Racing	Aston Martin	DBR9	0	Susie Wolff	All
			2	Alice Powell	All
Jaguar Racing	Jaguar	XK-R	3	Simona de Silvestro	All
			4	Danica Patrick	All
Nissan	Nissan	GT-R	5	Rahel Frey	All
			6	Fiona Leggate	All
Porsche	Porsche	911 GT	7	Ana Beatriz	All
			8	Zoë Wenham	All
Maserati	Maserati	MC-12	9	Beitske Visser	All
			10	Shirley van der Lof	All
Audi	Audi	R8 LMS Ultra	11	Leanne Tander	All
			12	Vanina Ickx	All
Ford	Ford	Matech GT	13	Amber Cope	All
			14	Angela Cope	All
BMW Team Australia	BMW	Z4 GT	15	Chelsea Angelo	All
			16	Renee Gracie	All
Ferrari North America	Ferrari	458 GT	17	Katherine Legge	1-11
				Cyndie Allemann	12-20
			18	Pippa Mann	All
Stewart-Haas Chevrolet	Chevrolet	Corvette C6 Z06	19	Johanna Long	All
			20	Miranda Throckmorton	1-10
				Emma Kimiläinen	11-20
Scuderia Lamborghini	Lamborghini	Murcielago LP670 GT	21	Keiko Ihara	All
			22	Sabine Schmitz	All
Mercedes-Benz Team Iron Ladies	Mercedes	SLS AMG GT	23	Melanie Troxel	All
			24	Erica Enders-Stevens	All
Toyota Hino Jidosha Sportive Division	Toyota	Supra HV-R	25	Cora Schumacher	1-3
				Maryeve Dufault	4-13
				Ashley Freiberg	14-20
			26	Corentine Quiniou	1-13
				Shea Holbrook	14-20
Honda	Honda	HSV-010 GT	27	Milka Duno	1-12
				Ramona Karlsson	13-20
			28	Jutta Kleinschmidt	All
Lotus	Lotus	Evora GTE	29	Natacha Gachnang	All
			30	Jenny Tinmouth	1-11
				Katherine Legge	12-20

Season Review

Preseason Tests

The Preseason Tests for the first season of the Women's GT World Championship took place at Circuit Zolder in Belgium. Every team had to participate in the test sessions. One fact pointed out early on was that Jaguar and Maserati were very quick, with Simona de Silvestro setting the pace on Day 1, followed by the Maseratis of Beitske Visser and Shirley van der Lof. Day 2 saw Melanie Troxel of drag racing fame set the fastest time, with the Maseratis being more consistently at the front of the timesheets than the Jaguars.

Championship Races 1-10

The first half of the season will be known for the Swiss domination of the championship lead, only upset twice in 10 rounds. Only 3 teams won races in the first half, with Jaguar winning 5, Ferrari North America (referred to as Ferrari NART) winning 4, and BMW Team Australia winning 1. But, it was Rahel Frey in her Nissan that lead the championship in 5 of those 10 races thanks to consistency on track, which Ferrari nor Simona de Silvestro had to as much of an extent. Everyone believed there to be a Pole Position Curse in the paddock, but this curse was broken by Pippa Mann at round 10 of the championship.

Midseason Tests

The Midseason Tests were held at the Paul Ricard High Technology Test Track in Le Castellet, France. Not all teams competing i the series had to participate, although 5 new teams came along, testing for the 2015 season. These teams would be McLaren, Morgan, Bugatti, Lister Cars, and Saleen. The competing teams that showed up for the test were Aston Martin, Porsche, Maserati, Audi, BMW Team Australia, Ferrari NART, Stewart-Haas Chevrolet, Mercedes-Benz Team Iron Ladies, Honda, and Lotus. Teams came testing different driver, race engineers, tire manufacturers, and some even hired new technical directors. On both days of the test, The Lister Storms were fastest, with 2 of 4 drivers tested going quick. The fastest competing team in the test were Ferrari, thanks to testing Bridgestones in place of their Dunlops, and their switch to the Japanese manufacturer would be a crucial moment in their campaign. Maserati also switched tire manufacturers as well, going from the undurable Pirellis to the Hankooks that Jaguar were using to propell their title chances.

