Porsche switch paying off for Walmsley

Lydia Walmsley entered the motorsport world when she took up karting at the age of seven

Lydia Walmsley believes her decision to switch to the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB Championship has been fully justified after achieving her first win in the Pro Series.

Walmsley, from Kesgrave in Suffolk, has stepped up this season after racing Minis for the past few years and is having to adjust to rear-wheel drive cars for the first time.

But following three second places at Donington Park last month, she achieved a maiden victory in between two more runner-up finishes at Brands Hatch on 12 May.

There are four more rounds, each featuring three races, to come and she told BBC Radio Suffolk: "I think we're 10 points behind, which is not a lot really at this stage of the championship.

"It's definitely all still to play for. I'm hoping we'll be right there at the end of it.

"I'd never have believed we'd be in contention for the championship and there's obviously a long way to go, so I don't want to look ahead too much - I'm just trying to focus on every weekend and doing the best that we can."

Lydia Walmsley in the lead for the Graves Motorsport team at Brands Hatch

Last year, Walmsley became the first female driver to achieve a podium finish in the JCW Mini Challenge Championship, relying solely on her parents and mechanic Dave Barber for help with her car.

The change of competition for this season pits her against a small field of rival drivers in identical Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport vehicles and she is second in the Pro Series drivers' standings behind Jonathan Moore.

"Even before the season started I knew it was definitely the right decision to make the move, and I've never had such a successful start to a season ever," she said.

"When you think back to this time last year, my first race weekend at Donington Park, I didn't leave with a single point to my name.

"There's still a lot of work to be done but it's been fantastic and I couldn't have really asked for it to go any better.

"I've had more testing this year than I've ever had in anything previously - because it was a new car, I needed the testing to get some laps under my belt and figure out what I was doing with this car because it's very different to what I'd been used to."

The championship now moves on to Oulton Park - one of Walmsley's favourite circuits - where the next round will take place on the weekend of 21-22 June.

"There isn't really much room for error - if you have a bit of a moment, you're either in a gravel trap or in a barrier so I'm going next week for a test day to get acquainted with the circuit," she added.

"It always feels faster than others because of how narrow it is and how close the barriers are to the circuit. It'll take me a while to get used to [but] hopefully will get me ready for the race weekend."