Single-seater racer Sean Walkinshaw is delighted to confirm he will contest the upcoming Protyre Formula Renault BARC Winter Series, which begins at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit on 20th/21st October, after concluding a deal this week with MTECH Lite.
Continuing his association with the Derbyshire-based squad, with whom he has raced in the main Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship this year, the Chipping Norton driver will go into the four-round series hoping for a consistently strong campaign as he builds his experience.
Although only in his second full season of motorsport at any level, the 18-year-old has improved markedly throughout a very busy 2012 with highlights including a double victory on his Formula 3 debut in the MSV F3 Cup, podium finishes in the InterSteps Championship and a top six finish on his maiden outing at Paul Ricard HTTT in the south of France as part of the Asian Formula BMW series.
“I’m really looking forward to the Winter Series, it should be good and I think we can go into it with a lot of confidence after my recent results”, said Sean, “We always wanted to stay with MTECH, it’s a great team and we all work really well together. We’ve definitely made good steps forward during the second half of the BARC season.”
The opening two rounds at Brands Hatch in Kent will run as part of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship package, therefore guaranteeing crowds in the region of 30,000 spectators and also bringing the promise of live television coverage on ITV4 for at least one of the races.
Three weeks later, the final two rounds of the Winter Series will be held at Rockingham International Sportscar Circuit near Corby on Saturday, 10th November, the scene of Sean’s first podium finish in the InterSteps Championship recently during only his fourth race meeting in that series and also the venue for his first ever car racing podium in last year’s Protyre Formula Renault BARC Winter Series.
“Having the first two rounds as part of the TOCA package is obviously a great way to start, it’ll be fantastic racing with such big crowds and I can’t wait to get out there on such a good international circuit as Brands GP”, added Sean.
Before then, of course, the Oxfordshire youngster will contest the final two rounds of the main 2012 Protyre Formula Renault BARC season at Silverstone National Circuit in Northamptonshire this weekend, 6th/7th October.
Running as support to the BTCC, like the opening rounds of the Winter Series, the second of the event’s two Formula Renault encounters on Sunday will be screened live on ITV4 and ITV4 HD, and streamed live on the www.itv.com/btcc website, from 15.10 - check listings for more details.