W Series attracts highest-ever audience with Silverstone race

Motoracing’s W Series reached a record audience last weekend, the organisation has said.

The fourth race of the 2022 season at Silverston attracted a peak UK TV audience of more than 1 million viewers and the highest-ever race audience in W Series history, since its launch in 2018.

The race was the most-watched motorsport event outside of F1 since 2014.

The event, which was broadcast across Sky Sports and Channel 4, attracted an average audience of more than 713,000 viewers.

Catherine Bond Muir, W Series CEO, said: “We had big ambitions to make 2022 W Series’ biggest season so far, which kicked off in Miami where we achieved our largest-ever TV audience to-date, with 453k viewers across the Sky network. Coming into our Silverstone race weekend, we set ourselves the ambitious target to double that. To achieve a peak of more than 1 million viewers is a landmark achievement in our history and a real statement of our intent.

“Seeing our drivers – including six British women racing on home soil – line up on the grid in front of a sell-out crowd at Silverstone was an emotional moment, and fans watching at home enjoyed comprehensive live television coverage across both Sky Sports and Channel 4 for the first time ever.

Stephen van Rooyen, CEO, Sky UK & Europe said: “We were very pleased to see record viewing once again for the W Series race at Silverstone. It’s great to see Sky customers’ appetite for this thrilling competition growing so strongly. These great viewing numbers are testament to Sky’s continued strong commitment to supporting women’s sport.”