PSCGB: Lydia Walmsley secures third victory of the season at Silverstone
- LIAM REDFORD
- Sep 23
- 6 min read
Lydia Walmsley enjoyed a strong Porsche Sprint Challenge GB weekend at Silverstone, returning to the top step of the podium with a CS Pro class victory in race two, two runner-up finishes including fastest lap, as she contended for class victories in the trio of races at the home of British motorsport.
Lydia Walmsley returned to the top step of the podium in Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain as she took victory in the CS Pro class at Silverstone. Walmsley narrowly missed out on pole position and after a bold call to switch to the slick tyres in race one, she finished in second position while claiming the fastest lap of the race. The Graves Motorsport driver then secured victory in a shortened race two, before leading a number of laps on her way to a runner-up result to conclude the weekend.
Walmsley arrived at the penultimate round of the season looking to return to the top step of the podium. In her rookie Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain season, the Graves Motorsport driver had twice claimed victory in the CS Pro class prior to arriving at the home of British motorsport, while only once finishing off the podium. Therefore, Walmsley sat second in the CS Pro championship standings and was aiming to take the championship battle to the final round of the season.
Silverstone had proven a successful circuit for Walmsley in the past, with her performances in wet conditions particularly impressive. Therefore, with changeable conditions forecast, Lydia was looking to use her adaptability to her advantage. Indeed, one of her two victories this season came in challenging conditions at Oulton Park and Walmsley was ready to challenge for the top spot once again.
The first on-track action took place on Wednesday as the Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain drivers participated in four short test sessions. The two morning sessions were held in damp conditions, before the track dried out during the afternoon giving the drivers experience in a range of conditions. Walmsley completed 81 laps on Wednesday with her fastest lap of a 59.078 placing her second in the CS Pro class.
Walmsley returned to action on Friday as she took part in two further free practice sessions, both of which were held in dry conditions. Lydia completed 50 laps across the course of the day with her fastest time of a 59.239 placing her in second position in the CS Pro class. The lap times between the leading three drivers were extremely tight and therefore it was set to be another closely contested event.
Qualifying took place on Saturday morning and it was an extremely positive session for the Graves Motorsport driver. Walmsley soon improved upon her fastest lap from free practice and held provisional pole position in the CS Pro class throughout the first half of qualifying.
As the drivers returned to the circuit for one final run, Moore just pipped Lydia to pole position as she missed out on her first bonus point of the season by less than a tenth of a second. Nonetheless, Lydia’s quickest time of a 58.564 placed her in second position and this was an improvement of around three-quarters of a second from the previous day.
The first race at Silverstone took place on Saturday afternoon with rain falling prior to the cars leaving the assembly area. Therefore, tyre choice was difficult with Walmsley and the Graves Motorsport crew choosing to fit the wet weather tyres. When the race got underway, Lydia made a good start and held second position while she applied pressure to CS Pro leader Jonathan Moore.
Just before Walmsley could shape for a move, the race was red flagged following an incident for Tom Bradshaw. The cleanup was extensive and the track began to dry during this period with the restart scheduled for a duration of fifteen-minutes. As the drivers completed their second warm up lap, Walmsley decided to pit to switch onto the slick tyres. Her Graves Motorsport crew did a superb job to ensure she left the pits on the lead lap as the race got underway, however she was around half a lap down on the class leaders.
Walmsley was therefore in third position within the CS Pro class, however her lap times were soon faster than those on the grooved rubber. In the early stages of the race, Lydia was hoping for a safety car which would give her the best chance of progressing through the field. Walmsley continued to improve her lap times as she generated temperature in her tyres, while she was also aided by clean air in front of her.
By lap eight, she made her first move on a CS Am competitor as Walmsley overtook Alister Weston. Two laps later, Lydia passed Giancarlo Romano and she was regularly gaining over three seconds per lap on Moore out front of the CS Pro class. Overtakes on Katia Loggie and Paul Porter followed and Walmsley now had fellow CS Pro class competitor Harrison Cavers in her sights.
With three laps remaining, Lydia passed Cavers to claim second position in class while she comfortably held the fastest lap among the CS Pro runners. Walmsley just ran out of time to catch Moore as she took the chequered flag in second position within class, nine seconds behind her rival after a bold tyre strategy call. Nonetheless, Lydia secured the fastest lap while displaying good skill to race competitively on slick tyres in challenging conditions.
The second race of the weekend took place on Sunday morning with Walmsley starting from second position on the CS Pro grid. The Graves Motorsport driver made a superb start and claimed the lead from Jonathan Moore on the opening lap. By the end of lap two, Lydia’s advantage was over half a second, however the race was then red flagged following a significant incident for Karim Sekkat.
Unfortunately, the race was unable to be resumed but with the final classification taken from the first completed lap, this meant that Walmsley secured her third victory of the season in the CS Pro class.
For the final race at Silverstone, the grid positions were based upon the results from race two with Walmsley starting on pole position in the CS Pro class. Lydia made another excellent start as she retained the class lead, while also moving ahead of RS Am class newcomer Chris Bingham. Although this pass on Bingham advanced Walmsley up the overall order, the Raceworks Motorsport driver delayed Lydia as he looked to make his way back through.
On lap two, Bingham moved ahead this compromised Walmsley as she was forced off line. As a result, Jonathan Moore gained momentum on Lydia and he was able to draw level before briefly moving ahead. However, a mistake from Moore in the final sector allowed Walmsley to retain the CS Pro class lead with Harrison Cavers now in between herself and the Toro Verde GT driver.
By lap five, Walmsley had grown her lead over Cavers to two seconds and she was looking confident at the head of the field. However, Lydia’s advantage was reduced on lap seven as the safety car was deployed following an incident for RS Am class drivers Jason Baker and Jodie Sloss. The race resumed on lap 10 and Moore quickly passed Cavers, before the championship leader applied pressure to Walmsley.
By the start of lap 12, the margin between Walmsley and Moore was just a quarter of a second and now the Graves Motorsport driver was forced to defend her position. Walmsley was again compromised by another RS Am class driver in her attempt to retain the lead, with Baker moving through at Copse. This led to a loss of momentum for Walmsley and as a result, Moore got a good exit out of Becketts and down the Wellington Straight. Moore completed the pass round the outside of Brooklands with Lydia settling into second position.
This battle for the lead also enabled Cavers to briefly close in, before the LFP Motorsport driver received a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits. Although Cavers continued to apply pressure in the closing stages, Walmsley’s second place was secure due to the penalty and she took the chequered flag ahead of Cavers to completed a positive weekend at Silverstone.
Walmsley took a step forward in performance at the home of British motorsport as she contended for class victories in the trio of races. Lydia was unfortunate that the duration of race one was reduced, however her bold strategy call still ensured she claimed the fastest lap of the race.
Her excellent start in race two resulted in a third victory of the season, before she led a number of laps in the final event. The Porsche Sprint Challenge Great Britain season will come to a close at Brands Hatch on the weekend of 4th/5th October.
