Mar
30
Alex Walker: Podium on car racing debut
This season I am making the step from karting to cars with Fortec Motorsport in the InterSteps Championship – Fortec and Richard Dutton need no introduction and they are the perfect team to introduce me to slicks and wings. It’s a big step and this year will be very much a learning curve to put me in good stead for next season, but of course I will be able to transfer a lot of the essential racing skills from karting over to cars.
We didn’t have quite as much testing as we would have liked as I’m in my final year at school and I’ve also been busy preparing for my GCSEs. However we tested at Rockingham earlier this month where I actually ended up fastest overall which was encouraging.
My first race was on Saturday at Silverstone. To have my first race on the GP circuit was quite something and it’s a track I hope I’ll come back to visit many more times in the years to come. I was a bit nervous in the build up to the weekend but I was more excited and raring to go than anything else.
The atmosphere was quite relaxed and there weren’t any distractions which allowed me to focus on what I needed to do. We had qualifying on Saturday morning where I qualified 3rd and 2nd for the two races so I knew we had the pace to aim for a podium.
In the first race I got a bit too much wheelspin off the line and dropped back to P5 but I had great fun getting those places back. There was a spin in front of me at Village so I made the most of it and dived in, landing in P2. My team mate Jake Dennis was away in the lead by this stage though and was too far out in front for me to challenge him. I pulled away from the guy in 3rd and from there I pretty much had my own race with space in front and behind me.
To finish 2nd was a fantastic result and gave me that little bit more confidence for the second race in the afternoon, which I also finished 2nd in, so I’m really happy and everything went to plan.
There’s a six-week break before the next race which is a triple-header at Snetterton so we will use that time to work on closing the gap between myself and Jake who I see as my main competitor this season. Hopefully we can go one better and get a win at Snet!
Alex