James Walker Brands Hatch race summary

WALKER EIGHTH IN EURO SERIES DESPITE QUALIFYING PROBLEMS

James Walker recovered from a troubled qualifying session to score an eighth-place finish in his one-off appearance in the F3 Euro Series at Brands Hatch in Kent today. Set-up problems restricted him to only 13th on the grid for the first race after being eighth in testing, but after making changes before the race he was able to climb up to 10th place following an excellent start.

With finishing positions deciding starting slots for race two he again faced an uphill struggle in race two at a circuit on which it is almost impossible to pass. Another good start was masked by the fact that a rival behind him on the grid jumped the start, leapfrogging him. However, after being restored to 10th he again made good progress and was rapidly up to eighth. Several times he got alongside Sebastien Vettel, seventh in the race and third in the championship, but was never quite able to take the position.

It was nevertheless an impressive drive in which he was visibly the fastest driver on the track for the second half of the race, closing to only seven seconds behind race winner Peter Elkmann.

"It's a real pity we didn't get it right in qualifying, as we had the pace to win in race trim," Walker said. "But it was good to race against the Euro Series drivers and be as quick as any of them. I'm heading into the next rounds of our championship more confident than ever."

-mc-