Josh Webster left Silverstone disappointed for a second season running after once again finishing runner-up in the Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship.
Heading to Silverstone fourteen points adrift of championship leader Scott Malvern, Webster faced a near-impossible task to overhaul his rival.
He did take it to the wire though, finishing ahead of Malvern in the opening race in second place, but knew that with Malvern started three places ahead of him for the decisive race, his rival would have to face some bad luck for Webster to taste success.
Inside it was Webster who suffered the misfortune, the 18 year old getting caught up in an incident between two rivals, contact spinning him round and dropping him to the tail of the top 20. Although a great fightback saw him finish thirteenth, the title was Malvern’s.
The Nine Group, Admiral Solutions & Support and Integra ICT-backed racer ends the season with a total of five wins, nine podiums, four pole positions and three fastest laps to his name, a record that has earnt him a place as one of the six finalists for the coveted McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.
“It has been a good year on the whole, we’ve got some positives to take away with five wins and nine podiums”, said Josh, “Racing is harsh sometimes though, I said exactly the same thing this time last year! We did make some good overtaking moves after being forced off the track but I was never going to win the championship.
“We went out fighting but now I’m just looking forward and I can’t wait for the finals of the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award. It would have been good to go out on a win but when [Chris] Middlehurst and [Macaulay] Walsh clashed that was curtains for me.
“It’s been fantastic working with all the guys at MGR this year, it really is a great team and I want to say a big thank you to everyone there especially Mark Godwin, Mark my mechanic and Peter my engineer for all their hard work during the season.
“We’ve got a lot of options for 2013, I’m looking forward to moving on – whether that’s in Formula 3 or GP3. The main focus first though is the McLaren Award, I’ve got no expectations other than it being an amazing experience and an incredible opportunity.”