Media Release: Walkinshaw Scores Solid Donington Park Ginetta GT Supercup Points
Donington Park, Derbyshire – Saturday, April 14, 2012: Donington Park, Derbyshire – Saturday, April 14, 2012: Fergus Walkinshaw made a welcome return to the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup championship scoreboard on Saturday, April 14, with an eighth place finish securing a solid points haul for round four at Donington Park.
Walkinshaw was back for battle in his Ginetta G55 sportscar after contact while leading round three pitched him into a heavy accident at Brands Hatch two weeks ago. The resulting significant damage forced Walkinshaw and the Century Motorsport team to rebuild his car from the ground up in just three days, losing valuable testing time scheduled at the Derbyshire track.
With steering rack failure during Thursday practice resulting in just 20 minutes of track time ahead of his Ginetta GT Supercup debut, qualifying on Saturday offered the first opportunity for consistent running. Regardless, Walkinshaw put in a good effort to overcome significant understeer issues and set his fastest lap time of 1:10.845 on his final tour of the 20-minute session.
A fantastic start from the fifth row of the grid propelled Walkinshaw up to seventh place heading into Redgate Corner for the first time. But it soon became apparent that the 21 year-old was still suffering with understeer and he had little choice but to drop back to ninth.
Light rain showers then started to play into the talented Oxfordshire racer’s hands. Quickly adapting to the changeable conditions, he chipped away at his best lap times to set his top race pace on lap 10, to within just one tenth of a second of his qualifying time, to keep Jamie Orton in his sights.
When Marcus Hoggarth spun at the Chicane on the penultimate lap, forcing Orton to back-off, Walkinshaw seized his chance and pulled alongside Orton down the Wheatcroft Straight. The pair ran side-by-side through Redgate and the Craner Curves, but the Century Motorsport driver couldn't quite get a clean line past and sensibly opted to hold eighth place and add another 14 points to his championship tally.
“Today was all about salvaging some championship points and I’m pleased to have achieved that,” said Walkinshaw. “It’s been a frustrating time since Brands Hatch. We showed that the car had good pace out of the box from the rebuild at Thruxton, but since then it’s been one thing after another. It’s been a relief to get some consistent running time today.
“I got a great start but the car didn’t feel right on the front end. I didn’t have the confidence to push in the early stages and I decided to play it safe. It took a while for the car to settle and get the front tyres up to temperature, but then I was able to push and regain ground. I had a good go at taking Jamie [Orton] for seventh place but without the front-end of the car gripping as I would have liked it wasn’t worth the risk.”
Walkinshaw will be looking to continue his consistent championship points haul in tomorrow’s double-header event. The two 16-lap Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup races will take place at 10.45 and 16.20.
-Ends-
Notes to Editors
Visit the new Fergus Walkinshaw website at www.ferguswalkinshaw.com
Media Contact
Emma Spearing, Hazel PR:
Mobile: 07736 341828 | Email: emma.spearing@hazelpr.com
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