Sabre' Cook Carries IndyCar Hopes to W Series Opener in Austria

The delayed second season for the W Series is finally here, and Sabre' Cook couldn't be more ready.

Cook, 27, is the lone American in the European-based open-wheel series that features some of the top women racers in the world. The Grand Junction, Colorado, native qualified for the second year of the series by finishing 11th in the season standings in 2019.

Last year's season was wiped out by COVID-19.

The W Series kicks off its 2021 campaign at the Red Bull Ring in Austria with practice and qualifying on Friday and the first race of an eight-race season on Saturday. This year, the W Series is being showcased as a support series for Formula 1, racing on the same tracks on the same race weekends as the big boys (sorry, no women on the F1 grid this season).

"It’s been a long time coming, and we're all very excited that the day is finally here and we’re headed to our first race event," Cook, 27, told Autoweek while en route to Austria this week. "I think every single one of us is over the moon about it and can’t wait to experience what the environment is going to be like."

Since the 2019 W Series finale, Cook has kept busy racing just about anything with four wheels. She's appeared on the grid for a handful of events in series including the Indy Pro 2000 championship, Mazda MX-5 Cup and even the SCCA Runoffs.

"Anything and everything, honestly, someone will put me in," Cook said. "Give me a lawnmower tomorrow, and I’m there."

How might she fair on the competitive lawn mower circuit?

"I would do my best."

Cook says that while her ultimate goal is the NTT IndyCar Series, the chance to try her hand at different disciplines over the past several months has kept her racing career moving in a positive direction.

"I think it’s been great in a lot of ways," she said. "It challenges your skill and adaptability. It’s also exposed me to new teams, new demographics. I’ve made so many more connections. Racing is obviously a small world. Being able to hang out in different disciplines I think really helps me build my profile and experience.

"IndyCar is still the dream. But it’s definitely maybe opened my eyes up more to being more keen to GT-type series or maybe looking more seriously at at some of the IMSA stuff."

This year, the W Series will race on F1 tracks at Austria (twice), Silverstone, Hungary, Spa, Zandvoort, Circuit of the Americas in Austin and at Mexico City. With the exception of COTA, where she has raced in 2018 in the Formula 4 U.S. Championship, each track will be a new challenge for Cook. She says that she'll be putting in as much time as she can on the simulator to get familiar with the circuits.

The biggest advantage to running in the W Series as opposed to chasing one-offs or a Road to Indy ride in the U.S. is that the rides in the W Series are fully funded for the entire season.

Jamie Chadwick won the inaugural W Series championship and parlayed that into a development driver contract with the Williams F1 team.

"The W Series is amazing," Cook said. "It’s fundamental to the progression of my career. It’s been such a big help and such a big weight off my shoulders when I don’t have to come up with funding to run a full season. I think if I continue on the path that I am now, keep my head down, keep working on my skills, then I don’t think Indy Lights (before long) is out of the question.

"At the end of the day, (making it to IndyCar) comes down to being able to have the sponsorship. Obviously I need to get into the Road to Indy and show that I can perform well. The first big step is still the sponsorship."

In the meantime, Cook, who is also an engineer with experience working in Formula Mazda as well as with Infiniti and the former Renault F1 team, plans to be in Europe for a few months for the W Series while at the same time doing her best to turn a few heads that could lead to something on the IndyCar side.

"I’m going to enjoy this experience and try to make the most out of this incredible opportunity," she said.

This year, the W Series races will be broadcast in the U.S. live on beIN Sports Xtra.