Championship Races 11-20

The Midseason test saw one driver sought after by 2 teams, who had her first outing in a Ferrari GT car during the test. This driver was Emma Kimiläinen, who was wanted by Ferrari NART and Stewart-Haas Chevrolet. Ferrari were coming at unease with Katherine Legge's performances as of late, as she struggled in both the races and didn't fare well on pace with Kimiläinen. Legge was given 3 races to improve. Chevrolet wanted Kimiläinen in one of the Corvettes for round 11 onwards. Kimiläinen went with the Chevrolet deal, and it paid off, getting pole and winning on her debut, even if it was weather assisted. Legge was sacked immediately after round 11 by Ferrari and replaced by Swiss driver Cyndie Allemann, who would score podiums in all her first 5 starts. The season started to turn into Ferrari domination, rounds 15 and 16 in particular were completely in Ferrari's control. Plus, unlike Jaguar with Simona de Silvestro's 2 crashes in rounds 15 and 16, and Danica Patrick with poor results all around, Ferrari stormed into the lead of both championships by round 16.

Season Overview

Testing

Pre-season

Day	Venue	Fastest driver	Fastest team
1	Circuit Zolder	Simona de Silvestro	Jaguar
2	Circuit Zolder	Melanie Troxel	Mercedes-Benz Team Iron Ladies

Mid-season

Day	Venue	Fastest driver	Fastest team
1	Paul Ricard High Technology Test Track	Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky	Lister Cars
2	Paul Ricard High Technology Test Track	Michela Cerruti	Lister Cars

Calendar

	Event	Venue	Pole position	Race winner	Winning team	ROTR	Championship leader
1	Round of Australia	Adelaide Street Circuit	Beitske Visser	Renee Gracie	BMW Team Australia	Shirley van der Lof	Renee Gracie
2	Round of China	Zhuhai International Circuit	Beitske Visser	Katherine Legge	Ferrari NART	Pirelli	Rahel Frey
3	Round of Malaysia	Sepang International Circuit	Danica Patrick	Simona de Silvestro	Jaguar	None	Rahel Frey
4	Round of Japan	Suzuka International Circuit	Danica Patrick	Simona de Silvestro	Jaguar	Danica Patrick	Simona de Silvestro
5	Round of Canada	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Simona de Silvestro	Danica Patrick	Jaguar	Milka Duno / Jutta Kleinschmidt	Simona de Silvestro
6	Round of the United States	Sebring International Raceway	Pippa Mann	Katherine Legge	Ferrari NART	Maserati	Rahel Frey
7	Round of Brazil	Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace	Pippa Mann	Katherine Legge	Ferrari NART	None	Rahel Frey
8	Round of Argentina	Circuito Portrero de los Funes	Fiona Leggate	Simona de Silvestro	Jaguar	Katherine Legge	Rahel Frey
9	Round of Portugal	Autodromo Internacional do Algarve	Simona de Silvestro	Danica Patrick	Jaguar	Simona de Silvestro	Katherine Legge
10	Round of Spain	Autodromo Nacional de Sitges-Terramar	Pippa Mann	Pippa Mann	Ferrari NART	Chevrolet Corvette	Simona de Silvestro
11	Round of France	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours	Emma Kimiläinen	Emma Kimiläinen	Stewart-Haas Chevrolet	Jaguar's gearbox gremlin	Simona de Silvestro
12	Round of Britain	Silverstone Circuit	Pippa Mann	Simona de Silvestro	Jaguar	Danica Patrick	Simona de Silvestro
13	Round of Sweden	Scandanavian Raceway	Cyndie Allemann	Rahel Frey	Nissan	None	Simona de Silvestro
14	Round of the Netherlands	Circuit Park Zandvoort	Pippa Mann	Rahel Frey	Nissan	The rain	Rahel Frey
15	Round of Belgium	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	Ana Beatriz	Pippa Mann	Ferrari NART	Simona de Silvestro	Rahel Frey
16	Round of Germany	Nürburgring	Cyndie Allemann	Pippa Mann	Ferrari NART	Simona de Silvestro	Pippa Mann
17	Round of Austria	Red Bull Ring	Cyndie Allemann	Vanina Ickx	Audi	None	Pippa Mann
18	Round of the Czech Republic	Masaryk Circuit	Pippa Mann	Simona de Silvestro	Jaguar	Pippa Mann / Number 13 curse	Pippa Mann
19	Round of Hungary	Hungaroring	Rahel Frey	Simona De Silvestro	Jaguar	Hungaroring track	Pippa Mann
20	Round of Italy	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	Pippa Mann	Pippa Mann	Ferrari NART	Ashley Freiberg	Pippa Mann