Intersteps and Formula Renault BARC regular Sean Walkinshaw delivered a sensational performance on his debut in the MSV F3 Cup, taking a pair of dominant wins at Anglesey in Wales.
Running with leading squad Lanan Racing, Walkinshaw took a great pole position in his Mugen-Honda powered Dallara F302, finishing up almost seven tenths of a second clear of his closest rival.
The Oxfordshire teenager led from lights to flag in the opening race, setting a new lap record on his way to a near eighteen second win. The fastest lap gave Walkinshaw pole for race two and he led throughout once again, winning by an unbelievable 27 seconds to cap off the best weekend of his career to date.
“It’s absolutely fantastic to do so well on my first weekend in the F3 Cup,” said the 18 year old. “It’s been a step-up for me this weekend but not a large step, although there is so much more grip in the F3 car than in Formula Renault. There’s a lot more aero obviously and the car is so much faster through the corners.
“The guys at Lanan Racing are amazing, they gave me a perfect car and they have a really nice set-up there. It’s a great team and I’ve really enjoyed working with them, this experience has given us something to think about for next year.
“I was confident I could qualify on pole and challenge for the wins, I was actually hoping for a bit more in qualifying but we were very consistent and then saved the tyres at the end of the session. Both races went as well as they could have, I got good starts and we were so much quicker than everyone else I just had to control things and make no mistakes.”
Walkinshaw is set for a busy spell in the next month or so, with a trip to India first up for three days of testing at the wheel of the new ‘MRF Formula 2000’ cars that Walkinshaw hopes to race later in the year.
At the end of September, Walkinshaw will compete in the final rounds of the Dunlop Intersteps Championship at Croft, before heading to Silverstone for the final rounds of the Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship a week later.