PSCGB: Double podium finish for Lydia Walmsley at Knockhill
- LIAM REDFORD
- Aug 19
- 5 min read
Lydia Walmsley continued her progress in her rookie season in Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain by twice finishing on the RS Pro class podium at Knockhill, finishing third in race one before making good improvements in race two to secure a runner-up finish.
Lydia Walmsley continued her progress in her rookie season in Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain by twice finishing on the RS Pro class podium at Knockhill. Walmsley qualified her Graves Motorsport machine in second, before finishing third in race one. Lydia made good improvements in race two to secure a runner-up finish, before a late-race technical issue led to a retirement in the third race of the event.
As the second half of the season got underway, Walmsley was looking to continue her momentum from the previous two rounds of the championship. After securing her maiden win in Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain at Brands Hatch, the Graves Motorsport driver conquered challenging conditions at Oulton Park to score her second victory of the season. With a 100% podium record across the first nine races, Walmsley’s next target was to cut the championship lead held by Toro Verde GT driver Jonathan Moore.
Walmsley arrived at Knockhill with valuable experience of the Scottish circuit under her belt. With the short and undulating track having been a mainstay on the Mini Challenge JCW calendar, this has enabled Lydia to gain valuable mileage at the track in recent years. Last season, Walmsley scored a top-5 finish north of the border and although now driving an extremely different car, she was aiming to build upon these positive memories of the circuit.
On-track action at Knockhill got underway on Wednesday as the Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain drivers participated in a series of short test session. Walmsley completed 88 laps across the course of the day and she set the second fastest time within the CS Pro class.
On Friday, two free practice sessions were held at Knockhill with Walmsley taking further strides as she gained experience. Improving upon her best time from Wednesday by one second, Lydia’s quickest lap of a 52.739 saw the Graves Motorsport driver remain firmly in contention in second place within the CS Pro class.
Qualifying was held on Saturday morning and Walmsley was looking to continue her progress as the competitive action got underway. After the first series of laps, Lydia was sitting in second position before the session was red flagged following an incident for Toby Trice.
Just over 15 minutes of qualifying remained when the session got back underway with Walmsley looking to push towards top spot. The Graves Motorsport driver set a quickest time of a 52.449 and after improving by three tenths of a second from Friday’s practice session, Walmsley had qualified in a strong second position within the CS Pro class.
The opening race of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon with Walmsley starting from second within class. Lydia got a good launch and held second position through the first lap, while race leader Jonathan Moore had opened up a margin of just over a second. Walmsley then started to come under pressure from newcomer Harrison Cavers and at the end of lap three, the LFP Motorsport driver was just a tenth of a second behind.
On lap four, Cavers was able to make the move and overtake Walmsley with the Graves Motorsport driver now in third position within the CS Pro class. Cavers began to edge away, while Lydia started to be caught by CS Am class leader Hannah Chapman who was enjoying a strong race at her home circuit. After the Scottish driver had cut the margin to just half a second, a personal best time from Walmsley on lap seven eased the pressure.
The middle half of the race was quiet for Walmsley as she continued to lap consistently while holding a podium position within class. The Graves Motorsport driver did a nice job to negotiate a number of the faster RS Pro cars which made their way ahead in the closing stages as her margin to Chapman behind extended further. Walmsley took the chequered flag in third position within the CS Pro class to extend her run of podium finishes to ten.
The second race of the weekend took place early on Sunday afternoon with Walmsley starting from second on the grid in the CS Pro class. It was a challenging start for Lydia who lost second position off the line with Harrison Cavers moving ahead. Nonetheless, the battles in the CS Am class were hard-fought in the early stages and therefore the CS Pro runners could break away from the group behind.
Walmsley remained close behind Cavers in the opening exchanges and on lap three, she was the fastest driver on track in the CS Pro class. Replicating this speed on lap four, Lydia was just half a second behind Cavers in her pursuit for second position. Walmsley pace was much improved from race one as she remained in contention with Cavers and race leader Jonathan Moore who was unable to build a sizeable margin.
Walmsley continued to apply pressure to Cavers with the gap between the drivers rarely exceeding half a second. Her pressure paid off mid-way through the race as Cavers received a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits. Walmsley and Cavers traded lap times during the second half of the race, with the gap reducing to just a quarter of a second at the conclusion of lap 16.
Cavers began to open out the margin slightly in the closing stages, however this resulted in an additional five second penalty as he pushed the limits of the circuit. Walmsley’s consistency paid off in race two and although she took the chequered flag in third position within the CS Pro class, she was classified in second once the ten second penalty was applied to Cavers’ race result.
The third and final race of the weekend was held on Sunday afternoon with Walmsley starting from second on the grid in the CS Pro class following her runner-up finish in race two. The positions on the opening lap were closely-fought as a result, Cavers moved ahead into second with Walmsley completing lap one in third position. Nonetheless, Lydia remained just a quarter of a second behind her rival as she looked to apply pressure to the debutant.
Although Cavers extended this margin to half a second at the conclusion of lap two, Walmsley was opening up a comfortable margin to CS Am pacesetter Hannah Chapman. Walmsley continued her good pace from race two as she remained just half a second behind Cavers during the early stages of the race, while race leader Jonathan Moore was edging away out front.
Consistency was again key to Walmsley’s performance and during the middle portion of the race, she ran seven laps within a quarter of a second of her best. Nonetheless, Cavers had opened up the margin to two seconds prior to the faster RS Pro drivers arriving in the mirrors. On the penultimate lap, Walmsley’s race came to a premature end following a technical issue and she was forced to retire from the race.
It was an unfortunate end to the weekend for Lydia who continued to improve her speed at Knockhill across the event. The Graves Motorsport driver stood on the podium twice and achieved a strong second place result with a mature drive in race two.
Walmsley will now be targeting a return to the top step of the podium when Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain returns at Silverstone on the weekend of 20th/21st September.
