PSCGB: Lydia Walmsley matches season’s best result at Croft
- LIAM REDFORD
- 4 hours ago
- 6 min read
Clean Racing driver Lydia Walmsley enjoyed a positive weekend in Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain at Croft as she matched her best overall result of seventh, while securing a trio of runner-up finishes in the Talent Pool Championship.
Clean Racing driver Lydia Walmsley enjoyed a positive weekend in Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain at Croft as she matched her best overall result of seventh, while securing a trio of runner-up finishes in the Talent Pool Championship.
Following a productive weekend last time out at Knockhill, Walmsley arrived at Croft sitting in a tie for second position in the Talent Pool Championship standings and just three points behind leader Christopher Bingham. Walmsley’s consistency has been key to her progress and after managing changeable conditions in round three, the Clean Racing driver was looking to build upon these performances at Croft.
Due to her prior experiences in other championships, Walmsley entered the weekend with good knowledge of the Croft circuit, even if this was her first visit to the venue in Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain. Walmsley also benefited from productive running during the in-season test in June where the Clean Racing driver ended the day in seventh position in the RS Pro class. Completing 86 laps and setting a quickest time of a 1:21.917, Walmsley laid the foundations for a successful weekend ahead.
Two free practice sessions were held on Friday which brought valuable running, albeit amongst a number of red flag periods. In the morning session, Walmsley set the tenth quickest time in the RS Pro class with her quickest lap of a 1:24.644 placing her fifth among the Talent Pool competitors. Improving to a time of a 1:22.335, the Clean Racing driver ended the day in eighth position in the RS Pro class, while moving up to fourth among those contending for the Talent Pool Championship.
Qualifying took place on Saturday morning and Walmsley made a good start to the session prior to the first of two red flag periods. On her first run, the Clean Racing driver set a quickest lap of a 1:21.525 which placed her in eighth position overall, second among the Talent Pool competitors.
When the session resumed, improvements were difficult to come by throughout the field with Walmsley setting a number of consistent lap times. A second red flag period then led to one final lap for each of the drivers. Walmsley was unable to improve, however she secured a solid starting position by qualifying in tenth position overall, eighth within the RS Pro class. Her fastest time of a 1:21.525 placed her second within the Talent Pool Championship and just one spot behind Felix Livesey.
The opening race at Croft was held early on Saturday afternoon and with the grid positions based upon the results from qualifying, Walmsley lined up from tenth overall, eighth in the RS Pro class. It was a clean start from Lydia as she maintained her position in the RS Pro class, while a fast-starting Reece Somerfield moved ahead.
Now in 11th position overall, Walmsley remained second within the Talent Pool Championship and the Clean Racing driver was now defending from rival Christopher Bingham. The positions in the midfield remained extremely closely contested in the early exchanges with less than half a second separating the drivers.
After resisting the challenge from Bingham, Walmsley began applying pressure to Daniel Lewis and at the end of lap four, Lydia was just one tenth of a second behind the RS Am class championship leader. Lewis responded and overtook Somerfield with the Breakell Racing driver now Walmsley’s next target.
During the middle stages of the race, Walmsley was continuing to do a superb job to hold off Bingham while ensuring Somerfield remained within reach. On lap 10, Walmsley completed a superb pass on Somerfield to move into tenth position overall. The Clean Racing driver immediately pulled clear of the group behind and with Bingham and James Seale disputing third place in the Talent Pool Championship behind, Lydia was in a strong position.
On lap 13, race leader Joshua Rogers slowed with an issue and this promoted Walmsley to ninth overall, seventh in the RS Pro class. After Seale overtook Bingham, he applied pressure to Walmsley in the closing stages with the Clean Racing driver defending her position well. As a result, Walmsley took the chequered flag in ninth position overall, seventh in the RS Pro class, while securing second position in the Talent Pool Championship.
Following a good start to the weekend, Walmsley was looking to continue this momentum in race two which took place later on Saturday afternoon. Due to a superb second fastest lap time in qualifying, Walmsley lined up from seventh position while the Clean Racing driver led the way among the Talent Pool drivers.
As the lights went out, Walmsley lost out to Felix Livesey on lap one as she settled into eighth position overall. Walmsley remained in eighth position during lap two, while she began to build a comfortable gap over RS Am class leader Daniel Lewis. With Lewis providing a buffer to Walmsley’s Talent Pool Championship rivals, Lydia could focus forward on setting fast and consistent lap times.
Walmsley’s pace through the first sector was especially competitive as the Clean Racing driver was regularly among the fastest five drivers through this part of the circuit. Despite Livesey edging away from Walmsley during the middle portion of the race, Lydia continued to extend her margin over Lewis as she consolidated eighth position.
Although overtaking remained challenging throughout the field, Walmsley’s consistency was impressive as she held second position among the Talent Pool drivers. Taking the chequered flag in eighth position in the RS Pro class, Walmsley completed a successful opening day at Croft with two runner-up results among the highly competitive Talent Pool Championship.
The final race of the weekend took place on Sunday afternoon and with the starting positions based upon the race two results, Walmsley lined up from eighth on the grid. Conditions were slightly more challenging with damp patches away from the racing line and therefore generating tyre temperature was also more difficult.
As the lights went out, Walmsley made a good start as she held eighth position overall, while she maintained second position among the Talent Pool drivers. She was quickly forced to defend from RS Am class Daniel Lewis at the final corner, however Walmsley placed her car smartly to hold the preferred line.
This was preventing Walmsley’s Talent Pool Championship rival Christopher Bingham from moving through the field as he searched for a way ahead of Lewis. On lap five, Walmsley was promoted to seventh position after Matthew Kyle-Henney retired to the pits with damage.
Bingham and James Seale then began to close in on Lewis and this briefly relieved the pressure on Walmsley. Nonetheless, the Race Car Consultants driver regrouped and regained momentum and Lewis drew level with Walmsley to begin lap seven. Holding the inside line into Clervaux, Walmsley maintained position with Seale now increasing his attack on Lewis.
On lap 10, Walmsley was again forced to defend her position and after Lewis was delayed on the exit of Clervaux, Seale capitalised and moved into eighth overall while also claiming the RS Am class lead. Walmsley then did a great job to negotiate the slower CS class machines of Giancarlo Romano and Alistair Weston and this allowed her to pull clear of Seale.
Walmsley was also one of the only drivers to avoid a time penalty for exceeding track limits and this ensured that any lost positions on track would be regained in the final classification. Seale mounted a sustained attack in the closing stages, however Walmsley completed a superb defensive drive to take the chequered flag in seventh position overall, therefore matching her career best overall finish.
Crossing the line in second position among the Talent Pool runners, Walmsley completed a superb weekend at Croft. Driving maturely throughout, the Clean Racing driver banked a good haul of championship points while maintaining second position in the Talent Pool Championship. Walmsley will now be targeting strong results when Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain returns at Silverstone on the weekend of 26th/27th September.
