Fresh from his first double points finish of the EuroFormula Open season at Jerez in Spain just over a week ago, Sean Walkinshaw is confident of building on his strong momentum when the fourth event of the 2014 campaign takes place at the Hungaroring near Budapest this weekend, 5th/6th July.
With just a few days to go until rounds seven and eight of the ultra-competitive championship are contested in Hungary, the 20-year-old British driver is aiming for his best results to date at the wheel of his Dallara F312 as he and the Campos Racing team continue to make excellent progress.
Just as important as his brace of points scores in the two Jerez races were the major steps forward in performance during qualifying, one of the main aspects of his driving Sean has been keenly working on during his second season at European level.
Although the weekend’s visit to the Hungaroring will be the Chipping Norton youngster’s first race outing at the 4.4-kilometre track, the EuroFormula contingent did test there back in April where he delivered an impressive top five performance.
“Hungary should be good, after such a strong weekend in Jerez I’m really pleased there have only been two weeks between race meetings – I want to keep the momentum rolling”, said Sean, “Testing there went very well in the pre-season and with the steps forward we’ve been making recently, I really do feel quietly confident we can challenge for our best results of the season.”
Ahead of this weekend’s action, which marks the halfway point of the season, Sean is 12th in the main EuroFormula Open standings and holds 10th position in the linked Spanish F3 Championship – the latter being contested over three events, the next of which is scheduled for mid-October.
Consistent scoring is once again the chief goal in Hungary, although the Oxfordshire ace does harbour hopes of edging ever closer to the podium placings. Having finished in the points in three of the last four races, Sean is growing in confidence and relishing his latest challenge.
“It’s always fantastic racing on Formula One circuits and although overtaking at the Hungaroring is very difficult, it’s a great track to drive and is quite technical”, he commented, “We need to try and be as consistent as possible, things have been moving in the right direction and we need to make sure that continues.”
Following three sessions of testing on Thursday, 3rd July, and then three further free practice runs on Friday, 4th July, qualifying for round seven of the EuroFormula Open will get underway at 10.40 (local time) on Saturday, 5th July, with the race beginning at 15.00 (local time). Round eight qualifying will start at 09.15 (local time) on Sunday, 6th July, with the race commencing at 12.00 (local time).
As well as television coverage in the UK on Motors TV, all of the action from the Hungaroring will be streamed online at www.euroformulaopen.net
Provisional 2014 EuroFormula Open Standings (after Rd6):
12th Sean Walkinshaw, 13pts
Provisional 2014 Spanish F3 Championship Standings (after Rd4):
10th Sean Walkinshaw, 13pts