First Pole for Nerea Marti: W Series Miami Qualifying Report

Nerea Marti of Quanfury W Series Racing Team achieved her first-ever pole position after the qualifying session finished under a red flag caused by Fabienne Wohlwend crashing with 30 seconds to go. Marti hit the wall early on in the session but recovered well to claim her maiden pole.

Alice Powell had a margin of three tenths over the other drivers with three minutes to go but it wasn't enough to hold off reigning champion Jamie Chadwick who claimed second place. Powell ended up qualifying third for race one.

Experienced driver Emma Kimilainen was quick out of the pit lane giving her plenty of clean air to run in but it wasn't enough to get on pole after a slow middle sector left her qualifying in fourth place. Despite her crash, Wohlwend qualified fifth but it could be a challenge for the mechanics to have her car ready for the race later on today.

Aston Martin driver ambassador Jess Hawkins finished sixth ahead of Belen Garcia in seventh, Sarah Moore in eighth and Abbi Pulling in ninth.

The final red flag wasn't the first of the session with a spin by Chloe Chambers of Jenner Racing leading to a red flag twenty minutes into the session. However, she avoided the wall and managed to get her car turned around to continue racing to eventually qualify 11th.

Chambers was the highest finishing rookie ahead of Beitske Visser in 12th, Tereza Babickova in 16th, Bianca Bustamante in 17th and Juju Noda in 18th.

Abbie Eaton, driving for Scuderia W, finished 13th, after recovering from breaking her back in Austin at the end of last season. Bruna Tomaselli finished 14th.

Traffic proved to be an issue for many of the drivers. Chadwick stayed back in the pit when the lights first went green, perhaps giving her an advantage as she was able to stay out of the traffic. Wohlwend was seen struggling to overtake the snaking traffic in front of her.

The finish times from qualification determine the starting grid for race one and the second-best time for each driver determines their starting position for race two.

Tune in tonight at 19:25 (BST) for race one.