JMW Motorsport took second place in the GTE Pro at the Six Hours of Silverstone, completing a successful weekend on their FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) debut.
Driving for the British team, already confirmed at LMS champions, Jonny Cocker and James Walker began the weekend strongly, Walker qualifying the Dunlop shod Ferrari 458 Italia in second place, only losing out in the final seconds of the Saturday afternoon session.
Key to the race was the superbly frugal fuel consumption of the car, which helped Ferrari teams to dominate the two GTE classes.
“You almost forget what you are doing!” said Cocker. “The whole package just works together so nicely. It is really good for us to have a benchmark of where we are as a team and drivers. The whole weekend couldn’t have gone better for us. I am really thrilled about the result.”
The race was not without drama for the team. Walker survived a brush with a LMP2 car during his second stint, the light contact not doing any lasting damage to the Ferrari and the loss of track position was soon overcome by the teams’ continued pace.
“I was able to enjoy driving a perfect race car on one of my favourite tracks,” said Walker, who like his co-driver celebrated a birthday during the weekend. “We enjoyed being in the heart of the battle and for us to turn up and beat many of the regulars is a fantastic feeling.”
