On his first ever visit to the challenging Thruxton circuit, Scorpio Motorsport's Macaulay Walsh delivered a sensational performance to take his second podium finish of the 2012 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship.
Northampton-based Walsh only had a fifteen minute practice session to get himself acquainted with the tricky high-speed circuit before the all-important qualifying session. The team's strategy was to hold back early on in the session and push for times later when the track's grip was at his best, however this didn't pay off when traffic kept compromising Walsh's laps, leaving him a frustrated twelfth.
A superb start to the opening race saw the 17 year old climb into the top eight in the opening lap, before quickly working his way into the top six. Walsh pushed hard all the way to the finish and ended up in a strong fifth place.
Starting an improved eighth for Round Seven, the youngster once again made an excellent start to move immediately into the top five prior to the appearance of the safety car. At the re-start, Walsh applied huge pressure to the car in front and made the breakthrough to take fourth on lap nine. Challenging the car in front, Walsh was promoted to third when the then leader spun, giving him a podium result for the second time this year.
A total of 45 points from the weekend consolidates the Mike Craig Electrical Products Limited and Piers Sexton-supported driver's fourth position in the series standings, opening up an increased 23 point advantage over his closest rival.
Walsh said: “It's fantastic to get back on the podium, we had two good races this weekend and although we didn't quite get qualifying right, we got too much traffic to do a proper lap, it's still worked out pretty well. I'm really pleased with how well things are going, the team's doing a great job.”