Media Release: Walkinshaw Commands Thrilling Oulton Park Battle
Oulton Park – Sunday 9 June 2013; FW Motorsport’s Fergus Walkinshaw delivered a crowd thrilling performance at Oulton Park today, commanding a six-car battle for a top eight finish in round 11 of the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup.
After ten turn-perfect and nail-biting laps of the picturesque 2.2-mile Cheshire circuit, the 22 year-old was denied a top points-scoring finish to reflect his determined drive, a wheel wide at Druids dropping him down the order. Yet Walkinshaw still managed to nurse the FW Motorsport G55 home to take the chequered flag in front of the team’s adopted home crowd.
Following a considered charge from 14th to eighth in the round 10 series battle yesterday, Walkinshaw lined up on the fourth row of a bumper GT Supercup grid for the final race of the weekend on Sunday afternoon.
A good start saw the Chipping Norton team owner/driver hold station while challenging Chris Boardley for much of the opening lap. But, by the fifth tour, a three-way fight for eighth turned into a fierce six-car showdown with Walkinshaw at the fore.
With barely 0.5 seconds separating each car by lap five, Massot muscled his way through at the Hairpin on lap six. Although pushed wide, Walkinshaw slotted straight back into ninth and posted personal best lap times while fending off Matt Nicoll-Jones, until the #88 car ran wide after mounting a challenge around the outside of Cascades.
Nicoll-Jones may have left the fight, but the pressure was still on and just a wheel placed wide heading into Druids on lap 10 tipped the FW Motorsport Ginetta out of the battle. But with only superficial damage sustained, Walkinshaw nursed the #91 car home to take the chequered flag.
Walkinshaw commented: “I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in such a fierce battle for the mid-field and today’s second race at Oulton Park was certainly a thriller. It’s a shame that we didn’t get the points to reflect our potential, but I really enjoyed racing at close quarters, while we also put on a good show for the team’s adopted home fans.
“The car felt fantastic and I was able to confidently defend my position while setting consistently quicker lap times. So although we didn’t get the result we had hoped for today, we can take a lot of confidence from such competitive running in such hot and sunny conditions. We have made more positive development gains this weekend and we plan to continue to build on that progress.”
For full Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup race results and championship points visit www.ginetta.com
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FW Motorsport Press Office
Emma Spearing: +44 (0)7736 341828 | emma@fwmotorsport.com
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